2007 WSOP Overview, June 17th — Hellmuth Snags 60th Cash; Ponzio, Schwartz Claim Titles
The awarding of two more champion's bracelets and the record-extending 60th career WSOP cash by Phil Hellmuth were the big news items on Sunday at the WSOP. Play continued in five events overall on a busy Father's Day of action at the Rio.
Event #26, $5,000 H.O.R.S.E., began action with 12 players, a bit more than the final table's normal H.O.R.S.E. complement of eight. Necessitated by a lengthy Day Two, this event saw several players surge forward and fall back again, including early leader Yuebin Guo and Phil Ivey, who began play as one of the shortest stacks but moved to the lead early on. In the end, though, it was Ralph Schwartz who captured the title and the $275, 683 first-place money, outdueling an over-chipped Bill Gazes. Guo finished third and Ivey claimed fourth, with Robert Mizrachi in fifth. Alex Kravchenko's bid to win his second bracelet of this WSOP ended early, as he departed in ninth.
The day's other champion was Ben Ponzio, who came from eighth place at the start of the final table to the victory in Event #25, $2,000 No Limit Hold 'Em. Ponzio amassed a huge lead in chips and finally finished off David Hewitt for the title and the $599,467 payday, with early chip leader Travis Rice and blackjack master Ken Einiger among the early exits here.
Hellmuth's 60th career cash came on Day One of Event #28, $3,000 No Limit Hold 'Em. Hellmuth was one of 827 entrants who played down to the 81-player money bubble at night's end, and Hellmuth did more than just squeak into the money — he'll begin Day Two in fourth place. Tsai Chen leads this one overnight, ahead of Ed Moncada, with Perry Friedman in fifth. Many big-name players remain alive in this one, chasing a possible $527,829 payday.
Only one event played down to its final table on Sunday. Event #27, $1,500 No Limit Hold 'Em, began Day Two action with 135 of an original 2,315 players still alive. In a repeat story of this year's action, none of the Day One top ten made it through to the final table. The leader entering today's finale is Seth Weinger, who with 1.7 million in chips begins the day comfortably ahead of second-place David Woo, at 1.1 million. Action here kicks off at approximately 2pm PDT.
A 341-player field heavy on stars and veteran players began action in Event #29, $1,500 Razz. Mike Dreyer opened up a lead over the 139 other players who made it to today's second day of play, with Steve Sung, David Oppenheimer and Men Nguyen also among the top ten.
Today at noon, play began in Event #30, $2,500 No Limit Hold 'Em (Six-Handed). The aggressive action in the WSOP's earlier short-handed event may have this one well inside the money bubble by the end of the day's play. Check in on this and today's other continuing events by visiting our 'Live Reporting' section.
