2010 World Series of Poker Day 14: Jason DeWitt Grabs Gold, The 2-7 Final Table is Stacked and More
Jason DeWitt finally earned himself a coveted WSOP gold bracelet, a first for a player who has come oh so close a few times before. Event #19 will reconvene on Friday with a stacked final table featuring, John Juanda, Daniel Negreanu, Erik Seidel and Andy Bloch and many others.
Event #17: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em
Jason DeWitt finally got his gold bracelet Thursday night after finishing third, and second previously when making a WSP final table. In 2009, the Indiana native finished third in Event #20, a pot-limit Omaha event, and then second in 2009's Event #52, a $3,000 triple-chance tournament, before finally topping this field for his first cash of the 2010 WSOP.
After the tough-as-nails field was left with just DeWitt and Sam Trickett, the final elimination hinged on whether or not DeWitt's 8♥10♠ could out flop Trickett's A♠7♦. In what appeared to be DeWitt's first real attack on his opponent's shorter stack, he moved all-in preflop. Trickett took one look at his hole cards and made the call. DeWitt hit a pair on the 8♦5♣6♣ flop, but Trickett was live, drawing to a straight draw. After the 6♣ fell on the turn, DeWitt still led and Trickett needed an ace, nine or four to stay in the tournament. It wasnn't meant to be for Trickett, as DeWitt's eights held up when the river brought the the 5♥ ending the three-day event.
Check how the entire final table played out in our WSOP live reporting pages.
Event #18: $2,000 Limit Hold'em
Ten pesky players refused to bust in Event #18 after the completion of two days of play.
Eric Buchman, a member of the 2009 November Nine, ended the night ahead of the other nine with a stack of 453,000. The New Yorker may not have been crowned Main Event champion last year, but he is looking good to at least get another shot at WOSP bracelet glory in 2010. Just trailing Buchman in chips is Hansu Chu who will return for Day 3 with a stack of 447,000. A short-stacked Daniel Quach, who holds only 55,000 in chips, will need to play his cards just right if he hopes to make the official final table and give the title of final table bubble boy to someone else.
Buchman, Chu and Quach will return Friday along with Steven Hustoft, William Jensen, Matt Grapenthien, Brent Courson, Matthew Matros, Gary Bogdanski and the lone Italian left in the event, Flavio Ferrari, and play down until one of them is left at the table alone.
Check back with out WSOP live updates crew to see how it all plays out.
Event #19: $10,000 2-7 Draw Lowball World Championship
After 13 hours of play on Thursday for Day 2 of Event #19, only ten of the world's best poker players remained in contention for the bracelet. Out of the 72 players who started the day, about half were already bracelet holders, making this one of the toughest Day 2's since the $50K Players Championship. The money bubble finally burst during level 16 when Par Hilderbrand of Sweden was eliminated allowing the rest of the field to be guaranteed at least $19,873.
When the final ten return Friday, play should be intense. With eight-time bracelet winner Erik Seidel, four-time bracelet winners Daniel Negreanu and John Juanda, and arguably the best player without a bracelet, Andy Bloch, all still very much alive, finding a winner will not be easy.
Follow the action as it happens through our WSOP live updates.
Event #20: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha
Action was quick and brutal during Day 1 of Event #20, seeing 790 of the original 885 players send home to lick their wounds.
Only 95 will return for Day 2 and just 81 will get their buy-in, plus a little more back in their bank accounts.
2009 Main Event final tabler James Akenhead bulldozed through players throughout the day, proving he is a force to be reckoned with on the felt. If King James, as he is coming to be called, continues on his wave of incredible play, he will pick up his second cash of the year and possibly find a spot at his fourth WSOP final table. But a lot can happen in a day, and when Akenhead returns for Day 2, he will have to watch out for Jonathan Little (chip leader), Nenad Medic, Bryce Yockey, Christian Harder and Robert Williamson III, who are all still alive and kicking in this tournament.
See what happens and who makes the final table by following along with our WSOP live reporting pages.
Event #21: $1,500 Seven-Card Stud
Despite being a stud tournament, Event #21 of Day 1 moved along pretty quickly. Just over 400 players sat down at the felt, but by the end of the day a mere 128 were left. Only 40 of those players will make the money.
Scott Seiver grew his stack to 63,800 late in the day, good enough to be considered chip leader, and he remained there until chips were bagged at the end of the night. Beginning on Day 2, Seiver will have over a 20,000 chip lead over the next closest player, James Kadlec, who is sitting on a stack of 40,500.
Seiver, along with Carlos Mortensen, Chip Jett and Scott Epstein, will return for Day 2, outlasting the likes of Lex Veldhuis, Marcel Luske, Chau Giang and Chris Ferguson, who were not so fortunate.
Check back to see what happens in our WSOP live reporting pages.
On Tap
Two more events will begin Friday afternoon, Event #22, the $1,000 no-limit hold'em Ladies Championship will get going at 12 p.m., followed by Event #23 a $2,500 limit hold'em six-handed tournament, which wil start at 5 p.m.
Video of the Day
Kristy Arnett caught up with Lex Veldhuis and discussed a last-longer bet he made with Tom "durrrr" Dwan.
