2010 World Series of Poker Day 18: Sammy Farha Wins Third Gold Bracelet, "durrrr" Sits Down for Stud and More
It took 16 hours for Sammy Farha to win his third career gold bracelet in the longest final table of the 2010 WSOP so far. At 7 a.m. Tuesday, Farha finally sent James Dempsey home as runner-up and claimed the title. Nearly 500 players were sent to the rails during the second day of play in Event #24, and Tom "durrrr" Dwan will return for Day 2 of Event #27 and more.
Event #24: $1,000 No-limit Hold'em
Day 2 of Event #24 wrapped up with just 30 of the 3,289 bracelet hopefuls still holding chips. After 13 hours of fast-paced, action-packed play, 477 players were unable to survive Day 2. For the unknowns, the walk to the rail wasn't lonely; they were joined by poker superstars like Tom "durrrr" Dwan, Dave Sands, Liv Boeree, Matt Brady, Matt Stout and Tony Dunst.
When the 30 players return at 3 p.m. Tuesday, it will be anyone's game as proven during Day 2. Joseph Grenon, Dennis Murphy and Greg Pohler will have the largest stacks when play resumes, will look to maintain their spots near the top and play all the way to WSOP gold.
Keep up to date on the tournament twists and turns with PokerNews' live reporting coverage.
Event #25: $10,000 Omaha Hi-low split-8 or Better World Championship
Nothing lasts forever, but the final table of Event #25 seemed like it just might. It took 16 hours for Sammy Farha to outlast the others at the final table and finally best James Dempsey to capture his third WSOP gold bracelet.
After three and a half hours of heads-up play, Farha finally ended the marathon battle in what, given the circumstances, seemed like two quick hands. A short-stacked Dempsey was mortally wounded when he lost nearly his entire stack to Farha's rivered aces full of kings and was forced to push all his chips, just 200,000, barely more than one big blind, into the middle. Neither player had much of a hand, but at that point in the game a call for Farha was a must. Dempsey showed J♥8♦6♣5♣, and Farha revealed J♣9♥7♦4♥. After the 10♦4♠3♠10♦10♣ board rolled out the end had finally arrived.
Head on over to the Live Reporting pages for all the action.
Event #26: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em Six Handed
Six-handed no-limit hold'em can be a fast and brutal game, and Day 1 of Event #26 was just that. Just under one-sixth of the field was left after a full day of chip passing and card shuffling. Of the 156 who will return for Day 2, only 126 will make the money.
Leo Margets, 2009's last woman standing in the main event, will have some work to do if she wants to stick around and become the last player standing in Event #26 ― she ended the day with one of the shortest stacks in play, holding just 22,200 in chips. Annette Obrestad ended the day in the middle of the pack and could add to her resume of poker tournament wins if she can continue her climb on Day 2. The two ladies will have watch out for crowd favorite Daniel Negreanu, Matt Affleck, Sorel Mizzi, Erik Cajelais and Al Barbieri, who are all still in the mix and hunting the bracelet.
Follow all the action with our WSOP live updates.
Event #27: $1,500 Seven-card Stud Hi-low-8 or Better
If you want a fast-paced game, enter a no-limit hold'em tournament. If you have patience and time, enter a seven-card stud hi-low-8 or better tournament.
Day 1 of Event #27 moved along at what seemed like a snail's pace with many seasoned players able to stick around for another day. Of the 644 who entered Day 1, 208 will return for Day 2 in what is sure to be another tedious round of stud play.
Odette Tremblay appeared from the sea of players and bulldozed her way to the top, striking down opponents and leaving them shaking in her wake. Tremblay will have to continue her ways for Day 2 and get past Jeff Lisandro, John Juanda, and Marcel Luske if she wants to join the ranks of WSOP bracelet winners.
Tom "durrrr" Dwan is also still around, and although he is not known to be the force majeure in stud games that he is in hold'em games, he is no doubt going to make his unlucky tablemates tremble in their seats.
Check back with our Live Reporting Team at 3 p.m. Tuesday to see how it all plays out.
On Tap
Event #28: $2,500 Pot-Limit Omaha will begin at 12 p.m., and another world championship, this time Event #29: $10,000 Limit Hold'em World Championship, will start at 5 p.m.
The PokerNews Live Reporting Team is bringing you all the WSOP coverage you can handle.
Video of the Day
Kristy Arnett caught up with Maria "Maridu" Mayrink on break of the $2,500 no-limit hold'em six-handed event. They discussed her table draw: Phil Ivey on her left for most of the day until she got moved to a table full of "super-hyper-turbo-crazy-donkey-aggressive" players. And of course, Brazilian soccer.
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