2010 World Series of Poker Day 24: A Golden Oldie Wins Gold, Event #35 Extended Another Day, and More
Harold Angle, 78, picked up his first gold bracelet after playing poker for nearly 60 years. Day 3 of Event #34 took longer than expected and at 5 a.m. Monday morning, Ernst Schmejkal and Ayaz Mahmood were sent home. The two will return Monday night and resume their heads-up battle until one of them wins the bracelet. John Juanda is leading the field in Event #37 with Phil Ivey and Jeffrey Lisandro snapping at his heels and more.
Event #34: $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold'em World Championship
Some poker players find glory the minute they turn 21, others have to wait a little longer. At 78 years old, Harold Angle finally has the icing on his cake after playing poker for 60 years. Angle took down a record breaking field of 3,142 players in the seniors event, a triumph made even sweeter by the fact that it was his first major tournament and World Series of Poker event.
Angle took home a gold bracelet and nearly half a million dollars in prize money when runner-up Michael Minetti ran his J♥J♣ into Angle's K♠J♠. A flop of 9♠9♦K♣ gave Angle top two pair and Minetti's needed jack never appeared.
Check out all the action from the record-breaking tournament.
Event #35: $10,000 Heads-up No-limit Hold'em World Championship
Either Ernst Schmejkal or Ayaz Mahmood should have been crowned the winner of Event #35 Sunday night, but at 5:15 a.m. Monday, what was supposed to be a three-day tournament turned into four. Unlike the rest of the tournament, the final match of the heads-up shootout is a best-of-three matches and that, of course, takes some time.
The players and tournament directors decided around 4 a.m. that once a first match had been won, the players would go home to rest and return Monday night. Finally, the first match was over after about six hours of heads-up play. Mahmood took down match number one, making it essential for Schmejkal to win the next one if there is to be a third match.
Both players will return at 7 p.m. Monday night and play to a winner, having bested the 256-person tournament and taking home $625,682.
Follow the action through our WSOP live updates.
Event #36: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em
Day 1B wrapped up after eight and a half levels of play, a somewhat short day in WSOP-speak. About 455 players from both Day 1's will return for Day 2 to play, first for the money and then for a final table. The money bubble is expected to burst quickly because only about 130 players must be eliminated to reach it. A few who will be around hunting for a piece of the prize pool include Svetlana Gromenkova, Antoine Saout and Ari Engle.
Shannon Elizabeth, James Akenhead, Victor Ramdin, David Singer, Gavin Griffin, Jimmy Fricke and Antonio Esfandiari are just some of the unlucky players who will have to enter another tournament in hopes of adding a bracelet to their list of winnings.
The remaining players will return Monday for the money, the final table and the bracelet. Check out the WSOP live reporting pages for all the action.
Event #37: $3,000 H.O.R.S.E.
There won't be any horsing around when the final 25 players in Event #37 return for Day 3. John Juanda, who already has four bracelets to his name, leads the stacked field with 393,000 in chips but Phil Ivey and Jeffrey Lisandro are lurking close behind.
Day 3 is sure to take some time; nearly every one of the 25 players left is already an established and feared pro. Bill Chen, David Benyamine, Chad Brown, Scott Seiver and David Singer are scattered throughout the field and looking to take it down.
The players will return Monday to play down to a winner, but in all likelihood, with a field like this, the bracelet will not be a first for whomever the winner might be.
Follow all the action as it happens here.
Event #38: $10,000 Pot-limit Hold'em World Championship
There will be a new champion of Event #38 in 2010. John Kabbaj, defending champ, and Nenad Medic, 2008 winner, were both among the players eliminated during Day 1.
Just over 130 of the 268 players who started Day 1 will return for Day 2, and if play continues like it did Sunday night, those players will not be making their exits swiftly. As play was nearing the end on Sunday, the field hunkered down and only a few contested pots were played. Most players were focusing on stealing the blinds and folding to any single preflop raise. Big stack or short stack, all the players just seemed to freeze in hopes of lasting long enough to see Day 2.
Vanessa Rousso, Freddy Deeb, Erick Lindgren and Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier were a few who didn't last long enough to participate in the tedious play near the end of the night. Noah Boeken, Huck Seed and Carlos Mortensen are among the players who will be back and could be the new champion.
Join us at PokerNews to see who goes and who stays.
On Tap
Event #39: $1,500 No-limit Hold'em Shootout will begin at 12 p.m. followed by Event #40: $2,500 Seven-Card Razz at 5 p.m.
The PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be at the Rio for every flop, turn, and river of every event today. Follow all the action on our WSOP live reporting pages.
Video of the Day
PokerStars Team Online pro George Lind updates us on his World Series of Poker thus far.
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