2010 World Series of Poker Day 26: Kwaysser Becomes Third Hungarian to Win WSOP Gold, Obrestad and Tran Going for Gold, and More
Vlademar Kwaysser sealed a second bracelet for Hungary this year in Event #38 after he bested Matt Marafioti at the final table. Bracelet winners J.C. Tran and Annette Obrestad will be keeping the players on their toes in Event #39, and James Dempsey, after winning his first bracelet in Event #9 and coming in runner-up in Event #25, is near the top in Event #41. Will he be able to outlast the field and become the first two-time bracelet winner of the summer?
Event #36: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em
It's not easy to outlast 3,009 players over three days of no-limit hold'em play, but after an extremely short ― less than five hours ― nine players have done just that.
When those nine return for Day 4, action should be interesting. The players' chip stacks are spread out with Sebastian Roy leading with 1,867,000 in chips. Only two other players are over the 1 million mark: Timothy Beeman has 1,788,000 and Daniel Fuhs will return to a stack of 1,251,000. Michael Michnik will need to be careful with his small stack of just 307,000 as will Scott Montgomery who has a little more with 604,000. The rest of the players, John Dolan, Michael Carlson, Peter Dufek and Adam Richardson, make up the middle of the pack.
But this is no-limit hold'em, and as has been proven many time before, a short stack can come back and a large stack can fall quickly. The race to the bracelet and $481,760 will begin at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Follow our WSOP live updates for all the action.
Event #38: $10,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em World Championship
Vlademar Kwaysser bested a championship field of the best pot-limit hold'em players in the world to bring the bracelet count for Hungary to two so far this summer. The final hand of the night sent Matt Marafioti to the rail so close yet so far away from winning his first bracelet. After a flop of J♣6♠10♣ Kwayseer, with the larger stack, moved all-in holding J♦8♦. Marafioti made the call and put himself at risk, but his K♣6♣ left him plenty of outs for a double-up. In the end, the bracelet was meant to go to the Hungarian as the Q♠ opened on the turn, and finally the 7♠ on the river ended the tournament with Kwaysser as the winner.
With the win, Kwaysser becomes only the third Hungarian to win WSOP gold. The first was Peter Traply who took the bracelet in the six-handed no-limit hold'em shootout in 2009. Peter Gelencser was the first to win a bracelet for Hungary in 2010 when he took down Event #7: $2,500 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball in the first week of the WSOP.
Find out how it all went down at out WSOP Live Reporting pages.
Event #39: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout
Fourteen players have won their second winner-take-all table in a row, but only one will walk away as the champion of Event #39. Among the 14 who shot down every opponent at their tables over two days are J.C. Tran, two-time WSOP bracelet winner, and Annette Obrestad, who won the 2007 WSOPE Main Event.
The players will start Day 3 with 450,000 in chips each and sit at two seven-handed tables. As the eliminations begin, the table will be consolidated into one, and from there, a winner will be crowned.
Follow along with our live updates beginning at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday to see how it all plays out.
Event #40: $2,500 Seven-Card Razz
Jennifer Harman, Chris Bjorin, Vladimir Schemelev and Frank Kassela will be among the 15 players who will return for Day 3 of a little game called seven-card razz. Two players ended Day 2 with substantial leads over the remaining players: Melville Lewis, of Toronto, has a stack of 504,000 and just behind is Mikko Pispala of Helsinki, Finland, has 458,000.
Despite the game's unpopularity, making it through two days of play was so small feat. The small field of just 365 players began with former main event champions Joe Hachem, Greg Raymer, Huck Seed and Tom McEvoy, as well as Patt Pezzin, Eli Elezra, Alexander Kravchenko and Katja Thater.
Players will return Wednesday and play down to a winner. Our WSOP Live Reporting Team will be there covering all the action.
Event #41: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Low Split 8 or Better
After a day of chopping and quartering the field, Event #41 was narrowed from 847 players to just 171. About half the remaining players will need to be eliminated on Day 2 for the lucky 81 to get a piece of the $1,143,450 prize pool.
If he can keep his lead and continue on his exceptional run, James Dempsey will have a shot at being the first multibracelet winner of the 2010 WSOP. Dempsey already snagged one bracelet in Event #9: $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em and came in runner-up in, curiously a similar game as this, Event #25: $10,000 Omaha Hi-Low Split 8 or Better World Championship. If Dempsey hopes to capture bracelet number two, he will have to get past a field with some sharp players still alive and well: Barry Greenstein, Chris Ferguson and Anthony Cousineau are just a few of them.
See if Dempsey is able to make another run at WSOP gold by following the action on PokerNews.
On Tap
Event #42: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em will begin at 12 p.m., followed by Event #43: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. World Championship, which is sure to be a big one, at 5 p.m.
The PokerNews WSOP Live Reporting Team will be bringing you all the action from the Rio.
Video of the Day
PokerStars Team Pro Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier sits down and gives us an update on his WSOP so far in his latest video blog.
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