2010 World Series of Poker Day 31: Chris Bell and Jesse Rockowitz Join the Elite Group of Bracelet Winners, WSOP TOC Update
Jesse Rockowitz won his first World Series of Poker gold bracelet with a hand that most players never want to see; Chris Bell, who has had a lengthy and impressive poker career, won his first bracelet early Monday morning when he bested Dan Shak during the heads-up match and more.
Event #45: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em
It's not often one is able to take down a field of over 3,000 players with nearly the worst hand in poker, but in the wee hours of Monday morning, Jesse Rockowitz did just that.
With over $700,000 and a gold bracelet up for grabs, the tournament came down to a sparring match between Rockowitz holding the ugly 7♥2♥ and Raymond Coburn holding K♣9♣. Coburn limped from the big blind and Rockowitz checked his option to see a flop of 7♣8♦2♦. With two pair, Rockowitz led out for 95,000, Coburn raised to 500,000, Rockowitz reraised to 1,360,000, and Coburn called. The 6♠ fell on the turn giving Coburn an open-ended straight draw, but it was Rockowitz again who got aggressive, leading out for 945,000. In response Coburn moved all his chips into the middle and after a brief pause, Rockowitz made the call. Coburn needed to see a ten or a five turned over on the river, but when the 8♠ was opened up, the tournament ended. For his valiant effort, Coburn walked away with nearly $450,000.
Find out how it all went down over at our WSOP live reporting pages.
Event #46: $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Low Split 8 or Better
Event #46 came to an end in true poker style ― and by true style we mean that a hand typically good enough to win lost to an even better hand ― when Chris Bell's full-house bested Dan Shak's nut flush.
Holding K♠10♣9♠8♦ Bell moved all-in after the turn on a board of 8♥K♣2♥K♥ and Shak, holding A♥9♥8♠7♠ made the call. For Shak to stay alive he would need a three, four, five or six on the river to chop the pot, but when the dealer turned over, the 9♣ the tournament came to an end.
The bracelet, which was Bell's first, was no easy thing to win. To be the last player standing, Bell had to get through a final table that included Erik Seidel, Perry Green, Dave Ulliott and Rob Hollink, who have a whopping 13 bracelets between them.
Our WSOP Live Reporting Team was there for the whole thing.
Event #47: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em
When Day 1b's registration was closed, over 3,000 players combined would make up the field of the event; however, by the end of play Sunday night, most were already home.
Tournaments with that many players can be rough and for at least two players there was no lull between some bad beats. Joe Sebok and David Baker both saw their tournament lives come to an end in back-to-back hands almost simultaneously. Baker first took a hit when he ran his ace-jack into David Daneshgar's jack-ten and saw tens fall on the turn and the river. In the next hand, Baker's ace-seven proved to be no match for an opponent's ace-jack. Then it was Sebok's turn. First his ace-nine was bested by an opponent's pocket queens on a Qx8xKxKx2x board and then his queen-jack was bested by an opponents jack-ten on a ten-high flop, and Sebok never improved.
The 476 players who did make it to Day 2 will be back Monday for more action.
Follow along with all the action with our WSOP Live Reporting Team.
Event #48: $2,500 Mixed Event
The mixed events have brought out the best all-around players in poker, and Event #48 was no different. After a second day of keeping on their toes while switching from game to game, just 21 of the original 453 players still had chips to work with.
Vitaly Lunkin took down pot after pot throughout the day hitting quads, trips and out-flushing other players left and right. Let's not forget though, this is poker and an early hot run can quickly simmer, and Lunkin's demise was just one of the many examples of how brutal poker can be. Early on, Frank Kassela looked as though he could join Phil Ivey and Jeffrey Lisandro with three bracelets in one summer but, like Lunkin, his run at the bracelet ended before Day 3.
The race to the bracelet, which will include Dario Minieri, Bill Chen, Jose Barbero, Alexander Kravchenko, Scott Seiver and Steve Sung, will start again Monday afternoon.
Our WSOP live update crew will be there to bring you all the action.
WSOP Tournament of Champions
The World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions returned Sunday after a three-year hiatus. The 27 players who took to the felt yesterday played four levels of poker. Five players were eliminated and will not return Monday to play for their portion of the $1 million prize pool.
John Juanda was the first player eliminated ― in the first level of play nonetheless. Howard Lederer and Phil Hellmuth were late to the party, Lederer missing almost the entire first level, and Hellmuth, after an angry phone call from Mike Matusow, moseyed in two hours after play began. Greg Raymer, Barry Shulman, and Sammy Farha were also eliminated, and in the last level of play, Phil Ivey's kings were no match for Chris Ferguson's queens, and thus he was sent packing.
Another four levels of play will get under way at noon local time with Erik Seidel leading the way, and you can bet that the PokerNews WSOP Live Reporting Team will be there to bring you all the action.
On Tap
Event #49: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em will begin at 12 p.m. followed by Event #50: $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha at 5 p.m.
Check out all the WSOP action on our live reporting pages.
Video of the Day
The Tournament of Champions kicked off yesterday. After just four levels of play, five players made their exits. Kristy Arnett recaps the event so far and catches up with some of the players to get their take on the tournament.
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