2012 World Series of Poker Day 12: Ivey, Hellmuth in Contention and Hastings Grabs Gold
At the 2012 World Series of Poker on Thursday, two more bracelet winners were crowned. Also, players reached the final 12 in the No-Limit Hold'em Shootout. A star-studded field in Event #15 played down to just 19 players including both Phil Ivey and Phil Hellmuth, and players reached the money after just one day in the No-Limit Hold'em Six-Handed event.
Event #12: $10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em
Only four players remained at the start of Day 3 in the $10,000 Heads-Up event — Tommy Chen, Jason Mo, Brock Parker, and Brian Hastings. In the end, Hastings was able to score his first World Series of Poker bracelet. Hastings cruised through Day 3 not having to use a single one of his rebuy lammers.
In his first match against Tommy Chen, Hastings quickly dusted off Chen's first bullet. Shortly, he took Chen's second bullet, as well, but Chen battled and momentarily took the chip lead until his Q♦8♦ couldn't outrun Hastings' A♣6♦. Their match ended shortly afterward when Chen was all-in preflop 8♥8♣ against Hastings' K♦10♥. The board ran out Q♦5♣2♠10♣9♠ ending Chen's bracelet hopes.
In his second match against Jason Mo, Hastings once again took a quick chip lead, forcing Mo to use his first rebuy lammer, and shortly, his second. Mo battled back, much like Chen had done, but it didn't take Hastings long to get it all-in with A♣7♥ against Mo's A♦3♦. On the following hand, Hastings shoved on the button with A♦4♥ and was called by Mo who held Q♦9♠. When the board ran out A♠J♠8♣Q♣7♣ Hastings was declared the winner and he was able to walk away with $371,498 and the bracelet. Over the course of the last three days, Hastings played James Rumptz, Emil Patel, Tommy Vedes, Amritraj Singh, Jeffrey Gross, Tommy Chen, and Jason Mo. For his second place finish Mo received $229,722.
To see action from the rest of the matches, or to see Mo's road to the heads-up play make sure you check out the live reporting blog.
Event #13: $1,500 Limit Hold'em
The road to victory for David Arsht was long. He never cemented a strong chip lead until reaching heads-up play, but when he did take the lead, he held on to it and pulled out a very strong finish to win his first bracelet. On the final day of play, with only 25 players left, Arsht was able to outlast Jennifer Harman, Issac Haxton, and Al Barbieri to walk away the victor.
With only four players left, and the blinds rising, Arsht was able to win in a crucial three-way pot against Al Barbieri and Donald Auger. In Barbieri's last hand, Arsht raised, Auger moved all-in, Barbieri called leaving just 20,000 behind, and Arsht raised once more to get Barbieri all-in. Barbieri called off and they were off to the races. Arsht held 7♠7♦, Barbieri held J♣10♣, and Auger was far behind with 6♠6♦. The flop fell 6♥4♥2♣ giving Auger the commanding lead, but the 5♣ on the turn left Barbieri drawing dead for the main pot and giving Arsht outs to a straight. And Arsht was able to get there by hitting the 8♦ on the river. That pot gave Arsht the double knockout and a 5:1 chip lead going into heads-up play.
On the final hand, Arsht and his opponent, Stephen Hung, both turned trip queens, but Arsht was best holding a 10♣ kicker. He was able to hold up and take home the $211,921 first prize and his first bracelet, an impressive feat for someone who ended Day 2 with just four big blinds.
To see action from all three days of this tournament, as well as who else Arsht had to best to make it to the final table check out the live reporting blog.
Event #14: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout
Phil Ivey, along with 119 other players, returned Thursday to make a run at a bracelet in the $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout event. But Ivey, along with 101 others did not make it past the day and all walked out with a min-cash of $5,295. Carlos Mortensen, Jason Koon, Gavin Smith, Lauren Kling, Joe Cada, David "Doc" Sands, Melanie Weisner, John Eames, Mark Seif, and Scott Clements were among those able to muster a min-cash.
The star of the day, though, was birthday boy Jeff Madsen who was able to decimate his second table and move on to the final 12 players. One of the key moments in Madsen's day was when he was able to eliminate David "Doc" Sands. Sands had just taken a very tough bad beat, and shoved on the following hand with QxJx. Madsen woke up with pocket aces that held, sending Sands out the door. While playing at the one of the toughest tables in the room, Madsen also had to best Joe Cada, Lauren Kling, Tom Schneider, and Randal Flowers to make it through to Day 3.
Layne Flack was also able to make it to the final day after beating Casey Jarzabek heads-up to make it through. On the final hand, Jarzabek opened for 6,500, only to have Flack shove all-in. Jarzabek called of his remaining 90,000 A♥7♠, and Flack showed down 3♥3♦. The board ran out K♣K♠4♠9♦8♣ and Flack's pocket threes held to give him the victory and advancement into the final 12 players.
The 12 players will reconvene Friday at 1300 PDT (2100 BST) with nearly even stacks. Once the final 12 are whittled down to 10 players, the players will be moved into the Pavilion room where the remainder of the event will stream online at WSOP.com.
To make sure you don't miss any of the exciting action from tomorrow's final table, make sure you're following the live reporting blog.
Event #15: $5,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Low Split 8-or-Better
Thursday began with 137 players vying for a bracelet in the $5,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Low Split 8-or-Better even. Leading the pack, Chris Tryba, who did not make it through the day, hitting the rail without making the money. Some other players hitting the rail without making the money Thursday were ESPN commentator Norman Chad, Daniel Negreanu, Doyle Brunson, Jason Mercier, and bubble boy Joe Tehan.
Leading the pack at the end of Day 2 is Adam Friedman with 323,500. Following close behind him is two-time bracelet winnerJohn Monnette. You may remember Monnette from his recent win in Event #10: Seven Card Stud. Also still lurking in the field are a couple of Phils, — Phil Ivey who has 234,000 chips, andPhil Hellmuth with 233,000.
Joe Tehan was the unfortunate bubble boy who was eliminated by Nikolai Yakovenko. Yakovenko had three clubs showing on sixth street, and Jesse Martin had trip sevens showing. Yakovenko raised into the trip sevens, and Martin called. Martin called another bet on seventh street and Yakovenko showed A♣7♠/2♣K♣5♥6♣/8♣ for a club flush and a 76 low. Tehan had already mucked and was heading to the exit before Martin could even muck.
On Friday, the final 19 players will return and play down to a winner. With such a star-studded field, it will be exciting down to the last second. Players will return at 1400 PDT (2200 BST) to the Amazon Room.
If you can't be at the event in person, PokerNews is your best bet for up to the minute updates, so make sure you check out the live reporting blog.
Event #16: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Six-Handed
There were 1,604 entrants in Thursday's $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Six-Handed tournament. By the end of the day, only 137 players remained and the money bubble had been broken. Leading the pack at the end of Day 1 is Nick Maimone with 175,900 chips. Right on his heels, though, is World Series of Poker bracelet winner Mark Radoja with 172,500 chips.
Among those not to make the Day 2, or the money were Daniel Negreanu, Shannon Shorr, Dwight Pilgrim, Faraz Jaka, Yevgeniy Timoshenko, Vanessa Selbst, Jerry Yang, and Phil Ivey. Another notable elimination was that of Viktor "Isildur1" Blom who finished in the money, earning his first cash of this year's World Series of Poker.
Mike "The Mouth" Matusow, Adam Junglen, Tristan Wade, Todd Terry, Frank Kasella, and Tony Dunst are just a few who are returning for Day 2. Right before the bubble burst, Dunst doubled up to remain in contention. A player in the cutoff opened, and Dunst reraised all-in on the button for his last 15,000. Action folded back around to the cutoff who made the call with 2x2x. Dunst showed A♦J♦. The board ran out 3♣3♦7♦5♣8♦ to give Dunst the winning flush and double up. Dunst will return Friday with 33,000 in chips and a chance to win a bracelet.
Action will begin on Friday at 1300 PDT (2100 BST) as players will attempt to play down to a final table, and with the way action went on Thursday, they could make it. Thursday's field averaged nearly 2.5 eliminations per minute, and at that rate, players could end the tournament in a matter of hours.
To make sure you don't miss anyone's elimination, make sure you check out the live reporting blog.
On Tap
On Friday, Event #14: $1,500 No Limit Hold'em Shootout and Event #15: Seven Card Stud Hi-Low Split 8-or-Better will both play down to winners. Event #16: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Six-Handed will attempt to play down to a final table, or as far as they get before time expires for the day. Also, Event #17: $10,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em and Event #18: $2,500 Seven Card Razz will kick off at 1200 PDT (2000 BST) and 1700 PDT (0100 BST) respectively.
To make sure you don't miss any of Friday's action, keep your eyes peeled on our live reporting blog.
Video of The Day
Are you looking for seven card stud Hi-Low Split 8-or-Better tips straight from the pros? Well, in the video of the day you've got it. Jason Mercier and Phil Hellmuth bring you some beginner tips for the game of stud 8-or-better.
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