2013 WSOP Europe Day 6: Mercier Eyes Third Bracelet; O'Brien Heads-Up for First
The sixth day of the 2013 World Series of Poker Europe featured Day 3 of Event #3: €5,300 Mixed Max No-Limit Hold’em, Day 2 of Event #4: €1,650 Pot-Limit Omaha, and Day 1 of Event #5: €2,200 No-Limit Hold’em.
Event #3: €5,300 Mixed Max No-Limit Hold’em
Only two players remain in Event #3, and American pro Dan O’Brien will hold a more than three-to-one chip lead against Darko Stojanovic in the final heads-up match on Thursday at noon local time. Jason Mann and Noah Schwartz also reached the heads-up stage of Event #3, but Schwartz busted in one hand against Stojanovic, and Mann couldn’t overcome O’Brien’s near eight-to-one chip lead in their semi-final.
Mixed Max Final
| Player | Country | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| Dan O’Brien | USA | 1,594,000 |
| Darko Stojanovic | France | 507,000 |
Day 3 began with 16 players grinding it out on four four-handed tables, and according to WSOP.com, November Niner Marc McLaughlin was the first to exit. He got his short stack in the middle with A♥J♣, which dominated Joe Kuether’s A♦5♥. Kuether flopped two pair though, and held as the turn and river both produced bricks.
Fellow November Niner Mark Newhouse was also unable to survive four-handed play, exiting in 12th when he moved all in with one pair on the turn of a jack-high board and Jeremy Joseph called with an overpair of kings. The kings held up.
The next two players to bust were James Dempsey and Phil Ivey. Dempsey was faced with a four-bet all in from Stojanovic, and he called with 9♠9♦. The Frenchman tabled Q♠Q♣ for a superior pair, and held as the flop, turn, and river produced bricks. Ivey lost a race with K♣Q♣ against the 2♥2♦ of Noah Schwartz.
With nine players left there was about a €16,000 pay jump bubble, and Kuether took full advantage of it. He was faced with a four-bet all in from O’Brien after three-betting to 23,000, and while he was tanking, he noticed that a big pot was brewing on an adjacent table. Suddenly, while Kuether was still in the tank, Ville Mattila was all in for his tournament life against Shannon Shorr, who had already flopped a straight. Mattila held just top pair, and was drawing dead after a deuce turned. Kuether then proceeded to call of his stack with 8♣8♠, and O’Brien, who said nothing during the tank, showed 10♠10♥. The tens held up, and Kuether was off to collect his extra €16,000.
After Kuether busted, Jake Schwartz and Joseph followed him out the door, leaving just five players. Five-handed play took nearly three hours to complete, and Shorr eventually bubbled the heads-up semi-finals. The American pro ran into kings twice, once with pocket queens to cripple him and then finally with K♦10♠ to send him to the rail. Shorr received €30,695 for his efforts.
Because he bagged 7,000 chips more than Mann, Schwartz was pitted against Stojanovic in the semi-finals, but the favorable matchup ended in just one hand. The Frenchman open-shoved on the button for roughly 19 big blinds, and Schwartz called with 9♦9♣. Stojanovic was well behind with A♦5♣, but the board came A♠K♠K♦8♣6♣, and Schwartz hit the rail in fourth place (€62,770).
In the other match, Mann opted to gamble with 9♣8♠ and doubled against O’Brien’s A♥7♣, but was eliminated a few hands later. O’Brien found kings once again, and snap-called man when he three-bet all in with Q♣2♣. Mann didn’t even flop a sweat, and he was drawing dead by the turn. He too earned €62,770.
O’Brien and Stojanovic will play heads-up Thursday at noon local time for the bracelet and the €188,160 top prize. O’Brien has been in this situation before – at the 2012 WSOPE he held a six-to-one chip advantage against Giovanni Rosadoni, but Rosadoni came storming back to capture the title.
Event #4: €1,650 Pot-Limit Omaha
Only six players remain in Event #4, and the chip leader entering into the final day is Juha Helppi. Helppi, who bagged 227,500 chips, has finished second, third, fourth, and 13th in WSOP bracelet events, but has never captured gold. The Finn also has just under $5 million in career live tournament earnings.
Joining him at the final table are two-time WSOP bracelet winner Jason Mercier, 2012 $10,000 PLO World Championship winner Jan-Peter Jachtmann, 2012 November Niner Jeremy Ausmus, Martin Kozlov, who just bubbled the EPT10 London Main Event final table, and ”Luca” Mike Schwartz.
| Seat | Player | Country | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jason Mercier | USA | 81,500 |
| 2 | Jeremy Ausmus | USA | 203,000 |
| 3 | Jan-Peter Jachtmann | Germany | 149,000 |
| 4 | Juha Helppi | Finland | 227,500 |
| 5 | Mike Schwartz | USA | 39,500 |
| 6 | Martin Kozlov | Australia | 127,500 |
For Ausmus, this is his 11th cash and fourth final table of the 2013 WSOP season. Like Helppi, he has yet to capture a bracelet. Jachtmann and Mercier both have a bit of history at WSOP final tables – when the German won his only bracelet, Mercier finished in eighth place.
Day 2 started with 34 players – just 13 eliminations shy of the money bubble – and among the players to exit empty handed was Mike Watson, who ran into Dan Kelly’s aces.
The money bubble burst when Mariov Denishev was eliminated by Jachtmann, and following Denishev out the door were Max Pescatori, Fabrice Soulier, Tommy Vedes, and the aforementioned Kelly.
Prior to the formation of the final table, Jachtmann won a massive pot off of Ryan Chapman, who started the day as the chip leader. Chapman moved all in for effectively 50,000 or so on a board of 10♣J♣8♠A♦, and Jachtmann tank-called with A♠Q♠10♦9♣ for a straight. Chapman still had outs with A♥A♣8♣8♥ for a set of aces and a flush draw, but the 6♦ bricked off on the river.
Chapman was the first player to bust from the official final table of nine, earning €6,335.
The day completed when Yohann Aube exited in eighth place and Jonathan Little bowed out in seventh. After potting on the flop and betting on the turn, Little moved all in on a board of 10♠5♦6♥J♦4♠. Helppi called with A♠9♥8♣7♥ for a straight, and Little unhappily showed J♥10♥10♣5♣ for top set. He earned €10,102 for his efforts.
The players will return on Thursday at 2 p.m. to battle it out for the bracelet and the €70,324 top prize. For Mercier, the top prize is €200,648 because of the side bets he made with Ivey. The Team PokerStars Pro discussed them on the PokerNews Podcast.
Event #5: €2,200 No-Limit Hold’em
Event #5 attracted a total of 337 entrants, generating a total prize pool of €647,040, and leading the 102 survivors is Andrei Konopelko. Konopelko has already reached a final table at the 2013 WSOPE, finishing ninth in Event #2: €1,100 No-Limit Hold'em Reentry for €12,134, and according to WSOP.com, he won a three-way all in with aces agains Byron Kaverman's pocket queens and Giuseppe Sammartino's K♠Q♠. That pot rocketed his stack up to 58,000 chips, and he eventually bagged 78,375.
Joining Konopelko atop the counts are James Dempsey and Jonathan Little, who entered right after he busted from Event #4. Little too won a big three-way all in with aces, as he held against Marvin Rettenmaier's pocket kings and Anaras Alekberovas' pocket queens. Little will enter the second day of play with 64,775 chips, while Dempsey bagged 58,275.
Like little, Jason Mann hopped into the event after going deep in Event #3, and he finished with 51,600.
Other survivors include Phil Hellmuth, Faraz Jaka, Liv Boeree, Jonathan Duhamel, Jeff Rossiter, Erik Seidel, Daniel Weinman, and Michael Mizrachi.
While some prospered, others exited empty handed. Day 1 claimed many stacks, including those belonging to [Removed:17], Chino Rheem, Dan Shak, Antonio Esfandiari, Scott Clements, Tuan Le, and Winfred Yu.
The top 36 players will receive a minimum of €3,345, each member of the final table will walk away with at least €13,989, and the winner will take home €148,820 and the gold bracelet.
Play will resume on Thursday at 1 p.m. local time, and PokerNews will be on hand for feature pieces and a recap of the day's events.
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