2015 WSOP Day 11: Deeb, Hutter, and Maslak Capture First Bracelets in Saturday Action
Day 11 of the 2015 World Series of Poker proved to be an exciting affair as three players managed to capture their first bracelet, while thousands of other hopefuls began their quest on Day 1b of the wildly popular Millionaire Maker. We have all those stories and more in our end-of-day recap, so check it out.
Chess Grandmaster Konstantin Maslak Bags WSOP Gold in Event #13
Konstantin Maslak has now reached the pinnacle of two games.
In 2008, the avid chess player from Russia rose to the rank of Grandmaster. On Saturday, Maslak took down Event #13: $2,500 Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo for a first-place prize of $269,612.
The split-pot combo tournament drew 474 runners for a prize pool of $1,078,350. Just three of those advanced to the unscheduled Day 4, with Maslak in third holding just six big bets. Maslak was able to turn things around quickly with betting limits so high relative to stacks, and he busted both Benjamin Dobson (3rd) and Hani Awad (2nd) en route to the title.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Konstantin Maslak | Volgograd, Russia | $269,612 |
| 2 | Hani Awad | Las Vegas, NV | $166,583 |
| 3 | Benjamin Dobson | Poole, Dorset UK | $105,893 |
| 4 | Viacheslav Zhukov | Stary Oskol, Russia | $76,357 |
| 5 | Tuan Vo | Pleasantville, NJ | $55,923 |
| 6 | Brandon Paster | Arlington, VA | $41,581 |
| 7 | Chris Birchby | Bonsall, CA | $31,379 |
| 8 | Jose Paz-Gutierrez | Santa Cruz, Bolivia | $24,036 |
| 9 | Glenn Engelbert | Sicklerville, NJ | $18,677 |
The cash was Maslak's third of the series already, as he also took 103rd in Event #3: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo for $2,354 and 884th in Event #5: The Colossus $565 No-Limit Hold'em for $3,635.
For more on Maslak's win, click here.
Hutter Wins First Gold Bracelet in the $1,500 Shootout
Sarasota, Florida's Barry Hutter took down the 2015 WSOP Event #14: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout Saturday, earning $283,546 and his first WSOP bracelet.
"It's always good to close one out and this is a pretty good one to win," he said. "I've had a lot of chances to close out some big tournaments and I finally got one, so this will kind of be a landmark in my poker career."
Hutter outlasted a field of 1,000, winning three 10-handed shootout tables to book the win. In Saturday's final he got the best of a tough final table that included original November Niner Dennis Phillips, 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event fourth-place finisher Benjamin Zamani, and 2014 WSOP Ladies No-Limit Hold'em Championship fourth-place finisher Elizabeth Montizanti.
The win marked Hutter's 13th WSOP cash and third of 2015, including a 13th-place finish in the $10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship and a 14th-place finish in the $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em, vaulting him into 2015 GPI WSOP Player of the Year contention.
Randy Pfeifer was the first player eliminated from the final table when his jacks were cracked by Zamani's turned nut flush. Zamani also busted Grayson Ramage ninth, turning a straight to crack his flopped set of kings. Orson Young and Phillips chopped up the stack of Daniel Sterlitz, ending his run in eighth, and after Anton Smirnov and Young busted, Zamani looked to be running away with things.
Montizanti and Kitty Kuo were the next two out, leaving just men in the final three. After Phillips shoved K♣9♥ into Zamani's A♠7♣ and failed to improve, Zamani took an almost 2:1 chip lead into heads-up play with Hutter. Hutter then pulled even with a rivered pair of tens after missing a flopped open-ended straight draw, then took the lead making a straight and getting paid off with a massive river bet.
Before long, Zamani pushed all-in with the 9♠10♣ over a Hutter raise. Hutter called with the A♣6♣, faded all trouble, made an ace on the river, and won the bracelet.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barry Hutter | Hollywood, FL | $283,546 |
| 2 | Benjamin Zamani | Boca Raton, FL | $174,771 |
| 3 | Dennis Phillips | St. Louis, MO | $113,265 |
| 4 | Kitty Kuo | Taipei, Taiwan | $82,890 |
| 5 | Elizabeth Montizanti | Council Bluffs, IA | $61,560 |
| 6 | Orson Young | Oceanport, NJ | $46,332 |
| 7 | Anton Smirnov | Togliatt, Russia | $35,302 |
| 8 | Daniel Strelitz | Torrance, CA | $27,216 |
| 9 | Grayson Ramage | Austin, TX | $21,208 |
| 10 | Randy Pfeifer | East Amhest, NY | $16,740 |
Shaun Deeb Wins $10,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em Championship
Online poker legend Shaun Deeb won his first WSOP bracelet taking down the 2015 WSOP Event #15: $10,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em Championship on Saturday night.
"I'm so happy to win a bracelet and that it was a World Championship event," said Deeb. "I was never motivated to win a bracelet before, I was always just trying to win the most money. This year I came in a little more motivated."
Deeb won $318,857 and the bracelet, getting the best of a 128-player field and what he described as "one of the toughest final tables ever assembled."
High-roller regular Jason Koon came in with the chip lead, but after doubling up high-stakes pro Jason Les twice, helping triple up Ismael Bojang, and watching Tom Marchese run a weak ace into Sam Stein's big slick to bow out tenth, he was the next player to fall, running A♠Q♣ into Deeb's kings.
Bojang and Kristijonas Andrulis were out next, the latter sending his stack over to Paul Volpe with K♣J♣ versus A♣Q♣, before Deeb put a bad beat on Dario Sammartino to end his run in sixth, flopping a set of fours to crack Sammartino's kings.
Volpe busted 2012 WSOP Main Event champion Greg Merson fifth before Deeb did it again, flopping a set of nines to crack Stein's tens and send him home fourth. Three-handed play was a bit of a marathon with Deeb, Volpe and Les pulling just about even before the blinds got big and the action picked up.
Eventually, Volpe and Les traded double ups and got it in a third time with Volpe holding A♠10♦ to Les' A♣9♥. The board ran out A♥7♦7♠J♥ and looked like a chop before Volpe spiked on the 10♣ river.
Heads-up began relatively even, and the two traded chips for a while before Volpe potted on an A♥5♠2♠7♥5♥ board, leaving himself just 10,000 chips behind. Deeb pushed in, forcing Volpe to fold what must have been air and showed A♠A♥ for flopped top set and the rivered boat.
Volpe doubled the short stack before finally falling with 7♥2♥ to Deeb's A♣8♠, earning him another second-place finish at the 2015 WSOP and giving Deeb his first bracelet.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
| 1 | Shaun Deeb | Troy, NY | $318,857 |
| 2 | Paul Volpe | West Chester, PA | $197,048 |
| 3 | Jason Les | Costa Mesa, CA | $142,747 |
| 4 | Sam Stein | Henderson, NV | $105,364 |
| 5 | Greg Merson | Laurel, MD | $79,182 |
| 6 | Dario Sammartino | Nova Gorica, Italy | $60,545 |
| 7 | Kristijonas Andrulis | Kedainiai, Lithuania | $47,081 |
| 8 | Ismael Bojang | Vienna, Austria | $37,227 |
| 9 | Jason Koon | Las Vegas, NV | $29,911 |
| 10 | Tom Marchese | Boonton, NJ | $24,412 |
Villa Thrives as 3,928 Players Turn Out for Day 1b of Millionaire Maker
Day 1b of Millionaire Maker saw 3,928 players take to the felt, which along with Day 1a's 3,347 brought the total field to 7,275 entries, a bit shy of last year's 7,977 mark. Still, a hefty $9,821,250 prize pool was created, of which $1,277,193 is reserved for the eventual winner.
Alexander Villa is the man from the second starting flight best positioned to make a run at the top prize after bagging 177,800 in chips. Others who bagged up big stacks were Charles Sewell (177,800), Svjatoslavs Melnikovs (168,700), Nicholas Rocha (157,300), and Sean Eichendorf (143,100), just to name a few.
Other notables still in contention include The Colossus champ Cord Garcia (80,400), David "Doc" Sands (62,700), Shannon Shorr (47,200), and David Vamplew (42,500).
Vamplew got a good chunk of his chips in Level 6 after he and Wisconsin native Dan Almerli, who was playing in his first-ever WSOP event, played a big pot with the board reading JxJx8x7x. Almerli's stack of approximately 15,000 found its way into the middle, and his 8x8x full house had him out in front of Vamplew's JxKx. Unfortunately for the rookie, a Kx on the river put an end to his Millionaire Maker experience.
Others to fall on Day 1b were Bryan Campanello, Barry Greenstein, Ryan Riess, Jackie Glazier, Dan Shak, Fabrice Soulier, Scott Davies, and Ludovic Geilich.
Top 10 Chip Counts Heading Into Day 2
| Place | Player | Count |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tomas Altamirano | 265,700 |
| 2 | Christian Pham | 243,100 |
| 3 | Brian Rast | 206,300 |
| 4 | Austin Buchanan | 195,900 |
| 5 | Kathryn Lindsay | 182,400 |
| 6 | Daniel Fuhs | 181,300 |
| 7 | Alexander Villa | 180,500 |
| 8 | Charles Sewell | 177,800 |
| 9 | Gregory Russell | 177,100 |
| 10 | Upeshka Desilva | 172,800 |
Approximately 1,100 players from the combined flights will return for Day 2 action at 11 a.m. local time on Sunday on their way to the money.
Event #17: $10,000 Razz Championship Kicks Off; Parker & Mosseri Lead After Day 1
Just a few days after "The Italian Pirate" Max Pescatori won the $1,500 Razz event, the $10,000 edition kicked off with 103 players taking to the felt, which created a prize pool of $968,200. Of that, $271,105 is reserved for the winner, while 16 players will earn a minimum payday of $17,098.
After five two-hour levels, just 63 players remained with Abe Mosseri and Brock Parker tied for the chip lead with 140,900 in chips. Others who bagged and tagged were Hani Awad (122,200), Jyri Merivirta (113,800), Shaun Deeb (94,700), Dan Shak (80,300), David Bach (61,000), Jonathan Duhamel (58,000), and Erik Seidel (56,000).
Brian Hastings was the first to bust the event, but he wasn't the last as players like Stuart Rutter, Naoya Kihara, Daniel Negreanu, Richard Ashby, Eric Crain, Bill Chen, Mickey Doft, Chris "Fox" Wallace, and defending champ George Danzer joined him on the rail.
Players will return at 2 p.m. local time on Sunday for another full day of action.
Two more events will kick off on Sunday in Event #18: $1,000 Turbo No-Limit Hold'em at Noon and Event #19: $3,000 Six-Handed Limit Hold'em at 4 p.m.
For more on numbers from the Millionaire Maker, click here.
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