2015 WSOP Day 33: Ivey's Debut Falls Flat, Busts $111,111 High Roller for ONE DROP

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Jun 29, 2015 9 min read

Day 33 of the 2015 World Series of Poker was a memorable one. Phil Ivey finally showed up to the dance, while the $111,111 High Roller for ONE DROP kicked off. Toss in four bracelets being awarded and it was a busy day. Here are the highlights:

Colman Leads After Day 1 in $111,111 High Roller for ONE DROP; Ivey Falls

In 2012, the Big One for ONE DROP changed the poker landscape by offering a $1-million buy-in tournament, the biggest in poker history. It was such a massive affair that it was deemed too much to hold every year. Instead, a plan was instituted to hold it every other year, and in between to offer the $111,111 High Roller for ONE DROP.

In 2013, the inaugural $111,111 High Roller for ONE DROP attracted 166 players and was eventually won by Tony Gregg for $4,830,619. Attendance was down a bit for the second edition of the tournament, but still 135 players turned up to create a $14,249,925 prize pool, which will be distributed to the top 16 players with the eventual winner set to take home $3,989,985.

The man best positioned to make a run at it after 14 levels of play on Day 1 is last year's Big One for ONE DROP champ Daniel Colman, who bagged up the top stack among the 46 surviving players with 1.955 million. Others still in contention include Sorel Mizzi (1.935 million), Phil Hellmuth (1.395 million), and Ben "Bttech86" Tollerene (1.08 million), just to name a few.

Top 10 Day 1 Chip Counts

The story of the day was the 2015 WSOP debut of Phil Ivey, who had finally arrived from Macau. Poker fans were eager to see if Ivey would make an appearance this summer, and he delivered, which was something he talked about in this PokerNews interview.

Unfortunately for Ivey, his stay was short and not so sweet. Early on, Ivey clashed with Brian Hastings, who has won two bracelets this summer, and saw his stack take a hit as a result. In one hand, there was approximately 175,000 in the pot and a board reading 3♣3♥Q♥10♠K♣ when Ivey bet 100,000 from the small blind. Hastings proceeded to move all in, and Ivey hit the tank debating what to do with the 145,000 he had behind.

"Late reg is still open for the $1K," Hastings joked. Ivey didn't seem to find it funny, and after about five minutes released his hand. According to updates from the event, Ivey later fell in Level 11 (5,000/10,000/1,000) after action folded to him on the button and he shoved his last 113,000. Chris Klodnicki then three-bet all in over the top from the small blind, which inspired the big to fold.

Ivey: J♦10♦
Klodnicki: A♥K♠

The A♦J♠2♠ flop paired Ivey, but it did him little good as Klodnicki also paired his ace. The A♣ turn left Ivey drawing dead, and he headed for the exit even before the 9♠ was put out on the river.

Others who fell on Day 1 were the original Big One for ONE DROP champ Antonio Esfandiari; reigning WSOP Main Event champ Martin Jacobson; 2012 WSOP champ Greg Merson; two-time WSOP Player of the Year Daniel Negreanu; and the defending champ, Gregg, who fell after running pocket sevens into Hastings' nines.

The tournament, which raised more than $750,000 for the ONE DROP charity, will recommence at 1 p.m. local time on Monday with the plan to play down to a winner; however, a third day may be added if necessary.

Liberto Beats Cahill for the Event #51: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em Six-Max Bracelet

On Day 4 of Event #51: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em Six-Max the final two plaeyrs from a 1,043-player field returned to play down to a winner. It all came down to Ireland's Seamus Cahill and the United States' Justin Liberto, who were battling it out for the bracelet and a $640,711 first-place prize.

The former will hold 9.73 million in chips to the latter's 5.925 million at the start of play, and while things were relatively close, it'd take just 18 hands for a winner to emerge. According to updates from the event, the final hand came when Liberto moved all in and a short-stacked Cahill called off.

Liberto: K♣Q♣
Cahill: K♥8♦

Cahill had major kicker issues, and they failed to get resolved as the board ran out a clean Q♠7♠2♣9♦5♦. Cahill had to settle for runner-up and $395,986 in prize money, while Liberto took home a long-awaited bracelet.

Final Table Results

Denmark's Alexander "AlexKP" Petersen Wins $10,000 PLO Championship for $927,655

Early Monday morning, Jason Mercier was primed to win his second bracelet of the summer. In Event #54: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship – a tournament that attracted 387 players and created a prize pool of $3,637,800 — he began heads-up play with a slight chip lead over Denmark's Alexander Petersen, a player few knew much about.

With nary a World Series of Poker cash to his name, there had to be more to the man donned in black with a drink in hand. After all, who has the skill and bankroll to play in such an talented field and to go toe to toe with Mercier? As it turned out, Petersen is no slouch at PLO; in fact, the 28-year-old is one of online poker's best, albeit under the name "AlexKP" on PokerStars.

Early on in their match, Petersen managed to score a double after raising to 300,000 from the button and Mercier called to see a flop of 3♣A♣2♥. Mercier checked, Petersen bet 300,000, and Mercier potted. Petersen made the call and then snap-called off his remaining stack when Mercier shoved the J♦ turn.

Mercier: Q♣4♣3♠6x
Petersen: 4♥2♦5♣6x

Petersen had flopped the nuts, but he was not out of the woods as Mercier held a flush draw. Fortunately for Petersen, the K♦ blanked on the river to give him the double. He'd go on to eliminate Mercier shortly thereafter.

For more on Petersen's win, click here.

Final Table Results

Kevin MacPhee Takes Down the $5,000 Turbo

In what was his fourth World Series of Poker final table, second in 2015, Idaho's Kevin MacPhee captured his first bracelet Sunday night, winning the 2015 WSOP Event #56: $5,000 Turbo No-Limit Hold'em.

"Winning a bracelet has always been a big goal for me since I started coming and playing World Series events," he said. "I have the EPT title (Berlin 2010), so the bracelet is another feather in the cap so to speak, another part of the Triple Crown, and I'm pretty happy to finally ship one."

The event played down to 54 and into the money on Day 1, then quickly to a final table on Day 2.

Once they got shorthanded, MacPhee picked up all the momentum, and eventually the win. Third-place finisher Pascal Theodosiadis folded queens in a spot where he could have knocked both MacPhee and runner-up Igor Yaroshevskyy out and booked a win, then MacPhee picked up kings versus Theodosiadis' ace-king in what would have to be considered a cooler three handed to send him to the rail and take an insurmountable lead into heads-up play.

"You've just got to keep putting yourself in the spot to get lucky," said MacPhee, who collected a $490,800 first-place prize with the win.

For more on MacPhee's win, click here.

Final Table Results

Jacquelyn Scott Takes Down Ladies Championship for $153,876

Jacquelyn Scott has worn many hats. Years ago she served as a critical care nurse, which was followed by a successful medical sales career in which she sold robots. She also helped facilitate the proliferation of defibrillators in that field before transitioning into a successful Fort Lauderdale real estate broker. Now the 66-year-old is a World Series of Poker bracelet winner.

On Sunday, the final 10 players from a 795-player field returned to battle down to a winner in Event #53 No-Limit Hold'em Ladies Championship. At that time, Scott sat in the middle of the pack, fifth in chips with 266,000, which was plenty for the South Florida grinder.

Scott's dream came true after she dispatched Hope Williams in heads-up play. According to updates from the event, on Hand #212 of the final table, Scott raised to 150,000 and then called when Williams shoved all in. Williams was ahead with the A♠K♣, but Scott got lucky with her K♥Q♠ after the board ran out 4♥9♠10♥Q♣10♦. It was a crushing blow to Williams, who took home $95,039 for her runner-up finish.

"It is just phenomenal," Scott said after the win. "It's something I've wanted to do for so long. I've played the WSOP Main Event four or five times since 2009. I've never cashed. I've cashed in a lot of tournaments in my hometown, but never cashed in a WSOP. I came here to play the Ladies Event having never played a ladies event in my life. I'm so thankful I played this because not only was it a great tournament, it was a whole different atmosphere, just a lot of wonderful women and really good players. I'm just honored to come out on top."

For more on Scott's win, click here.

Final Table Results

Draftkings 50/50 Down to 28

What started with 1,123 is now down to 28 after two days of play in Event #55: $1,500 Draftkings 50/50 No-Limit Hold'em. The uniquely flat payout structured event hit the money on Day 1, but a $200,618 first-place prize and a WSOP gold bracelet still awaits the winner.

Leading the final 28 when play resumes at 1 p.m. Monday will be Ping Liu, sitting on 894,000. However, a plethora of top players sit within striking distance in the top five, including WPT Season XII Player of the Year Mukul Pahuja (637,000), 2010 WSOP Main Event 15th-place finisher Matt Affleck (504,000) and Tom Braband (503,000), who has 24 cashes lifetime at the WSOP.

Also still in the hunt is three-time WSOP bracelet winners Dominik Nitsche and Matt Matros.

The Money Bubble Approaches in the $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em

The latest low buy-in 2015 WSOP Event #57: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em drew 2,497 entries Sunday, creating a $2,247,300 prize pool that will pay 270 spots. A min-cash is worth $1,820 while a WSOP bracelet and a $399,039 first-place prize awaits the champion.

After ten levels of play on Day 1 just 278 survived with Richard Bruning holding the overnight chip lead on 191,500. A number of recognizable names also bagged big including Jon Turner (126,900), Rep Porter (66,200), 2014 WSOP Main Event champ Martin Jacobsen (60,400), and Allen Kessler (53,000).

Play will resume at 1 p.m. Monday just eight spots off the money with plans to play another ten levels.

On Monday, two new tournaments will kick off at the 2015 WSOP. The first is Event #59: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em at Noon local time, which will be followed by Event #60: $25,000 High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha at 4:00 p.m.

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PR & Media Manager for PokerNews, Podcast host & 2013 WSOP Bracelet Winner.

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