2015 WSOP Day 8: Colossus and Two Others Crown Champs on an Event-Filled Day

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Jun 04, 2015 5 min read

The biggest tournament in live poker history crowned a champion on Day 8 of the 2015 World Series of Poker Wednesday, with two other WSOP bracelet events also doing the same. In addition, the $10,000 Heads-up Championship played down to a final two, the $1,500 Limit Hold'em played down to the final 28, and two other bracelet events kicked off.

Garcia Wins The Biggest Live Tournament in Poker History

Houston, Texas native Cord Garcia won the biggest live tournament in poker history Wednesday, taking down the title in the 2015 WSOP's Event #5: THE COLOSSUS $565 No-Limit Hold'em. The circuit grinder, whose biggest live score to date had been $83,640, won $638,880 and his first WSOP gold bracelet, beating a final table that also included one of his roommates for the summer and the man who won the biggest WSOP Circuit event in history earlier this year, fellow Texan Ray Henson.

Garcia, who spoke with PokerNews about the victory and the significance of beating a field of 22,374, entered Wednesday's final table sixth of nine in chips.

Anthony Blanda was the first player out after just the first few hands. Then after David Farber and Garry Simms hit the rail, massive start-of-day chip leader Adi Prasetyo fell sixth. Praseto had increased his chip lead to that point, but after doubling up Henson once, he ended up with the worst holdings in a three-way all in hand against Henson and Brad McFarland. McFarland won the hand and Henson busted Belgian Kenny Hallaert fifth before Garcia took control of things, winning a three-way all-in hand of his own that sent Paul Lentz out fourth and left Henson short.

After Henson exited third, Garcia made relatively quick work of McFarland, picking off an ace-high river bluff with a flopped set and a turned full house to secure the record-breaking victory.

Michaelis Wins First, Denies Marchese in $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em

The 2015 WSOP Event #8: $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em began its third and final day Wednesday with 15 players remaining from the 639 who had entered.

David Eldridge held the lead to start the day, but by the time the final table of 10 was reached, German Paul Michaelis had moved on top as the only player over the one-million chip mark. With a $189,818 first-place prize and WSOP gold bracelet hanging in the balance, Michaelis almost went wire-to-wire, until high-stakes reg and now four-time WSOP final table participant Tom Marchese picked off his king-high bluff in a massive hand to snatch the lead away heads up.

Despite some heavy betting, Marchese couldn't push Michaelis off second pair three hands later, giving the lead back. Then suddenly, Marchese four-bet shoved Q♠Q♣ and Michaelis made the call to put him at risk with 9♥9♦. Marchese looked good to double up and take control in the battle for his first bracelet, but it was not meant to be, as the board ran out K♠8♥3♦9♣A♣, giving Michaelis a set.

Just a few days removed from a 1295th-place in the WSOP's Event #5: THE COLOSSUS $565 No-Limit Hold'em, marking his first WSOP cash, Michaelis won his first bracelet and collected his first six-figure poker score.

Pescatori Earns His Third WSOP Bracelet in the $1,500 Razz

Max Pescatori won his third World Series of Poker bracelet by taking down the 2015 WSOP's Event #9: $1,500 Razz Wednesday night. It was Pescatori's first win since 2008 and he spoke about his return to WSOP Glory with PokerNews.

The Italian Pirate earned $155,947 for his victory, besting a field of 462 and a final table that included two-time WSOP bracelet winner Eli Elezra. Here's how the entire final table finished up:

Volpe and Lehr to Meet Heads-Up for $10K Championship

Two veteran pros and World Series of Poker bracelet winners will face off to decide the 2015 WSOP $10,000 Heads Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship Thursday. 2014 WSOP $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball champion Paul Volpe and 2003 WSOP $3,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em winner Kieth Lehr both advanced to the final heads-up match set for 1 p.m. local time in Las Vegas.

From a field 143, the final 16 returned Wednesday to play down to two. Lehr, who also has two runner-up finishes in WSOP bracelet events on his résumé, defeated Jake Schindler, Valeriu Coca and Dee Tiller to earn his seat in the final. Volpe ran through Barry Hutter, Isidro Sifuentes and Matthew Cooper to get there.

The championship match will begin with both players holding 7,680,000-chip starting stacks and blinds of 30,000/60,000. The winner will take home $334,430 with the runner-up settling for $206,620.

Here's how the payouts look so far:

Song Leads Final 28 in the $1,500 Limit Hold'em

Just 28 players remain in Event #11: $1,500 Limit Hold'em with 1997 WSOP $2,000 Limit Hold'em bracelet winner Kevin Song leading them all.

Day 2 of the event began Wednesday with 222 players still in the hunt for the bracelet and the $196,055 first-place prize. End-of-Day-1 chip leader Vasili Firsau was among those that busted throughout the day and was joined by the likes of Barry Greenstein, Allen Kessler and Todd Brunson on the rail.

Big names like Shannon Shorr and WSOP bracelet winner David Chiu will be among those returning to play Thursday at 2 p.m. until a champion is crowned.

Campanello Leads Day 1 of the $1,500 Six-Max

The 2015 WSOP's Event #12: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed kicked off Wednesday, drawing 1,651 entries to the Rio for short-handed action. In total, a $2,228,500 prize pool was created that will pay 180 players with a $457,007 first-place prize up top.

The event played down to 206 remaining players with WSOP bracelet winner Bryan Campanello leading the group. Galen Hall, Mike Watson, and Steve Billirakis also built six-figure stacks while others including David Benyamine, Kevin Saul, Antonio Esfandiari, and Scott Seiver collected enough to make some noise on Day 2.

Play will resume at 1 p.m. local time Thursday with hopes of reaching a final table of six.

Back-To-Back Flack Takes The Lead in the $2,500 Eight or Better

Six-Time WSOP bracelet winner Layne Flack rose to the top of the chip counts on Day 1 of the 2015 WSOP Event #13: $2,500 Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better. The event drew 474 entries at the Rio Wednesday, creating a $1,185,000 prize pool that will pay 48 places. Along with a WSOP bracelet, the winner will earn $269,612 in prize money.

Two-hundred seventy-seven players survived the first day with Flack topping the counts and two-time WSOP Main Event Last Woman Standing Maria Ho closely in tow. Other big names like WSOP bracelet winners Scott Clements, Eli Elezra and Jeff Madsen also bagged relatively big.

Play will resume at 2 p.m. local time Thursday in an effort to whittle the field down to a final table.

Two more events will kick off Thursday with Event #14: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout starting at 12 p.m. and Event #15: $10,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em Championship beginning at 4 p.m.

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• Tags 2015 WSOP Layne Flack Maria Ho Max Pescatori Eli Elezra Steve Billirakis Tom Marchese WSOP David Benyamine Antonio Esfandiari Barry Greenstein
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• Related Players Barry GreensteinMaria HoLayne FlackTom MarcheseDavid BenyamineSteve Billirakis