WSOP Day 36: Zinno's Magic Continues, Gold's End, and Nakai Wins Japan's Second Bracelet
Day 36 of the 2015 World Series of Poker saw World Poker Tour Season XIII Player of the Year Anthony Zinno win his first WSOP bracelet in his fifth final table of the summer, Takahiro Nakai win Japan's second ever, and 2006 WSOP Main Event champ Jamie Gold fall just short of his second.
Add in a brand new bounty event, the $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship, and the continuation of The Little One For One Drop event, and it was another action-packed day at the series. Check out all the news that's fit to print in the PokerNews WSOP recap below.
Anthony Zinno Wins $25,000 PLO
Anthony Zinno put an exclamation point on an fantastic summer and incredible year winning his first WSOP bracelet in the 2015 World Series of Poker Event #60: $25,000 High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha Wednesday.
Zinno was crowned WPT Season XIII Player of the Year earlier in 2015 after taking down back to back events in February, including the 2015 WPT Fallsview Poker Classic and 2015 WPT L.A Poker Classic. Fast forward to the 2015 WSOP where Zinno had already made four final tables before Wednesday's win, vaulting him into contention for GPI WSOP Player of the Year honors as well.
"This has been something that I've dreamed of for eight years now," he said. "It ranks among the best few days of my life."
Zinno, whose final table appearances at the 2015 WSOP also include a seventh-place finish in the $111,111 High Roller for ONE DROP, fifth in the $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship, seventh in the $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em 8-Handed, and sixth in the $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship, collected $1,122,196 with his first bracelet win.
Zinno spoke at length about with PokerNews about his incredible year right here.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anthony Zinno | Boston, MA | $1,122,196 |
| 2 | Pakinai Lisawad | Thailand | $693,553 |
| 3 | Stian Usterud | Porsgrunn, Norway | $456,522 |
| 4 | Christian Harder | Annapolis, MD | $332,998 |
| 5 | Juha Helppi | Helsinki, Finland | $247,754 |
| 6 | Ismael Bojang | Vienna, Austria | $187,571 |
| 7 | Alexander Kostritsyn | Volzhsky, Russia | $144,305 |
| 8 | Shaun Deeb | Troy, NY | $112,675 |
Takahiro Nakai Wins Japan's Second WSOP Bracelet
Osaka, Japan's Takahiro Nakai won the 2015 WSOP Event #57: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em on a fourth day added to the event Wednesday. Nakai became the second ever Japanese WSOP bracelet winner, beating Mel Weiner heads-up on the extra day and ultimately a field of 2,497 entries to collect a $399,039 first-place prize.
Nakai, 36, had just made his WSOP debut last week, cashing in the Draftkings 50/50. Naoya Kihara became the first player from Japan to win a bracelet in 2012.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Takahiro Nakai | Osaka, Japan | $399,039 |
| 2 | Mel Wiener | Los Angeles, CA | $248,034 |
| 3 | Paul Vas Nunes | Guildford, UK | $175,559 |
| 4 | Glenn Lafaye | Ridgefield, CT | $126,612 |
| 5 | Jonas Lauck | Primstal, Germany | $92,453 |
| 6 | Robert Piltz | St Jolious, Malta | $68,317 |
| 7 | David Martinezcano | Madrid, Spain | $51,103 |
| 8 | Frederico Dabus | Brazil | $38,676 |
| 9 | Barry Schultz | Cordova, TN | $29,619 |
Jamie Gold Falls Fifth, Four Bag in $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em
The third day of Event #59: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em began with 37 players and 2006 WSOP Main Event champ Jamie Gold second in chips. Gold made the final table of the event, but could do no better than fifth, cashing for $120,952.
Play ended just before 2 a.m. with four players remaining in the hunt for the WSOP bracelet and $531,037 first-place prize. They will get going again at 1 p.m. local time Thursday with plans to crown a champion.
| Place | Player | Count |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Haixia Zhang | 4,800,000 |
| 2 | Alex Lindop | 4,200,000 |
| 3 | Aurelien Guiglini | 3,655,000 |
| 4 | Yorane Kerignard | 3,490,000 |
Just 129 Remain In The Little One for One Drop
A total of 1,047 players turned up for Day 2 of The Little One for One Drop event, but after ten levels of play just 129 survived. Michael Del Vecchio took the overnight lead and remains the only player over the one-million chip mark headed into Thursday's Day 3.
The money bubble burst part way through the day and those making the money but not Day 3 included Fatima Moreira de Melo, Leo Margets, Michael Mizrachi, and Andy Frankenberger.
Those returning with a shot at the WSOP bracelet and $645,969 first-place prize include Andy Spears (970,000), Jonathan Little (449,000) and Men Nguyen (522,000). Play will resume at 2 p.m. local time Thursday.
$10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship Draws 204: Elezra Leads
The 2015 WSOP Event #63: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E Championship drew 204 players Wednesday, creating a $1,917,600 prize pool that will pay 24 spots. A min-cash is worth $18,619 while a WSOP bracelet and $517,766 first-place prize awaits the winner.
By the time play was through early Thursday morning, 124 players remained with 2015 WSOP bracelet winner Eli Elezra holding the overnight chip lead on 160,100.
Randy Ohel (113,600), David Chiu (107,500), Ted Forrest (92,900), Joe Hachem (82,400), Bryn Kenney (81,000), Frank Kassela (74,500), and Scott Clements (70,000) also bagged big and will be looking to ladder up when play resumes at 2 p.m. local time Thursday.
$1,500 Bounty Draws Over 2,000
The 2015 WSOP Event #62: $1,500 Bounty No-Limit Hold'em kicked off at the Rio Wednesday drawing a field of 2,178. With $500 bounties on all players heads a $2,940,300 was left over that will pay 243 spots. A min-cash is worth $1,666 while $333,351 and a WSOP gold bracelet is awaiting the winner.
By the time 10 levels of play were finished in this first ever WSOP bounty event, 282 players remained with Christopher Brammer holding the overnight chip lead on some 242,000.
Liv Boeree (168,600), Zo Karim (129,100), JC Tran (79,900), Eric Baldwin (87,800), Celina Lin (73,000), Faraz Jaka (48,900), and Steve Dannenmann (47,000) also bagged big. Play resumes at 1 p.m. local time Thursday.
Thursday will also see the start of the first ever online WSOP gold bracelet event as Event #64: WSOP.com Online No-Limit Hold'em begins at 12 p.m. and Event #65: $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better starts at 4 p.m.
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