2015 WSOP Day 40: Main Event Kicks Off, Ringe and Do Capture Bracelets
Day 40 of the 2015 World Series of Poker marked the start of the event everyone has been waiting for – the $10,000 Main Event. You can check out our recap of Day 1A below, as well as the conclusions to both Event #65: $1,500 Seven-Card Stud Hi-Low and Event #67: $10,000 Dealers Choice Championship. Scroll down to see who captured bracelets on Sunday.
2015 Bracelet Winner William Kakon Leads Day 1a Main Event Field
The first of three starting flights for the 2015 WSOP Main Event drew 741 entries at the Rio All-Suite Las Vegas Hotel and Casino Sunday. The number was down slightly from the 771 entries on Day 1A of the 2014 WSOP Main Event, but by all accounts it keeps the 6,683 total number of entries from last year well within reach.
With 2014 WSOP Main Event champ Martin Jacobson reportedly feeling a little under the weather, 1983 WSOP Main Event sixth-place finisher and Irish poker legend Donnacha O'Dea was asked to make the call to shuffle up and deal as poker's big dance kicked off.
A ton of recognizable names turned up to take a shot at the World Championship, including 2014 WSOP Main Event third-place finisher, Jorryt van Hoof, who found himself among the leaders as the day drew near to a close. Van Hoof fell from the top of the counts before the day ended, but still bagged big.
2010 WSOP Main Event champ Jonathan Duhamel also took a top five stack into the late stages and will return with a decent stack on Day 2A. In the early part of the day, 2009 WSOP Main Event eighth-place finisher Kevin Schaffel was up near the top of the counts, and still managed to bag a healthy stack as well.
Players like Fabian Quoss, Mike Matusow, David Sands, Dario Sammartino, Abe Mosseri, and Brandon Steven also spent the day climbing the leader board and remain in contention.
Among those to take a swing and miss on Day 1a were players including Erik Seidel, Andy Bloch, Chris Klodnicki, Andrew Lichtenberger and John Hennigan, who all busted before play wrapped up.
By the time five two-hour levels of play were through, just 480 players remained with 2015 WSOP Event #11: $1,500 Limit Hold'em bracelet winner William Kakon holding the chip lead on 153,325. Kakon has booked four cashes at the 2015 WSOP so far — including a bracelet win in Event #11: $1,500 Limit Hold'em — worth close to $240,000.
The 2015 WSOP Main Event will continue with Day 1B beginning at 12 p.m. local time Monday. The survivors from Day 1A will be back to play Day 2A at 12 p.m. local time Wednesday July 8.
Gerald Ringe Wins Event #65: $1,500 Seven-Card Stud Hi-Low for $180,943
On Sunday, as Day 1a of the Main Event was kicking off in the Brasilia Room, the final three players from Event #65: $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better – a tournament that attracted 547 players and created a prize pool of $738,450 – returned to battle down to a winner.
Daniel Idema (540,000) was looking for his second WSOP bracelet of the year, but he was at a big chip disadvantage against both Christopher Vitch (1,940,000) and Gerald Ringe (1,625,000). What was expected to be a contentious affair turned out to be anything but as Ringe dispatched his two opponents in just 35 minutes.
“Whatever I needed today, I managed to catch it,” Ringe told WSOP officials after the win. “Even when it looked like my opponent would scoop a big pot, I caught the perfect card and managed to split the pot. Everything went right today.”
Ringe, a real estate investor and businessman from London, became the third player from England to win a gold bracelet at the 2015 WSOP.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gerald Ringe | London, UK | $180,943 |
| 2 | Christopher Vitch | La Jolla, CA | $111,860 |
| 3 | Daniel Idema | Vancouver, BC, Canada | $70,322 |
| 4 | Noah Bronstein | Kirkland, WA | $50,473 |
| 5 | John Esposito | Las Vegas, NV | $36,811 |
| 6 | Owais Ahmed | Anaheim, CA | $27,285 |
| 7 | John Cover | Palm Desert, CA | $20,551 |
| 8 | Chris George | Croton On Hudson, NY | $15,721 |
Quinn Do Wins $10K Dealers Choice for $319,792; Captures 2nd WSOP Gold Bracelet
On Sunday, a dozen players returned to action in Event #67: $10,000 Dealers Choice Championship, a first-time tournament that attracted 108 runners and created a prize pool of $1,015,200. By late evening, all but one had hit the rail, leaving Quinn Do as the last man standing, an accomplishment good enough to win him $319,792 in prize money and his second World Series of Poker gold bracelet.
"It's been a very long time, ten years," Do said of his latest win, which follows a 2005 victory in which he took down Event #17: $2,500 Limit Hold'em for $265,975. I constantly work on my game over the last 10 years. I know I'm going to come back to this final table."
As for which bracelet means more to him, it wasn't even close: "Oh of course this one because I play mixed games, so to have all the games is special. Very proud."
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Quinn Do | El Monte, CA | $319,792 |
| 2 | Rep Porter | Woodinville, WA | $197,608 |
| 3 | Jeff Madsen | Los Angeles, CA | $129,651 |
| 4 | Jake Abdalla | Las Vegas, NV | $89,114 |
| 5 | Adam Friedman | Gahanna, OH | $63,277 |
| 6 | Jussi Nevanlinna | Helsinki, Finland | $46,384 |
Among those to fall before the final table of six were Stuart Rutter (12th - $21,908), Ray Dehkharghani (11th - $21,908), Jens Lakemeier (10th - $27,714), David Chiu (9th - $27,714), Paul Volpe (8th - $35,065), and David Benyamine (7th - $35,065).
At the final table, Finland's Jussi Nevanlinna was the first to go, and then Do dispatched both Adam Friedman and Jake Abdalla in a round of no-limit 2-7 single draw. It was all in line with Do's plan.
From there, Do sent Jeff Madsen, who had won his fourth bracelet earlier in the summer, out the door in third place in a hand of no-limit hold'em. It happened when Madsen moved all in for 150,000 from the button holding the Q♣9♣ and Do called from the big blind with the A♥10♣. The board ran out a clean 6♥3♥6♠8♥A♠ and that was all she wrote for Madsen.
Not long after, Do used his sizable chip lead to dispatch Rep Porter in a hand of 2-7 triple draw. In what would be the final hand, Porter made a ninety-seven low, but it was no good as Do made a winning eighty-seven.
For more on Do's win, click here.
Down to Ten In The Lucky Sevens
A total of 61 players returned for Day 3 of the 2015 WSOP Event #66: $777 Lucky Sevens No-Limit Hold'em Sunday. WSOP bracelet winner Rocco Palumbo had the overnight lead but could do no better than a 15th-place finish as the event played down to a final ten.
Three-time WSOP bracelet winner Matt Matros and World Poker Tour Season VIII Player of the Year Faraz Jaka remain in the hunt.
Play will resume at 2 p.m. local time Monday to play down to a winner with a WSOP bracelet and $487,784 first-place prize on the line.
| Place | Player | Count |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | David Yu | 3,965,000 |
| 2 | Jeffrey Dobrin | 3,630,000 |
| 3 | Connor Berkowitz | 3,610,000 |
| 4 | Matt Matros | 2,415,000 |
| 5 | John Armbrust | 1,980,000 |
| 6 | John Gallaher | 1,765,000 |
| 7 | Faraz Jaka | 1,430,000 |
| 8 | Bao Nguyen | 1,360,000 |
| 9 | Massimo Mosele | 1,135,000 |
| 10 | John Zimmerman | 850,000 |
On Monday, Day 1B of the $10,000 Main Event will kick off at 12:00 p.m. local time.
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