Perhaps 99.4% of you reading this tournament report know Annie Duke and Chris Ferguson. For those who do not know those two: How did you manage to find this tournament coverage? And Why? Oh, and thanks for dropping by.
Perhaps at least 80% of you also know David Benyamine but for the new members of the reading audience, David is a big-time cash-game player, which does mean that he plays in the 'big game' at Bellagio with Doyle, Phil, Lyle etc. David first ventured into the tournament field in 1999 in Paris, which is home for him. His tournament success brought him to Las Vegas in 2002 and since then he has racked up dozens of final table appearances both in Europe and the States, including a WPT win in 2003. David and Erica Schoenberg are a couple.
Still fewer of you will know Chris Bell by name but again he is well known to the poker-circuit crew. Chris runs with the Erick Lindgren/Gavin Smith/Michael Gracz group. It will be territorially interesting today with Gavin playing for a bracelet in the 2 PM Pot Limit Hold’em Final Table and Chris going for his bracelet at 3 PM on the other side of the bleachers in this event. Perhaps the Lindgren crowd will be perched up in the VIP party area, which will give them a view of both tables. But back to Chris’ poker accomplishments, which include 17 major-event cashes in the past two years, a WPT final table in 2006 and a win at the Trump Classic in 2005.
Joseph Bolnick is our most unknown player at this final table. I got to talk with him just prior to the start today. His home casinos are Commerce and Hollywood Park in Los Angles. Joseph is mainly a cash game player. He played his first WSOP in 2006 but today will be both his first Series cash and final table.
He said based on this showing he will be playing more events this summer. Including at least two of the three HORSE events. The $50K HORSE depends on how he does in the first two.
Ed Tonnellier calls Windsor, Ontario home and would probably be considered one of the amateurs in this field. Ed had a final table appearance in a HORSE event last month at the Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge in Tulsa and another final table in February in Omaha Hi/Lo at the Venetian Deep Stack tournaments here in Las Vegas.