Plenty of Gold Still Alive in this One
Not everyone in the world of poker can be so fortunate as to win a World Series of Poker gold bracelet. From the starting field of 387 in this Event #24: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout, 40 of them still remain to contend for the title and to get their hands on the bracelet. For a select few of them, it will be familiar territory having won WSOP gold previously.
The most decorated player to make it through to the second round of play is Erik Seidel. He holds eight bracelets from the WSOP and holds the number one spot on the all-time money list with nearly $16 million in live tournament earnings. Seidel's first bracelet came in 1992 when he won the $2,500 Limit Hold'em event for $168,000. The following two years, Seidel won his second and third bracelets after winning the 1993 $2,500 Omaha 8-or-Better event and the 1994 $5,000 Limit Hold'em event. Sedeil has also won bracelets in 1998, 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2007. His largest bracelet score was in 2005 when he won the $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em event for a whopping $611,795.
The other player left that holds multiple WSOP bracelets is Team PokerStars UK Pro JP Kelly. Kelly won both of his bracelets in the same year, 2009, but on different continents. First, Kelly won the $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em event here in Las Vegas for $194,434. Later that same year, he won the £1,000 No-Limit Hold'em at the WSOP Europe for £136,803.
Another Brit with a bracelet still remaining in this event is James Dempsey. The man they call "Flushy" or "The Doctor" etched his name in the poker history books with a win in the $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em event in 2010, backing up what Kelly did the year before and keeping that title in England.
Prior to 2010, Gavin Smith was always included in the talks of "best player without a bracelet" around the poker world. He was able to get the monkey off his back last year when he won the $2,500 Mixed Hold'em event for $268,238 and his first WSOP gold bracelet. Smith has plenty of other accolades to his name, but a bracelet was something he kept missing. Things are different now and now it's time for Smith to make a run at number two.
Sean Getzwiller isn't only making a run at his second bracelet, but it's a run at his second bracelet this year and a chance to move further up the Player of the Year leader board. Getzwiller won one of the $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em events for $611,185 just a few days ago and his confidence is high, which is always an extremely important factor in poker. Prior to this year, Getzwiller had eight WSOP cashes, but no final tables. Minus his bracelet win, this cash here is his second largest in his career at the WSOP.
Last, but no least among the bracelet winners still in this event is Jason Young. Out of all 14 bracelets won by these six players mentioned here, Young is the only one with a title in a shootout event, which could make him a favorite here today. In 2008, Young was taking his last shot at the WSOP and would be heading back to the real world if he couldn't make it work. Cue the fairytale-ending music because Young walked out of the 2008 Series with a piece of gold jewelry and $335,565 in his pocket from his win. Since then, the New York native has recorded up three more WSOP cashes, including a fifth-place finish in a 2010 $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em event for $142,346.
Will any of these six bracelets winners make another final table for a run at another piece of gold? You'll have to stay glued to PokerNews all day to find out!