2013 World Series of Poker

Event #22: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha
Day: 1
Event Info

2013 World Series of Poker

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
9675
Prize
$279,431
Event Info
Buy-in
$1,500
Prize Pool
$1,378,350
Entries
1,021
Level Info
Level
26
Blinds
15,000 / 30,000
Ante
0

In His Defense

Level 5 : 100/200, 0 ante

We noticed an interesting hand develop recently that perfectly captured the divide that can exist at every poker table, but that seems to affect Omaha more than other poker disciplines.

With the flop reading {5-Spades}{7-Spades}{6-Hearts}, a young man responded to a much older opponent's bet with a pot sized raise for the rest of his 6,500 or so. The older gentleman put his glasses on to analyze the board, and he counted his stack a few times before ultimately announcing a call.

The young gun turned over {7-Hearts}{8-Diamonds}{9-Spades}{3-Spades} for a pair, a wrap draw, and flush possibilities. Although the twenty-something's hand was not yet made, it was actually in great shape against the mere {a-Hearts}{q-Diamonds}{q-Spades}{2-Diamonds} turned over by his opponent.

Turn: {8-Diamonds}
River: {8-Clubs}

The turn completed one of the straight draws, and the river offered up a full house, all of which was more than enough to best a single pair of queens.

When we asked the victor for his name and chip count, we discovered him to be none other than Vincent Van Der Fluit, the defending champion in this event after taking down the $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha bracelet just last year. Van Der Fluit was pleased to have encountered yet another opponent who overvalued a pocket pair preflop, and as the Dutchman continues to build his stack here on Day 1, he is looking to accomplish the rarest of poker feats: defending his WSOP title.

Player Chips Progress
Vincent Van Der Fluit nl
Vincent Van Der Fluit
14,775
9,675
9,675
WSOP 1X Winner

Updated Chip Counts from Half the Room

Level 5 : 100/200, 0 ante
Player Chips Progress
Ken Aldridge us
Ken Aldridge
32,500
28,000
28,000
WSOP 1X Winner
Nikolai Yakovenko ru
Nikolai Yakovenko
26,000
Jeremy Ausmus us
Jeremy Ausmus
20,000
$25K Fantasy
WSOP 6X Winner
Run It Once
Berry Johnston us
Berry Johnston
19,000
WSOP 5X Winner
Poker Hall of Famer
Marco Johnson us
Marco Johnson
17,000
9,000
9,000
$25K Fantasy
WSOP 2X Winner
Leif Force us
Leif Force
15,500
11,000
11,000
WSOP 1X Winner
Max Pescatori it
Max Pescatori
15,000
-200
-200
WSOP 4X Winner
Justin Young us
Justin Young
14,000
Richard Ashby gb
Richard Ashby
13,500
WSOP 2X Winner
Joe Hachem au
Joe Hachem
13,000
500
500
WSOP Main Event Champion
WSOP 1X Winner
Carlos Mortensen es
Carlos Mortensen
13,000
8,500
8,500
WSOP 2X Winner
Poker Hall of Famer
Brett Richey us
Brett Richey
12,000
7,500
7,500
Ben Tollerene us
Ben Tollerene
12,000
Barny Boatman gb
Barny Boatman
12,000
2,000
2,000
Cary Katz us
Cary Katz
12,000
1,000
1,000
$25K Fantasy
Doug Lee ca
Doug Lee
12,000
Lee Watkinson us
Lee Watkinson
11,300
6,800
6,800
WSOP 1X Winner
Kevin Boudreau us
Kevin Boudreau
11,000
6,500
6,500
Noah Schwartz us
Noah Schwartz
11,000
-2,000
-2,000
WSOP 1X Winner
David Sands us
David Sands
11,000
Huck Seed us
Huck Seed
10,500
4,000
4,000
WSOP Main Event Champion
WSOP 4X Winner
Poker Hall of Famer
Jason Mercier us
Jason Mercier
10,000
5,500
5,500
Michael Benvenuti us
Michael Benvenuti
9,500
5,000
5,000
Steve O'Dwyer ie
Steve O'Dwyer
9,000
-500
-500
Mike Beasely
Mike Beasely
9,000

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Level: 6

Blinds: 150/300

Ante:

Kostristyn Doubles with Nines

Level 6 : 150/300, 0 ante

In one of the last hands before the level went up, there was a pot with around 2,100 in it when the player in the big blind checked and Alexander Kostritsyn bet 2,000 from middle position. The player in the cutoff called, the button and big blind folded and it was heads-up action to the {K-Clubs} turn. Kostritsyn wasted little time in betting his last 4,125 and the cutoff quickly called.

Kostritsyn: {8-Clubs}{9-Clubs}{5-Diamonds}{j-Diamonds}
Cutoff: {a-Diamonds}{3-Diamonds}{j-Clubs}{6-Clubs}

"I missed," the cutoff said when the {2-Hearts} completed the board on the river. "Nines win it?"

"Why shouldn't it?" Kostritsyn asked as his lowly pair of nine was pushed the pot.

Player Chips Progress
Alexander Kostritsyn ru
Alexander Kostritsyn
14,500

Tags: Alexander Kostritsyn

Counts from the Rest of the Room

Level 6 : 150/300, 0 ante
Player Chips Progress
Henri Korvisto
Henri Korvisto
68,000
Ben Yu us
Ben Yu
50,000
9,000
9,000
$25K Fantasy
WSOP 4X Winner
David Chiu us
David Chiu
18,000
13,500
13,500
WSOP 5X Winner
Ludovic Lacay fr
Ludovic Lacay
18,000
JC Tran us
JC Tran
16,000
WSOP 2X Winner
Nancy Birnbaum us
Nancy Birnbaum
15,000
500
500
Eddie Blumenthal us
Eddie Blumenthal
15,000
10,500
10,500
Joseph Cheong us
Joseph Cheong
15,000
WSOP 1X Winner
AP Phahurat us
AP Phahurat
14,000
11,450
11,450
Ismael Bojang de
Ismael Bojang
14,000
WSOP 1X Winner
Shannon Shorr us
Shannon Shorr
12,000
7,500
7,500
$25K Fantasy
WSOP 2X Winner
Christopher Brammer gb
Christopher Brammer
12,000
-775
-775
WSOP 1X Winner
Eli Elezra il
Eli Elezra
11,000
$25K Fantasy
WSOP 5X Winner
Poker Hall of Famer
Naoya Kihara jp
Naoya Kihara
9,000
Matt Affleck us
Matt Affleck
9,000
-3,000
-3,000
David Nicholson us
David Nicholson
8,500
200
200
Larry Wright us
Larry Wright
8,000
WSOP 1X Winner
Erik Cajelais ca
Erik Cajelais
8,000
WSOP 1X Winner
David "ODB" Baker us
David "ODB" Baker
6,000
$25K Fantasy
WSOP 3X Winner
Jon Turner us
Jon Turner
5,600
Bryan Devonshire us
Bryan Devonshire
3,000
-3,000
-3,000
Hoyt Corkins us
Hoyt Corkins
2,500
WSOP 2X Winner
Erica Lindgren us
Erica Lindgren
2,400
-1,100
-1,100
Steve O'Dwyer ie
Steve O'Dwyer
Busted
Eric Rodawig us
Eric Rodawig
Busted
WSOP 1X Winner

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Rancor

Level 6 : 150/300, 0 ante
Eric Froehlich (Seen Here in Earlier WSOP Competition) Has Been Eliminated Midway Through Day 1 Play
Eric Froehlich (Seen Here in Earlier WSOP Competition) Has Been Eliminated Midway Through Day 1 Play

We caught up with Eric "E-Fro" Froehlich, a two-time WSOP bracelet winner who made his bones playing the fantasy card game Magic the Gathering, and despite surviving his all-in encounter, Froehlich was frowning throughout the hand.

With the flop reading {a-Diamonds}{10-Diamonds}{6-Hearts}, Froehlich's last chips were already in the pot, but both his opponent and the dealer seemed to have trouble calculating the amount of a bet designed to isolate the all-in player.

"It's 4,850," Froehlich said flatly, over the protestations of the dealer who believed the amount was less. "Forty-eight fifty."

"I have no pair," his opponent announced excitedly during the subsequent showdown, apparently relishing this moment of pure gamble as he revealed the {7-Spades}{6-Diamonds}{q-Diamonds}{k-Spades} for a gutshot straight draw.

"I do," was Froehlich's response as he rolled over the {k-Clubs}{q-Clubs}{10-Hearts}{5-Spades} for middle pair and the same gutterball draw.

With his king and queen outs voided by Froehlich's hand, the opponent was left to hope for a hit, and he anxiously called out "Jack!" while dealer burned and turned.

Turn: {J-Hearts}

With that, both players made identical Broadway straights, and the {5-Hearts} on the river didn't change a thing.

With his face now a perma-frown, Froehlich watched as the dealer almost shipped the pot to his opponent, perhaps convinced by his successful call for a jack that the chips were his to take. Another player spotted the error, however, and after all of the theatrics, both players returned to the same stacks they started the hand with.

Unfortunately for E-Fro, the lack of a double in this key spot likely doomed his chances, and he was eliminated from contention shortly thereafter.

Player Chips Progress
Eric Froehlich us
Eric Froehlich
Busted
WSOP 2X Winner

Tags: Eric Froehlich

Ashby Sinks Boatman

Level 6 : 150/300, 0 ante
Richard Ashby
Richard Ashby

A preflop raising war resulted in Barny Boatman getting his shorter stack all in against Richard Ashby. The former held the {k-Diamonds}{k-Hearts}{10-Clubs}{2-Spades} and was in bad shape against the {a-Diamonds}{a-Spades}{7-Spades}{6-Spades} of the former. The board ran out an uneventful {9-Spades}{q-Diamonds}{9-Clubs}{5-Hearts}{9-Hearts} and that was all she wrote for Boatman.

Meanwhile, Carlos Mortensen, Jon Turner, Alex Queen, David "ODB" Baker and Justin Young have all been eliminated from the tournament.

Player Chips Progress
Richard Ashby gb
Richard Ashby
40,000
26,500
26,500
WSOP 2X Winner
Alex Queen us
Alex Queen
Busted
David "ODB" Baker us
David "ODB" Baker
Busted
$25K Fantasy
WSOP 3X Winner
Jon Turner us
Jon Turner
Busted
Justin Young us
Justin Young
Busted
Barny Boatman gb
Barny Boatman
Busted
Carlos Mortensen es
Carlos Mortensen
Busted
WSOP 2X Winner
Poker Hall of Famer

Tags: Richard AshbyBarny Boatman

Elimination Rate: 1.91 Players Per Minute

Level 6 : 150/300, 0 ante

As Level 6 comes to a close, the tournament clock says 333 players remain. We're guessing it's actually lower than that, but for the sake of math we'll go with it. So, with 333 remaining headed into the dinner break, that means we've lost 688 players in six hours of play. That averages out to 1.91 players hitting the rail every minute. When we say that action has been fast and furious, we mean it.

Jesse McEuen Living Like Royalty

Level 6 : 150/300, 0 ante

One of the greatest experiences a poker player will ever enjoy is to make a Royal Flush, and get paid off to boot.

We recently watched Jesse McEuen accomplish this dream scenario, and while it may be a bit easier to connect for a Royal using the four hole cards provided by Omaha, the feat is still impressive nonetheless.

Holding the {10-Spades}{k-Spades}{6-Spades}{k-Clubs}, McEuen got his chips into the middle against two opponents on the flop of {q-Spades}{4-Diamonds}{j-Spades}, and the {A-Spades} on the turn delivered him the best possible poker hand.

While the chips earned in this pot may be lost at some point during the rest of Day 1, the memory of notching a WSOP knockout with a Royal Flush can never be taken away from McEuen.