Event 23, the $2,500 Eight-Game Mix produced a first gold bracelet for poker pro John Monette on the sixteenth day of the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, where he bested 489 entrants to claim the winner’s prize of $278,144 on the third day of the event.
On the final day Monette was one of 25 survivors angling for the big money that included John Racener, Eric Buchman, John Juanda, Adam Geyser, Ylon Schwartz, Nikolay Evdakov and Max Pescatori.
Playing into the evening, the field reduced to a final table that was to last for six hours, culminating in a heads up between Monette and Buchman, with the former holding a strong lead.
Monette pressed his advantage with skill and determination to take his opponent down, leaving Buchman with a second placing worth $171,855.
Event 24: $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em Shootout entered its third and last day of play with the original field of 387 whittled down to a final table Thursday.
Scott Baumstein, Jeffrey Gross, Dan Smith, Tom Marchese, Nicolas Fierrogottner, Nikita Lebedev, Todd Terry, Adam Junglen, Sean Getzwiller and Mark Radoja were all that remained of a star-studded registration list when play re-commenced.
By late evening Thursday Vegas time after ten hours of tough poker there were still 5 players in action at level 27, with Canadian ace Mark Radoja leading Scott Baumstein, Adam Junglen, Jeffrey Gross and Nicolas Fierrogottner.
Event 25: $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Low-8 or Better also entered its final day Thursday with 23 contestants led by Cory Zeidman left from an original entry field of 606.
Zeidman was still in there battling late Thursday evening at level 25, although he was the low man on a list of six remaining players that included Tyson Marks (chip leader) Chris Viox, Gerard Rechnitzer, Hakon Lundberg, and Mike Sexton.
Day three so far has seen more notable names joining the long list of ace departures in this event as Frank Kasella, Cyndy Violette, Kristy Gazes, Karin Jett and Kirill Gerasimov all headed for the rail.
Event 26: $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em / Six Handed entered its second day Thursday with 189 survivors of the first day’s bloodbath in which 1,189 entrants saw their hopes of WSOP glory dashed.
With loads of formidable opposition still in the field, the day promised plenty of action and did not disappoint, reducing to 37 survivors before midnight.
Current top ten in chip counts at level 18 late Thursday night was Chris Moorman, Christian Jeppsson, Christian Stricker Kohl, Jesse James, Daniel Morgan, Anthony Ruberto, Tuan Le, Vladimir Mefodichev, Alex Fitzgerald and Ionel Anton.
The entry list of 1,378 for the event this year is 133 more than was the case in 2010.
Event 27: $10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship was almost ten hours into its second day late Thursday evening Vegas time, with 23 players still in contention at level 16.
The day had started with a field of 106 survivors from the first day, which saw 46 eliminations, many of them big names in international poker.
Top ten chip counts Thursday night were Isaac Haxton, Steve Landfish, Daniel Idema, Darren Woods, Matt Hawrilenko, Brock Parker, Carlos Mortensen, Justin Smith, Matthew Gallin and Ian Johns.
Event 28: $1,500 No-Limit Hold?em had predictably attracted a big entry field of 2 500 when the first day of play started on Thursday afternoon, with another large contingent of top players among the crowds thronging the venue.
Spotted taking their seats were Antonio Esfandiari, Jordan Young, Justin Young, Shannon Shorr, Allen Kessler, David Phan, Bertrand Grospellier, Tommy Vedes, Roberto Romanello, Tony Dunst, Svetlana Gromenkova, Jennifer Tilly, Kara Scott and Alex Kamberis.
Heading into midnight PST Thursday the field was down to 470 as the final level of the day started, with Rick Romine in the chip lead and virtually no big names in the top ten chip counts….but plenty still in the field at this early stage.
The prize pool for this event is $3.37 million.
Event 29: $2,500 10-Game Mix / Six Handed is a new addition to the WSOP schedule which also kicked off Thursday, with a field of 431 generating a prize pool of $980,525.
The event incorporates 10 different genres of poker, providing an irresistable challenge to exponents of the game and including No Limit Hold’em; Seven-Card Razz; Limit Hold’em; Badugi; Seven-Card Stud; 2-7 Draw Lowball (No Limit); Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better; Pot-Limit Omaha; 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball (Limit); and Seven-Card Stud Hi-Low Split-8 or Better.
By midnight Thursday the field had been whittled down to 264 player at level 7 with the top ten chip counts headed by Jean-Robert Bellande, chased by Alex Wice, Rob Hollink, Jason Potter, Chris Reslock, Jordan Morgan, Michael Mizrachi, Noah Boeken, Marco Johnson and John Cernuto.