Chris “Genius 28” Lee lived up to his internet nickname as an accomplished poker player Sunday at the World Series of Poker, taking down event 29: $2,500 10-Game Mix on the fourth day of a truly tough competition that saw many of the top players on the international scene busted out.
The 10-Game Mix competition featured the greatest number of games yet included in a single WSOP event. The games changed every six hands, and included No Limit Hold?em, Pot Limit Omaha, Deuce-to-Seven Triple Draw Lowball, Limit Hold?em, Omaha Hi/Lo, Razz, Seven-Card Stud, Seven-Card Stud Hi/Lo, Badugi, and No-Limit Deuce-to-Seven Lowball.
Battling his way through an initial field of 431, Lee managed to survive through to the third day of the tournament, one of only 19 who did, and then win himself a seat on the final table of nine. When we left the action in the early hours of Sunday morning there were just three players left – Lee, Travis Pearson and Brian Haveson – and shortly after that officials called a halt for the day, necessitating a fourth day of action starting later on Sunday.
Lee held the chip lead when the three players reassembled, and within a few hands he eliminated Pearson, leaving only Brian Haveson to vanquish in the heads up.
Haveson had his hands full containing the aggressive play of Lee, who was now holding a solid chip lead and could probably scent victory. Haveson put up a spirited defence but it was just not strong enough to withstand the Lee assault, and finally Lee was able to end the tournament in a hand of 2-7 Triple Draw.
On the final hand, Lee’s ten-nine was able to eliminate Haveson as he drew a king on the final draw. A jubilant Lee claimed his first bracelet and the $255,000 winner’s check, leaving Haveson with a well-earned $157,491 runner-up prize.
Lee is no stranger to big wins as a respected high stakes player on the internet, but there is no doubt that a WSOP gold bracelet enhances his impressive resume even further.
Event 30: $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold’em Championship entered its third day Sunday with 37 survivors from an original field of 3,752 and Craig Koch in the lead.
By midnight Sunday the field was down to 8 with Joseph Bolnick holding an apparently unassailable lead of around a million chips at level 28.
Bolnick is an accomplished internet and live tournament player from Los Angeles, who has experience in the more complex mixed games events at major tournaments and has achieved previous WSOP cashes – he is a formidable opponent with a good chance of taking this event as it wears on into the early hours of Monday morning.
Still in contention against Bolnick are James Hess, Richard Harwood, James Jewell, Craig Koch, Charles Cohen, Gregory Alston and Walter Browne.
Event 31: $3,000 Pot-Limit Omaha saw 25 players returning to the tables on the third and probably final day, with Sam Stein holding a strong lead almost 200 000 chips ahead of his nearest rival.
Level 25 had been reached in the early hours of Monday morning with just 5 players left around the final table – Sam Stein (chip leader and now 300 000 chips ahead of his nearest opponent); Adam Junglen, Ben Lamb, Warren Fund and Christian Harder.
It’s been a long slog over the past three days as the final five fought their way through an entry field of 685, but the end is now in sight.
Event 32: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em was another hugely popular attraction, pulling in 2,828 registrations two days ago. The field was chock-a-block full of top players but had been reduced to 362 by the end of the first day.
Going into the second day Adam Lippert led the field, which still included a heavy weighting of top quality opponents.
By the early hours of Monday morning, level 19 – one level short of closedown under the ten-level rule – had been reached and there were still 50 players at the tables, ensuring a third day of action.
Dror Michaelo held a slim 10 000 chip lead over closest adversary Michael Aron.
Event #33: $10,000 Stud 8 or Better World Championship entered its second day Sunday with 2010 WSOP Main Event runner-up, John Racener, leading but lots of star-power left in the field of 127 remaining from an entry list of 168 hopefuls.
David Benyamine, Brandon Cantu, Allen Kessler, Justin Smith, Ted Forrest, Erik Seidel, Barry Greenstein, Jason Mercier, Jennifer Harman, Bernard Lee and Doyle Brunson were all still in hot pursuit.
By the small hours of Monday morning Vegas time and at level 17 the action was still hot and heavy with 25 players still hammering away and Phil Laak in the lead, just 35 000 chips ahead of nearest opponent Ted Forrest, who was followed in the top ten by Antony Lellouche, Chris Tryba, Eric Rodawig, Ali Eslami, Phil Hellmuth, Bill Chen, Joe Tehan and Maxwell Troy.
Event 34: $1,000 No-Limit Hold?em kicked off Sunday and completed the required ten levels of action before officials called it a day with 323 players bagging their chips, led by Lars Bonding, a few thousand ahead of Chad Batista and with lots of talent still in the field.
The event attracted another massive 3,144 registrations, creating a prize pool worth $2.82 million.
Eliminated during the first day’s action were Jason Mercier, Randy Lew, Humberto Brenes, Liv Boeree, David Williams,Tom Dwan, Michael Mizrachi, Erick Lindgren, Kathy Liebert, Hoyt Corkins and Amarillo Slim.