JJ Duque Wins Seat To $1,000 Guaranteeed Limit Razz at Full Tilt Poker

Event 14 of the 2010 World Series of Poker featured a $1,500 buy-in  No Limit Deuce-to-Seven Draw Lowball tournament. 

Basically, Deuce-to-Seven Draw Lowball means the worst, or lowest-ranked, hand wins the pot. The very best possible 2-7 lowball hand is 2-3-4-5-7 of mixed suits. An ace counts as a high card. Flushes and straights count against the player. While a wheel (A-2-3-4-5) is the perfect hand in standard lowball, in Deuce-to-Seven it is usually a losing hand since the straight counts against the player.

According to Event 14 WSOP gold bracelet winner Yan Chen: “A good poker game requires a balance. For example – I’m not putting down other games – but No-Limit Hold’em, especially tournaments, rewards aggression. But aggression is only one component of the full set of skills that are required for a balanced game. Lowball requires a very balanced set of skills. You can’t just try to run over the game. You cannot. You can do that less in this game than in any other game. But you also can’t just sit around and wait for a hand. So, you have to be creative. Lowball allows a certain amount of creativity. It allows a certain amount of aggression. It rewards patience. This is a game of nuances. It is not a game of raw power."”

Of course, when I considered my picks for Full Tilt Poker's Fantasy Poker League, I looked to veterans of poker and especially those with a lot of WSOP gold bracelet experience. Some of my picks included: Doyle Brunson, Andy Bloch, Barry Greenstein, Phil Ivey, Phil Hellmuth and Chris Ferguson. But eventually, it was my pick of Erik Seidel, which earned me enough points to win a seat for the $1,000 Guaranteed Limit Razz at Full Tilt Poker.

Thanks to Erik Seidel for getting me the seat. There were 549 players entered at the tournament with $237 going to first place. Unfortunately, I missed playing the tournament and was blinded out to finish 481st.

However, I did qualify for another $1,000 Guaranteed Limit Razz event because of my Fantasy Poker League picks on Event 19 of the 2010 World Series of Poker, a $10,000 buy-in No Limit Deuce-to-Seven Draw Lowball Championship tournament. I changed some my picks, and did some research on successful Deuce-to-Seven Lowball players, and some of those included Alexander Kravchenko, David Pham, Michael Mizrachi and Greg "FBT" Mueller. But eventually, the players that had good success were Andy Bloch, Erik Seidel (again) and John Juanda, who also made the final table. Because of their success, I have a second shot at another $1,000 Guaranteed Limit Razz event at Full Tilt Poker. And this time I intend to play!

2010 WSOP: Mike Ellis Wins Event 30 $1,500 buy-in No Limit Hold'em

Over $3 Million was the total prize pool from 2,394 players in Event 30 of the 2010 World Series of Poker, a $1,500 buy-in No Limit Hold'em tourney.243 places were paid with the top spot going to 45 year old financial trader Mike Ellis of London, England, who won his first career WSOP gold bracelet and the first place cash prize of $581,851 after topping the final table in over eight hours.

The runner up was Christopher Gonzalez from Fremont, Calfiornia, who put up a valiant heads-up battle, but succumbed to Mark Ellis to walk away at second with $360,906.

The third-place finisher was recent law school graduate David Wilkinson of Boulder, Colorado, who previously won a WSOP Circuit gold ring at Caesars Palace Las Vegas back in 2007. David Wilkinson also cashed twice at this year’s WSOP with his third place finish of $254,996 being his best cash so far.

The fourth-place finisher was 22 year old Martin Jacobson from Stockholm, Sweden, who has cashed in the final tables at the EPT Budapest, WPT Venice and in an event in the 2009 WSOP. His fourth place finish paid $183,345.

The fifth-place finisher was Billy Griner from Monroe, Missouri, who had his best finish in in last year’s WSOP Main Event at 42nd place. This time, Billy Griner received $133,574 in prize money.

The sixth-place finisher was William Kakon from Miami, Florida, who has won four major tournaments in two years, but only making his first mark at a WSOP event, winning $98,605 for his efforts.

The seventh-place finisher was online poker pro Jason Hallee from Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada, who marked his first time  to cash at the WSOP, collecting $73,719 in prize money.

The eighth-place finisher was 35 year old Chris Kastler from Charlotte, North Carolina, who made his first WSOP cash and got paid $55,814.

The ninth-place finisher was Jeffrey Cohen from Parkland, Florida, who marked his third time to cash at the WSOP, earning $42,790.

Former WSOP gold bracelet finishers who cashed in this event included – Carlos Mortensen (23rd) and Howard “Tahoe” Andrew (192nd).

Howard “Tahoe” Andrew currently holds the record for playing the most consecutive years at the WSOP. Andrew, who first came to the 1974 WSOP, holds the active streak of 36 straight years entering at least one event.

2010 WSOP: Matt Keiokan Wins Event 29 Limt Hold'em Championship

171 top poker players each put $10,000 to compete for the 2010 World Series Of Poker Limit Hold'em Championship to create a prize pool of $1,607,400. Only the top 18 would get a piece of the prize pool with the first placer winning a WSOP gold bracelet and $425,969 to go along with it.

With a lot of top poker pros and big poker names playing the 2010 WSOP Limit Hold'em Championship, it was 42 year old poker pro Matt Keikoan of San Rafael, Califronia, who emerged as the winner after over 12 hours at the final table. Matt Keiokan won his second WSOP gold braceletwas the winner of the $10,000 buy-in Limit Hold’em championship at the 2010 World Series of Poker. This marked his second career WSOP gold bracelet, winning previously in 2008 for a $2,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em event. Matt Keikoan now has in excess of $3.2 million in overall career tournament winnings.

The runner up was 27 year old poker pro Dan Idema from Vancouver, Canada, who won $263,243 for his efforts.

In third place was 24 year old poker pro Kyle Ray from Athens, Georgia, who is also a Limit Hold’em coach for Cardrunners.com. This was Kyle Ray's fourth time to cash at the WSOP, and marked his second time at a final table, earning $190,701 for this effort.

Placing in fourth was 27 year old Illinois poker pro Jason Painter, who has now made four WSOP final tables, including three appearances this year. This time he was paid $140,760.

The fifth-place finisher was two-time WSOP gold bracelet winner Brock Parker from Silver Spring, Maryland. This marked his third time to cash so far, in 2010, and has made six-figure scores at the WSOP four times, collecting $105,782 for this effort.

The sixth-place finisher was Zvi Groysman from Thornhill, Ontario who got paid $80,884.

The seventh-place finisher was Simon Morris from Melbourne, Australia, who won an event at the Aussie Millions earlier this year, and marked his first time to cash at the WSOP, earning $62,897.

The eighth-place finisher was Michael “the Grinder” Mizrachi, who sits at the top of the leaderboard for 2010 WSOP “Player of the Year” leader board with his third final table appearance. Michael Mizrachi leads all money winners this year, with $1,677,727 , including the eighth-place prize money of $49,732 from this event.

The ninth-place finisher was four-time WSOP gold bracelet winner David Chui, who has cashed at least once every year at the WSOP since 1998, and this time taking down $39,959.

With his ninth-place finish, David Chiu now has 50 career cashes. This currently ranks 11th on the all-time WSOP cashes list.

2010 WSOP: Miguel Proulx Wins Event 28 $2,500 buy-in Pot Limit Omaha

596 players signed up for Event 28 of the 2010 World Series of Poker, a $2,500 buy-in Pot Limit Omaha event, which netted a total prize pool of $1,370,800, and 54 getting paid with first place winning a WSOP gold bracelet and $315,311 in cash.

Quebec-based poker pro Miguel Proulx of Canada emerged as the winner, which marked his first career WSOP gold bracelet and his first cash at a WSOP event worth $315,311. Miguel Proulx became the third Canadian to win a gold bracelet this year after Aadam Daya and Pascal Lefrancois won their WSOP victories.

The runner up was Las Vegas poker pro Loren Klein, who had cashed six times at the WSOP over the past three years, and received $195,147 for second place.

The third-place finisher was British soap opera actor Michael Greco from London, England, who won $129,691, marking his second time to finish third in a WSOP event.

The fourth-place finisher was Stephane Tayar from St. Mande, France, who made his second final table appearance, and won $96,24, cashing in for the third straight year in the WSOP.

The fifth-place finisher was Joerg Engels from Cologne, Germany, who won $72,227.

The sixth-place finisher was Karl Gal  from Munich, Germany, who won $54,736.

The seventh-place finisher was Trevor Pope from Gainesville, Florida, who now has three cashes in 2010, after taking $41,850 for seventh place.

The eighth-place finisher was Tommy Le from Tustin, California, who cashed for the second time this year - this time witth a payout of $32,254.

The ninth-place finisher was Patrick Hanoteau from Paris, France, who got paid $25,044.

Former WSOP gold bracelet finishers who cashed in this event included – Chau Giang (20th), Joshua Teiman (27th), Scott Clements (28th), T.J. Cloutier (38th), Richard Ashby (40th), and Peter Vilandos (45th).

Chau Giang cashed for the third time this year and now has 54 WSOP career ITM finishes. This currently ranks eighth on the all-time WSOP cashes list.

With his first cash this year, T.J. Cloutier now has 56 career cashes, and currently ranks sixth on the all-time WSOP cashes list.

Tony Cousineau added to his semi-dubious record as the player with the most cashes in WSOP history without a gold bracelet victory, cashing for the 43rd time, moving him one ahead of Johnny Chan on the all-time cashes list.

2010 WSOP: David Warga Wins Event 27 $1,500 buy-in Seven Card Stud High-Low Split

644 poker players entered Event 27 of the 2010 World Series of Poker, a $1,500 buy-in Seven Card Stud High-Low Split tournament. 64 places were to be paid with the first place prize earning a very healthy $208,862 and a WSOP gold bracelet.

The big winner of the 644 players was poker pro David Warga, who won his second WSOP gold bracelet following a previous win in 2002, when he won the 2002 Casino Employees Championship.
 
41 year old David Warga won his first bracelet in the 2002 Casino Employees Championship when he was a dealer at an Arizona casino. He used his winnings to become a real estate investor before deciding to become a poker pro. David Warga is the only player in WSOP history to win the Casino Employees championshp and an open event.

The runner up was Maxwell Troy, a professional poker player from Los Angeles, California, who plays Seven Card Stud daily at the Commerce Casino. His experience did him well as he cashed in $129,253 for his second place finish. It also marks the third time for Maxwell Troy to cash in a WSOP Stud event, and his fourth career WSOP cash.

The third place finisher was longtime tournament veteran David Levi -- an Israeli-born poker pro from Las Vegas, Nevada - who earned With his third-place cash, David Levi neared the half-million dollar mark in career WSOP winnings after collecting $87,400 in this event.

The fourth-place finisher was well-known poker pro, Karina Jett, who has numerous cashes over the past decade, and earned $60,588 for this finish.

The fifth-place finisher was Christopher George from Hudson, New York, who cashed for the second time this 2010 WSOP in both Stud High-Low tournaments. This time he got paid $42,913.

The sixth-place finisher was Jonathan Bascom from Oxford, Maryland, who marked his second WSOP cash worth $31,046.

The seventh-place finisher was Chris Tryba, who has eight WSOP Circuit cashes and his third time to cash at He earned $22,926.

The eighth-place finisher was poker pro Allen Bari from West Orange, New Jersey, who made his ninth WSOP career cash for $17,274.

Former WSOP gold bracelet finishers who cashed in this event included – Andre Boyer, Vince Burgio, Brandon Cantu, Scott Clements, Phil Ivey, Chris Reslock, James Richburg and Blair Rodman.

2010 WSOP: Will Haydon Wins Event 26 $2,500 buy-in No Limit Hold'em Six-Handed

1,245 poker players signed up for Event 26 of the 2010 WSOP, a $2,500 buy-in No Limit Hold'em Six-Handed. Instead of having the regular 9 players at a poker table, this variant of poker only goes six-handed. When playing six-handed, the poker game emphasizes short-handed poker skills at play, especially when it comes to post-flop play since most players get to play a wider range of hands from the standard starting-hand requirements.

Of the 1,245 players, it was 23 year old poker pro Will Haydon from San Francisco, California, who outlasted everyone to win his first ever WSOP gold bracelet and a first place cash prize of $630,03.

Willl Haydon started the final table of six with the smallest stack, and climbed his way up after eight hours of competitive poker to eventually emerge as the winner.

The runner up was Jeffrey Papola from New York, New York, who won $391,068, marking his third cash in three straight years at the WSOP
.
The third-place finisher was Joe Baldwin from University Place, Washington, who made his fifth WSOP career cash, winning $248,265


The fourth-place finisher was two-time WSOP gold bracelet winner Eddy Scharf, who marked his fifth WSOP final table appearance, and earned a decent $163,649.

The fifth-place finisher was Jarred Solomon from Johannesburg, South Africa, who won $110,903 in his first cash at the WSOP. Prior to that, he has won an event at the 2008 Aussie Millions.

The sixth-place finisher was Steve Crowley from Midlothian, Virginia, who cashed for the 11th time in the WSOP, and now has more than $300,000 in career earnings after pocketing $77,228in this tournament.

Will Haydon commented on winning his first bracelet, and said: “This is pretty much the Holy Grail. If it was between this versus winning a million dollars but no bracelet -- I would rather have this.”

Former WSOP gold bracelet finishers who cashed in this event included Steve Billirakis, Matthew Graham, David Kitai, Daniel Negreanu, Eddy Scharf, and Jerry Yang.

With his 16th-place finish in this tournament, Daniel Negreanu now has 46 career cashes, which moves him up into a 13th-place tie with Brent Carter and Thor Hansen on the all-time ITM rankings.

JJ Duque Places 6th In $6,000 Guaranteed Six-Handed at BetUS Poker

SIX SIX SIX!

A week ago, I won a tournament to claim a seat to the Daily $6,000 Guaranteed Six-Max at BetUS Poker, which was a No Limit Hold'em tournament with 6 players maximum per table. 112 players entered the tournament which guaranteed 20 places paid at least $87 all the way to first place for $1,440.

The tourney was played here in Manila at 3AM. I had stayed up to watch the England vs Algeria World Cup match, and decided to play the tournament ticket I won a week ago.

The starting stack is 3000 in chips with the blinds at 10/20 in the first level (increasing every 15 minutes), which is a good structure for a long tournament. In the first hand, UTG oddly raises 10x the blinds to 200 with the cutoff calling, and me sitting on the BB with 7c7d calling to see the flop. Three people in the hand, and the flop comes 7s7h2h, and I flop quads!!! I check, UTG overbets 800 probably to protect against the flush-draw, the cutoff raises all-in for 2,800 more, and all I have to do is call. UTG thinks about it, and also makes the call. UTG shows Jacks and cutoff shows Tens. Turn A, River Q, and I immediately triple up on the first hand to 9K in chips!

From there, I play a comfortable and aggressive game, eating my way through the tournament and knocking players out to maintain my chip lead up to the 8th level (150/300 and antes of 30), and my stack sitting on 42K with the next big chip stack miles away at 25K, and the average at 10K. I relinquished my lead at Level 8 on a preflop showdown where my KK called an all-in push of AQ with the A hitting the turn, bringing my stack to around 26K It was still a sizable stack and still 3rd highest with 29 players to go, but the cards went dead for an entire level. At the bubble, I did my best to push around to steal some blinds and antes to improve my stack, but after the bubble, the short stacks were getting anxious and pushing all-in preflop, and I moved my strategy to tighter play.

By level 12 (500/1000 antes of 100), there were only 10 players remaining, and I had around 34K ranking 8th in the chip count with the chip leader at around 80K. For the next few levels, I went up and down and up and down, and just tried to stick around until the final table.

By this time - the tournament had been playing for almost 4 hours. It was past 6AM and my wife was awake to cook breakfast, and gave me that look to see me playing online poker. I told her the good news, and she sat with me to watch my game, excited at the prospect that at least I was guaranteed $294 for making the final table.

The final table started on level 15 (1000/2000 antes of 200). The final table stacks were like this:

Texano90: 101K
DOLPHIN999: 66K
UTRhino:  60K
herace: 56K
JJDuque: 37K
YouRBehind: 13K

It still looked good, and I just had to wait to get cards, or just bust out behind the other player who was short-stacked. Amazingly enough, however, YouRBehind had a good run of cards and was able to double up through Texano90 twice to move him past me at around 50K. With around 22K left, this is how my final hand played out:

Dealer: Hand #5260896G6J000712
Level 15 1000/2000 Blinds Ante 200
Dealer: Texano90 posts ante of 200
Dealer: DOLPHIN999 posts ante of 200
Dealer: UTRhino posts ante of 200
Dealer: YouRBehind posts ante of 200
Dealer: herace posts ante of 200
Dealer: JJDuque posts ante of 200
Dealer: Texano90 posts small blind 200
Dealer: DOLPHIN999 posts big blind 400
Dealer: Dealing hole cards
Dealer: UTRhino folds
Dealer: YouRBehind folds
Dealer: herace folds
Dealer: JJDuque is all in
Dealer: Texano90 folds
Dealer: DOLPHIN999 calls 22,417
Dealer: JJDuque shows Qs, 10s
Dealer: DOLPHIN999 shows Ah, Jd
Chat is now enabled
Dealer: Dealing flop: [ Jc, 8h, 2d ]
Dealer: Dealing turn: [ 4s ]
Dealer: Dealing river: [ Kh ]
Dealer: DOLPHIN999 wins 47,034 with Pair of Jacks
Tournament: JJDuque is eliminated and is
placed 6th
Tournament: JJDuque wins $294 at 6th place.

Sixth Place at A $6K Guaranteed Six-Handed that finishes past 6AM. What can I say? Pretty good morning. Oh yeah - And it's just a day before Father's Day! 

2010 WSOP: Jeff Tebben Wins Event #24 $1,000 buyin No Limit Hold'em

3,289 poker players entered event #24 of the 2010 World Series of Poker, a $1,000 buy-in No limit Hold'em tournament. 342 players would be ITM winners, but the one who outlasted them all to win the first place prize of $503,389 and a WSOP gold bracelet was none other than Jeff Tebben of Kansas City.

39-year old Jeff Tebben has a home game in Kansas City where his good friend Grant Hinkle plays. In 2008, Grant Hinkle won a WSOP gold bracelet, and encouraged Jeff Tebben to try it out. Eventually, two tries in 2009 didn't make it, and this third time was the charm for Jeff Tebben, who now owns a WSOP gold bracelet and half a million in cash for the win, which he says he'll use to pay off the house and buy his wife a new car.

The runner up was J.D. McNamara, from Mississauga, Canada, who cashed for the first time at the WSOP for $310,248.

The third-place finisher was Kiet Tuan from Rosemead, California, who cashed $223,665, for his third cash in the WSOP.

The fourth-place finisher was Dennis Murphy from Cork, Ireland, who cashed for the first time at the WSOP to earn $162,568.

The fifth-place finisher was David Cai from Los Angeles, Calfornia, who won $119,410, and marking his eighth time to cash at the WSOP, dating back to 2000.

The sixth-place finisher was Blake Kelso from Las Vegas, Nevada, who won $88,654 on his fourth WSOP cash and best finish ever.

The seventh-place finisher was David Tolbert from Yorktown, Indiana, who played his first ever WSOP event, and earned $66,513.

The eighth-place finisher was Greg Pohler from Manhattan Beach, California, who cashed for the third time in the 2010 WSOP, and got paid $50,410.

The ninth-place finisher was Las Vegas poker pro Michael Gross, who collected $38,629.

Former WSOP gold bracelet finishers who cashed in this event included – Bac Dao, Chris Bjorin, Burt Boutin, Peter Smurfit, Keith Lehr, and Eric Froehlich.

With his 342nd place finish, Chris Bjorin cashed for the fourth time at this year’s WSOP, and it was
also his 54th career cash, which puts him in 8th place on the all-time WSOP cashes list.

JJ Duque Wins Seat To $1,000 Guaranteed Limit Seven Card Stud of Full Tilt Poker

Full Tilt Poker runs a Fantasy Poker League for the current 2010 World Series of Poker. As a participant, all I have to do is to check out the many events happening throughout the 2010 WSOP, and then pick among the many professional poker pros and poker superstars on whom I think could win, and then get points if the players I pick make it in the money.

For Event #10 of the 2010 World Series of Poker, which was the $10,000 buy-in Seven Card Stud Championship, I picked out the likes of John Juanda, Doyle Brunson, Chris Ferguson, Howard Lederer, Ted Forrest, Eli Elezra, Andy Bloch and Johnny Chan. However, none of these picks made it to the money. The only pick I had among the 15 that made ITM was Men "The Master" Nguyen. Not only did Men "The Master" Nguyen make it in the money, but he also won the entire tournament, winning his seventh WSOP gold bracelet, and celebrating his 65th WSOP cash (as of that time). And because of Men "The Master" Nguyen's victory, I was able to win a tournament seat to Full Tilt Poker's Fantasy Freeroll for Event #10, which was a $1,000 Guaranteed Seven Card Stud tournament.

Of course, Seven Card Stud was one of the first games of poker that I learned, but I never really knew much about the strategy until later on. I'm not an expert in Seven Card Stud, and I sincerely wish that more poker rooms in the Philippines include a Seven Card Stud table, or maybe even a tournament, but the lack of players for Seven Card Stud just makes it hard to practice and play on a regular basis. The little chance that I do get  to play Seven Card Stud and its variants is when I join HORSE tournaments in Full Tilt Poker or Pokerstars. I've cashed in at Sagsan's HORSE freeroll tournament in Pokerstars. Yeah - whoopee doo - freeroll, but at least I get to practice other poker variants apart from Texas Hold'em.

Anyway, my Seven Card Stud is pretty average, and I still have the tendency to chase after cards, especially when trying to hit a flush or an open-ended straight. And then I still make the mistake of losing count with my outs, especially in regards to the other open cards of opponents that were folded. With that said, I didn't do that well in the $1,000 Guaranteed Full Tilt Poker Fantasy Freeroll Seven Card Stud Hi. Of the 482 players that registered, I managed to finish at 266th place in the bottom half of the field. So - there's not much to report there about anything great. I missed out to win the first prize of $237, or make it in the money at 56th place and up. Incidentally, first prize went to player "smokinat420" and I guess that puts a smile to my face knowing that the winner shares the same herbal habit. (if you know what I mean).

Well since there's nothing much to write about that tourney - I'll just give my thanks and congratulations to Men "The Master" Nguyen, the poker pro responsible for winning a bracelet, and in effect won me my seat.

Men "The Master" Nguyen has an interesting life story of how he earned his way to the American dream. Born in Vietnam in 1954, his Anti-communist views led him to escape the Communist regime of Vietnam in 1978 by sailing on a boat to Malaysia. He received political asylum form the United States that same year, and eventually became an American citizen in 1986. Men Nguyen started playing poker around 1984, and has since then won several tournaments with career earnings from poker just over $9 Million. He has also had the distinction of winning Card Player Magazine's Player of the Year Award  in 1997, 2001, 2003 and 2005.

Men "The Master" Nguyen has used his winnings to charities in Vietnam, and even built and founded a kindergarten school from his poker winnings.

2010 WSOP: Sammy Farha Wins Omaha High-Low Split Championship

The buy-in for the Omaha High-Low Split Championship in the 2010 World Series of Poker was $10,000 and 212 players made the buy-in to come up with a total prize pool of $1,992,800. 27 top finishers would cash in with the first place prize going up to as much as $488,241 plus a much coveted WSOP gold bracelet.

The winner was eventually, high-stakes poker pro Sammy Farha, who burst into the poker scene when he won his first gold bracelet at the 1996 World Series of Poker, and has since then been a staple in the poker scene. Sammy Farha eventually became a household name when he was the runner-up in the 2003 WSOP Main Event, losing out to champion Chris Moneymaker.

For the 2010 WSOP Omaha High-Low Split Championship, the 212 players may have been the toughest field ever assembled despite its seemingly low attendance. The final table that came out after two days of play was some of the best in the competition, including WSOP gold bracelet winners James Dempsey, Michael Chow and Abe Mosseri. The final table started at 6PM and ended past 6AM the next day with the heads-up play between Sammy Farha and James Dempsey going for a good 5 hours of play.

Runner-up James Dempsey from Brighton, United Kingdom, almost came close to his second career WSOP bracelet in this year's World Series of Poker after winning the Pot Limit Hold'em tournament a few days earlier, but fell to Sammy Farha after 5 hours of gruelling heads-up battle to finish second and earn $301,789.

The third-place finisher was Yueqi “Rich” Zhu from Rowland Heights, California, who was the only.non-pro at the final table. But despite that, Yueqi "Rich" Zhu  has had WSOP experience since 1999, making nearly two dozen in-the-money finishes at the WSOP, and making his fourth final table appearance at this event, claiming $225,325 for the third-place prize.

The fourth-place finisher was Sergey Altbregin from St. Petersburg, Russia, who cashed $169,368 - his third cash at this year’s WSOP. 

The fifth-place finisher was Tony Merksick from Council Bluffs, Iowa, earning $128,097.

The sixth-place finisher was WSOP gold bracelet winner Michael Chow from Honolulu, Hawaii, who  won his first gold bracelet in the $1,500 buy-in Omaha High-Low Split tournament wo weeks ago. Michael Chow has now cashed three times at this year’s WSOP with this win earning him $97,507.

The seventh-place finisher was poker pro Eugene Katchalov from New York, New York, who marked his 15th time to cash at the WSOP with a prize of $74,670.

The eighth-place finisher was WSOP gold bracelet winner Abe Mosseri from Longboat Key, Florida,who cashed $57,552 - his fifth WSOP ITM finish. Last year, Abe Mosseri won a WSOP gold bracelet at the $2,500 buy-in Deuce-to-Seven Triple-Draw Lowball event.

The ninth-place finisher was poker pro Steve Wong from Haarlem, Netherlands, who collected $44,618. This was the third WSOP final table appearance of Steve Wong. 

2010 WSOP: Russ "Dutch" Boyd Wins Event #23 $2,500 buy-in Six-Handed No Limit Hold'em

Poker Pro Russ “Dutch” Boyd outlasted 384 poker hopefuls to emerge as the winner of Event #23, a $2,500 buy-in Six-Handed Limit Hold’em tournament in the 2010 World Series of Poker. It was the second career gold bracelet victory for Russ "Dutch" Boyd, who also won the the top cash prize of $234,065. Russ "Dutch" Boyd also won his first bracelet in a similar Six-Handed No Limit event in 2006, where he defeated then-reigning WSOP Main Event champion Joe Hachem in heads-up play.

Russ "Dutch" Boyd has now more than $1.2 million in career WSOP winnings, and 15 ITM finishes in the WSOP.

Russ "Dutch" Boyd overcame the 4-to-1 chip lead of Brian Meinders in heads-up play to eventually bag the win and his second WSOP gold bracelet. Poker pro Brian Meinders from Jackson, New Jersey, cashed out $144,650 for his second place finish - the second time he's cashed in the WSOP.

The third-place finisher was Albert Minnullin, from Moscow, Russia, who earned $93,892, marking his second time to cash at the WSOP.

The fourth-place finisher was Julian Parmann, from Las Vegas, Nevada. who won $62,769, also marking his second cash in this year's WSOP.

The fifth-place finisher was Italian-born American Domenico De Notaristefani, of Mendham, New Jersey, who cashed in $42,117 - his second time to cash at the WSOP.


The sixth-place finisher was Al “Sugar Bear” Barbieri, who collected $30,399.

Russ "Dutch" Boyd had some impressive things to say when interviewed following his win. His positive thinking and approach to poker is surely commendable. When asked about poker bad beats and emotional stability, Russ "Dutch" Boyd said:

“I get so tired of bad beats. I don’t even tell them anymore. You go outside, out in the hallway, and all these guys are just moping around. They all have a cloud of doom around them. They talk about how unlucky they are. I’m like – ‘Dude, you aren’t unlucky. You’re at the World Series! That’s lucky. You’re alive. That’s lucky. Some people in the world are struggling and dying and you are here. You’re lucky.’ People who complain about their luck just don’t get it.”

On his approach to this year’s WSOP, Russ "Dutch" Boyd said:

“I did two things different this year. And it really paid off. I went into this tournament with a healthy respect for everybody I was against at the table. I feel like in the past, I resented them. I try now to go in with a healthy respect, even liking them. The other thing is to go in feeling like I am the luckiest player there. I am the luckiest player alive."

2010 WSOP: Vanessa Hellebuyck Wins Event #22 $1,000 buy-in Ladies No Limit Hold'em Championship

1,054 ladies each paid $1,000 to enter Event #22 of the 2010 World Series of Poker, a No Limit Hold'em freezeout tournament.
Eventually, it was Vanessa Hellebuyck of Paris, France, who was the last woman standing, and the winner of the a WSOP gold bracelet and $192,132 in cash. It was the first event for Vanessa Hellebuyck in the WSOP, and it marks also her first bracelet and first win. Not bad at all for a first-timer.

The runner-up was Sidsel Boesen from Copenhagen, Denmark, who won $118,897 for her second place finish. Sidsel Boesen looked like a favorite to win it as she started the final table as chip leader, but she lost the edge late and was not able to overcome the huge advantage of Vanessa Hellebuyck in heads-up play.

The third-place finisher was Timmi DeRosa from Los Angeles, California, who won $74,389. Timmi DeRosa was a winner in the California State Women’s Poker Championship in 2006, and is engaged to poker pro and WSOP gold bracelet winner Lee Watkinson.

The fourth-place finisher was Allison Whalen-Lannel from Atlanta, Georgia, who cashed $53,994.

The fifth-place finisher was Kami Chisholm, from San Francisco, California, who cashed out $39,860.

The sixth-place finisher was Holly Hodge from Windsor, Ontario, Canada, who won a seat to the tournament with a$150 buy-in, and ended up cashing out $29,880 for her sixth place finish.

The seventh-place finisher was La Sengphet from Dallas, Texas, who was an early chipleader. La Sengphet cashed in this same event in 2006 when she finished 23rd, but her seventh place finish earned her more with $22,728.

The eighth-place finisher was Bonnie Overfield  from East Wenatchee, Washington, who won $17,520, and also marking her second ITM finish in the WSOP.

The ninth-place finisher was Loren Watterworth from Temple, Texas, who cashed $13,688

2010 WSOP: Richard Ashby Wins Event #21 $1,500 buy-in Seven-Card Stud

Richard Ashby becomes the third Englishman to win a WSOP gold bracelet in the 2010 World Series of Poker, following in the footsteps of Praz Bansi and James Dempsey. Richard Ashby made the accomplishment after outlasting 408 players at Event #21 of the 2010 World Series of Poker, a $1,500 buy-in Seven-Card Stud tournament. It marked his first ever gold bracelet victory, topped with a cash prize of $140,467, making his ninth ITM finish in the WSOP.

The second-place finisher was Christine Pietsch from Orange County, California, who barely missed becoming the 16th woman in history to win an open WSOP event. She had a big chip lead late when heads up play began, but Richard Ashby came back strong to make her a runner up. Christine Pietsch won $86,756.

The third-place finisher was Darren Shebell from Las Vegas, Nevada, who got paid $55,955, also marking his second cash so far this WSOP
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The fourth-place finisher was former WSOP gold bracelet winner Dan Heimiller, who won another $40,544 in prize money. This marks three final table appearances so far for Dan Heimiller.

The fifth-place finisher was Owais Ahmed from Anaheim, California, who collected $29,809 in his first WSOP cash finish
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The sixth-place finisher was Sorel Mizzi, from Toronto, Canada, who earned $22,235. This marked his 11th time to cash at the WSOP and was his third final table appearance – which includes two runner-up finishes.

The seventh-place finisher was Pat Pezzin, from Toronto, Canada, who won $16,826. It is Pat Pezzin's 17th time to cash at the WSOP, which includes four final tables. Pat Pezzin won $16,826.

The eighth-place finisher was Jon Turner, from Henderson, Nevada, who collected $12,916.

2010 WSOP: John Tex Barch Wins Event #20 $1,500 buy-in Pot Limit Omaha

885 poker players paid the $1,500 buy-in to comprise the largest Pot-Limit Omaha tournament in WSOP history.

Eventually, the one who topped them all in this historic event was none other than John "Tex" Barch, a resident of McKinney, Texas, who won his first ever WSOP gold bracelet and a first place cash prize of $256, 919. Prior to winning this WSOP event, John "Tex" Barch was known for his final table appearance in the 2005 World Series of Poker Main Event won by Joe Hachem. In that tournament, John "Tex" Barch finished third, and won over $2M in cash. This win of John "Tex" Barch marks his third final table appearance and sixth time to cash at a WSOP event, making his WSOP career winnings to over $2.8 Million.

The runner up was Klinghammer Thibaut from Lampertheim, France, who cashed for the first time at the WSOP with $158,698 for his efforts.

The third-place finisher was Trai “Danny” Dang, from Whittier, California, who has been playing in poker tournaments for nearly 20 years. This marked his 11th time to cash at the WSOP and got paid $102,306.

The fourth-place finisher was former WSOP gold bracelet winner Nenad Medic, from Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. Nenad Medic previously won at the 2008 Pot Limit Omaha Championship. In this tournament, Nenad Medic had the chip lead during about half of the finale on Day Three, and appeared to be the player to beat. However, he had a bad run and busted out at fourth to earn $74,946.

The fifth-place finisher was Ashkan Razavi, from New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada. Ashkan Razavi cashed in a lot of Pot Limit Omaha tournaments in British Columbia, and used that talent to earn a fifth place finish and get paid $55,711.

The sixth-place finisher was Chris Hyong Chang, from Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, who won $41,971. This was his fifth time to cash at the WSOP.

The seventh-place finisher was Blair Rodman, from Las Vegas, Nevada, who earned $32,007. Blair Rodman won his first WSOP gold bracelet in 2007 at a $2,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em event, and now has 37 career WSOP cashes, which places him in the Top 50 all-time.

The eighth-place finisher was 27 year old poker pro Tyler Patterson, from Everett, Washington, who collected $24,695.  This is the fifth ITM finish for Tyler Patterson in the WSOP.

The ninth-place finisher was Denton Pfister, from Plano, Texas, who earned $19,259, and marked his first WSOP cash.

Other notable ITM finishers include Robert Williamson III, who finished at 77th, and has cashed 10 times in Pot Limit Omaha events in the past 10 years, the most for any player in the history of the WSOP.

Ted Lawson finished in-the-money at 37th place, and marks his fourth cash this 2010 World Series of Poker, and the first player to cash four times.

Former WSOP gold bracelet finishers who cashed in this event included – Nenad Medic (2nd), Blair Rodman (7th), Ted Lawson (37th), Jay Heimowitz (44th), Michael Keiner (47th); Jason Mercier (64th), and Robert Williamson III (77th).

2010 WSOP: David Bakers Wins Deuce-To-Seven Draw Lowball Championship

Deuce-to-Seven Lowball made its tournament debut at the 1973 World Series of Poker. The game is rarely played anywhere except at the very highest levels, and is rarely played public card rooms -- either as cash games or tournaments. In fact, the World Series of Poker is one of the few places where this poker game is offered. The game was tacked onto the 20WSOP schedule because it was the preferred game of many high-stakes cash game players.

Deuce-to-Seven Draw Lowball means the worst, or lowest-ranked, hand wins the pot. The very best possible 2-7 lowball hand is 2-3-4-5-7 of mixed suits. An ace counts as a high card. Flushes and straights count against the player. While a wheel (A-2-3-4-5) is the perfect hand in standard lowball, in Deuce-to-Seven it is usually a losing hand since the ace counts as a high card against the player. So, K-2-3-4-5 is better than A-2-3-4-5.

In the “Triple-Draw” variant of this game, players may draw up to three times to make their hand. Event #19 of the World Series of Poker employed a “Single-Draw” format.

In this particular tournament of the 2010 World Series of Poker, a $10,000 buy-in 2-7 Draw Lowball Championship of Poker, it was 23 year old poker pro David Baker who bested 101 players to win his first WSOP bracelet and $294,321 for the first place cash prize. David Baker now has one win, five final table appearances, and 21 in-the-money finishes at the WSOP.

Winning the event was even made harder with the presence of four WSOP bracelet holders in the final table, and some of the biggest names in professional poker.

Some of them included former Boston Bruins player and semi poker pro Eric Cloutier, who placed second to win $181,886.

The third-place finisher was George Danzer, from Munich, Germany, who earned $115,295.

The fourth-place finisher was four-time WSOP bracelet winner John Juanda, who earned $78,088. With his fourth-place finish in this tournament, John Juanda became the second player at this year’s WSOP to make it to three final tables. He now has one 5th and two 4th-place finishes. The other player to accomplish this was Vladimir Shchemelev, from St. Petersburg, Russia.

The fifth-place finisher was Doug Booth, who won $55,482, marking his seventh occasion to cash at the WSOP.

The sixth-place finisher was Erik Seidel, an eight-time WSOP bracelet winner. He received $41,270 in prize money, and now made his 59th career cash in the WSOP.

The seventh-place finisher was former WSOP bracelet winner Eric Kesselman, who won $32,080, and has now cashed five consecutive years at the WSOP.

WSOP bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu finished at eighth place to earn $26,004, and now has 44 career cashes at the WSOP.

“Now, when I say I’m a professional poker player, it has real meaning. The WSOP gold bracelet gives real meaning to claiming you are a poker pro,” explained David Baker about his win.

JJDuque Wins Seat To $6,000 Guaranteed 6-Max at BetUS Poker

I just received my affiliate commission from BetUS - a sportsbetting and poker site. Long story short, I had $140 to play with. A few ring games moved my bankroll up to $158, and with some extra cash, I decided to spend $11+$1 to buy-in to the $6,000 Guaranteed 6-Max Semi-Final. 28 players registered for an opportunity to grab 4 seats (one seat for every $77 in the pot) to the $6,000 Guaranteed 6-Max Final.

I played a good tournament, and was aggressive and trapping all throughout. According to my tournament stats, I won 15 out of 22 showdowns, which was also probably the reason how I came out on top of the chip count just at level 4. And with the huge stack, it was easy to play a lot of mediocre hands I would normally fold if I didn't have the ammo. And some of these mediocre hands like 8-9 and 9-10 suited connectors, or anything K-x suited won me some handsome pots with nut flushes and nut straights against cards like AK, AJ, QQ, 10-10.

One would flop a set of 10s, and I would be flop the nut straight 7-to-J with my 8-9 filling the gap. Another player with AK would flop the A, but my Kh6h (Kh-6h I think it was) would have turned the nut flush, and I just had the chips to push around to make it look like I was bluffing or feigning fear of the flush by overbetting all-in and get the AK to call.

Eventually, the final table of 6 players left saw me with the HUGE stack, and I just picked my spots to trap and eliminate the remaining two players to have all of us four win the seat to the $6,000 Guaranteed 6-Max Final.

The first prize for the $6,000 Guaranteed 6-Max Final is $2,400. Not a bad payout from an $11 satellite win.

Here's how the final hand of the tournament played out.

Dealer: Hand #2260843D6E000352
Level 8 200/400 Blinds Ante 40
Dealer: dangerbeauty posts ante of 40
Dealer: NoChaser posts ante of 40
Dealer: JJDuque posts ante of 40
Dealer: ACEONRIVER1 posts ante of 40
Dealer: TheJudge9 posts ante of 40
Dealer: NoChaser posts small blind 200
Dealer: JJDuque posts big blind 400
Dealer: Dealing hole cards
Dealer: ACEONRIVER1 folds
Dealer: TheJudge9 folds
Dealer: dangerbeauty folds
Dealer: NoChaser calls 200
Dealer: JJDuque is all in
Dealer: NoChaser is all in
Dealer: JJDuque returns bet 6,412
Dealer: NoChaser shows As, Qs
Dealer: JJDuque shows 6h, 6d
Chat is now enabled
Dealer: Dealing flop: [ Jc, Jh, Jd ]
Dealer: Dealing turn: [ 4s ]
Dealer: Dealing river: [ 5h ]
Dealer: JJDuque wins 10,954 with Full House,
Jacks  full of Sixes
Tournament: NoChaser is eliminated and is
placed 5th
Dealer: Table paused
Tournament: JJDuque wins tournament
Tournament: dangerbeauty wins tournament
Tournament: TheJudge9 wins tournament
Tournament: ACEONRIVER1 wins tournament

2010 WSOP: Eric Buchman Wins Event #18 $2,000 buy-in Limit Hold'em

Eric Buchman won his first WSOP bracelet and $203,607 for topping a field of 476 players in Event #18 of the 2010 World Series of Poker, a $2,000 buy-in Limit Hold'em tournament. Eric Buchman was best known for finishing fourth in last year's World Series of Poker Main Event championship, and although that win netted a bigger cash prize of $2.5 Million, it's his first place finish in this recent Limit Hold'em event that brings him his first WSOP bracelet.

The other results of the final table are as follows:

2nd: Brent Courson (USA) - $125,737
3rd: Steven Hustoft (USA) -$90,928
4th: Flavio Ferrari (Italy) -$66,446
5th: Hanson Chu (USA) -$49,068
6th: William Jensen (USA) -$36,619
7th: Matt Grapenthein (USA) -$27,609
8th: Gary Bogdanski (USA) -$21,028
9th: Matt Matros (USA)- $16,174

Incidentally, Matt Matros made his second final table appearance in this 2010 WSOP. Four days earlier, he won his first WSOP bracelet in another Limit Hold'em competition (Event #12).

2010 WSOP: Jason Dewitt Wins Event #17 $5,000 buy-in No Limit Hold'em

Out of 792 entries in the $5,000 buy-in No Limit Hold'em Event #17 of the 2010 World Series of Poker, it was Jason Dewitt who eventually emerged as the winner of his first WSOP bracelet and a first place cash prize of $818,959. 26 year old poker pro Jason Dewitt finished third and second in previous WSOP events last year, and finally now he comes out on top in a tournament he felt he played to perfection.

"When I came into the fnal table, I was fourth or fifth in chips. I lost two flips, and then from that point forward I really played perfect. I feel like I didn't make any mistakes at the final table. There is not one move that I regret, " explained Jason Dewitt.

The results for the final table are as follows:

2nd: Sam Trickett (UK) -$505,725
3rd: Jeff Williams (USA) -$328,762
4th: Peter Gilmore (USA) -$241,472
5th: Amit Makhija (USA) -$179,866
6th: David "The Raptor" Benefield (USA) -$135,718
7th: James Carroll (USA) -$103,594
8th: Paul Foltyn (England) -$79,957
9th: Manny Minaya (USA) -$62,350

Incidentally, Phil Hellmuth cashed in at 50th place, and stretches his lead as the all-time WSOP cashes leader with 77. Other former WSOP bracelet winners who also cashed in the event were: Perry Friedman (10th), Antonio "the Magician" Esfandiari (12th), Josh Arieh (26th), Ted Lawson (39th), Chau Giang (41st), Lisa Hamilton (46th), Phil Hellmuth (50th), Vitaly Lunkin (65th) and Annette Obrestad (72nd).