Sunday drama wraps-up the first week of the 2012 WSOP

The 2012 World Series of Poker is now officially into its second week, and the second Sunday of the tournament series was not without its share of drama. Here is a look at the events that were in action yesterday.

$5k NLHE Mix-Max final postponed

Joseph Cheong made quick work of his semi-final opponent in the $5k Mix-Max event, but then had to wait over six hours for the second semi-final to finish. After a long match (and a long wait by Cheong that saw him enter the $1,500 event in the interim) the two decided to postpone the final, but their agreed upon time didn’t mesh with the WSOP or the Nevada Gaming Commission.

Originally the two wanted to wait until Tuesday to play the match, but they were later informed that it had be done tomorrow at 11 Am, 12 PM, or 1 PM. So it will be tomorrow at Noon that Joseph Cheong takes on Aubin Cazals.

• $5k NLHE Mix-Max finals: Joseph Cheong –3,112,000 vs. Aubin Cazals 3,018,000

Tapscott wins $1,500 Omaha 8 tournament

One tournament that did finish on schedule was the $1,500 Omaha 8 or better event which was won by 71 year-old Herbert Tapscott, who bested the field of much-younger, and better known, poker players to win his first WSOP bracelet. Tapscott beat Gavin Griffin in heads-up play , as Grifffin (poker’s first Triple Crown winner) sought his first WSOP bracelet since he burst onto the poker scene in 2004.

Here is a look at the final table payouts from the tournament:

1. Herbert Tapscott – $264, 400
2. Gavin Griffin – $163, 625
3. Ashly Butler – $102, 373
4. Can Kim Hua $74, 306
5. Michael Kleist – $54, 855
6. John Racener – $41, 121
7. Thayer Rasmussen – $31, 278
8. Raymond Davis $24, 111
9. Bryan Jolly – $18, 837

Controversy surrounds $1,500 NLHE re-entry event

The $1,500 NLHE held this weekend was the largest such event since 2008, with 3,404 entrants, but the real story of the deal was in regards to 11 of those entrants. It seems 11 people, including Will Failla were allowed to re-enter the event twice on Day 1b, while the tournaments official format allowed for players who busted on Day 1a to re-enter on Day 1b only.

We are still waiting on an official statement from the WSOP, and an explanation of how such a simple to remedy oversight was allowed to occur.

$5k Stud sees attendance rise and prize-pool decline

The $5k Stud tournament is the largest on the 2012 WSOP schedule (taking the place of last year’s $10k Stud event) and even though attendance was up, the overall prize-pool fell dramatically. 145 players registered for the event and by the end of the day the big names in the Stud Poker world had risen toward the top, with specialists like Jeffrey Lisandro, Frank Kasella, and Freddie Ellis all in the Top 10. Here is a look at the Top 10 chip counts heading into Day 2:

1. Bryn Kenney – 59,000
2. David Singer – 55,400
3. Mike Sigel – 54,900
4. Maxwell Troy – 54,200
5. Frank Kassela – 53,800
6. Paul Volpe – 46,900
7. Mike Leah – 45,700
8. Matt Kelly – 43,600
9. Freddie Ellis – 36,000
10. Jeff Lisandro – 36,000