WSOP Day 27 recap part 1: Kassela looks for 2nd WSOP win in 2010, Annette still shutout

Wednesday was an interesting day at the 2010 World Series of Poker with a number of tournaments finishing up, and a number of tournaments working their way down to the final tables. The stories going into Day 27 of the WSOP were Annette Obrestad’s deep run in the No Limit Holdem Shootout, original November Nine member Scott Montgomery looking for his 1^st bracelet, and Jennifer Harman still trying to win one for the ladies in 2010 at the Razz final table.

Here’s a look at the events that concluded yesterday at the WSOP.

Event #36: $1,000 No Limit Holdem

After his massive 2008 WSOP performance where he finished 5^th in the Main Event and cashed three other times, Scott Montgomery is trying to prove he’s no one-hit wonder, and his win in the $1k NLHE tournament should go a long way in doing that.

So many of the players who make the WSOP Main Event final table are unknowns that the question is immediately asked, “Can they play, or did they catch a good run of cards?” The answer in the case of Montgomery is clearly that he can play.

Event #39: $1,500 No Limit Holdem Shootout

With 14 players coming back to the tables to play what amounted to a 2-table Sit & Go tournament -since everyone started with the same amount of chips–there were two big names lurking in the field; JC Tran and Annette Obrestad. However, the two top players went out fairly early on -Tran in 13^th place, Obrestad in 11^th-which left a fairly unknown group of players to battle it out for the win -there was one former bracelet winner left in the field as the final table began, Justin Scott who captured a NLHE bracelet in 2006.

In the end it was Steven Kelly, a young player from California who picked up his 1^st WSOP bracelet, and by far his biggest payday to date at nearly $382k.

Event #40: $2,500 Razz

Chris Bjorin, Jennifer Harman, Frank Kassela and Vladimir Schmelev were among the players who returned to the Rio on Wednesday to crown a Razz champion, and early in the morning on Thursday it’s Kassela and Maxwell Troy in a heads-up battle for the bracelet. Kassela holds roughly a 2-to-1 chip advantage, and could pick up his second bracelet of 2010 with a win.

Harman put on another strong performance for the ladies, but fell short once again, ending in 6^th place -Harman earlier finished in 3^rd place at the 2010 WSOP.

Schmelev, the Russian banker who has come out of nowhere, picked up his 4^th cash in 2010, all Final Tables! He has previously finished 2^nd, 7^th, 7^th, and now adds a 4^th place finish. Schmelev already has set a WSOP record by making three final tables in events with a buy-in of $10,000+ in the same year.

 Results courtesy of WSOP.com