WSOP Day 8 recap

With the weekend approaching the action at the 2010 World Series of Poker started heating up on Friday, and poker fans saw Phil Hellmuth fall short of the final table, JJ Liu make a final table, and another Canadian take down a WSOP tournament.

Event #8: $1,500 No Limit Holdem

Phil Hellmuth’s quest for his 12th gold bracelet came up short yesterday, when arguably the greatest No Limit Holdem tournament player finished in 15th place –adding to his record for WSOP cashes at 76.
The final table was an international affair with six different countries represented, and for the second time in the 2010 WSOP a Canadian came out on top. Pascal LeFrancois took down his first WSOP bracelet, and will take $568,974 back with him north of the border.

Event #9: $1,500 Pot Limit Holdem

With Hellmuth’s elimination in event #8 the story of the day switched to JJ Liu and her chances to be the first woman to capture a WSOP bracelet in 2010. With the final table set Liu is currently in 3rd place in chips behind Englishman James Dempsey and chip-leader Steve Chanthabouasy, and what seems to be a growing trend at the WSOP, another Canadian is sitting at the final table: Joseph Williams.

Event #10: $10,000 Seven Card Stud World Championships

A rivalry has begun at the 2010 WSOP between Vladimir Schmelev and Mike “The Grinder” Mizrachi. The two finished 1st and 2nd in the $50k Players Championship –Mizrachi getting the better of Schmelev—and after Day 1 of the 7-Stud Championship the two were in the identical spots on the leader-board. However, after Day 2 it was Schmelev in 1st place, with Mizrachi dropping to 3rd. It will be very interesting to see how the tournament finishes up today.
In addition to the Mizrachi vs. Schmelev battle there are several top pros looking to displace “The Grinder” and the Russian banker from the headlines: Still alive with 12 players remaining are Joe Cassidy, Men Nguyen, Dan Heimiller, and Eric Buchman.

Event #11: $1,500 No limit Holdem

With one $1,500 NLHE tournament ending –event #8—another one HAS to begin! Enter event #11, and its 2,563 entrants. At the end of day 1 of the tourney only 297 players were able to survive and come back for day 2.
The $1,500 NLHE have been steadily growing in attendance: Event #5 saw 2,092 players; Event #8 saw 2,341 entrants; with Event #11 and its 2,563 entrants topping that. Among the leaders of the tournament is poker pro Blair Hinkle who is currently in 5th place on the leader-board.

Event #12: $1,500 Limit Holdem

Unlike the mammoth 2,000+ players that enter the $1,500 No Limit events, Limit Holdem events tend to attract far fewer participants. Event #12 saw a decent turnout of 625 players take to the poker tables at the Rio, and by the end of the day less than 200 remained –198 to be precise.
Some big names who have put themselves into good position going into day 2 of the three day event are David Williams (3rd place), Jeff Madsen (13th place), Matt Hawrilenko (25th place), Jeff Shulman (32nd place), Sorel Mizzi (33rd place), Marco Traniello (36th place), and Todd Witteles (47th place).