Day 11 of the 2011 World Series of Poker saw bracelets awarded in both the $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Shootout and the $3,000 Limit Hold’em. Final tables were almost reached in both the $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold’em and $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Championship while some clever scheduling resulted in a huge jump in the $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. Event.
Event #13: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Shootout
The final day of the $1,500 No-Limit Shootout started with 16 players looking to win the bracelet. A two-table sit-n-go format was used,, and once the final table was reached, Andrew Badecker was leading. The final table was filled with the likes of Dan Kelly, Erik Cajelais, Vitaly Lunkin, and David "The Dragon" Pham.
None of the big names made the heads-up match for the bracelet. Instead, it was Badecker facing Robbie Verspui with Badecker leading 5.22 million to just 1.8 million. Verspui made it a match and even held the chip lead briefly, but Badecker seized control and quickly got things back to where they started.
In the championship hand, Badecker moved all-in against Verspui and snap called with 
. Badecker had 
and needed help to eliminate his opponent. The flop produced the help when it fell 
to give Badecker a pair of deuces. The turn 
gave Badecker two pair but gave Verspui the nut-flush draw. The river bricked with a 
and Badecker was the champion holding the bracelet and $369,371.
To find out more about this final table, check out our live reporting pages.
Event #14: $3,000 Limit Hold’em
Day 3 of the $3,000 Limit Hold’em Event began with 18 players looking to take the second limit hold’em bracelet of the Series. Final-table play was quickly reached with Brandon Demes leading the field.
Demes ended up heads-up for the bracelet against Tyler Bonkowski. Only 20,000 chips separated the two to start a match-up that lasted close to three hours. At one point Bonkowski had been ground down to just 250,000, but just like Matt Graham in the 2008 Limit Hold’em Shootout, Bonkowski pulled off an epic comeback.
After Bonkowski pulled back to even and the two swapped the lead a few more times, Demes was the player ground down to around 400,000 in chips. In the final hand Demes three-bet a flop of 
and Bonkowski came along. When the turn brought the 
, Demes check-raised all-in and found out the bad news when Bonkowski called. Bonkowski was holding 
to Demes’ 
. The turn failed to produce a queen and Demes finished as the runner-up.
Tyler Bonkowski won the $3,000 Limit Hold’em bracelet and $220,817.
To find out how Bonkowski overcame an 11:1 chip deficit, follow our live coverage of the event here.
Event #15: $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold’em
Day 2 of the $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold’em Event began with 88 players looking to make their way to the final table. The money bubble in this event was reached quickly and James "Flushy" Dempsey was the bubble boy. He ran top pair into a wheel and finished with poker’s "No-Prize" award. Among those making the money in this event were John Dolan, 2010 WSOP Main Event Runner-Up John Racener, Hoyt Corkins, and Alessio Isaia.
By the end of the day, the unofficial final table of ten was reached. Be warned, the apocalypse may be upon us. While Brian Rast leads with just over 1 million in chips, sitting in second place is Allen "Chainsaw" Kessler with 618,000. It has been joked that if Kessler wins a bracelet, the apocalypse would occur. This is Kessler’s second shot at ending the world in two years as he finished second in last year’s $10,000 Stud 8 or Better World Championship. Ted Lawson is the other notable player at the final table.
Can Kessler bring about the end of the world? Make peace with your maker and follow our live coverage blog.
Event #16: $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Championship
The restart for the $10,000 NL 2-7 Lowball Championship began with 88 players looking to make the money and final table. By the end of the day the field was shrunk to the final nine players, just two away from the final table. However, the final nine players in contention would make a stellar final in any game.
Richard Ashby will go into Day 3 play with 700,000, followed by Joe Cassidy with 540,000. Phil Hellmuth will start the day seventh in chips and will try to take down his 12th career WSOP bracelet and first in a non-Hold’em event. David "Bakes" Baker, Greg Raymer, John Juanda, Nick Shulman, Hasan Habib, and Steve Sung round out the rest of the field.
Can Hellmuth win his 12th bracelet? Follow our live coverage of the event and find out.
Event #17: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E.
The only new event on Friday was the $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. Event. Some clever scheduling by WSOP officials resulted in this event drawing 963 players, a 135 player jump from last year. Among the players saddling up in this event were Svetlana Gromenkova, Jeff Madsen, Matt Savage, Chris Reslock, Doyle Brunson, Erick Lindgren, Jeff Lisandro, Chad Brown, Bryan Micon, Allen Bari, and Michael Chow.
Eli Elezra leads a field of 196 players heading into Day 2. Svetlana Gromenkova and Victor Ramdin are also in the top 10. Play will resume Saturday and is scheduled to play past the money and to the final table.
How did your favorite stud do in this event? Click here to read our blog and find out.
On Tap
The $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold’em and $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Championship bracelets will be awarded on Saturday. Players in the $1,500 H.O.R.S.E will make the money and possibly the final table and two new events will kick off. The first $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Event will commence at 1200 PDT (1900 GMT), followed by the $2,500 Limit Hold’em Six Handed Event at 1700 PDT (0000 GMT).
Podcast
On Friday, the PokerNews Podcast crew talk about all the happenings at the Rio, including the marked cards situation. They were then joined by Gavin Griffin and Allen Bari. Warning, small children and Matt Stout probably should not come near this podcast.
For the best podcast money can buy, listen here.
Video of the Day
Lynn Gilmartin caught up with David Williams during Day 2 of the $10,000 2-7 Lowball World Championship. They talk about his table draw, babysitting, and his recent birthday.
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