Day 12 of the 2011 World Series of Poker saw Phil Hellmuth going for his 12th career bracelet in the $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Championship and Allen Kessler chasing his first WSOP bracelet in the $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold’em Event. Day 2 of the $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. played past the money bubble and began the march to the final table. Also, the $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Event drew a massive field and the $2,500 Limit Hold’em Six Max event got underway.
Event #15: $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold’em
Ten players came back on Day 3 of the $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold’em Event to play to the bracelet. Brian Rast led the field but many were watching to see if Allen Kessler could bring about the Apocalypse and take down his first bracelet. For those unfamiliar regarding the Kessler Apocalypse theory, Kessler is known for his "nitty" style of play and it has been frequently joked that his winning a bracelet would bring about the Apocalypse.
The final showdown at this final table was between Rast and Kessler. Rast led going into heads-up play 1.91 million to 1.53 million. The two exchanged the chip lead a couple of times before Rast took the lead heading into the final hand. On a flop of 
, Kessler check-raised to 200,000. Rast three-bet to 500,000 and Kessler shoved. Rast made the call and showed 
for a flopped nut flush. Kessler still had outs as he showed 
for two pair. The turn brought the 
and the river the 
and the Apocalypse was averted for a second straight year.
Brian Rast won the $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold’em bracelet and $227,232.
To read more about how Rast saved the world, check out our live reporting blog.
Event #16: $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Championship
Nine players started Day 3 of the $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Championship.
but all eyes were on Phil Hellmuth. Hellmuth looked to win his 12th bracelet, but a stacked field including John Juanda, Richard Ashby, David "Bakes" Baker, Greg Raymer, and Nick Schulman stood between him and history.
Hellmuth was in prime position to win that 12th bracelet when he made heads-up play against John Juanda. He started the match with Juanda with a solid 3:1 chip lead. However, Juanda is known for his lowball prowess and came storming right back to not only pull even, but take the chip lead.
At this point, Hellmuth began to grind and was able to pull back into the lead briefly, but Juanda caught good hands and kept on the pressure to retake the lead and grind Hellmuth down to around 600,000. The final hand saw Hellmuth shove and stand pat with 
. Juanda drew one and held 
. After a dramatic squeeze, Juanda tabled an for a competed jack-low and the victory.
John Juanda won his fifth career WSOP bracelet and $367,170.
For more on how Juanda denied Hellmuth his 12th bracelet, read our blog here.
Event #17: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E.
Day 2 of the $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. Event started with 185 players looking to play their way to the money and start their march to the final table. Antoine Amourette was the bubble boy of the event. During stud, he was all in with an open ended straight draw against a pair of jacks for Eli Elezra. Elezra failed to improve on the river, and Amourette drew a blank as well to bust the money bubble.
Among the players to make the money in this event were David Chiu, Allen Bari, Svetlana Gromenkova, Ryan Hughes, Cyndy Violette, Max Pescatori, Brett Jungblut, and Todd Brunson. A full ten levels were completed and 17 players remained. Adam Friedman will lead those players when they return on Sunday to play to the bracelet.
To find out who made Day 3 and more, read our live reporting pages.
Event #18: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em
The first $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Event of the 2011 WSOP kicked off on Saturday. A total of 3,157 players took the field for this event, a massive 1,065 player jump from the first $1,500 No-Limit event in 2010. Among the players in the field for Day 1 of this event were Eric Baldwin, Jason Mercier, David Benyamine, Scott Clements, Kara Scott, Will Failla, Bryan Devonshire, Jennifer Tilly, Michael Mizrachi, Faraz Jaka, Humberto Brenes, Jon Turner, and Erick Lindgren.
The field was reduce to 490 players on Saturday and Kenny Nguyen leads the field with 110,600. Jon Lane is right behind with 108,400. Just 324 players will be paid in this event, so tomorrow should prove a long day as players are scheduled to make both the money and final table.
Action will resume Sunday at 1430 PDT (2130 GMT). Follow all of the action here.
Event #19: $2,500 Limit Hold’em Six Handed
The $2,500 Limit Hold’em Six Handed Event kicked off on Saturday afternoon and drew a field of 354 players. Dutch Boyd, Tom Dwan, Daniel Negreanu, Richard Brodie, Brock Parker, Matt Hawrilenko, Bill Chen, David Benyamine, and Phil Laak were all among the players in the field.
The short handed nature of this game actually allowed for a nearly two-thirds of the field to be eliminated on Day 1. Just 130 players will return on Day 2 to play to the money and the final table. Shannon Shorr leads the field with 47,000, followed by Shawn Buchanan with 45,200 and Greg Mueller with 41,700. David Benyamine, David Chiu, Daniel Alaei, and Marco Traniello are all in the top 10 in chips.
We never leave you short handed on coverage. Follow our live coverage blog for more.
On Tap
A bracelet will be awarded on Sunday in the $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. Event and both the $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em and $2,500 Limit Hold’em Six Max are scheduled to play to the final table. Two new events will kick off on Sunday. First, another $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em Event will open the day’s play followed by the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship for the night cap.
Podcast
If you haven’t been listening to the PokerNews Podcast, you’ve missed a lot. In addition to their insight and analysis of the 2011 World Series of Poker, the crew were joined by guest such as Allen Bari, Gavin Griffin, Matt Savage, Maria Ho, Eugene Katchalov, and Quadjacks’ own Marco Valerio.
To find out what you have been missing, listen to the PokerNews Podcast here.
Video of the Day
Kristy Arnett caught up with Brian Rast shortly after his victory in the $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold’em. She talked with him about his win and the fact that he almost did not play the tournament.
For updates throughout the day on all things poker, follow PokerNews on Facebook and Twitter.
