At the 2012 World Series of Poker on Wednesday, six tournaments played out simultaneously, two bracelets were awarded, and Phil Ivey made his first cash of the WSOP. In Event #9: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Re-Entry, Brian Rast, Amanda Musumeci and Greg Mueller fell short to Ashkan Razavi who took home his first bracelet. High-stakes online cash game grinder Vincent Van Der Fluit took home his first bracelet as well in Event #11: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha. In Event #12: $10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em, Vanessa Selbst and Antonio Esfandiari couldn’t make it to the final four, but Brian Hastings is still alive. Leonid Bilokur leads the final 25 in Event #13: $1,500 Limit Hold’em, but Jennifer Harman, Issac Haxton and Al Barbieri are still alive. Phil Ivey was able to snag his first cash on Wednesday in Event #14: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Shootout, as 120 tables played down to winners. Finally, Chris Tryba was able to pull to the front of the pack in Event #15: $5,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Low Split 8-or-Better as 212 players dropped to 137 on the first day of play.
Event #9: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Re-Entry
Brian Rast, Greg Mueller, and Amanda Musumeci had seats at the stacked final table in Event #9, but Ashkan Razavi walked away with the bracelet. After several swaps with the chip lead, Razavi went into heads-up play with a 6:1 chip lead and was able to hold it until the end.
Mueller was eliminated after he shoved all-in with 
and was immediately called by Derrick Huang from the small blind with 
. The flop fell 
giving Mueller outs to a straight, but the 
on the turn and the 
on the river were no help, and he was eliminated in seventh place for $103,258.
Rast was the next to go. Razavi raised to 100,000 from the button. Then, a short-stacked Rast moved all-in from the small blind and Razavi quickly made the call with 
. Rast was holding 
and needed to catch up to stay alive. The flop fell 
and was no help to Rast. The turn was the 
providing no additional outs. Finally, the river was the 
— not the card Rast was looking for to remain in the tournament — and he was eliminated in sixth place for $137,632.
The hand that cemented Razavi’s chip lead came when Duy Ho was eliminated. Ho opened to 300,000. Razavi three-bet over the top to 740,000. Ho responded by shoving all-in, and Razavi quickly called. Ho was holding 
and was completely crushed by Razavi’s . The board bricked, and Razavi jumped to 9.2 million in chips — more than half the chips in play. Ho was eliminated in fifth place for $185,378.
In the end, Musumeci and Razavi were heads-up, but Musumeci was unable to overcome Razavi’s overwhelming chip lead. On the final hand of the tournament, Musumeci open shoved all-in with the 
. After some thought by Razavi, he made the call holding . The board ran out 
and two pair was more than enough to give Razavi the win. For his victory, Razavi took home the gold bracelet and $781,398. Musumeci took home $481,643 for her second place finish.
To see any hands you may have missed, or to see how the tournament played out from the very beginning, make sure to check out the live reporting blog.
Event #11: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha
Charles Tonne entered the day as the chip leader, and he was able to ride that lead to heads-up play, but he couldn’t close the deal against high-stakes online cash game grinder Vincent Van Der Fluit. Van Der Fluit and Tonne began the day as the top two chip stacks and were able to hold on down to heads-up play.
Tristan Wade made a surprising third-place finish after grinding out the short stack all day. Wade began the day as the shortest stack with 150,000 in chips — just over 10 big blinds. Wade was able to double early and hold on until he got his 
all-in against Tonne’s 
. The board ran out 
, and Tonne’s two pair sent Wade home with $102,690.
From there Van Der Fluit and Tonne exchange the chip lead back and forth, but on the final hand of the night, Van Der Fluit walked away the winner. Van Der Fluit raised to 60,000 and Tonne made the call. The flop came down 
and Tonne checked. Fluit continuation bet for 65,000, then Tonne raised to 315,000. Van Der Fluit paused, then potted, causing Tonne to go all-in. Van Der Fluit called holding 
for two pair and a flush draw, against Tonne’s 
for a pair of fives and an inferior flush draw. The fell on the turn sealing the deal and giving Van Der Fluit the unbeatable flush. The meaningless fell on the river and Tonne was eliminated in second place for $164, 132. Van Der Fluit took home the bracelet and $265,221 for first place.
To see action from the rest of the final table make sure you check out the live reporting blog.
Event #12: $10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em
Thirty-two players began the day in the $10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em tournament, but only four were standing at the end — Tommy Chen, Brian Hastings, Jason Mo, and Brock Parker. Tommy Vedes, Eric Froehlich, Vanessa Selbst, Antonio Esfandiari, Andrew Robl, Andrew Lichtenberger, and Scott Baumstein were among the eliminations on Wednesday.
At the beginning of the day, it looked like Esfandiari and Selbst might go all the way, both winning their first matches to advance to the Round of 16. Esfandiari was eliminated in the Round of 16 when he got it all-in with 
against Tommy Chen’s and the board bricked out. Selbst moved on to the Round of 8 but couldn’t get past Jeffrey Gross. Selbst got all the chips in with against Gross’ . The board bricked out for her and she was eliminated in ninth for $20,674.
Hastings was able to make it through the day by defeating Tommy Vedes, Amritraj Singh, and Jeffrey Gross. In his last match of the day, Hastings rivered the nut flush against Gross to take a commanding chip lead, and on the final hand, got it all-in with 
against Gross’ . The board fell 
and that was enough to send Gross out the door in sixth place for $56,380.
Thursday, at 1300 PDT (2100 BST), the final four will return with Tommy Chen facing Brian Hastings and Brock Parker going up against Jason Mo. The winners of those matches will then play for the bracelet and $371,498 first-place prize.
To make sure you don’t miss any of the exciting heads-up action, check into our live reporting blog.
Event #13: $1,500 Limit Hold’em
Day 2 of Event #13 began with 222 returning players, but at the end of the day, only 25 remained. Among those remaining is Jennifer Harman, Issac Haxton, and Al Barbieri. On Wednesday, players played down to the bubble and on, with several players, including Jason Mercier, JC Tran, Michael Mizrachi, Matt Glantz, David Sklansky, Randy Lew, and Huck Seed unable to make it past the money bubble. After the bubble burst the eliminations continued, and the field lost Justin Bonomo, Men Nguyen, Humberto Brenes, John Racener, and Eric Buchman, among others. The chip leader at the end of the day was Leonid Bilokur, who bagged up 318,000 in chips.
Eric Buchman came into Day 2 as one of the chip leaders, but was unable to stick it out to the end of the day when he went on a downward slide after the dinner break. On one of his last hands, the board read , Buchman bet, and was check-raised by his opponent in the big blind. Buchman called and the turn brought the , and his opponent bet again. This time, Buchman decided it was his turn to raise, so he put in a second bet. His opponent called and the river brought the . His opponent bet one last time and after some thought, Buchman laid it down.
Jennifer Harman will return on Thursday but on a rather short stack — nearly 10 big bets. Late in the day, Harman lost some chips after her opponent rivered the nut straight with on a 
board. After that hand, Harman was left with just 60,000 in chips, but she can’t be counted out yet as Harman has proven herself to be one of the top limit hold’em players with a bracelet in a 2002 $5,000 limit hold’em event.
On Thursday, the final 25 players will return and play down until a winner is reached. Play will resume at 1400 PDT (2200 BST).
Make sure you check out the live reporting blog so you can see all the flops, turns, and rivers from tomorrow’s action.
Event #14: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Shootout
There were 1,138 players at the beginning of the day in Event #14, but at the end, only 120 players remained. Standing among them is Phil Ivey, Joe Cada, Blair Hinkle, Scott Clements, Erik Seidel, Terrence Chan, Gavin Smith, Jeff Madsen, Melanie Weisner, and Lauren Kling.
Some of the notable players not to make it to their next table were Liv Boeree, Viktor Blom, Joseph Cheong, Jonathan Duhamel, Jake Cody, Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, Daniel Negreanu among others.
David "Doc" Sands was another player to make it through the day to his next table. On a 
flop, Sands and his opponent managed to get all the chips in the middle. Sands’ opponent was at risk, but the pot was so huge it would surely determine the table winner. Sands was holding 
but was completely crushed by his opponents . That was until the fell on the turn. The river was a complete brick and Sands was able to eliminate his opponent and move on to Thursday’s play.
All the players returning on Thursday have earned at least $5,295, and are still playing for the $311,174 first-place prize. Players will play down to the final 12, then continue on Friday with two, six-handed tables until 10 players left. Action kicks off at 1300 PDT (2100 BST) on Thursday in the Amazon Room.
To be sure you don’t miss the winner of any table in this stacked field. Check into the live reporting blog for up to the minute updates.
Event #15: $5,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Low Split 8-or-Better
The final event of Wednesday began at 1700 PDT (0100 BST) and drew out a crowd of 212 players. Among them was the Godfather of Poker himself, Doyle Brunson. When Brunson made his appearance in the field, Nolan Dalla of the World Series of Poker announced his presence and Brunson received a warm round of applause from all of the players. Brunson will be headed to Day 2 with 29,000 in chips. Others who have made it to Day 2 include Phil Ivey (who is double dipping again), Bryan Devonshire, Abe Mosseri, Allen Bari, Chad Brown, and Todd Brunson.
Among those to not make through Day 1 were Maria Ho, Matt Glantz, Jeff Lisandro, Jon Turner, Shaun Deeb, and Jon Aguiar. Leading the pack at the end of day one is Chris Tryba who has already proven himself to be an accomplished stud player this year with two top 17 cashes since the start of the series.
Ivey is returning with a big stack, as well. In one massive four-way pot, Ivey found a way to make quads for a scoop. Ivey began the hand rolled-up and was able to find the fourth six on fifth street. No one made a low, and Ivey was able to scoop it all. He’ll go into Day 2 with a stack of 40,100.
The event will begin Thursday at 1400 PDT (2200 BST) when the final 137 will try to make it into the money.
If you don’t want to miss action from this star studded field make sure you check out the live reporting blog for all the updates you could ever want.
On Tap
Event #12: $10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em and Event #13: $1,500 Limit Hold’em will play down to winners on Thursday. Event #14: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Shootout will play down from 120 players spread across 12 tables, down to just 12 players spread across two tables. In Event #15: $5,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Low Split 8-or-Better play will begin with 137 players, and will grind to the money bubble of 24 players. Also, starting on Thursday is Event #16: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Six- Handed at 1200 PDT (2000 BST).
To make sure you don’t miss any of tomorrow’s exciting action make sure you check into our live reporting blog for the World Series of Poker.
Video of the Day
In the video of the day, Kristy Arnett gives an in-depth look at everything going on behind the scenes at the World Series of Poker including a look at what’s in Jason Mercier’s sack, and a tutorial on how different players like to muck their cards. Make sure you check it out.
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