Day 21 of the 2012 World Series of Poker saw two more bracelets awarded among the five events taking place at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino.
Event #27: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. came to a close Saturday with Ylon Schwartz taking home his first bracelet. Event #28: $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em Four Handed also found a first-time bracelet winner inTimothy Adams. In Event #29: $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold’em Championship, Dennis Phillips is among leaders heading into Day 3 with the 33 players remaining. Event #30: $1,500 2-7 Lowball played down to a final table with Brandon Cantu leading the way. And getting underway Saturday were Event #31: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em and Event #32: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E..
Event #27: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E.
Only three players returned today for the conclusion of Event #27. Stephen Chidwick, Ylon Schwartz, and David Chiu fought it out for the bracelet, and it was Ylon Schwartz who walked away with a gold bracelet and first place prize money of $267,081.
Chidwick was the first to go after being eliminated in the Omaha Hi/Lo round. On a 
board, Chidwick already had 500,000 in the middle. Schwartz bet on the river, and Chidwick went into the tank before finally calling with 
for a missed flush draw and a rivered top pair. Schwartz tabled 
for a straight, which was just enough to send Chidwick to the rail in third place.
In the deciding hand of the heads up match, Chiu and Schwartz were playing stud. Schwartz’s board read 
and Chiu was showing 
. Schwartz called bets on fourth and fifth street before he finally raised on sixth. Chiu re-raised, but Schwartz made it four bets. Chiu flatted and bet on seventh street, only to have Schwartz check-raise. Chiu called, and Schwartz revealed 
for quad sevens. That knocked Chiu down to 200,000, just one big bet, and the match was over quickly after that.
Here’s a look at the final table payouts:
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ylon Schwartz | $267,081 |
| 2 | David Chiu | $164,960 |
| 3 | Stephen Chidwick | $112,106 |
| 4 | Robby Rasmussen | $78,021 |
| 5 | Elior Sion | $55,422 |
| 6 | David Rogers | $40,169 |
| 7 | Jason Brown | $29,679 |
| 8 | Marlon Milne | $22,358 |
To see all the action from yesterday’s final table, or more hands from the heads-up match, make sure you check out the PokerNews live reporting blog.
Event #28: $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em Four Handed
The third day of Event #28 started off with eight players returning to fight it out for a bracelet. It only took one level to trim down to the final five. The official final table was set when Brendon Rubie eliminated Greg Merson in fifth place. Merson shoved all in over Rubie’s opening raise with 
and Rubie called with 
. Rubie hit a queen and was able to hold to complete the four-handed final table.
Next to go was Anthony Gregg. Gregg made his final stand with and was called by Rubie’s pocket queens. Gregg couldn’t improve and he was sent to the rail in 4th place.
Three-handed play lasted for a while as Timothy Adams was able to double up at the expense of Rubie. The third place finisher, though, was James Schaaf. Schaaf and Rubie each put in 48,000 preflop and the flop fell 
. Schaaf check-called a bet on the flop and the 
fell on the turn. Both players checked, and the 
fell on the river. There, Schaaf bet out 175,000, and Adams put him all in. Schaaf call with pocket fours, but Adams held pocket tens, and that was enough to advance him to heads-up play.
Heads-up play lasted for nearly four hours before Rubie and Adam finally got all the money in the middle. On the final hand, Rubie opened for 80,000, and Adams re-raised to 225,000. Rubie called and the flop fell 
. Adams led out for 255,000 and Rubie called to see the 
on the turn. Adams moved all in and Rubie hit the tank. After a few minutes he finally called and shoed 
but he was far behind Adams’ 
. The river was the and that was enough.
For his first place finish, Adams collected $392,476 and his first gold bracelet.
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Timothy Adams | $392,476 |
| 2 | Brendon Rubie | $242,458 |
| 3 | James Schaaf | $164,823 |
| 4 | Anthony Gregg | $114,711 |
To see all the action from the final eight players, or from the rest of the tournament, make sure you check out the live reporting blog for this event.
Event #29: $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold’em Championship
Play began Saturday with 462 players looking to burst the money bubble and play deep into the night. When all was said and done, only 33 players remained. At the top of the chip counts was Kevin DeTienne with 1,325,000, more than double his closest opponent. Still alive though is 2008 November Niner Dennis Phillips, who can never be counted out. He finished the day with 576,000 chips.
Sunday’s very early bubble boy title was split between Joe Camarota and Roy Rice. Camarota moved all in preflop with 
and was called by Radwan Khuri with . The flop fell giving Khuri the massive lead. The 
on the turn and the on the river were no help to Camarota and hit the rail. Rice was eliminated at another table where we didn’t catch the action. Both players shared $929 for their bubble finish.
Also returning Sunday are Allyn Jaffrey Shulman (646,000) and Hoyt Corkins (541,000). Schulman was able to pick up a bunch of chips late in the day when she got her all in against her opponent’s 
. The board ran out 
to secure a double for Shulman and pushing her to 625,000 in chips.
Players will return at 1100 PDT (1900 BST) Sunday and play down to a winner. The champion of this year’s event will walk away with $603,713 and a gold World Series of Poker bracelet.
To see who takes home the gold, and who falls just short, make sure you check into the live reporting blog for up to the minute updates.
Event #30: $1,500 2-7 Lowball
Sixty-six players returned for day two of the event, and only the final seven remained at the end of the day. Among them are Michael Mizrachi, Andrew Lichtenberger and chip leader Brandon Cantu. Cantu was able to bag up 336,100 chips by the end of the night, making him the overwhelming chip leader by over 100,000 chips.
Among those failing to make it through the day were Bryan Devonshire, Leo Margets, Scott Fishman, David Sklansky, Ted Forrest, Liv Boeree and Greg Raymer. The bubble boy was Todd Brunson, who busted when he shoved all in for 1,225 and was called by Cantu. Brunson held 
and drew one, while Cantu held 
and drew two. Brunson pulled a giving him a small pair, but Cantu drew a 
and an 
giving him the knock out and bursting the money bubble.
Michael Mizrachi got off to a quick start by knocking out Paul Volpe on one of the first hands of the day. Volpe raised to 1,350 from under the gun. Christopher George re-raised to 3,295. Mizrachi was in the big blind and he re-raised by moving forward two stacks of T500 chips. Volpe moved all in for 25,000 and George folded. Mizrachi called. Volpe stood pat with 
and Mizrachi decided to take out with . Mizrachi would need a for a chop, or a for the outright win, and he hit perfect with the giving him an early knockout. From there, he carried his 115,000 chips all the way to the final table where he finished the day with 206,800.
The final seven will return tomorrow and play down to a winner. The champion will receive $101,975 and a gold bracelet for their hand work. Action will resume at 1400 PDT (2200 BST) on the secondary feature table in the Pavilion room.
| Seat | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Erick Lindgren | 185,600 |
| 2 | Ryan Tepen | 51,100 |
| 3 | Rep Porter | 233,400 |
| 4 | Anthony Gregg | 336,100 |
| 5 | Brandon Cantu | 185,600 |
| 6 | Michael Mizrachi | 206,800 |
| 7 | Andrew Lichtenberger | 161,100 |
| 8 | Larry Wright | 116,200 |
To make sure you don’t miss a single draw, follow the live reporting blog.
Event #31: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em
Event #31 attracted 2,811 players on Saturday and all three rooms were in use at the Rio Convention Center. At the end of the day, players had all condensed into the Amazon Room, and only 311 bagged up chips at the end of the night. Leading the way at the end of day 1 was Cherish Andrews who managed to bag up 225,900 chips. Andrews has a shot to carry that chip lead and become the first woman to win an open event since Vanessa Selbst in 2008.
Plenty of notables went into Saturday’s event with the intentions of becoming a champion, but many of them hit the rail in a brutal fashion, including David Williams, Matt Affleck, Nacho Barbero, Melanie Weisner, Viktor Blom and Andy Frankenberger.
One of the growing stories in this event is the emergence of PokerNews‘ very own editor Chad Holloway, who managed to bad up 19,400 chips at the end of day 1. On one of the very first hands, Holloway managed to double up with pocket Queens. On a flop of 
Holloway check-called a 125 chip bet from his opponent. On the turn, Holloway checked again, and this time his opponent fired 275. Holloway raised to 600, only to be re-raised to 1,375. Holloway made it 2,200 and his opponent moved all it. Holloway snap-called with his full house while his opponent held trip eights. The river was the 
and that was all she wrote.
Holloway will return tomorrow with the likes of Soi Nguyen, Joe Cada, John Juanda, and Erik Cajelais. Action will begin at 1300 PDT (2100 BST) and players will play down past the money bubble and toward a final table.
To make sure you see who walks with money, and who is our bubble boy, make sure you are following the live reporting blog for updates all day long.
Event #32: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E.
There were 178 registrants for Event #32 and it was hours before the first player hit the rail. But by the end of the night, there were only 136 players left. At the top of the list is last year’s champion, Fabrice Soulier, who bagged up 146,300 chips, almost 50,000 more than second place. Rounding out the top of the leaderboard in this star-studded field are Allen Bari, Abe Mosseri, Michael Binger, David Bach, and Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier.
There were plenty of big names who will not be joining the aforementioned pros on Day 2. The list includes Xuan Liu, Shannon Shorr, David Benyamine, Vladimir Shchmelev, Barry Greenstein, Annie Duke, Jonathan Duhamel, and Luke Schwartz.
One of the first players to hit the rail Saturday was Tim Finne. On his last hand, Finne raised under the gun and was called by Chad Brown and David Plastik. The flop fell 
and both players checked, only to have Finne bet. Both players called and the 
fell on the turn. Both players checked, and Finne bet once more, this time putting all his chips in. Both players called again, and the river fell . Brown and Plastik checked, Plastik tabled 
for two pair, and Finne hit the rail.
Phil Ivey also decided to make some noise Saturday and put himself among the chip leaders on Day 1. On one of the last hands of the night in Stud 8, Ivey bet with his board showing 
and Dan Shak and Josh Arieh both called. On seventh street, Ivey bet again, but this time only Arieh called. Ivey showed 
under for a full house and he scooped a monster pot, pushing him to 72,600 chips.
The remaining 135 players will return Sunday at 1400 PDT (2200 BST) and attempt to make it down to the money bubble. Action will last for 10 levels unless a final table is reached first.
To make sure you don’t miss any of the exciting action, follow our live reporting blog.
On Tap
On Sunday, both Event #29: $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold’em Championship and Event #30: $1,500 2-7 Lowball will play down to a winner. Event #31: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em will play down past the money bubble and will reach the final few tables. Event #32: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. will being Day 2 and attempt to get down to the money bubble. Also starting Sunday is Event #33: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em.
Make sure you don’t miss a single hand and check out the live reporting blog.
Video of the Day
In the video of the day, Kristy Arnett talks with Jason Mercier, Matt Glantz and Allen Bari during a break of Event #32: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. She talks to the three about their matching t-shirts which all read “Just Bad Luck.” To find out more, make sure you watch the video.
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