On Day 6 of the 2011 World Series of Poker, bracelets were awarded in the $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em Event, $1,500 Limit Hold’em Event, and the $10,000 Pot-Limit Hold’em Championship. The final table was reached in the $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball and another massive field descended upon the Rio for Day 1b of the $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em Event.
Event #4: $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em
Allen Bari returned to the final table on Sunday with almost a 6:1 chip lead over his three remaining opponents. He looked ready to coast to victory, but Maria Ho had other ideas. She was the last woman standing in this event and the first woman to make a final table this year. The two reached heads-up play for the bracelet with Bari holding a 11.1 to 1.875 lead over Ho.
In the second hand of heads-up play, Bari moved all-in from the button with 
, but Ho made the call and had him dominated with 
. A flop of 
made the possibility of a chop likely, but the board blanked out to give Ho a double-up to four million. That was as close at the match got as Bari proceeded to grind Ho down. In the final hand, Ho shoved from the button for about two million and Bari insta-called with pocket eights. Ho showed 
and needed help. The flop 
missed both and the turn 
left Ho needing an ace to win, but the river brought the 
giving Bari the win. Allen Bari took the $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em bracelet and $874,116.
To find out more about this match and more, read our live reporting blog.
Event #6: $1,500 Limit Hold’em
Day 3 of the $1,500 Limit Hold’em event started with 15 players looking to play their way to the bracelet. The defending champion in this event, Matt Matros, finished the day in 11th place. It took less than two levels to reach the final table. Sean Nguyen was the chip leader at the start of final table play. Two-time bracelet winner Scott Clements , headliner of the group, began third in chips.
Variance was the name of the game at this final table. Clements and Nguyen both went on massive downswings that resulted in Clements being knocked out in ninth and Nguyen finishing in sixth. Heads-up play for this event was between Harrison Wilder and Thomas Jamieson. Wilder began with a better-than-2:1 chip lead heading into heads-up play and was never threatened. The final hand of the event saw Jamieson call all-in a three-bet from Wilder. Wilder was ahead with 
against the 
for Jamieson. A 
flop gave Jamieson a straight draw, but Wilder’s ace was still ahead. The on the turn missed both and the river 
gave Wilder a pair and the bracelet. Harrison Wilder won the first limit hold’em bracelet of the Series and $205,065.
Few things are wilder than a limit hold’em final table. Read our live blog to find out the details.
Event #7: $10,000 Pot-Limit Hold’em Championship
The third day of the $10,000 Pot-Limit Hold’em Championship began with 27 players looking to make the final table and take down the bracelet. Players busted out of this event like they had somewhere else to go as we quickly reached the final table of this event. Jarred Solomon was the chip leader heading into final table play and he was joined by Nicolas Levi, Eric Cloutier, and McLean Karr. Solomon was successfully able to make it to heads-up play against Amir Lehavot, but Lehavot held the lion’s share of the chips with 5.415 million to Solomon’s 2.16 million.
Lehavot proceeded to grind Solomon down to around a million chips before finally finishing him off. In the final hand, Solomon shoved with 
and found himself dominated against Lehavot’s 
. The flop of 
gave Lehavot trips, but Solomon still had life with four outs to Broadway. That changed on the turn when the 
fell. Solomon was drawing dead and Lehavot was the champion. Amir Lehavot won the Pot-Limit Hold’em Championship bracelet and $573,456.
Daniel Negreanu calls this the most skillful form of Texas hold’em. Find out why in our live reporting blog.
Event #8: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em
Day 1b of the $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em event drew a solid field of 2,062 players. The number of entrants for this event was 4,178, a drop of just 167 players year-over-year. Considering that many were predicting significant drops in these types of events post Black Friday, this 3.8 percent drop could be considered another win for this year’s WSOP.
Plenty of notables were in this Day 1b field, including Annette Obrestad, David Chiu, Kara Scott, Lacey Jones, Jennifer Tilly, Gavin Smith, Allen Kessler, Humberto Brenes, Eddy Sabat, Phil Hellmuth, Greg Raymer, and Men Nguyen. Jon Turner finished at the top of the leaderboard at the end of Day 1b with 99,200. This makes him the overall chip leader when the two fields combine on Monday. On Monday, the 312 players who survived Day 1b will join the 312 players that survived Day 1a to play past the money bubble and begin the march to the final table.
Did your favorite player survive the "$1k bingo?" Check out our live reporting blog and find out.
Event #9: $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball
Day 3 of this event began with 73 players looking to make it past the money bubble and work to the final table. Some of the notables who finished in the money included Eli Elezra in 25th, Greg "FBT" Mueller in 18th, and Avery Cardoza in 10th. The final table of this event was indeed reached on Sunday and the final seven players will return on Monday to play for the bracelet. Matt Perrins starts the final table as chip leader with 293,000 but Bernard Lee is right behind him with 265,000. Chris Bjorin, Thomas Fuller, Josh Brikis, Robin Rightmire, and Jason Mercier all round out one of the strongest final tables so far in this WSOP.
The final table kicks off at 1500 PDT (2200 GMT). Follow all of the action in our live coverage blog.
On Tap
A bracelet will be awarded on Monday in the $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball. Also, Day 1 survivors in the $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em will return and play to the money and two new events will get under way. The $1,500 Six-Handed No-Limit event kicks off at 1200 PDT (1900 GMT), followed by the $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo Championship at 1700 PDT (0000 GMT).
Podcast
If you missed the PokerNews Podcast this week, then you missed out on a lot. The gang discussed the WSOP, the saga between Phil Ivey and Full Tilt Poker, and even chatted with Daniel Negreanu.
You know you want to listen, so check out the PokerNews Podcast.
Video of the Day
Kristy Arnett talked with Allen Bari after his victory in the $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em event. He talks about his run at the final table, plans for the WSOP, and how he feels about winning first bracelet.
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