2012 World Series of Poker Day 22: Phillips Leads Seniors Event; Wright Wins Event #30

Five more World Series of Poker events played Sunday at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino. In Event #29: $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold’em Championship, 33 players were reduced to just four with Dennis Phillips leading the way. In Event #30: $1,500 2-7 Lowball, Larry Wright was able to best a stacked final table that included Brandon Cantu, Michael Mizrachi and Erick Lindgren to take home a bracelet. Joe Cada was able to climb over the final 19 players in Event #31: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em. Only 15 players remain in Event #32: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E., and looking for their second bracelets of the year are John Monnette and Phil Hellmuth. Event #33: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em also got started with a bang as 2,795 players showed up to create a massive prize pool.

Event #29: $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold’em Championship

Thirty-three players returned Sunday for Event #29 and the plan was to play down to a winner, but the final four — Dennis Phillips, Hoyt Corkins, Allyn Jaffrey Shulman, and Bob Phelps — decided to bag it up late Sunday night and return Monday morning to play instead.

Dennis Phillips was the big story after his aggressive play took him to the top of the counts leading into the final day. He will come back with 5,335,000 chips. The former November Niner was close to elimination at one point but found the right cards at the right time to turn his luck around.

In one very important hand, Martin Fitzmaurice raised from middle position with . Phillips re-raised all-in from the big blind with and was quickly snapped off. The board ran out and the ace in the window kept Phillips alive. From there he never looked back and was able to accumulate a massive chip lead.

Early in the day, Phillips pulled off a huge bluff against the Day 2 chip leader, Kevin DeTienne. On a board of , Phillips shoved all-in over a bet from DeTienne, who looked pained, tanked, and eventually folded. After the hand, Phillips showed for just a bottom pair. PokerNews got a chance to talk with Phillips after the hand and walk through his thought process.

Hoyt Corkins was able to quietly build his chip stack and sneak into the final four, as well. In one critical hand, Corkins limped in the cutoff only to be raised to 300,000 by Phelps. Corkins thought for a moment before moving all-in. Phelps called and tabled , but Corkins was holding and had a commanding lead. The board fell to give Corkins the double, allowing him to cruise into the final four.

Allyn Jaffrey Shulman became the third member of the Shulman family to make it to a final table in one week. Her son Jeff Shulman made the final table of Event #20: $5,000 Limit Hold’em, and her husband Barry Shulman made the final table of Event #19: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em. Shulman will return Monday in fourth place with 1,620,000 in chips.

Action will resume at 1200 PST (2000 BST) in the Amazon Room where the final four will play down to a winner. First place will receive $603,713, a gold bracelet, and name engraved on the Seniors Event championship trophy.

To see who walks away with the title, make sure you follow all the action on the live reporting blog.

Event #30: $1,500 2-7 Lowball

Seven players returned for the finale of Event #30, including Brandon Cantu, Erick Lindgren, Andrew Lichtenberger, and Michael Mizrachi, but it was Larry Wright who emerged the victor. It looked like Mizrachi would steamroll the table when early in the day he amassed 450,000 in chips, close to half the chips in play, but Wright was able to overcome the deficit and walk away with $101, 975.

Lindgren was eliminated in fifth place early in the day. Cantu raised, Mizrachi called, and Lichtenberger three-bet to 42,000 from the button. Lindgren moved all-in for 70,000 and Lichtenberger called. Lichtenberger had and Lindgren held . Lichtenberger drew a and Lindgren was drawing dead.

Michael Mizrachi was the next to go after coming up second best in several pots. On his final hand, Mizrachi got it all-in preflop with Cantu and was in the lead. Cantu showed while Mizrachi held . Cantu drew a and Mizrachi would have to catch to stay alive, but he drew the for a pair and hit the rail in fourth.

Lichtenberger was sent home next. He raised from the button only to have Wright re-raise from the small blind. Lichtenberger moved all-in and was called. Wright showed a pat but Lichtenberger could still draw out with his . Unfortunately for him, he drew a for a pair, and that would send him home in third place.

On the final hand of heads-up play, Cantu and Wright got all the money in the middle with Cantu showing and Wright holding . Wright was first to draw and pulled the giving him an unbeatable hand. Cantu was eliminated as the runner-up, and Wright took home the bracelet and first prize money.

Here’s a look at the final table payouts:

To see all the action from the final table, make sure you check out the live reporting blog.

Event #31: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em

Action started just short of the money in Event #31 with 331 players making a return and only 297 players cashing. By the end of the night, it was 2009 Main Event winner Joe Cada who had bagged up the most chips with only 19 players remaining.

Benjamin Marsh was the unlucky bubble boy when his fell to David Chase’s . The board ran out and that was all she wrote for Marsh. With his elimination, all the players moved into the money and were a few dollars richer.

PokerNews‘ Chad Holloway made it to the money but was eliminated in the middle of the day when his fell to his opponent’s . Other players who hit the rail on Day 2 were Eric Baldwin, Lauren Kling, Nick Binger, Mohsin Charania, Angel Guillen, Erika Moutinho, and James Akenhead.

Joe Cada had a roller coaster day, but it was one of the last hands of the night when he got most of his chips. From the small blind, Manig Loeser raised to 30,000. Cada re-raised to 77,000 from the big blind. Loeser four-bet to 177,000. Cada then five-bet jammed all in. Loeser made the quick call and turned up , and Cada was well behind with . It looked bad for Cada but the dealer rolled out a flop of and that ace changed everything. The turn and the river were both bricks, and Cada began stacking 1,869,000 in chips.

If Cada can take home the bracelet, he would be the first Main Event winner since Carlos Mortensen in 2001 to win a second. Joining Cada on Monday will be Day 1 chip leader Cherish Andrews, as well as poker pros Carter Phillips, JC Tran and Dwyte Pilgrim. Play will resume at 1300 PST (2100 BST) in the Amazon Room and will continue until someone has won the $664,130 first prize and the gold bracelet.

To make sure you don’t miss the exciting conclusion to Event #31, keep your eyes on the live reporting blog.

Event #32: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E.

Only 15 players remain after 10 more levels of play in Event #32. Two-time WSOP bracelet winner John Monnette is leading the way with 825,000 chips, but Phil Hellmuth is hot on Monnette’s heels and looking to scoop his second bracelet of 2012. Hellmuth has 571,000 in chips and, with only two tables remaining, is in great position to walk away with his 13th bracelet.

Twenty-four made it through the money bubble Sunday after Eric Wasserson was sent to the rail as the bubble boy. On his last hand in the stud round, Wasserson was showing and Phil Ivey was showing . With Wasserson’s tournament life at risk, Ivey turned up for trip eights, and it was enough to beat Wasserson and burst the money bubble.

Other players hitting the rail on Day 2 were Daniel Negreanu, Jason Mercier, Allen Bari, Jennifer Harman, Mike Matusow, Robert Mizrachi, Shaun Deeb and Mike Sexton. A few players were also able to make the money Sunday night, but busted shortly after. Among them were Betrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier, Eugene Katchalov, Joe Tehan, Owais Ahmed and Nick Schulman.

The final 15 players will return Monday at 1400 PST (22 BST) and play down to a winner. Plenty of other big names are still alive, including Phil Ivey, David Bakes Baker, David Bach, Matt Waxman, Abe Mosseri and Dan Kelley . We’re expecting a stacked final table for this one.

To make sure you don’t miss any streets of action, follow the live reporting blog for up to the minute updates.

Event #33: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em

There were 2,795 players to start Day 1 of Event #33, but by the end of the day the money bubble had already been burst and only 231 remained. Leading the way at the end of the day was Brad Libsonwho bagged up 117,100 chips. There were plenty of players hitting the rail on Day 1 including Kara Scott, Kristy Arnett, Kathy Liebert, Leo Margets, Sorel Mizzi, John Eames, Roberto Romanello and Jonathan Duhamel.

Duhamel got off to a quick start but was eliminated shortly after cashing. On a crucial hand, Duhamel got his money in with but his opponent was holding and was unable to catch up. After the hand, he was left with just 12,800 chips and hit the rail shortly afterward when he ran his into his opponent’s .

Amanda Baker managed to get a very important double-up right on the money bubble. On a board of , her opponent bet out 5,550. Baker raised to 12,000 and after a tank, her opponent put her all-in. After considering her options for a few minutes, Baker quietly announced a call and turned up for a runner-runner two pair, and her opponent dejectedly flipped up for a flopped top pair that was no good. Baked moved up to 80,000 in chips after that hand, and the money bubble was broken, so all the remaining players walked away as small winners.

Erik Seidel, Andy Frankenberger, Humberto Brenes and Faraz Jaka will all return Monday with healthy stacks. The top finisher in this one will take home $440,238.

To make sure you don’t miss a single hand, check into the live reporting blog for regular updates.

On Tap

Three bracelets will be awarded on Monday. Event #29: $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold’em Championship, Event #31: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em, and Event #32: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. will all play down to a champion. Event #33: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em will whittle away players on the way to a final table. Also starting Monday are Event #34: $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Six-Handed and Event #35: $2,500 Mixed Hold’em.

Make sure you stay up to date on all the action with the live reporting blog.

Video of the Day

In the video of the day, Sarah Grant gives a tribute to some of poker’s greatest dads in honor of Father’s Day. Freddy Deeb and the dad of all dad’s, Phil Hellmuth Sr., both talk a bit about their children and what they received for Father’s Day.

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