On Friday at the 2012 World Series of Poker, two newest bracelet winners were crowned in Event #37: $2,500 Eight Game Mix and Event #38: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em. Two other events, Event #39: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha and Event #40: $2,500 Limit Hold’em Six-Handed, narrowed their field during Day 2 play. Finally, two events, Event #41: $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em and Event #42: $2,500 Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi-Low 8-or-Better got under way.
Event #37: $2,500 Eight Game Mix
Just two players returned for an unscheduled Day 4 — two-time bracelet winner Greg “FBT” Mueller and David “ODB” Baker. When play resumed, Mueller had 2.655 million chips to Baker’s 925,000. They were starting up in Level 30 with two hands remaining in stud. Just two hours later, it was Baker coming out on top and claiming his first WSOP bracelet in 27 cashes.
Mueller not only started ahead, he also took down the first hand to extend his lead. He had Baker all in during an early hand of Omaha hi/lo, but Baker managed to doubled up. In that hand, Baker had raised from the button to 160,000 and Mueller defended his big blind. The flop came 
and Mueller checked. Then the fireworks began. Baker bet 80,000, Mueller made it 160,000, Baker upped it to 240,000, and Mueller asked what Baker had behind. Those 105,000 remaining chips went in the middle and Baker announced, "wheel," and turned over 
and Mueller showed 
. Mueller had outs, more so after the 
on the turn, but the river 
blanked and Baker was back in it.
Baker pulled to even during a hand of stud hi/lo when he rivered kings full and Mueller couldn’t improve on his aces. Baker then took the lead during a hand of 2-7 triple draw and moved further ahead as the game changed to stud. Mueller made a bit of a comeback during Omaha hi/ho, then was crippled in a hand of razz.
In this penultimate hand, Mueller had the bring in, and Baker raised it up to 100,000. Mueller three-bet to 200,000 and Baker called. On fourth street Mueller bet 100,000 and Baker called again. Baker took the lead on fifth street, and he fired out 200,000. Mueller called, then reclaimed the lead on sixth street. He bet 200,000, Baker raised it up to 400,000 and Mueller called. Seventh street was dealt face down and both players checked. Baker showed 
/ 
/ 
for an eight-five low. Mueller showed 
/ 
/ then turned over his last card, , and could not improve on his eight-seven.
In the final hand of razz, Mueller got all his chips in on fifth street and was behind and stayed behind as the last two streets were dealt. Baker showed 
/ 
/ 
for a sixty-five and Mueller double paired, ending up with a queen low. For his second place finish, Mueller will collect $167,637. But David “ODB” Baker (not to be confused with fellow bracelet winner David “Bakes” Baker) is the proud owner of his first WSOP bracelet and the $271,312 first place prize.
Event #37 Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | David Baker | $271,312 |
| 2 | Greg Mueller | $167,637 |
| 3 | Kevin Calenzo | $106,564 |
| 4 | Joe Couden | $76,841 |
| 5 | Donnacha O’Dea | $56,277 |
| 6 | Konstantin Puchkov | $41,844 |
| 7 | Christopher McHugh | $31,578 |
| 8 | Chris Viox | $24,188 |
To see all the exciting action from the final day as well as and the rest of the tournament, make sure you check out the live reporting blog.
Event #38: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em
The chip leader going into Day 3 was Jeffrey Manza with 1,302,000. Dung Nguyen was close on his heels with 1,273,000. Among the 21 players remaining to battle for the gold bracelet were poker pros Blair Hinkle, David Pham, Jason Lester, Theo Tran, Blake Cahail, and Scott Clements. In the end, it was Nguyen and Tran battling for the gold, with Nguyen coming out on top to take down his first WSOP bracelet.
Lester doubled up Tyler Patterson when his over pair to the board was no match for Patterson’s flopped straight. Then Lester lost the rest of his chips to go out in 19th place, and the remaining players redrew for the final three tables.
Not long after the players were seated at their new tables there was an all-in. Pham had 
and was ahead of the shorter-stacked Jesse Wilke’s , until the flop came 
. But just as soon as the tide had turned for Wilke, it turned again and the gave Pham the nut flush, making the 
river unnecessary. Wilke was out in 18th place for $21,689.
Michael Borovetz (17th), Blake Cahail (16th), Mihails Morozovs (15th), Marcus Gurley (14th), Miguel Proulx (13th), Ricky Crandall (12th) and Matthew Pierce (11th) each fell short of the final table. The official final table was set once Scott Clements was eliminated in 10th place, and was aired live WSOP.com.
Tyler Patterson was out next, in ninth place. Patterson three-bet all in from the big blind and found one caller in David Pham in early position. Patterson’s was in front of Pham’s until the flop came 
. The turn and river ran out and 
and Patterson earned $45,087 for his third WSOP final table appearance.
Jeffrey Manza was chip leader going into the last day, but he was not to be the last man standing. Manza was eliminated in eighth place. Dung Nguyen opened it up to 70,000 preflop and Manza three-bet from the small blind. While Nguyen paused, Manza said, "You know, folding is an option." But Nguyen made the call and the two saw a flop of 
. Manza led for 150,000, Nguyen raised to 350,000 and Manza repopped to 550,000. Again, while Nguyen pondered, Manza spoke. "Are you going to double me up?" he asked. Nguyen moved all-in, putting Manza to a decision.
"If you weren’t so bad, I wouldn’t even be thinking about calling," Manza said before he ultimately decided to put his tournament life on the line with top pair, showing . Nguyen tabled 
and was ahead, and stayed ahead, as the turn and river blanked.
Nguyen was rolling over the table, despite doubling up Blair Hinkle at one point. After Nguyen knocked out Kristijonas Andrulis in sixth place (ace-king versus king-queen), and then took down a nice-sized pot against Hinkle, Nguyen had over half the chips in play with just five remaining.
After they returned from the dinner break, David Pham moved all in with pocket sevens, only to be called down by the pocket kings of Bahman “Rod” Jahanguiri. Pham failed to improve and he was out in fifth place.
Theo Tran was nearly the next player out when he had it all in and was behind with pocket nines to the pocket tens of Jahanguiri. But the flop came 
and the board ran out without changing anything, giving Tran the double up and giving Jahanguiri a hit to his stack. But he managed a double up against Blair Hinkle in his next hand. Hinkle had moved all in from the button and Jahanguiri called, being the one at risk. Hinkle showed 
but was behind Jahanguiri’s
. The 
flop changed nothing. The {6cs} turn looked like the end for Jahanguiri, but the river gave him the double up and knocked Hinkle down to just a few big blinds.
Short-stacked, Hinkle moved all in with jack-nine and Jahanguiri called with king-three and Hinkle never improved, sending the only bracelet winner left in the field home in fourth place with $192,734. Jaharanguiri followed him to the rail next. He four-bet shoved all in with 
and Nguyen called, tabling 
. The board changed nothing, and we were down to heads up.
Theo Tran had made it to four previous WSOP final tables, but the highest finish for him was second place. He was looking to best that finish here and win his first gold bracelet. But he ran up against an unstoppable force in Dung Nguyen. Nguyen came into Day 3 second in chips, and moved to the chip lead early on and never looked back, putting more and more distance between him and the rest of the field. Tran came into the heads up battle trailing Nguyen 8 million to 3 million, and never closed the gap.
In their final hand, Tran got it all in preflop and was well ahead with versus Nguyen’s 
. Tran stayed out in front after the , but fell behind when the fell on the turn. Tran had outs, as any ace, king or diamond would give him the double up and pull him to within one more double of taking the chip lead. But the river was the and his run for the bracelet fell short once again.
For his great effort, Tran goes home in second place, taking home $377,565. Dung Nguyen outlasted a field of 2,502 to take home the gold bracelet and the top prize of $607,200.
Event #38 Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dung Nguyen | $607,200 |
| 2 | Theo Tran | $377,565 |
| 3 | Bahman Jahanguiri | $267,241 |
| 4 | Blair Hinkle | $192,734 |
| 5 | David Pham | $140,736 |
| 6 | Kristijonas Andrulis | $103,995 |
| 7 | Zachary Korik | $77,791 |
| 8 | Jeffrey Manza | $58,874 |
| 9 | Tyler Patterson | $45,087 |
To see all the knockouts and big hands as we played down to a winner, make sure you check out the live reporting blog.
Event #39: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha
Of the 293 players who registered for this event, just 88 made it to Day 2. The first order of business was making it to the money, and the top 36 players were guaranteed a min-cash of $16,801. But the prize on everyone’s mind was the $661,000 first place prize money and the gold bracelet. After ten hours of play, there were just 13 players left to bag up their chips, and among them was two-time PLO bracelet winner Jason Mercier.
A number of notables fell before the money bubble broke late in the day. Tom Chambers, who already had two final tables this year, John Racener, Noah Schwartz, Eric Cloutier, Joe Cada, Peter Jetten, Brock Parker, Daniel Alaei, Tony Cousineau, Brett Richey, Sam Stein, Padraig Parkingson, and Matt Stout, all left empty-handed.
It took fourteen hands on the money bubble before it finally burst, and it was former main event champ Huck Seed who left as the unfortunate bubble boy. Seed moved all in after the flop came and was called by Matthew Kirk. Seed had flopped two pair and Kirk had the flush draw, which he hit when the turn came the . Seed couldn’t fill up on the river and he was out in 37th place.
Making the money, but not moving on to Day 3, were Nenad Medic (35th), Robert Williamson, III (34th), Michael Binger (28th) and John Shipley (24th). Exciting in 23rd place was Bryn Kenney. Ted Lawson limped in from the cutoff, Hasan Habib called behind, and Kenney made it 50,000 from the small blind. Sammy Farha called from the big blind, as did Lawson and Habib. Kenney moved all in for around 90,000 after the flop came 
, Farha raised the pot, and Lawson and Habib folded. Kenney had a pair and a straight draw with and Farha had trips with . The board ran out , 
and the pot was shipped to Farha.
Two players were knocked out next in the same hand. Benjamin Sage, the chip leader coming into Day 2, had limped from early position, Ted Lawson called in the hijack seat, Habib raised the pot (55,000) from the cutoff, and Farha called on the button. Sage re-potted, making it 240,000, and Lawson called all in. Habib called all in as well, and Farha folded. Sage had 
, Lawson showed 
and Habib had . Sage hit Broadway on the turn of the board, eliminating both Lawson (22nd) and Habib (21st) from the tournament.
After Alexander Kravchenko and Joe Beevers were eliminated, we were down to the final two tables. Allen Cunningham was the next player eliminated. After moving all in, he called the clock rather quickly on Steven Silverman, who decided to fold. Nikolai Yakovenko apparently did not appreciate the quick clock and, before calling Cunningham, said "Since you were a jerk…." Yakovenko was behind 
to Cunningham’s but hit a set on the flop. The turn and blanked, and Cunningham was out in 17th place.
Andrew Brown was responsible for a number of late-in-the-day bust-outs, felting Keith Lehr, Konstantin Bucherl, Alexander Kravchenko, and David Callaghan. He will be the chip leader with 1,774,000 chips when the 13 remaining players return on Saturday to play down to a winner. Joining him in the million-plus chip club are Sammy Farha with 1,129,000 and Benjamin Sage with 1,013,000.
Jason Mercier was all in and behind late in the day against Josh Tieman and Farha, but Mercier hit running hearts to stay alive with over twenty big-blinds. Not much later, he was all in again against Andy Seth holding just top pair on a ten-high board. Seth had three overs and a smaller pair, but none of those cards hit the turn or river and Mercier was up to nearly 40 big blinds moving on to Day 3. He is back in the pack, tenth in chips going into Day 3, but still a concern to the rest of the players.
To follow all the exciting action of this illustrious event, stay tuned in to the PokerNews live reporting blog.
Event #40: $2,500 Limit Hold’em — Six-Handed
Day 2 of this event saw 101 players return, led by Vincent Gironda with over 60,000 in chips and followed closely by Michael Reed, Andre Akkari and Terrence Chan. Only the top 36 would end up in the money, guaranteed a payout of at least $4,046. At the end of a long day, we had burst the money bubble and saw 91 players hit the rail. With just ten players were left, Gironda managed to stay on top, moving onto Day 3 as the chip leader with 550,000. Chan is in second with 418,500 and Sorel Mizzi is currently third with 314,500.
Akkari may have started out one of the bigger chipstacks, but the Brazilian had a very down day and ended up going out in 38th place, just two spots before the field was in the money. A typical hand for him on this tough day was one where he flopped a set only for his opponent to turn a straight. Other notables followed him to the rail shortly after the money bubble broke including Scott Seiver, John Hennigan, Jeff Lisandro, Ryan D’Angelo, Jon Turner, and Dan Shak .
One person who wished the game were no-limit was Ronnie Bardah. He had a limit-based raising war with Zach Clark with the board showing 
and after it was capped, Bardah said, "I wish I could re-raise. I have quads." This hand knocked Clark down to just 15,000 chips. Clark ended up going out in 20th place for $5,970.
Maria Ho made a deep run, but fell short, eliminated by Chan in 11th place. With her elimination, the remaining ten bagged and tagged their chips and will return on Saturday at 1300 PDT (2100 BST) to play down to a winner. In addition to the chip leaders, still in the field and vying for the bracelet, will be Chad Brown, Porter,Marco Johnson, Bardah and, going for his second final table of the week, Brent Wheeler.
To follow all the chip ups and knockouts on Day 3, make sure to check out our PokerNews live reporting blog throughout the day.
Event #41: $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em
The only $3,000 no-limit hold’em event of the year brought in 1394 runners, creating a prize pool of $3,805,620. There was no similar event last year, so no returning champion to defend their title. But the event did not lack for big named players. Kathy Liebert, Dwyte Pilgrim, John Juanda, Bernard Lee, Jonathan Duhamel, Todd Terry, Leo Margets, Randy Lew, Matt Glantz, David Williams, Barry Shulman, Erick Lindgren, Jake Cody, Olivier Busquet, and Amanda Musumeci were just some of the notables who signed up for, but had an unfortunately short run in, this event.
Nam Le was eliminated late in the day, having picked a bad time to wake up with a pocket pair. He was short stacked and shoved holding pocket nines, only to be called by ace-queen and pocket kings. The board ran out and Le was sent to the rail.
After ten levels of play, there were just 324 players left. Heading into Day 2 as the chip leader is Hafiz Khan with 189,100. He is followed by Jarred Solomon (167,500), Darren Elias (134,300), Kennii Nguyen (125,000) and Mario Puccini (124,100).
A number of notables are still in the hunt for a share of the prize money and the gold bracelet, including Brock Parker (97,500), Fabrice Soulier (83,500), John Racener (81,400), Layne Flack (58,000), Shannon Shorr (46,500), Scott Montgomery (42,100), Annette Obrestad (38,800), Martin Staszko (35,500), and Andy Frankenberger (33,300). The remaining players will play down to the money bubble and then the top 144 finishers will be guaranteed at least $5,937, up to the first place prize of $742,072.
To watch the remaining players and their Day 2 battle to reach the final table, keep checking our PokerNews live reporting blog throughout the day.
Event #42: $2,500 Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi-Low 8-or-Better
Event #42 attracted 393 players to tackle the mixed Omaha/seven card stud 8/b combo. By the end of ten levels of play, only 175 bagged up chips and will be returning on Saturday. Leading the way at the end of Day 1 was Mark Dickstein, who managed to bag up 58,100 chips.
Plenty of notables went into Friday’s event with the intentions of picking up a bracelet, but many of them hit the rail before the day was over, including Dutch Boyd, Jeff Madsen, Mike Leah, David Singer, David Williams, Bertrand Grospellier, recent Seniors’ bracelet winner Allyn Jaffrey Shulman, Mike Matusow, Joe Hachem, and, still looking for that ninth bracelet, Phil Ivey.
But there are also many well-known players who will return on Saturday for Day 2 play, including Scott Seiver, Richard Ashby, Norman Chad, John Cernuto, Amnon Philippi, Dan Kelly, and Allen Bari, all of whom are coming back near the top of the chip counts. The remaining players will play down to the money bubble, where the top 40 players will be guaranteed a min-cash of $4,845. But everyone’s eyes are on the top prize of $228,014 and the gold bracelet.
To watch as the packed field plays down to the money and continues on towards the final table, make sure to check out our PokerNews live reporting blog throughout the day.
On Tap
On Saturday, Event #39: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha and Event #40: $2,500 Limit Hold’em Six Handed will each play down to a winner, both starting at 1300 PDT (2100 BST). Day 2 of Event #41: $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em will get underway at 1300 PDT (2100 BST) and Day 2 of Event #42: $2,500 Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi-Low 8-or-Better will start up at 1400 PDT (2200 BST). Finally, Event #43: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em will get underway at 1200 PDT (2000 BST).
Make sure you don’t miss any of the action in Saturday’s events by following our live reporting blog throughout the day.
Video of the Day
Lynn Gilmartin talks to recent bracelet winner David “ODB” Baker about how it feels to finally win a bracelet, beating one of his best friends in poker in the process, and how he approached the eight games that made up the event. They also talk about the other other David Baker and how “Bakes’” bracelet earlier in the series may have had some role in “ODB’s” bracelet in this event.
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