Four tournaments and one epic satellite took place on Day 35 of the 2012 World Series of Poker. The third day of Event #50: $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em saw the final 48 players try to play down to a winner, but fall a bit short. The field in the Event #51: $1,000 Ladies No-Limit Hold’em Championship narrowed to the final nine. In Day 2 of Event #52: $2,500 10-Game Mix Six-Handed, 167 players returned and played down to the final 19. Event 53: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em got under way with a huge starting field. At the same time, the $25,000 Mega Satellite for the $1 million One Drop event took place, guaranteeing the final seat to this historic event.
$25,000 One Drop Mega-Satellite
The biggest satellite of the series drew some of the biggest names in poker vying for a million dollar seat at Sunday’s $1 Million One Drop event. In all, 96 players plunked down $25,300 each, creating a prize pool of over $2.4 million. There was much discussion leading up to the satellite with respect to what would happen if someone who already had one of the coveted seats were to win the satellite, and what the second place finisher would earn. Those questions were answered when the Great Dane, Gus Hansen, won and Shaun Deeb came in second.
Hansen is guaranteed one of the last seats in the One Drop tournament and Deeb has the first alternate seat. If he does not get a seat in Sunday’s tournament, Deeb will get the $1 million in cash. Jason Somerville finished in third place, earning $400,000 for the day.
The list of registrants for this truly mega satellite was stacked with famous names and the and the bustout list was full of notable pros including Phil Ivey, Brian Rast, Viktor Blom, Matt Glantz, JP Kelly, Brian Hastings, Eugene Katchalov, Erick Lindgren, Chris Moorman, Billy Baxter, David Benyamine, Daniel Alaei, John Hennigan, Yevgeniy Timoshenko, Andy Frankenberger, Jason Mercier, Carlos Mortensen, and Jon Turner.
While Hansen was winning his seat at the Rio, none other than the Poker Brat himself, Phil Hellmuth, had just picked up the other remaining seat to the One Drop, the MGM Resorts International VIP seat. Check out the final list of entrants into Event #55.
You do not want to miss one minute of this momentous event, so make sure to follow our live coverage throughout the day to keep up with all the action.
Event #50: $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em
On Saturday, 48 players returned for what was scheduled to be the final day of play. But after more than 13 hours of play, there were still three players left vying for the gold bracelet. Leading the final three is Dan Smith with 6,620,000, followed by Kyle Julius with 4,435,000, each looking for their first WSOP win, and Panayote "Pete" Vilandos with 3,955,000, seeking his third gold bracelet. They will return on Sunday for an unscheduled Day 4 to crown a winner.
Going into Day 3, Julius was the chip leader with 876,000 in chips and a number of notables were still in the running. Throughout the day a number of players were eliminated including Galen Hall (40th – $20,324), Event #28 runner-up Brendon Rubie (36th – $24,041), Randy Lew (32nd – $24,041) and Alexander Kravchenko (31st – $24,041). Later in the day, they were joined by Cary Katz (29th – $24,041), Eric Cloutier (28th – $24,041), Andrew Lichtenberger (23rd – $28,793), Jeremy Ausmus (21st – $28,793), Thiago “xTHEDECANOx” Nishijima (18th – $35,003) and Jason Wheeler (17th – $35,003).
Joseph Cheong fell in 15th place. After Daniel Perper opened to 42,000 from early position, action folded around to Cheong in the small blind and he moved all-in for about 440,000 total. Julius in the big blind then announced that he was all-in as well. Perper tank-folded and the two hands were revealed. Cheong had the 
and was up against Julius’ 
. Cheong went ahead on the 
flop, but the board ran out 
giving Julius a runner-runner straight to send Cheong to collect his $43,095 payout. Konstantin Puchkov, was knocked out next and in the process tied the WSOP record for most cashes in one series with 10.
The final table bubble boy was Erik Aude. Aude had about 1.3 million chips to the 1.6 million of Dan Smith. He check-called Smith’s bet on the 
flop, then checked the 
turn. Smith bet again, but this time Aude check-raised and Smith called. Aude moved all-in on the 
river and Smith insta-called. Aude turned over 
but his set of kings was no match for Smith’s set of aces with 
and the field was reduced to the final nine. Smith was in the lead with almost 3 million in chips, with the next closest being Kyle Julius with 2.4 million.
Amir Lehavot was the first casualty of the final table, eliminated when his all-in move with top pair and second nut-flush draw was beat by Julius’ two pair on the turn and the river bricked. A short-stacked Tommy Vedes was the next to hit the rail, knocked out by Thomas Conway in eighth place. Matt Gianetti moved all-in with and was slightly behind Smith’s pocket tens. Gianetti was further behind, but not without outs, when the flop came 
, but the board ran out 
and Gianetti’s run in this event ended with a seventh place finish.
Thomas Conway went out in sixth place ($148,198), followed by Derek Gregory. Gregory was poised for a double up, calling Smith’s all in after the flop came 
. Gregory had top pair with and Smith had a gunshot and two overs with 
. But the board completed with the and Gregory was out in fifth for $197,691.
With Kevin Schultz’s elimination in fourth place ($267,792), there were just a few hands left in the level before the final three would bag and tag their chips for the night.
The final table will resume 1400 PDT (2200 BST) in the Purple Section of the Amazon Room and play down until a winner is crowned.
Event #50 Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ??? | $952,694 |
| 2 | ??? | $589,687 |
| 3 | ??? | $368,943 |
| 4 | Kevin Schulz | $267,792 |
| 5 | Derek Gregory | $197,691 |
| 6 | Thomas Conway | $148,198 |
| 7 | Matt Gianetti | $112,725 |
| 8 | Tommy Vedes | $86,889 |
| 8 | Amir Lehavot | $67,889 |
To see how this tournament ends, make sure to follow the live reporting blog.
Event #51: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em Ladies Championship
Just 117 of the original field of 936 players returned on Day 2 to continue in their march for the bracelet. Leading the field going into Day 2 was Gaelle Baumann of France, with 77,300 chips. She was followed by Lara Boutros, Anna Lundholm and Myra Thompson. At the end of just over eight levels of play, the field was down to the final table of nine. Leading the final table will be Debbie Pechac with 630,000.
Play had halted on Day 1 as soon as the money bubble burst, so everyone who sat down to play on Saturday was already in the money. A number of well-known names earned a WSOP cash including Marsha Wolak, PokerNews’ Sarah Grant, Amanda Baker, Lisa Parsons, JJ Liu, and Erica Schoenberg .
When play was down to 25 players, Candida Ross-Powers was the chip leader, but earned a one orbit penalty after a three way hand involving Amber Chatwin and Stacey Lynn. With blinds at 2,000/4,000, Chatwin had opened for 10,000 from the button; Lynn moved all-in for 43,500 total. Ross-Powers then checked her cards in the big blind, exposing the . The floor was called and, despite tablemate Yen Dang’s suggestion that she just receive a warning, she was given a one round penalty for the infraction. During the penalty, Dang took over the chip lead, eliminating Kathy Chang in 25th place.
But Ross-Powers was back in time to send Lynn out in 23rd place. As Lynn tweeted after the elimination, “Folded to my button I jam a7, sb calls with 99 and I flop a 7 but don’t catch up. $5155.” Leo Margets followed her to the rail in 22nd place, with the same payday.
Yen Dang was responsible for many of Saturday’s knockouts. In one hand, she eliminated two players by coming from behind. After all the money went in on an 
flop, Dang was behind with . Erika Weinstein’s 
was in the lead for the main pot with trip eights and Monica Hinojosa had the lead for the side pot with pocket aces. Dang was looking for a non-pairing diamond to take the pot. The 
turn changed nothing, but the river was a 
, giving Dang the flush and a double-knockout.
Of the four players who began at the top of the leaderboard on Saturday, just Lundholm survived to make the final table sitting in the middle of the pack with 218,000. Going into the final table, here are the chip counts:
| Position | Player | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Debbie Pechac | 630,000 |
| 2 | Candida Ross-Powers | 548,000 |
| 3 | Yen Dang | 483,000 |
| 4 | Lesley Amos | 352,000 |
| 5 | Anna Lundholm | 218,000 |
| 6 | Rae Rocco | 203,000 |
| 7 | Angela Moed | 145,000 |
| 8 | Janet Howard | 132,000 |
| 9 | Freda Lawrence | 99,000 |
The final nine players will return Sunday at 1500 PDT (2300 BST) to battle it out until a winner is crowned.
To see all the eliminations and follow all the action as we play down to a winner follow the live reporting blog.
Event #52: $2,500 10-Game Mix Six-Handed
Day 2 began with 167 players still in the running for the gold bracelet, led by Tommy Hang, who bagged up 74,000 chips. Also near the top of the chip counts were 2012 bracelet winner Vincent van der Fluit, Bryn Kenney, Dan O’Brien, Hassan Habib, and Noah Boeken. By the end of the day, just 19 players remained to come back on Sunday to battle down to the bracelet.
Along the way, we lost many familiar names and faces. Eliminated short of the money were Hasan Habib, Mickey Appleman, Svetlana Gromenkova, Ivan Demidov, Eli Elezra, Scotty Nguyen, Greg Mueller, Grant Levy, Dario Alioto, Robert Williamson III, Dan Heimiller, Michael Binger and, two spots away from his 21st WSOP cash, Rep Porter.
The money bubble was the first order of business, and it took 10 hours for it to burst when John D’Agostino was eliminated in 49th place during a hand of 2-7 single draw. Both he and Mike Gorodinksy drew one card with the latter ahead with a 7-5 and D’Agostino needing his opponent to pair one of his cards. But Gorodinsky picked up a jack, as did D’Agonstino, and Gorodinsky’s 
bested D’Agostino’s 
. Among the notables cashing, but not moving on to Day 3, are Mike Matusow, Marco Traniello, Richard Ashby, Chris Wallace, Jeff Madsen, Dan O’Brien, Peter Ippolito, and Eric Wasserson.
Leading the field going into Day 3 is Vanessa Selbst who soared after the dinner break, finishing the day with 346,900 chips. Joining her near the top of the counts are Michael Saltzburg (286,700), Matthew Ashton (285,600), and Julien Renard (283,000). Further back in the pack, but still alive, are van der Fluit (137,600) seeking to become the first double bracelet winner of the summer, as well as a number of other notables including Mike Wattel (179,900), Chris Bjorin (152,400), Scott Clements (135,400), James Mackey (119,400) and Kenney (118,600).
Play will resume on Sunday at 1500 PDT (2300 BST) as the final nineteen battle it out until there is just one player standing.
To make sure you don’t miss any of the final day’s action, check out the live reporting blog.
Event #53: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em
One of the few remaining $1,500 buy-in events drew a huge crowd on Saturday, with 3,166 players registering, far eclipsing last year’s 2,713 runners. Athanasios Polychronopoulos won this event last year, taking down a top prize of $650,223. This year’s winner will collect $737,248 and one of the last gold bracelets of the summer.
There were many notables among the huge field of players. Allen Kessler, Bryan Devonshire, Scott Fischman, Matt Matros, Bill Chen, Lauren Kling, Jeff Lisandro, David “Bakes” Baker, Dutch Boyd, Lex Veldhuis, and actor James Woods all came and went throughout the day. At the end of 10 levels of play, 348 players remain, just 24 short of the money bubble.
Polychronopoulos, who returned to defend his title, made it to the end of Day 1 with 37,300 chips. Also returning on Sunday to play into the money and onto the final table will be Brock Parker (70,900), Victoria Coren (67,400), Cherish Andrews (63,700), Aaron Jones (55,100), Ali Eslami (54,100), David Sands (41,400), Martin Staszko (32,300), Steve Dannenmann (28,000), and Matt Affleck (27,400). Chip leader going into Day 2 is Mario Nagel with a stack of 158,700.
A special start time of 1400 PDT (2200 BST) is set for Sunday, so come back then to watch as the field gets pared down throughout the day.
To make sure you don’t miss the bubble burst or any of the other exciting Day 2 action, check out the live reporting blog.
On Tap
On Sunday, three bracelets are set to be handed out in Event #50: $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em, Event #51: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em Ladies Championship, and Event #52: $2,500 10-Game Mix Six-Handed.
Day 2 of Event #53: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em will take place as will Day 1 of one of the few remaining small buy-in events, Event #54: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em.
Last, but certainly not least, one of the most anticipated events of the summer will finally get under way, Event #55: $1,000,000 Big One for One Drop, which will have 48 players competing for the biggest prize in WSOP history.
To make sure you keep up on all the action from Sunday’s packed schedule, check out the PokerNews live reporting blog.
Video of the Day
Lynn Gilmartin reports on the completed One Drop Mega-Satellite and talks to an exhausted but happy Shaun Deeb as well as a surprised Gus Hansen, who tells Gilmartin that he had not even planned to play the satellite when the day began.
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