If your quiver has the words “I am High Stakes Poker’ sewn into the fabric with shark’s gut strings, then you are currently nocking your arrows, and firing into the fields of the World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE).
We have three events to catch up on, and we’ll begin with the most expensive buy-in of the lot.
James Chen has taken down the 30-entrant €250,000 No-Limit Hold’em event. In doing so he earned €2,844,215, his first gold bracelet, and his most significant score to date moving him to the top of the Taiwanese All-Time Money list.
Dominik Nitsche is a man who rarely slips out of emotions’ stirrups, but I’m sure there will be a few mallets to the inside of his head as he remembers leading the final seven players with more than double his nearest rival’s chips only to exit first.
Here are the people who did finish in the money.
ITM Results
1. James Chen – €2,844,215
2. Chin Wei Lim – €1,757,857
3. Christoph Vogelsang – €1,185,161
4. Tony G – €799,045
5. Cary Katz – €538,722
Here is our update.
Leon Tsoukernik Wins The €100,000 No-Limit Hold’em Short-Deck.
Cascading down the numerical slide to the €100,000 No-Limit Hold’em Short-Deck event, and WSOPE host, Leon Tsoukernik, used his unique brand of marksmanship to send 29-entrants (inc. 15 re-entries) to sleep. Tsoukernik defeated Phil Ivey, heads-up, to win the €1,102,000 first prize. Two more non-professionals rounded out the in the money (ITM) finishes, with Paul Phua finishing third, and Cary Katz sneaking into the money for the second successive tournament.
ITM Results
1. Leon Tsoukernik – €1,102,00
2. Phil Ivey – €826,500
3. Paul Phua – €551,000
4. Cary Katz – €275,500
Siamak Tooran Wins €25,500 No-Limit Hold’em Short-Deck
Siamak Tooran won the ‘baby’ Short-Deck event.
111-entrants sold goats, chickens and pigs to find the €25,500 to compete in this one, with Tooran defeating Thai Ha, heads-up, to win the title and career-high score of €457,964.
Top non-pros Orpen Kisacikoglu, and Rob Yong made the final table, as did the WSOP Main Event runner-up, Dario Sammartino. Phil Ivey enjoyed another deep run, finishing in ninth.
Final Table Results
1. Siamak Tooran – €740,996
2. Thia Ha – €457,964
3. Orpen Kisacikoglu – €323,553
4. Netanel Amedi – €230,807
5. Besim Hot – €166,258
6. Rob Yong – €120,946
7. Jonathan Depa – €88,861
8. Dario Sammartino – €88,861
The Debate: Dan Shak v WSOPE
Sticking with the WSOP theme, and Dan Shak came up against a divot that demanded his attention this week.
Shak decided to go to print after the €2,500 8-Game Mix 6-Handed only managed to persuade 71-entrants to part with their money.
A few people agreed with Shak until the man who finished third in the 8-Game event chimed in.
Shak replied by telling Hellmuth to ‘get real,’ and questioned whether ‘his ego was so big that it had made him blind?’
Hellmuth didn’t respond, but you can.
Do you think hosting a 71-entrant bracelet event in Rozvadov is tarnishing the WSOP brand?
The Beef: Negreanu v Unlimited Re-Entries; Deeb v Kenney
During Shak’s mini spat with Hellmuth over the integrity of the WSOPE, the hedge fund manager referred to Daniel Negreanu as also ‘realising that there needs to be changes.’
Those ‘changes’ that Shak refers to stem from this Negreanu tweet.
Reading through the replies, it seems there is only one issue – late registration. The only problem is those asking for a late registration rule don’t seem to have a response when Negreanu says, “Nah, fuck em, turn up on time.”
What do you think?
Should prestigious events return to ‘old school’ rules?
Shaun Deeb v Bryn Kenney
Bryn Kenney makes it into ‘The Beef’ for the second successive week. Last week, the All-Time Money List leader got involved in a Scrooge-like brouhaha with Mike ‘Timex’ McDonald. This week, Kenney is trading cyber blows with Shaun Deeb.
It all began with an appearance on the Joey Ingram show, where Kenney opened up about his finances, stating that he started the year $3.3m in makeup with $1m on the side.
Then the Triton Million came on the horizon, and Kenney believed in his marrow that he would win the event. He was so confident that he put half of his net worth on the line, and made a series of significant side bets. After Ingram began laughing and said that it was a ‘degen thing to do,’ Kenney responded – “don’t try this at home.”
Then Shaun Deeb entered from stage left with this tweet.
If you ever talk to Kenney, he likes to tell you his lone wolf story. However, judging by the wave after wave of support he received from his peers, he’s not as alone as he may think.
Here is an example of the support that went Kenney’s way after Deeb’s tweet.
There were also supportive responses from David Peters, Dan Smith, Timothy Adams, Adrian Mateos, Chris Kruk, Ali Imsirovic and Jason Koon.
And it seems the debate raged on behind the scenes.
The Quote(s) of the Week
The quote of the week comes from an old interview between Joey Ingram and Jean-Robert Bellande, where Bellande talks about a player who died in the middle of the hand. The deceased had the best hand, and after the paramedics had removed the corpse, a conversation ensued as to what to do with the money, with one of the plyers suggesting – “The guy’s dead, the hand’s dead.”
Check it out.
And that’s a wrap for this week’s pinnacle.