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THREE MORE BRACELETS TAKEN AT POKER TOURNEY (Update)

Source: bluffed.net


Akkari, Porter and Griffin all winners.

Three more players have claimed gold in World Series of Poker events in Las Vegas, including one - Rep Porter - who won his second piece of poker jewellery.

Event 43: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em was another of this year's World Series of Poker competitions that spilled over into a fourth day Tuesday after the heads up between Andre Akkari of Brazil and Nachman Berlin of the USA was unsettled on the ten level mark of the third day.

On Tuesday the two players resumed their battle royal with Berlin well ahead on 9.46 million against Akkari's more modest 3.4 million chip stack.

The duo was all that remained of a massive entry field for the event of 2,857 that had originally included many of the world's top poker players.

Tuesday's action started very slowly, with the players taking several hours just to even the chip stacks. Then Akkari managed to pull a huge double with his ace-eight against Berlin's king-queen, and from there on in it was only a matter of a few hands before he secured the match and claimed his first bracelet and the $675,117 main prize.

Berlin's magnificent but unsuccessful effort was rewarded with a second placing prize of $419,173 in what many seasoned WSOP observers asserted to be one of the most exciting finishes yet.

Event 44: $2,500 Seven Card Razz also ran into a fourth day Tuesday as Rep Porter bested an initial field of 363 to pick up his second WSOP bracelet and the $210,615 winner's check after a tense heads up against Stephen Su.

The duo were the sole survivors of a tough third day who had to return to the felt for a fourth day to decide the winner. Su had a 600 000 chip lead over his opponent when the last day's action kicked off, but it didn't last long as Porter took the lead in a single spectacular hand almost immediately after play re-started.

It was an advantage that Porter hung on to and eventually turned into a victory despite the impressive efforts of Su to survive.

Su's runner-up prize was worth $130,075.

Event 45: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em delivered a winner after three days of action whittled an original field of 2,890 down to one proud bracelet winner. Kenneth Griffin started the day near the top of the chip stacks with 21 players left in contention on the third day.

Getting to the heads up was no easy matter, given big names like Antonio Esfandiari, David Baker and Jonathan Driscoll, but seven players were sent home in the first hour of play and thereafter Griffin proved he had the right stuff, ending up in the final confrontation with Jean Luc Marais when Philip Hammerling busted out in third place to set the scene for the finale.

Griffin - a former Marine with combat time in Iraq and Afghanistan to his credit - played skilled, controlled and when it was required aggressive poker to subjugate his opponent after building up significant chip superiority, claiming his first bracelet and the large first prize check for $455,356, leaving Marais with a runner-up prize of $282,676.

Event 46: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em Six-Handed Championship completed its second day Tuesday, spilling over into the early hours of Wednesday morning Vegas time with 22 players still in action from an initial day one field of 474 that included almost every notable name presently in Las Vegas.

Eliminations on the first day alone included Annette Obrestad, Tom Dwan, Faraz Jaka, Lex Veldhuis, Jose Barbero, John Juanda, Jason Mercier, Eugene Katchalov, Paul Volpe, Scott Seiver, Chad Batista, Shaun Deeb, Daniel Negreanu, Alec Torelli, and Tom Marchese.

Entering the second day Tuesday, Alan Sternberg held the chip lead, pursued by Ben Lamb, Jake Cody, Farzad Bonyadi, and 2025 WSOP Main Event Champ Joe Cada, with 162 contestants still in the running, including David Baker, James Akenhead, McLean Karr, Ali Eslami, David Ulliott, Daniel Alaei, Mike Sowers and Kevin Saul.

The required ten levels of play was reached Tuesday night - early Wednesday and the chips bagged, with only 22 players remaining, led by Mike Sowers (1,468,000) and Chris Moorman (1,458,000)

Event 47: $2,500 Omaha 8/Stud 8 Event also completed its second day with 21 players remaining and the chip lead in the hands of Michael Mizrachi ahead of a top ten that includes names like Abe Mosseri, Antony Lellouche and Barry Greenstein.

The day started Tuesday with 201 survivors from an original field of 450 and ended with a casualty list that included names like Mike Sexton, Galen Hall, Pat Pezzin, Shaun Deeb, Mike Matusow, Tom Dwan, Michael Binger, Stuart Rutter, Jerry Buss and Josh Arieh.

Event 48: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em moved into its second day with 370 players remaining from the first day's field of 2,713, which generated a prize pool worth $2.71 million.

The field is currently led by Alex Bolotin on 129,800 pursued by Sebastian Winkler on 123,800 and with loads of top quality players still in contention like Leo Wolpert, Jonahan Little, Sorel Mizzi, James Mackay, Alex Bolotin, Yevgeniy Timoshenko, Arkadt Tsinis, JJ Liu, David Singer, Chino Rheem and Drangan Galic.

Event 49: $2,500 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball (Limit) is well into its second day with 120 players left from a field of 310 on the first day that created a prize pool of $702,975.

The top ten players at level 8 are led by Jimmy Fricke on 69,700 with Eli Elezra chasing on 57,100. He's followed by Drew Boyett, Arturo Diaz, Mike Gorodinsky, Tommy Hang, Justin Bonomo, Adam Spiegelberg, Sigi Stockinger and John Monnette.

Once again, there is plenty of firepower stll in the field, which promises to produce some outstanding poker as the competition heads towards its third day. The table draw shows the following notable names sprinkled around the venue: Chau Giang, Bill Chen, David Bach, Pat Pezzin, Matt Hawrilenko, Joe Tehan, Gavin Smith, Shawn Buchanan, Justin Smith, Greg Raymer, Mike Matusow, Tex Barch, Christian Harder, Jeffrey Lissandro, Daniel Negreanu, Eugene Katchalov, Jean-Robert Bellande, Tom Dwan, Daniel Idema, Joe Hachem, Tom Schneider, and David Sklansky.

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