Phil Hellmuth’s second legitimate chance to capture his record-tying tenth
WSOP bracelet ended in continued frustration Monday as the poker superstar
again watched a first time WSOP champion take home the hardware. Scott
Clements, who went into the $3,000 WSOP Event #24 Omaha High-Low final table
as the chip leader, led wire to wire. The Mount Vernon, Wash. native has
cashed twice in previous WSOP events, including an Omaha event earlier this
Series and the 2005 WSOP Main Event. His win yielded him $301,175. To secure
his first major victory, Clements had to battle through an experienced final
table, besting three WSOP bracelets holders and decades worth of WSOP final
table experience.
Second place finisher Thor Hansen has been a staple at the WSOP since 1988
when he won his first gold bracelet playing 7-Card Stud. Since that time,
Hansen has added another bracelet (2002, Ace to 5 Lowball), made 14 final
tables, and cashed in 31 events. So far in the 2006 WSOP, Hansen has cashed
three times.
Poker veteran Brent Carter, who has two bracelets, 14 final tables, and
35-cashes in his WSOP career, finished in third place.
Hellmuth was the final table’s main attraction, but after an early series of
bad hands, Hellmuth busted in sixth place. His play in WSOP Event #24 was
good enough for his fourth cash in the 2006 WSOP and another $48,576 in
prize money. Hellmuth now had 53 cashes in the WSOP all-time, adding to the
record he set earlier in the series.
The Young Keep Getting Richer
One day after Jeff Madsen became the youngest WSOP champion in history,
21-year old Seattle, Wash. native Ian Johns won his first gold bracelet in
WSOP Event #23, a $3,000 Limit Hold’em event.
Johns won $291,755 for defeating 340 players. Before Monday, his largest
poker victory to date was a 14th place finish at a minor event in the 2006
Fourth Annual Five Star Poker Classic at the Bellagio in Vegas.
Johns began playing poker online with a $50 bankroll. After watching his
money dwindle down to $6, he told his wife Mandy Twiggs-John that he would
quit playing if he lost the rest. He never did and now he is a WSOP
champion.
Because Johns is from a state that recently made online gambling a felony,
he has changed his focus to land-based poker, a move that seems to be
working out so far for the budding young player.
“It’s ridiculous,” Johns said about the Washington state law. “I have not
played online poker since June 7th (when the law went into effect). We will
probably be forced to move because of the law.”
Jerrod Ankenman, who is the co-author of the upcoming poker book “The
Mathematics of Poker” with two-time 2006 WSOP bracelet winner William Chen,
finished second to Johns in a one-sided heads up match.
Johns went into the final pairing with a sizable chip lead and never let up.
Ankenman received $150,586 for his second-place finish and his success,
combined with Chen’s, will likely result in an even better return when the
book is released.
Final Table Set for the $2,000 WSOP Event # 25 No-Limit Hold’em Shootout
For those not familiar with a shootout format, players must defeat everyone
at their table before advancing to the next round. Players continue to
advance by winning their tables until only 10 players remain. Once that
occurs, final table play begins.
Everyone playing at the Event #25 final table will begin with 200,000 chips.
Professionals Roland de Wolfe and David Pham will enter with the most
experience.
A regular on the World Poker Tour (WPT), de Wolfe won the WPT Grand Prix de
Paris in Season Four and placed third in the WPT Championships at the
Bellagio this spring.
Pham has one WSOP gold bracelet (2001 S.H.O.E), three WSOP final tables and
11 WSOP cashes.
But everyone who qualified for the final table had to defeat each of the
competitors at their previous tables, competition that included some of the
biggest names in the sport.
Chad Layne outlasted tournament poker superstar Kathy Leibert in a classic
heads-up bout to earn his spot. David Bach had to defeat eight players, then
play David Singer heads-up for his seat and Pham had to beat Mike Sexton to
make Day Three.
Here are the final table participants for Event #25. Play will begin again
today (July 18) at 2 p.m. PST.
Dustin Woolf
David Bach
Jason Dewitt
Roland de Wolfe
Adam Kagin
David Pham
Jerald Williamson
Jeff Heiberg
Charlie Sewell
Two Omaha Events Move to Day Two
Event #300
WSOP officials added another Omaha event to the tournament schedule
yesterday. Event #300, a Pot-Limit Omaha with rebuys tournament, began
Monday (July 17) with 158 participants and is now down to 18. Professional
high stakes player Chau Giang leads the remaining players with 150,400
chips. Sherkhan Farnood is in second place with 112,000. The rest of the
field, which includes Eric Froehlich (bracelet winner in 2005) and Rafi Amit
(bracelet winner in 2005, four cashes and one final table in 2006 WSOP), has
less than 100,000 chips remaining.
Event # 25 $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha
Of the 506 players who entered Event # 25 on Monday (July 17) only 16
players remain. Rafael Perry, who finished 15th in the $50,000 Horse event
Saturday, has the most chips with 129,000.
Today’s Event
Event #26, a $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em event, begins today (July 18) at noon.
According to live blogs, the Amazon Room of the Rio all Suites Hotel and
Casino is packed with players. Expect a large field in this event.
