The results of the last of the preliminary tournaments leading up to the Main Event are now awaited at the World Series of Poker as 10 players from an original field of 4,422 continue to fight it out in the $777 buy-in Lucky Sevens NLHE contest – number 66 on the WSOP schedule – after several days of tough action.
And in the Main Event, the first of three starting flights launched Sunday with 741 players registered, many of them top players in the world. When we went to press Monday just 480 had survived.
Meanwhile, two more WSOP events concluded with the award of bracelets; British property investor and part-time high stakes mixed game player Gerald Ringe claimed his first and the UK’s third bracelet this season by winning event 65, and California pro Quinn Do crushed all in his path on the way to winning his second bracelet after an interval of ten years.
Ringe, dapper in a light summer suit, faced 546 other entrants in event 65, the $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better competition over four days, offering a prize pool of $738,450. The term “part-time player” is perhaps a little misleading, given Ringe’s experience in high stakes cash games and tournaments at top London and European events.
He needed it to conquer a final table that included three previous bracelet winners and some very competent players, but he cut a swathe through his opponents, dispatching two of them in the last thirty minutes to claim his first bracelet and the $180,943 main prize.
“Whatever I needed today, I managed to catch it,” Ringe said post-match. “Even when it looked like my opponent would scoop a big pot, I caught the perfect card and managed to split the pot. Everything went right today.”
Other cashes at the table included:
2nd Christopher Vitch $111,860
3rd Daniel Idema $70,322
4th Noah Bronstein $50,473
5th John Esposito $36,811
6th Owais Ahmed $27,285
7th John Cover $20,551
8th Chris George $15,721
In event 68, the $10,000 Dealer’s Choice competition, El Monte, California professional player Quinn Do (39) adopted a singularly successful strategy of choosing not his own favourite games, but those in which his opponents seemed weaker, augmenting this with changing tactics that kept his opposition off-balance.
It worked well as he manouevred his way through the 108-strong, ace-heavy field, all intent on winning the biggest share of a $1.015 million prize pool.
Do’s last bracelet win was in an NHLE event ten years ago, which made this win all the sweeter. Do said he had been working hard on his mixed game skills and was now confident in his all-round ability.
That confidence was tested to the full when he faced a talented final table that included 4-bracelet holder Jeff Madsen and other respected and experienced professionals.
Do set about the opposition, busting out Adam Friedman and Jake Abdalla in a single round of big betting, NL 2-7 single draw and going on to dispatch Madsen in a hand of NLHE before taking a big chip lead into his heads up confrontation against two-bracelet holder Rep Porter.
The momentum and chip stack generated by the El Monte professional was too much for even the hugely experienced Porter to withstand, and he was bundled out of the game in second place after losing a deciding hand of 2-7 triple draw.
Do’s first prize was that elusive second bracelet and $319,792, whilst Porter left with a well-earned $197,608.
Other final table cashes included:
1st Quinn Do $319,792
2nd Rep Porter $197,608
3rd Jeff Madsen $129,651
4th Jake Abdalla $89,114
5th Adam Friedman $63,277
6th Jussi Nevanlinna $46,384