Ashby Leads 2-7 Draw Championship, Hellmuth Seeks 12th Bracelet

Poker News / Short-Stacked Shamus / 11 June 2011 / Leave a Comment

Richard Ashby gunning for his second WSOP bracelet (Photo: PokerNews)

Event No. 16, the $10,000 buy-in Deuce-to-Seven Draw Lowball (No-Limit) Championship, has seen its star-studded field of 126 entrants whittled down to just nine players. Richard Ashby, a 2010 World Series of Poker bracelet winner and one of the many British players leading the charge again at this year's WSOP, will have the chip lead when play begins today, but will need to overcome a host of top poker talent to win, including Phil Hellmuth who will be seeking a record-extending 12th WSOP bracelet.

The $10K 2-7 NL Draw event traditionally attracts one of the toughest, most decorated fields at the WSOP each year. I happened to help cover this one for PokerNews last year in which 101 entered, with David "Bakes" Baker (the younger of the David Bakers) coming out on top. Baker is back among the final nine again this year, looking to defend his title.

I remember many of us thinking last year that while that WSOP Tournament of Champions was happening later in the Series -- the one in which fans voted for players to participate in a $1 million freeroll -- the 2-7 NL Draw Championship was in many respects the real "tournament of champions." After all, actual WSOP champs were occupying most seats at every single table!

I also recall last year realizing that when the field had gotten down to 72 players for Day 2, more than half of the remaining players had bracelets, in many cases more than one. In the end, Baker had to outlast a final group that included John Juanda and Erik Seidel, with Daniel Negreanu and Andy Bloch just missing making the seven-handed final table.

Reporters last night were again noticing how stacked the field was as Day 2 drew to close. With 14 left, Eric Ramsey of PokerNews noted how the remaining players collectively had a whopping 33 bracelets between them! In fact, only four of the 14 had not previously won a bracelet (Joe Cassidy, Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, Benjamin Parker, and David "Chino" Rheem).

Players hitting the rail at evening's end included Rheem (14th), Brandon Cantu (13th), Johnny Chan (12th), Grospellier (11th), and Parker (10th). That means of the remaining nine, all but Cassidy, currently second in chips, have won bracelets before.

Here's that line-up, with the number of bracelets each player has won in parentheses followed by current chip counts:

1. Richard Ashby (1) -- 700,000
2. Joe Cassidy (0) -- 540,000
3. David "Bakes" Baker (1) -- 492,000
4. Steve Sung (1) -- 441,000
5. Hasan Habib (1) -- 437,000
6. Greg Raymer (1) -- 355,000
7. Phil Hellmuth (11) -- 339,000
8. Nick Schulman (1) -- 306,000
9. John Juanda (4) -- 171,000

Of course, even among such a loaded line-up, Hellmuth will be the one drawing most of the attention as he seeks a 12th WSOP bracelet. Interestingly, it was exactly four years ago today -- June 11, 2007 -- when Hellmuth won his 11th bracelet in a $1,500 no-limit hold'em event. Hellmuth has never won a bracelet in a non-hold'em event.

Check in over at PokerNews' live reporting for updates from the final day of play from Event No. 16, scheduled to begin at 15:00 Vegas time. The WSOP site should have a live stream available showing the final table as well.

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