https://betting.betfair.com/poker/wsop/2012/05/ en Copyright 2026 Thu, 31 May 2012 16:49:00 +0100 http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification Just eight remain in Event #3 at the World Series of Poker, the $3,000 buy-in Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em/Pot-Limit Omaha event that drew 317 entrants. Three matches stand between each and the title, with Jason Koon, Andy Frankenberger, David Benefield, and Annette Obrestad among those still vying for the bracelet. Event #3 features a unique format, one aspect of which is alternating between no-limit hold'em and pot-limit Omaha with each level. Players also start each round with a third of their total chips, then keep the rest behind as "add-ons" each also worth 1/3 of their starting stack. They may subsequently use these "add-ons" at any point in the match, including after losing whatever they have before them. Tuesday's first day of play saw three rounds of play trim that starting field down to 64 players. Making it to Day 2 meant making the money in this one, so those falling in the Round of 64 matches earned $3,395 each. That group included Justin Smith, Guillaume Darcourt, Ayaz Mahmood, David Chiu, Sam Stein, Justin Bonomo, Tim West, and Eric Froehlich. Players eliminated in their second match on Wednesday (the round of 32) each took away $5,144, a group that included Matt Jarvis, Yevgeniy Timoshenko, Vojtech Ruzicka, and Victor Ramdin. The eight players who made it to the final 16 before losing late Wednesday night earned $9,644 for their efforts. Here's a quick rundown of how those matches went. First Andy Frankenberger knocked out Mike Sexton in an early NLHE round after a flop came 2s-8s-6h and Sexton got his last chips in with 8d-2d against Frankenberger's 8h-6d. Leif Force knocked out George Lind soon afterwards, then Simeon Naydenov beat David Williams and Jason Koon felted Josh Arieh to fill out half of the quarterfinal spots. Annette Obrestad next defeated Sebastion Sarrari, Gregg Merkow took the last of John Racener's chips near the end of the second hour of play, then Julian Powell overcame George Wolff to advance. Day 2 finally concluded when David Benefield knocked out Scott Davies at the start of the third hour of their match. That one ended with a NLHE hand in which Benefield's pocket kings held against Davies' pocket eights. Here's how the final eight will be pairing up for today's quarterfinal matches, which begin at 1:00 p.m. Vegas time: Jason Koon vs. Annette Obrestad Simeon Naydenov vs. David Benefield Julian Powell vs. Gregg Merkow Leif Force vs. Andy Frankenberger The big pay jumps start with these final rounds of play. Those losing quarterfinal matches will earn $28,409. Those making the semis and falling will win $73,655. The eventual runner-up will take away $128,708. And $207,708 will go to the winner. Obrestad hopes to win her second bracelet after capturing the World Series of Poker Europe Main Event back in 2007. If she wins, Obrestad will be the first woman to win an open event at the WSOP since Vanessa Selbst won the $1,500 pot-limit Omaha event in 2008. Selbst has already come close again this year to winning her second bracelet, finishing fourth in Event #2, a $1,500 no-limit hold'em event won by Brent Hanks. Join Betfair Poker Now. https://betting.betfair.com/poker/news/obrestad-among-final-eight-for-wsop-event-3-3k-nlheplo-heads-up-310512-77.html https://betting.betfair.com/poker/news/obrestad-among-final-eight-for-wsop-event-3-3k-nlheplo-heads-up-310512-77.html News WSOP Thu, 31 May 2012 16:49:00 +0100 Week eleven was the last of the weekly trials to be held with only the Grand Final on June 10th now remaining. Week Eleven saw 812 eager players competing for those much sought after Vegas packages. Two players would be walking away with a $4000 package for event 59 at the WSOP, $1500 in travelling expenses and maybe most importantly a week of the legendary five star Betfair hospitality. https://betting.betfair.com/poker/wsop/team-betfair-wsop-trial-eleven-310512-326.html https://betting.betfair.com/poker/wsop/team-betfair-wsop-trial-eleven-310512-326.html News WSOP Thu, 31 May 2012 12:01:00 +0100 Prior to this tournament the Las Vegas-based poker pro by the name of Brent Hanks had managed to reach three final tables in World Series of Poker event but had failed in his quest to secure one of poker's most sought after jewellery pieces. But now Hanks has some poker bling on his wrist after he took down Event #2 of the 2012 WSOP earlier today. https://betting.betfair.com/poker/wsop/brent-hanks-wins-wsop-event-2-brit-jp-kelly-finishes-eighth-310512-162.html https://betting.betfair.com/poker/wsop/brent-hanks-wins-wsop-event-2-brit-jp-kelly-finishes-eighth-310512-162.html News WSOP Thu, 31 May 2012 11:30:00 +0100 The first bracelet of the 2012 World Series of Poker has been won by Chiab "Chip" Saechao in the $500 buy-in Casino Employees event. Saechao overcame a field of 732 players and an eighth-position chip stack to start the final table to win the event and the $70,859 first prize that went with it. Saechao's final table comeback culminated a lengthy second day that began with 81 players returning. In the final hand against eventual runner-up Patricia Baker, Saecho reraised all in over a Baker open with Td-Ts and Baker called with Ad-Qs. The flop brought a queen, but a ten fell on the turn to put Saecho in front. The river then brought another queen to give Baker trips but Saecho a full house, and at about 2 a.m. Tuesday morning the event had finally concluded. A 35-year-old blackjack dealer who works at the Tachi Casino in California, Saechao was born in Thialand and emigrated to the U.S. as a teenager. The victory marks his first-ever cash at the WSOP, with his prior poker experience largely consisting of low-stakes cash games and tourneys. As Saecho explained to WSOP Media Director Nolan Dalla after the win, he has in the past won a seat into the $10,000 Main Event, something that helped his confidence as a player. The turnout of 732 was down a bit from last year's Casino Employees Event in which Sean Drake topped a field of 850. All nine of those making the final table were from the United States, among them six dealers including runner-up Baker who works at the Rio where the WSOP is being held. Also of note, WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart finished 19th for a $2,223 cash, marking the second time he's made the money in the event. Here's how the payouts looked at the first final table of the 2012 WSOP: 2012 WSOP Event #1: Casino Employees NLHE ($500) final table payouts: 1. Chiab Saechao -- $70,859
 2. Patricia Baker -- $43,754 
3. James Routos -- $28,206
 4. Ray Pulford -- $20,663
 5. Nicolas Vaca-Rondon -- $15,359 
6. Jay Pinkussohn -- $11,571
 7. Steven Phan -- $8,824
 8. Matthew Wilmot -- $6,808
 9. Georgi Ivanov -- $5,309 The Casino Employees Event is one of three that aren't considered "open" events, the other two being the Seniors event and the Ladies event, both $1,000 NLHE tournaments. The first open event bracelet will be won later today in Event #2, a $1,500 NLHE event in which J.P. Kelly is among the leaders entering the final day. Join Betfair Poker Now. https://betting.betfair.com/poker/news/chip-saechao-grabs-1st-bracelet-of-2012-wsop-in-casino-employees-event-300512-77.html https://betting.betfair.com/poker/news/chip-saechao-grabs-1st-bracelet-of-2012-wsop-in-casino-employees-event-300512-77.html News WSOP Wed, 30 May 2012 18:44:00 +0100 When it comes to reporting on poker tournaments the media - and fans of the game - much prefer to have some big names left in the field when the event reaches the latter stages. In large field events this is usually a rare occurrence but not in Event #2 of the World Series of Poker where just 15 players remain from the 2101 who started and amongst them are a handful of extremely talented poker players. https://betting.betfair.com/poker/wsop/wsop-event-2-down-to-last-15-players-jp-kelly-third-in-chips-300512-162.html https://betting.betfair.com/poker/wsop/wsop-event-2-down-to-last-15-players-jp-kelly-third-in-chips-300512-162.html News WSOP Wed, 30 May 2012 11:52:00 +0100 Day 1 of the first open event of the 2012 World Series of Poker has been completed and it is a British pro who leads the way as Event #2, a $1,500 No Limit Hold'em tournament, rapidly approaches the money place. Ladies and gentlemen we give you Sadan Turker. https://betting.betfair.com/poker/wsop/sadan-turker-leads-first-open-event-of-the-2012-wsop-290512-162.html https://betting.betfair.com/poker/wsop/sadan-turker-leads-first-open-event-of-the-2012-wsop-290512-162.html News WSOP Tue, 29 May 2012 11:35:00 +0100 The 2012 World Series of Poker is officially underway, with the first event (the $500 Casino Employees NLHE event) kicking off yesterday, and the first open event (a $1,500 NLHE event) starting today. On Saturday, Daniel Negreanu helped add to the excitement of the WSOP starting by hosting the draft for his second annual $25,000 WSOP Fantasy League. This year's draft attracted 11 different teams, creating a total prize pool of $275,000. According to the payout schedule, the winning team will earn 65% of the loot ($178,750), the runner-up 25% ($68,750), and the third-place finisher 15% ($41,250). Last year the team drafted by Jason Somerville and Jason Mercier proved victorious, thanks in large part to their having selected Ben Lamb and Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier. This year's draft was held at the Aria Hotel and Casino. Each of the 11 teams picked eight players following an auction format, bidding on players with the 200 betting units allotted to each team. Here's a sheet detailing all of the rules of the draft and payouts. Teams this year included (1) Josh Arieh/David Bach, (2) Todd Brunson/Frank Kassela, (3) Brian Hastings, (4) Eugene Katchalov, (5) Cary Katz, (6) Bryn Kenney, (7) Jason Mercier, (8) Robert Mizrachi, (9) Sorel Mizzi, (10) Daniel Negreanu, and (11) Dan Shak/Justin Smith. Among the 88 players eventually selected, Phil Ivey proved the most expensive player with Hastings spending nearly half of his allotted units -- 99 -- on the eight-time bracelet winner. Recall that last year Barry Greenstein spent 108 of his 200 units on Ivey only to discover a couple of days later Ivey would not be playing in any events at last year's WSOP. Other players costing owners a lot of units included Katchalov, Negreanu, and Mercier, each of whom cost 83 betting units. Negreanu drafted himself and Katchalov, while Mercier also picked himself for his team. Meanwhile, 2011 WSOP Player of the Year Lamb went for a comparatively bargain price of 35 betting units (drafted by Brunson). Among the players going for the minimum price of a single betting unit were WSOP bracelet holders Dario Alioto (taken by Brunson/Kassela), Gavin Smith (taken by Katz), and Brock Parker (taken by Mizrachi). Viktor "Isildur1" Blom", who will be playing in his first WSOP this summer, also went for the minimum, grabbed by Negreanu. Here's a full listing of the rosters for all 11 teams, compiled by the crew at QuadJacks. For more about fantasy leagues in general and Negreanu's $25K WSOP league, see "WSOP Fantasy Leagues Add Interest, Excitement." Join Betfair Poker Now. https://betting.betfair.com/poker/news/teams-selected-for-negreanu-25k-wsop-fantasy-draft-280512-77.html https://betting.betfair.com/poker/news/teams-selected-for-negreanu-25k-wsop-fantasy-draft-280512-77.html News WSOP Mon, 28 May 2012 15:46:00 +0100 The 2012 World Series of Poker is finally upon us, with the first event -- the $500 buy-in Casino Employees Event (No. 1) -- kicking off on Sunday, then new events beginning every day until early July when the $10,000 buy-in Main Event (No. 61) begins on July 7. Last year's WSOP was yet another record-breaker for poker's most prestigious and longest-running tournament series. The total number of entrants in WSOP events has grown steadily over the years, with last year's total of 75,672 eclipsing the 2010 record. That meant the total money awarded at the 2011 WSOP added up to a staggering $192,008,868. Last year's Main Event drew 6,865 entrants, thus building a $64,540,858 prize pool with $8,715,638 of that going to winner Pius Heinz. The second-largest field for an event last summer came in Event No. 54, the last of the $1,000 buy-in no-limit hold'em events which drew 4,576 players. As far as the smallest field for a WSOP event last summer is concerned, there was a tie between the $10K 2-7 NL Draw event (No. 16) and the $10K seven-card stud event (No. 21), both of which drew 126 players. Players from 105 different countries participated at the WSOP in 2011, with players from the United States winning the most bracelets with 39. Next was Canada (5), the United Kingdom (4), and France and Russia (3 each). Of course, the U.S. also had the most entrants at the WSOP, by far, with 56,210. Canada was a distant second there as well with 5,046 entrants. Percentage-wise, the Netherlands was actually the country with the most cashes per entrants (among countries with a minimum of 300 entrants), with 15.3% of their entrants cashing. Next on that list was Ireland, Russia, Hungary, and Sweden, with the U.K. seventh and the U.S. 10th. Tom Dwan entered more events than any other player at the 2011 WSOP, signing up for 54 of the 58 events. Quite a feat, considering he couldn't play in the Casino Employees Event or the Seniors Event. Or the Ladies Event, really, although a handful of men did play in that one. Dwan ultimately cashed in three events, his best score coming with a fifth-place finish in the $10K H.O.R.S.E. Meanwhile, Kirill Rabtsov earned the most cashes last year with seven, one ahead of 17 players who cashed six times. The Russian managed the feat while playing in 23 events total. Of course, when it came to extreme efficiency, Ben Lamb took that prize last year to go along with capturing WSOP Player of the Year. Lamb cashed five times, including a first ($10K Pot-Limit Omaha), a second ($3,000 PLO), a third in the Main Event, another final table (finishing eighth in the $50K Poker Players Championship), and a 12th. All of those cashes added up to more than $5.35 million in prize money, and Lamb only entered 10 events! We'll be reporting as usual here at Befair poker all summer all of the highlights from this summer's WSOP. Here's a look at the full schedule of events: May 27 - No. 1 - $500 Casino Employees NLHE (2-day) May 28 - No. 2 - $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em (3-day) May 29 - No. 3 - $3,000 Heads-Up NLHE/PLO (3-day) May 29 - No. 4 - $1,500 7-Card Stud Hi-Low (3-day) May 30 - No. 5 - $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em (3-day) May 31 - No. 6 - $5,000 Mix-Max NLHE (4-day) May 31 - No. 7 - $1,500 7-Card Stud (3-day) June 1 - No. 8 - $1,500 Omaha Hi-Low (3-day) June 2 - No. 9 - $1,500 NLHE Re-entry (5-day) June 3 - No. 10 - $5,000 7-Card Stud (3-day) June 4 - No. 11 - $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha (3-day) June 5 - No. 12 - $10,000 Heads-Up NLHE (4-day) June 5 - No. 13 - $1,500 Limit Hold'em (3-day) June 6 - No. 14 - $1,500 NLHE Shootout (3-day) June 6 - No. 15 - $5,000 7-Card Stud Hi-Low (3-day) June 7 - No. 16 - $1,500 NLHE, 6-max. (3-day) June 8 - No. 17 - $10,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em (3-day) June 8 - No. 18 - $2,500 Razz (3-day) June 9 - No. 19 - $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em (3-day) June 9 - No. 20 - $5,000 Limit Hold'em (3-day) June 10 - No. 21 - $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em (3-day) June 10 - No. 22 - $2,500 2-7 Limit Triple Draw (3-day) June 11 - No. 23 - $3,000 NLHE, 6-max. (3-day) June 11 - No. 24 - $5,000 Omaha Hi-Low (3-day) June 12 - No. 25 - $1,500 LHE Shootout (3-day) June 12 - No. 26 - $3,000 Pot-Limit Omaha (3-day) June 13 - No. 27 - $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. (3-day) June 14 - No. 28 - $2,500 NLHE, 4-max. (3-day) June 15 - No. 29 - $1,000 Seniors NLHE (3-day) June 15 - No. 30 - $1,500 2-7 No-Limit Draw (3-day) June 16 - No. 31 - $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em (3-day) June 16 - No. 32 - $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. (3-day) June 17 - No. 33 - $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em (3-day) June 18 - No. 34 - $5,000 PLO, 6-max. (3-day) June 18 - No. 35 - $2,500 Mixed LHE/NLHE (3-day) June 19 - No. 36 - $3,000 NLHE Shootout (3-day) June 19 - No. 37 - $2,500 8-Game (3-day) June 20 - No. 38 - $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em (3-day) June 21 - No. 39 - $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha (3-day) June 21 - No. 40 - $2,500 Limit Hold'em (3-day) June 22 - No. 41 - $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em (3-day) June 22 - No. 42 - $2,500 Omaha/7CS Hi-Low (3-day) June 23 - No. 43 - $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em (3-day) June 24 - No. 44 - $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em (3-day) June 24 - No. 45 - $50,000 Poker Players Champ. (5-day) June 25 - No. 46 - $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em (3-day) June 26 - No. 47 - $1,500 PLO Hi-Low (3-day) June 26 - No. 48 - $3,000 Limit Hold'em (3-day) June 27 - No. 49 - $1,500 Ante Only NLHE (3-day) June 28 - No. 50 - $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em (3-day) June 29 - No. 51 - $1,000 Ladies NLHE (3-day) June 29 - No. 52 - $2,500 10-Game, Six-Handed (3-day) June 30 - No. 53 - $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em (3-day) July 1 - No. 54 - $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em (3-day) July 1 - No. 55 - $1,000,000 No-Limit Hold'em (3-day) July 2 - No. 56 - $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em (3-day) July 3 - No. 57 - $10,000 NLHE, 6-max. (3-day) July 3 - No. 58 - $3,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Low (3-day) July 4 - No. 59 - $1,000 NLHE Re-entry (5-day) July 5 - No. 60 - $10,000 2-7 No-Limit Draw (3-day) July 7 - No. 61 - $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em, Main Event (7-day to final table) Join Betfair Poker Now. https://betting.betfair.com/poker/news/2012-world-series-of-poker-begins-sunday-250512-77.html https://betting.betfair.com/poker/news/2012-world-series-of-poker-begins-sunday-250512-77.html News WSOP Fri, 25 May 2012 03:55:00 +0100 Week ten of the Team Betfair WSOP trials saw an amazing 833 players battle across 84 virtual tables for those valuable Vegas packages. Two players would be walking away with a $4000 package for event 59 at the WSOP, $1500 in travelling expenses and maybe most importantly a week of the legendary five star Betfair hospitality! https://betting.betfair.com/poker/wsop/team-betfair-wsop-trial-ten-240512-326.html https://betting.betfair.com/poker/wsop/team-betfair-wsop-trial-ten-240512-326.html News WSOP Thu, 24 May 2012 11:13:00 +0100 The 2012 World Series of Poker is just days away and thousands of poker players, including dozens of members from Team Betfair, will be descending on Las Vegas, Nevada in an attempt to win a life-changing sum of money and of course a coveted WSOP bracelet; the Holy Grail of tournament poker. https://betting.betfair.com/poker/news/the-bracelets-for-the-2012-world-series-of-poker-unveiled-210512-162.html https://betting.betfair.com/poker/news/the-bracelets-for-the-2012-world-series-of-poker-unveiled-210512-162.html News WSOP Mon, 21 May 2012 11:33:00 +0100