And the Winners Are....

Friday, 22 August 2014

Bluff celebrates the best of the WSOP.

Event #1: $500 Casino Employees No-Limit Hold'em
Winner: Roland Reparejo ($82,835)

Best Heads Up

Event #2: $25,000 Mixed Max
Winner: Vanessa Selbst ($871,148)

When Vanessa Selbst knocked out Ryan Fees, his buddy Jason Mo didn't hold back on his feelings. “lol Vanessa is so bad, poor fees”, he tweeted scathingly. Vanessa refused to comment on the 'feud', telling Bluff Europe “I try not to get involved in any of that stuff, I just kinda play my game.” In a twist of events that are straight out of a TV drama script, it was Selbst and Mo who ended up going head to head as the final two standing in the tournament. It was the ultimate showdown: while Mo styles himself controversially as a villain and member of the 'Evil Empire' crew, Selbst is a hard-nosed charity enthusiast and trained lawyer using her talents to fight social injustices suffered by the vulnerable. Could it have been any more perfect?! No. The answer is no. Somebody make this a movie now, please.

This time good triumphed over evil, however, after Vanessa delivered a good ol' smackdown to Jason on the felt when he bluffed into her set of Queens. After that, Jason's stack gradually crumbled even further until he finally was forced to move all-in with 9d-7d, upon which Vanessa snap-called with Kh-Jc. Her higher hand held after the board ran out and Vanessa collected her third WSOP bracelet and $871,148, giving legions of fans a raging justice boner in the process.

Event #3: $1,000 Pot Limit Omaha
Winner: Brandon Shack-Harris ($205,634)

Event #4: $1,000 No Limit Hold'em
Winner: Kyle Cartwright ($360,278)

Event #5: $10,000 Deuce to Seven Triple Draw
Winner: Tuan Le ($355,324)

Return of the Heroes

Event #7: $1,500 Seven-Card Razz
Winner: Ted Forrest ($121,196)

The $1,500 Seven-Card Razz hosted a truly tough final table, with the line-up including formidable pros David Bach, Brock Parker, and Brandon Cantu. However, it was the real big dogs who made it down to the final two – Ted Forrest and Phil Hellmuth. These two poker legends have each been pummelling the field for well over two decades, making it a true clash of the Titans. Despite the event not normally being among one of the most popular (let's face it, Razz is just not sexy), huge crowds gathered to see the confrontation. In the end, Forrest claimed victory, and denied Hellmuth his 14th bracelet.

Ted first made an appearance at the WSOP in 1993, when he won a stonking THREE bracelets. Now, after beating Phil Hellmuth heads up, his total rests at seven. Poor old Phil, on the other hand, collected the 10th second place of his career. It must be said, though, that the Poker Brat does seem to have mellowed with old age; instead of stomping off to throw a tantrum, he handled it rather calmly, graciously tweeting “Congrats to my old friend Ted Forrest on winning #WSOPRazz tourn. If I had to lose to someone, I'm glad it was Teddy....2nd place for me”. How things have changed...

Event #6: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout
Winner: Alex Bolotin ($259,211)

Event #9: $1,000 No Limit Hold'em
Winner: Jeff Smith ($323,125)

Event #10: $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo
Winner: Brock Parker ($443,407)

Record Breaking

Event #8: $1,500 Millionaire Maker No Limit Hold'em
Winner: Jonathan Dimmig ($1,319,587)

In other news, the number of players that played the Millionaire Maker managed to top the 'holy shit, how many?!' level, thereby smashing the record for the largest Day One tournament field in the history of the WSOP (7,977 players, in case you were wondering). As a consequence, the prize pool ended up more bloated than the belly of a lorry driver with a fondness for deep-fried pizza, carving out a handsome $1,319,587 for the winner. This hefty sum ended up going to loveable amateur player Jonathan Dimmig, who became the first millionaire of the Series. Not too shabby!



Event #11: $1,500 Six Max No Limit Hold'em
Winner: Justin Bonomo ($449,980)

Event #12: $1,500 Pot Limit Hold'em
Winner: Gregory Kolo ($169,225)

Event #13: $10,000 Deuce to Seven Single Draw
Winner: Paul Volpe ($253,524)

Event #14: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo
Winner: Nick Kost ($283,275)

Event #16: $1,500 Deuce to Seven Triple Draw
Winner: Todd Bui ($124,510)

Event #17: $1,000 Seniors Championship
Winner: Dan Heimiller ($627,462)

Event #18: $10,000 Razz
Winner: George Danzer ($294,792)

Event #19: $1,500 No Limit Hold'em
Winner: Ted Gillis ($514,027)

Another Jewel in the Crown

Event #15: $3,000 Six Max No Limit Hold'em
Winner: Davidi Kitai ($508,640)

Remember when we incredulously concluded that Phil Hellmuth may have grown out of his past brattish ways, and miraculously emerged from his cocoon as a beautiful and serene butterfly? (Of course you do, it was just over the page). Well, we may have spoken too soon. Less than a week later Hellmuth became entangled with Davidi Kitai in the $3,000 Six Max No Limit Hold'em. "Crazy Frenchman is going to cost me my 14th bracelet," Hellmuth muttered after losing yet another pot to Kitai. "You have no chance to win, sir!"
Kitai, who is in fact Belgian, not French, continued to stare down his opponent impassively. In response to the comment, another player on the table jokingly asked Kitai if he had ever won a tournament. Before he had a chance to respond, Hellmuth jumped in, snapping, "Of course he's never won a tournament before."

Unfortunately for Phil, he may have slightly underestimated this “crazy Frenchman”. Instead of the inexperienced amateur he believed him to be, Davidi Kitai is actually Belgium's most successful player ever, a member of the elite group of Triple Crown winners, and a player who boasts close to $5 million in career earnings. Whoops. Easy mistake to make, right Phil? Kitai went on to demolish the final table and win the event, netting himself a cool half million, as well as his third bracelet. To add to this pile of achievements, he also became the first non-American champion of the Series, since Events #1-14 had all been clinched by Yanks. We bet one Yank in particular is feeling a bit silly right now…



Event #20: $3,000 No Limit Hold'em Shootout
Winner: Kory Kilpatrick ($254,891)

Event #21: $1,000 No Limit Hold'em
Winner: Dominik Nitsche ($335,659)

Event #22: $10,000 HORSE
Winner: Chris Wallace ($507,614)

Event #26: $1,500 No Limit Hold'em
Winner: Andrew Rennhack ($408,953)

Best Online to Live Transition

Event #23: $1,000 Turbo No Limit Hold'em
Winner: Doug Polk ($251,952)

Before 2014, Doug Polk had total live tournament winnings of less than than $50k. Online was a different story – this prolific grinder, known for his extreme confidence and trash talk, was routinely raking in six figures in a single session.

After crushing the competition in the aggressive heads up battleground online, Polk quickly found that the pool of people willing to play against him had dried up. Claiming that nobody dared challenge him because he was the best heads up NL player in the world, Polk vowed to turned his talents to other pursuits: the live arena. Surely enough, in the past six months, he has won $1.9 million. A whopping $251,952 of this has now come from Event #23, the $1,000 Turbo No Limit Hold'em, which also yielded him his first ever bracelet.

Like Jason Mo, Polk is part of the actually rather creepily-named 'Evil Empire' crew (they were even flatmates, presumably hatching nefarious schemes together over their cornflakes every morning). It can't be denied that he, like his pals, is incredibly arrogant. But he also definitely puts his money where his mouth is (although nowadays he'd be hard-pressed to fit his fat stacks of cash anywhere near his mouth). For our full feature on him, have a gander at page 68.



Event #27: $1,500 HORSE
Winner: Tommy Hang ($230,744)

Event #28: $10,000 Pot Limit Hold'em
Winner: Alex Bilokur ($398,567)

Event #29: $2,500 No Limit Hold'em
Winner: Pierre Milan ($536,768)

Event #30: $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo
Winner: Calvin Anderson ($190,538)

Event #31: $1,500 No Limit Hold'em
Winner: Brett Shaffer

Event #33: $1,000 No Limit Hold'em
Winner: Dutch Boyd ($288,744)

Event #24: $5,000 Six Max No Limit Hold'em
Winner: Kevin Eyster ($622,998)

Britannia Victorious!

Event #25: $2,500 Omaha/Seven-Card Stud Hi/Low
Winner: John Kabbaj ($267,327)

Wahoo! After the dust had settled in Event #25, it was John Kabbaj who became the first (and as it turned out, only) British winner of the 2014 WSOP. The loveable Londoner made his first WSOP final table in 1999, and has never looked back since, truly doing Blighty proud. Ooh, it makes you feel all patriotic, it does. Someone inform the Queen!



Event #34: $1,500 Seven-Card Stud
Winner: Eric Buchman ($118,785)

Event #35: $5,000 Eight Handed No Limit Hold'em
Winner: Brian Yoon ($633,341)

Event #36: $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha
Winner: Steven Wolansky ($89,483)

Event #37: $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha
Winner: Brandon Paster ($264,400)

Event #39: $3,000 No Limit Hold'em
Winner: Sean Dempsey ($548,460)

Event #40: $10,000 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Championship
Winner: Davide Suriano ($335,553)

Event #41: $1,500 Six Handed Dealer's Choice
Winner: Robert Mizrachi ($147,092)

Event #42: $5,000 Six Handed Pot Limit Omaha
Winner: Michael Drummond ($541,747)

Still Got It

Event #32: $10,000 No Limit Hold'em – Six-Handed
Winner: Joe Cada ($670,041)

Many Main Event winners win an absolute buttload of money, then retire out of the poker spotlight. Not Joe Cada, however. In fact, Cada has never been one to fall inside the bell curve. He made history in 2009 by becoming the youngest ever Main Event winner at 21 years and 11 months old, and now he's made history again, by being the first Main Event champion from the post-Moneymaker boom era to win another bracelet. This pushes him over the $10 million mark in tournament earnings... and all at the tender age of 26. 26!!! Jealous? Us? Never.



Event #43: $1,500 No Limit Hold'em
Winner: Dan Kelly ($195,167)

Event #44: $1,500 No Limit Hold'em
Winner: Jordan Morgan

Event #45: $1,000 No Limit Hold'em
Winner: Will Givens ($306,634)

Event #46: $50,000 Poker Players' Championship
Winner: John Hennigan ($1,517,767)

Event #47: $1,500 Ante Only No Limit Hold'em
Winner: Jesse McEuen ($212,093)

Event #48: $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Low
Winner: David Miscikowski ($719,707)

Event #49: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em
Winner: David Miscikowski ($719,707)

Event #51: $1,500 No Limit Hold'em Monster Stack
Winner: Hugo Pingray ($1,327,083)

Double Trouble

Event #38: $10,000 Seven-Card Stud Hi-Low Championship
Winner: George Danzer ($352,696)

Not only did German wunderkind George Danzer win his first ever bracelet at the 2014 WSOP (in Event #18 - $10,000 Seven-Card Stud Championship), but he also steam-rollered the field in Event #38 to become the first DOUBLE winner of the Series. Poker prowess aside, Danzer is also known for his penchant for jazzy scarves, which are shown off to the max in his winner's photos. We do like a man who can appreciate a fine neck drapery.



Event #52: $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship
Winner: David Olson ($303,909)

Event #53: $10,000 Ladies No Limit Hold'em Championship
Winner: Haixia Zhang ($153,470)

Event #54: $3,000 Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Low
Winner: Florian Langmann ($297,650)

Event #55: $1,500 No Limit Hold'em
Winner: Asi Moshe ($582,321)

Event #56: $1,000 No Limit Hold'em
Winner: Mike Kachan ($403,483)

Event #58: $1,500 Mixed Max No Limit Hold'em
Winner: Jared Jaffee ($405,428)

Event #59: $3,000 Omaha Hi-Low
Winner: Phillip Hui ($286,976)

Event #60: $1,500 No Limit Hold'em
Winner: Salman Jaddi ($614,248)

Event #61: $10,000 Seven-Card Stud Championship
Winner: Matt Grapenthien ($268,473)

The King is Crowned Again

Event #50: $1,500 Eight-Game Mix
Winner: Phil Ivey ($167,332)

Some say Phil Ivey's poker success is due to the fact that he can see into your soul. Others say he can make a man weep with a simple three-bet. Whatever the truth is, there is one fact you just can't get away from: he's a stone-cold badass. Now, after his triumph in the $1,500 Eight-Game Mix, Ivey is the new owner of a stonking 10 bracelets. There was one man who may have been even more ecstatic at the victory than even Ivey himself, however; cheerful motormouth Daniel Negreanu had started off this year's Series by offering even money on himself or Ivey to win a bracelet, inviting bets of at least $5,000 up to $1 million. With 49 events out of 65 down and no bracelet in sight, things were looking woeful for Kid Poker. Luckily, that all changed when Ivey got out there and did what he does best: crush souls. “Phil Ivey just won!!” Tweeted Negreanu merrily. “If you owe me money I'll be at Rio Sunday. Fun sweat all summer and my man got the job done. Phew!”



Most Controversial

Event #57: The $1,000,000 Big One for One Drop
Winner: Daniel Colman ($15,406,668)

When it was announced that the $1 million Big One for One Drop charity tournament would be returning to the WSOP after its debut in 2012, poker fans and media all over the world simultaneously wet their pants. The best pros and most successful businessmen in the world, all in one place and playing for millions of dollars? Yes please. The thing that had everyone talking this year, however, was the winner. While 2012 victor Antonio Esfandiari promoted poker exuberantly in every way he knew how, this year's winner Daniel Colman declined all interviews and even a winner's photo (although he later begrudgingly allowed a quick snap, albeit refusing to do anything other than stand there with his hands in his pockets). Controversy erupted, with hundreds of people arguing over the rightness or wrongness of Daniel's behaviour. Colman later released a statement on TwoPlusTwo, saying that he doesn't “owe poker a single thing”, and calling it a “very dark game” that he would recommend to nobody (his full statement is printed on page 38).



Event #62: The $1,111 Little One for One Drop
Winner: Igor Dubinskyy ($637,539)

Event #63: $1,500 Six Handed 10-Game Mix
Winner: Bryn Kenney ($153,220)

Event #64: $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha Championship
Winner: Pat Walsh ($923,379)

The Big Daddy

Event #65: $10,000 Main Event
Winner: ??? ($10,000,000)

Of course, as brilliant as all the events in the World Series are, everyone knows that they're all leading up to one thing: the Main Event. This year, 6,683 hopefuls lined up to enter after a life-changing $10,000,000 was promised to the winner. This number now been whittled down to just nine, who will battle it out on the final table in November. We take a closer look at these blessed individuals on page 22.



So, after two months of poker at its purest and most exciting, electric and downright bonkers, the World Series of Poker is now over once again. For now, at least – November's not too far away, right?

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