GPI Year in Review: Elezra, Harwood, Alaei Win, November Nine Set in July

July saw the 44th presentation of the World Series of Poker come to an end, at least, until November that is … plus David Peters wins at Bellagio…

WSOP WRAP-UP

Two very familiar names from the start of the poker boom, Eli Elezra and Daniel Alaei, would win two of the last few gold bracelet still up for grabs at the World Series of Poker. Both Elezra and Alaei need no introduction, both have made a career at playing in some of the biggest cash games Vegas has to offer … and both were TV stars during the boom, playing in series such as High Stakes Poker and Poker After Dark. The win would earn Elezra his second WSOP bracelet. Meanwhile, Alaei would pickup an impressive fourth career bracelet.

Loni Harwood would be revealed as one of the breakout stars of this year’s WSOP. The breakthrough would come very late in the Series as Harwood picked up a fourth place finish in NLH Event #53 for 210K USD … days later, Harwood would win her very first bracelet in yet another $1,500 buy-in NLH event, collecting over 600K USD for the win and earning over 800K USD for her summer in Vegas.

Other players who would scoop some of the final bracelets would include American Brian Yoon, UK pro Matt Perrins and GPI300 member Nikolaus Teichert.

NOVEMBER NINE SET

The WSOP Main Event reached its final nine players in July. After 10 days of action, the November Nine Final Table was set and J.C. Tran would return in the fall with the chip lead. Tran would be joined by David Benefield, Amir Lehavot and Mark Newhouse, amongst others. The final table would look like this:

Seat 1 | Sylvain Loosli 19,600,000
Seat 2 | Michiel Brummelhuis 11,275,000
Seat 3 | Mark Newhouse 7,350,000
Seat 4 | Ryan Riess 25,875,000
Seat 5 | Amir Lehavot 29,700,000
Seat 6 | Marc-Etienne McLaughlin 26,525,000
Seat 7 | J.C. Tran 38,000,000
Seat 8 | David Benefield 6,375,000
Seat 9 | Jay Farber 25,975,000

The final nine players were set to return to the Rio Convention Center in early November to fight to the finish …

JULY IN A FLASH

While the WSOP was coming to an end, the Bellagio was hosting the ninth edition of the Bellagio Cup. Although the event is no longer part of the World Poker Tour schedule, the 10K buy-in event still attracts some of the game’s best. The winner, David Peters, had quietly put together one amazing season … best yet, Peters, who would end July ranked #24 in the world, would continue his rise on the GPI300 throughout the 2013 season.

Other July winners included: Allyn Jaffrey Shulman (Venetian DSE Main Event), Hans Winzeler (Florida State Poker Championship), Henrik Tollefsen (APT Macau), Jonathan Bredin (APPT Queenstown Snowfest) and Patricio Andres Rojas Parra (LAPT Peru).

NEGREANU’S RISE TO GPI#1:

Daniel Negreanu would come oh so close to another WSOP gold bracelet in July, finishing second to Eli Elezra in the 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball event near the end of the Series. Negreanu, who would start the month ranked #4 on the GPI300, would actually lose a couple of spots, despite the July score, falling to #6 by the end of July.

Jason Mercier continued to lead the GPI300 race. Mercier began his reign atop the GPI300 in mid-May.

SCHEMION’S ROAD TO GPI PLAYER OF THE YEAR:

After a quiet June, Ole Schemion would once again be shutout in the month of July.

Starting the month ranked #6 in the Player of the Year race, Schemion would drop to #9 overall by the end of the month. Unfortunately for the young German, August would also prove to be a rough month, meaning that Schemion would need to kick things into overdrive in the final leg of the season.

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GPI YEAR IN REVIEW:

January ››  PCA, Aussie Millions Kickoff January
February ››  Welcome to February, Where Fantasy Met Reality
March ››  EPT Victory for Visser, Rocco Rocks Venice in March
April ››  Kid Poker Hits the Ground Running in April
May ››  Mercier Shines in Monte Carlo in May
June ›› WSOP Dominates June Headlines
July ››  Elezra, Harwood, Alaei Win, November Nine Set in July
August ›› Hinkle, Sivler Win Big in Florida, Rybin, Cristos Win WPTs in August
September ›› Big October Wins for Middleton, Zinno, Marvin Moves to #1
October ›› Negreanu Makes His Move as October Offers Tons of Action
November ›› Four Win on WPT, Mizzi Wins Premier League in November
December ›› Smith, Pair of Julians Win, Schemion Steals PoY

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