GPI Year in Review: WSOP Dominates June Headlines

It was all World Series of Poker, all the time as most poker players in the world made their way to the Las Vegas desert for the summer…

THE WSOP CONTINUES…

While the end of May marked the start of the 44th World Series of Poker, most of the action took place in June as thousands entered the halls of the Rio Convention Center daily in hopes of winning the gold bracelet.

Matt Waxman and Cliff Josephy would be the first two big name players to win in June. Waxman would need to work extra hard to earn his bracelet as he and Eric Baldwin were involved in a marathon heads-up battle for the bracelet.

Rumours of Mike Matusow’s demise had certainly been exaggerated. Months after winning the made-for-tv NBC National Heads-Up Championship, The Mouth would win bracelet #4, outlasting a final table that included Matthew Ashton, Mike Leah, David “Bakes” Baker and Yuval Bronshtein in order to earn the top prize.

Speaking of Ashton, he would move on to win one of the most prestigious titles on the WSOP schedule, the 50K Poker Players Championship.

Davidi Kitai, Erick Lindgren and Jeff Madsen were reunited with the winners circle. Kitai and Lindgren would win bracelet #2 five years after collecting their first back in 2008 … Madsen would win his third bracelet, seven years after shocking the world back in 2006 winning two bracelets and earning WSOP Player of the Year honours.

Speaking of multiple bracelets in the same year, hats off to Tom Schneider, who added bracelets #3 and #4 in June, both in H.O.R.S.E. events. The 2007 WSOP Player of the Year has won all four of his bracelets in events other than hold’em or PLO.

MILLIONS IN MACAU

The start of the WSOP would be delayed for some of the pros as there was business to take care of in Macau as PokerStars presented the GuangDong Asia Millions at the City of Dreams.

Nick Wong would win the warm-up event surviving the charge from Isaac Haxton, Philipp Gruissem and ElkY, who all earned Top 5 finishes in the event while Germany’s Niklas Heinecker would win the big one, over 4.4M USD, in the Main Event. Heinecker would beat out Aussie star Jeffrey Rossiter heads-up for the title as Sorel Mizzi, Igor Kurganov and Haxton again would final table the Main.

JUNE IN A FLASH

While the WSOP was going on, the M Resort, located just outside the Strip area in Las Vegas, hosted the Hollywood Poker Open. Little did anyone know that the tournament would attract many of the game’s best, possibly players wanting to take a break from the hustle and bustle of the Rio … in the end GPI National Spain #1, Ana Marquez, would take down the title.

Elsewhere: Matt Jungsand would win the Poker-SM 2013 Main Event in Stockholm … Weider Gutierrez won the LAPT Columbia National Championship … Dmitry Varlamov won Unibet Open Troia … Ludovic Geilich won Estrellas Marbella … Antonio Bernaudo won IPT San Marino … Alexandre Chieng won APPT Macau … Charles Hook was the big winner at the Borgata Summer Open … Enrico Castaldi won the Peoples Poker Tour Malta event … Jared Jaffee picked up the W at the Aviation Club de France Poker Tour’s (ACFPT) special event at the Aria in Las Vegas.

NEGREANU’S RISE TO GPI#1:

Daniel Negreanu would cash in five WSOP events in June but none of them huge scores. He would begin the month ranked #5 in the world … Kid Poker would jump to second overall early in the month, pushing fellow PokerStars pro Jason Mercier at the top … June 2013 would end with Negreanu having to settle for the third spot on the GPI300.

As mentioned, Jason Mercier would continue to lead the GPI300, a lead he first grabbed mid-May … a lead he would not relinquish until later in the year.

SCHEMION’S ROAD TO GPI PLAYER OF THE YEAR:

As was predicted,  Ole Schemion, would have a very quiet month of June. The then 20-year-old would be unable to play any events at the WSOP in Las Vegas which meant an eventual drop in the GPI Player of the Year race would be imminent.

Schemion would begin the month of June ranked #2 in the Player of the Year race … he would begin July sixth on the charts. With the WSOP wrapping up in mid-July followed by a little break in the poker schedule, things were not going to get any easier for the young German.

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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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