WSOP Day 13: Third Gold for Kitai, Hospital for Woods

Actor James Woods has been all over the 2014 World Series of Poker this summer, and he played in Event 21 on Sunday, the $1K NLHE A few levels in, he began experiencing chest pains, however, and paramedics were called. He was taken to a local hospital and has since tweeted that he is feeling better, that a bout of food poisoning caused a “sudden onset of virulent symptoms.” What he thought was a cardiac issue has been downgraded. Best wishes to Mr. Woods on a quick recovery.

WSOP Event 15 Update – Kitai Wins

The $3K NLHE Six-Handed tournament took longer than anticipated and stretched to four days. It all started with 810 players and a $2,211,300 prize pool. Day 2 took the number from 144 to 15, well into the money for the top 90 players. Day 3 saw the eighth place elimination of Phil Hellmuth and four players bust the final table, leaving only Gordon Vayo and Davidi Kitai at the end of the night. The two returned on June 8 to finish their match. Vayo had a slim lead to start, but Kitai got aggressive quickly and crushed his way to a third WSOP gold bracelet. 1^st place: Davidi Kitai ($508,640) 2^nd place: Gordon Vayo ($314,535) 3^rd place: Anthony Ruberto ($200,476) 4^th place: Mark Darner ($132,169) 5^th place: John Andress ($89,734) 6^th place: Zachary Korik ($62,690)

WSOP Event 17 Update – Three Play On

The $1K Seniors NLHE Championship set a new record for the tournament, drawing a new high of 4,425 players over the age of 50. The subsequent prize pool was $3,982,500, and the top 468 players were paid. Day 2 started with 486, hit the money quickly, and moved through until only 32 remained. The third day started with the elimination of Peter Costa and numerous others on the way to setting the final table. After the dinner break, the 10^th place bustout of Michael Frederick for $40,024 set the final with Dan Heimiller holding an overwhelming chip lead. Dennis Phillips ended up finishing in fifth place, followed by Anthony Wise. The final three played on late into the evening with Donald Mass in the lead, Heimiller in second, and David Smith still in contention.

WSOP Event 18 Update – Danzer versus Shack-Harris

This was the largest buy-in ever for a Razz tournament, as the championship event was a $10K buy-in for Seven-Card Razz. There were 112 interested players, equaling a $1,052,800 prize pool. Day 2 took the 76 returning players and thinned that number to 12, bursting the money bubble along the way to pay the top 16 players. Day 3 started with 12, eliminated players like Daniel Negreanu and Dan O’Brien, and started the final table of eight. Former chip leader David Bach exited first, and others like Naoya Kihara, Brian Hastings, and Yuval Bronshtein followed. Ultimately, George Danzer was up against 2014 bracelet winner Brandon Shack-Harris, with Danzer holding a mild lead going into heads-up play.

WSOP Event 19 Update – Final Table Nearing

The $1,500 NLHE of the weekend started with 2,086 players and a $2,816,100 prize pool. Day 2 saw only 233 players return, and 216 of them moved into the money portion of the tournament. Just after 10pm Las Vegas time, only 34 players remained with Jaime Kaplan in the chip lead. Play continued in search of a final table.

WSOP Event 20 Update – One Table Still Going

The $3K NLHE Shootout drew a total of 389 players for a $1,061,970 prize pool. The top 40 players who made it through Day 1 tables would be in the money. Day 2 took those 40 players and put them at 10 tables to play four-handed poker. Players moving on to the final table included Taylor Paur, Chris Bell, and Phil Galfond. At 10:30pm, only one match continued, as Daniel Alaei trailed Michael Stonehill for the last available seat.

WSOP Event 21 Update – Just Getting Started

The second $1K NLHE tournament of the summer – the first being the Millionaire Maker – brought in 2,043 players for a $1,838,700 prize pool. The top 216 players were to be paid with more than $335K up top. By the end of Level 8, only 470 players remained.