WSOP Weekend Catch-Up, Charity News

WSOP Event 24: Eyster Defeats Neuville

Event 24 of the 2014 World Series of Poker was a $5K NLHE Six-Handed tournament that had 541 participants and a $2,542,700 prize pool. The top 60 players were paid.

Day 3 was supposed to be the final one, but it started with 17 players and took a long time to play down. Kevin Eyster and Pierre Neuville were playing heads-up when the tournament stopped, and they had to return for an unscheduled Day 4. Eyster took it down, and the final results were:

1^st place: Kevin Eyster ($622,998)

2^nd place: Pierre Neuville ($385,041)

3^rd place: Andrew Lichtenberger ($242,847)

4^th place: Bryn Kenney ($160,927)

5^th place: Jeremy Kottler ($109,844)

6^th place: David Borrat ($77,145)

WSOP Event 26: Rennhack Runs to Victory

The $1,500 NLHE tournament started with 1,594 players and a $2,151,900 prize pool. The top 171 players were paid, and there were still 12 remaining when Day 3 began. Players like Will Failla and Jonas Wexler exited early, and Andrew Rennhack eventually took control of the final table and won it. This was the list of final table results:

1^st place: Andrew Rennhack ($408,953)

2^nd place: Michael Katz ($252,826)

3^rd place: Tony Gargano ($166,384)

4^th place: Ryan Welch ($119,946)

5^th place: Reed Goodmiller ($87,797)

6^th place: Heinz Kamutzki ($65,202)

7^th place: Geremy Eiland ($49,106)

8^th place: Eric Rappaport ($37,486)

9^th place: Dan Smith ($28,986)

WSOP Event 27: Hang Hangs Tough

A low buy-in HORSE event was in order this year, and the $1,500 buy-in HORSE brought 743 players into action. The $1,003,050 prize pool was used to pay the top 80 finishers. Day 3 then carried on with 15 players. Names like Jon Turner and Dutch Boyd departed early. The final table started with Tommy Hang near the bottom of the chip counts, but he hung in there and made a comeback to capture his first bracelet.

1^st place: Tommy Hang ($230,744)

2^nd place: Jim Collopy ($142,533)

3^rd place: Kristan Lord ($96,894)

4^th place: Brandon Guss ($67,435)

5^th place: Joe Villella ($47,905)

6^th place: Chris George ($34,725)

7^th place: Stewart Yancik ($25,668)

8^th place: David Baker ($19,338)

WSOP Event 28: Bilokur Wins for Russia

With quite a few championship events on the calendar this year, the $10K Pot Limit Hold’em was a new one. It drew only 160 players for a $1,504,000 prize pool, however, and paid the top 18.

Day 3 started with 10 players, and the quick elimination of Dan Shak set the official final table. Chino Rheem looked strong for much of the action but ended up finishing fourth. Alex Bilokur overcame many obstacles and claimed the bracelet for Russia:

1^st place: Alex Bilokur ($498,567)

2^nd place: Matt O’Donnell ($246,310)

3^rd place: Alexander Venovski ($178,434)

4^th place: Chino Rheem ($131,705)

5^th place: Ismael Bojang ($98,978)

6^th place: Todd Brunson ($75,681)

7^th place: Pratyush Buddiga ($58,851)

8^th place: Richard Lyndaker ($46,533)

9^th place: Barny Boatman ($37,389)

WSOP Event 29: Final Table Set

The $2,500 NLHE tournament was in its third day on Sunday. What started with 1,165 players and a $2,650,375 prize pool jumped through the money bubble on Day 2 to pay the top 117 players. That night ended with just 20 bags of chips.

Day 3 brought those players back and eliminated names like William Reynolds, Rep Porter, and ultimately David Benefield in 10^th place for $30,267. The final table was set, and they decided on a dinner break. Jamie Armstrong was in the chip lead, with Andy Phan and Matt Salsberg behind.

WSOP Event 30: Stud Heads-Up

The $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi/Low event was in its third day on Sunday after starting with 588 entries and a $793,800 prize pool two days earlier. The top 64 were paid, and there were still 12 players in action when Day 3 began.

Robert Goldfarb and Ted Forrest bubbled the final table, and the action played down as names like Jimmy Fricke and Melissa Burr exited. The third place elimination of Eric Kurtzman initiated heads-up play, with Calvin Anderson holding 1.89 million chips to the 756K of Joe Tehan.

WSOP Event 31: Day 2

This $1,500 NLHE had 1,631 players and a $2,201,850 prize pool. Day 2 was on Sunday and thinned the field from 187 players, into the money for the top 171, and on toward a final table.

WSOP Event 32: Day 2

The $10K NLHE Six-Handed Championship event started on Saturday with 264 players and a $2,481,600 prize pool. Day 2 brought 97 players back, and play moved into the mid-evening hours as the money bubble loomed. Only 30 players would be paid.

New WSOP Events

A $1K NLHE started the day on Sunday at noon, and a $1,500 Seven Card Stud option was available for players starting at 4pm. Neither of the prize pools were announced by 8pm on Sunday night.

Charity Tournaments Announced

The World Poker Tour’s WPT Foundation has been working with a number of charities to raise funds, and one of them is the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. As the hospital was recently announced as a tie for the top spot in the U.S. News rankings of children’s hospitals in the United States, the WPT announced its next event with CHOP. The October 29 fundraiser will be at the Mandarin Oriental in New York City. Phil Hellmuth will host the “All In” for Kids poker tournament.

Matt Stout has launched his Charity Series of Poker, and the first event is ready to go in Las Vegas. Planet Hollywood will host the first tournament on July 6, and Matt Savage has teamed up with Stout to run the event to benefit Three Squares, a food bank in Nevada. The $300 buy-in tournament will offer $100 rebuys, and half of the prize pool will be donated to Three Squares. Players like Chris Moneymaker, Annette Obrestad, Greg Merson, Carlos Mortensen, and Ryan Riess have already committed to play.