WSOP Event 40 – Pro’s come out to play

The $10,000 PLO event attracted a stellar field, with 295 players including the likes of Patrik Antonius, Gus Hansen, Tom Dwan and Ziigmund – all regulars in the highest stakes PLO games on Full Tilt – taking to the green felt. They were joined by Phil Ivey, Isaac Haxton, and a few pro’s yet to stamp their authority on the 2009 WSOP, including Eli Elezra, Barry Greenstein and the charismatic Sam Farha. For Gus Hansen it was his first world series event, having just arrived over from Europe where he’s been pre-occupied with business. Many pro’s will see this is a good warm-up to the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E.

Going into Day 2, the English contingent is still going strong. Richard ‘Chufty’ Ashby, a regular at $25/50 and $50/100 online, is well in contention, but Simon Trumper (owner of live event venue Dusk Till Dawn) needs a lot of catching up to do. He sits on 16,000 with the average stack 73,000. Britain’s most accomplished Omaha player, Ben Grundy, surely has to be one of the favourites for the bracelet. The ‘Milky Bar Kid’ has an impeccable record playing Omaha on Full Tilt, recording over $1 million annual profit for the last 2 years. He’ll have to get past Finnish hothead Ziigmund however, who sits ominously in 3^rd, with 229,000 chips. We’ll bring you updates as play progresses.

Meanwhile, Italian pro Jeff Lisandro cemented himself as the best 7 Card Stud player in the world by clinching his second bracelet. He joins Phil Ivey and Brock Parker as duel bracelet winners at the 2009 WSOP. The Italian stud stallion followed up his triumph in the $ 1,500 Seven Card Stud for $ 124,975 with a victory in the $10,000 World Championship  Hi-Lo variant, for a much more handsome $431,656. He also captured a Stud bracelet in 2007. The final day commenced with a strong lineup – Scotty Nyugen just missed out on the final table bubble by hitting in rail in 12^th, where as Doyle Brunson’s sharpness continue to defy his aging years – he finished an admirable 7^th. Heads-up play between Lisandro and Farzad Rouhani was a titanic battle. Despite Rouhani taking the early advantage, Lisandro restored the chip lead when he hit trip queens. After a three hour struggle, Lisandro’s two pair ousted Rouhani’s bust gutshot and low draw.

Credit: Sam M