MAIN EVENT HEADLINES – DAY THREE
Day Three
Done! 853 Players Remaining
Field Size
Cut in Half on Day Three
2011 World
Series of Poker Main Event Championship Continues
New Yorker
Patrick Poirier Rockets into Chip Lead
Day Three
Ends, Day Four Set to Begin on Friday
Poker History
in the Making: ESPN Live Broadcast
Begins and Runs through July 19th
Cada, Seed,
McEvoy, Mortensen, and other Big Names Eliminated During Day Three
Berry
Johnston Shooting for 31st Straight Year with a WSOP Cash – Streak
in Jeopardy
This Year’s
World Poker Champion Set to Collect $8,771,956
A New
Record: 2011 WSOP the Largest in History
– with 75,672 Total Entries
A New
Record: 2011 WSOP the Richest in History
– with $191,999,010 in Total Prize Money
Las Vegas’
Last Gold Bracelet of 2011 at Stake – Seven Events Coming to WSOP Europe in
October in Cannes
OVERVIEW
Day Three of
the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event Championship was completed on
Thursday, at the Rio in Las Vegas.
The field
size was whittled down even further from an initial door-busting number, as
1,875 participants who survived the first two days of tournament action were
cut in half to the 853 players who remain alive.
Play is expected to reach the
money during the next critical session of play, which will be Day Four.
This promises to be one of the most exciting days of the entire WSOP, as players
who finish in 693rd place (or better) are each guaranteed to receive at least
$19,359 in prize money. Each year, there
is great anticipation and excitement as players gradually fall and those that
remain begin to realize the world championship is actually within their grasp.
Day Three marked a historic
occasion for the WSOP, and for the game of poker. For the first time
ever, the WSOP enjoyed semi-live coverage on ESPN (there’s a 30-minute
delay). Indeed, the WSOP and ESPN are conducting a bold new experiment
this year. Television coverage is more than doubling in size and scope,
including comprehensive daily/nightly overage of the majority of tournament on
a nationwide network. Semi-live television coverage runs through July
19th, when the “November Nine” finalists have been determined.
No poker tournament has ever
been covered to the extent of this Main Event Championship. In addition
to the original 32 broadcast hours that will appear as scheduled every Tuesday
night on ESPN, an additional 34 hours of semi-live coverage will air, which
means players and fans will see more poker played than ever before.
Day Three included quite a few
additional developments. For the first time in this year’s Main Event,
all players were gathered in the same room at one time. Due to multiple
playing days, players had been segregated into various playing sessions prior
to Day Three. Then, shortly after the dinner break, all players were in
the same room together for the first time. At about 10 p.m., an announcement
was made that that the number of players remaining has declined to under 1,000
for the first time in the tournament.
Here’s how many of the top
players performed on this day:
Chip Leaders: Patrick Poirier (Tupper Lake,
NY) has 1,328,000 in chips. His only previous two cashes at the WSOP
total $6,707 in prize money, which means Poirier is now playing on the biggest
take of his poker life. Cameras and
worldwide attention will be focused on him starting Day Four.
Ranking
second in chips is Darryl Jace, from Saugus, MA. He currently has 1,282,500 in his stack.
Former Champions
Eliminated:
Huck Seed, Joe Cada, Tom McEvoy, Carlos Mortensen
Former
Champions Remaining: Phil
Hellmuth, Robert Varkonyi, Berry Johnston
Well-Known Players
Eliminated:
Mike Caro, Noah Boeken, Victor Ramdin, Will “the Thrill” Failla, Patrik Antonius,
Shaun Deeb, John Racener, Steve Dannenmann, Matt Matros, Jason Mercier, Dan
Shak, Greg Mueller, Annette Obrestad, (by no means complete).
Well-Known Remaining
Players: Bryan
Devonshire, J.P. Kelly, Ben Lamb, Joseph Cheong, Blair Hinkle, Shannon Shorr,
Erick Lindgren, Tony Hachem, David Chiu, Darus Suharto, David Sands, Leif
Force, Matt Stout, Allen Cunningham, Freddy Deeb, Steve Brecher, Sorel Mizzi,
Jake Cody, John Shipley, Adam Junglen, Vanessa Rousso, Garry Gates, David
Oppenheim, Daniel Negreanu, Todd Brunson, Chris Bjorin, Jeffrey Lisandro, David
Diaz, David Bach, Bill Gazes, Jeff Madsen, Mickey Appleman, Humberto Brenes,
“Miami John” Cernuto, Eli Elezra, Sam Simon (by no means complete).
Entering Day Four, there are
only three former world champions still remaining in the Main Event. The biggest stack of the three belongs to
2002 champ Robert Varkonyi (Brooklyn, NY).
However, the
player with the most pressure on him entering the fourth day may very well be
Berry Johnston, the 1986 world champion.
Johnston is going for his 11th Main Event cash, the most by
anyone in history. This year is the 25th
anniversary of his WSOP victory.
Johnston is currently on the longest career streak of any player in
history, with cashes in at least one WSOP event each year for the past 30
years. He has cashed every year since
1982. Johnston has no cashes so far this
year, and will need to make the money in the Main Event or at WSOP Europe (7
more events).
The start of Day Three chip
leader was Ben Lamb (Tulsa, OK). He began play with 551,600 in
chips. However, he slid back to middle of the pack and ended the day with
above average chips – which was about 350,000 in his stack.
The quest for poker world
championship continues on Friday, July 15th. A complete list of all
remaining players and chip counts can be seen HERE.
For comprehensive updates of
Event #58 and a list of all remaining players with chips counts, please visit
the WSOP.com tournament portal page HERE.
ESPN LIVE COVERAGE
The WSOP and ESPN are trying a
bold new experiment this year.
Television coverage is more than doubling in size and scope, including –
for the first time in history – comprehensive daily/nightly overage of the
majority of tournament. Coverage will
run from the start of Day Three through July 19th, when the
“November Nine” finalists have been determined.
Content is spread
across ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN3.com and runs Day Three through Day Eight.
WSOP.com will stream
ESPN3.com content in countries/territories not served by ESPN.
Here’s a look at ESPN’s complete
WSOP Main Event schedule (all times are listed PST):
Thursday, July 14 (Day 3)
Noon-4 p.m. — ESPN3.com
4-6 p.m. and 8 p.m.-11:30 p.m. —
ESPN2/ESPN3.com
Friday, July 15 (Day 4)
Noon-4 p.m. — ESPN3.com
4-6 p.m. and 8 p.m.-11:30 p.m. —
ESPN2/ESPN3.com
Saturday, July 16 (Day 5)
• 12:30-7 p.m. — ESPN2/ESPN3.com
• 9 p.m.-11:30 p.m. —
ESPN2/ESPN3.com
Sunday, July 17 (Day 6)
• Noon-5 p.m. — ESPN3.com
• 7 p.m.-11:30 p.m. —
ESPN2/ESPN3.com
Monday, July 18 (Day 7)
• Noon-4 p.m. — ESPN3.com
• 4-7 p.m. — ESPN2/ESPN3.com
• 9 p.m.-11:30 p.m. —
ESPN2/ESPN3.com
Tuesday, July 19 (Play-down day)
• Noon-5 p.m. — ESPN3.com
• 5-7 p.m. — ESPN/ESPN3.com
• 9 p.m.-1:30 a.m. —
ESPN2/ESPN3.com
TOURNAMENT PLAY
Play on Day
Three began promptly at noon. Play ended
around 10:45 p.m. There was a two-hour
dinner break. This means eight total
hours were played. This unusual playing
schedule (short breaks and longer dinner time) was implemented in order to
accommodate the strict time windows of live television coverage.
Day Three started
with 1,875 entries and ended with 853 players.
This means only about 45.7 percent of starters survived the day.
At this point
on the tournament, participants have completed 14 full levels of play. That means 28 total tournament hours have been
played.
In previous
years, here’s where the eventual winners stood at the end of Day Three:
In 2010, at
the conclusion of Day Three, the eventual champion Jonathan Duhamel was ranked
in the middle of the pack.
In 2010, at
the conclusion of Day Three, none of the top 10 ranked players made it to the
final table.
In 2009, at
the conclusion of Day Three, the eventual champion Joe Cada was ranked in 100th
place, which was in the top 10 percent.
In 2009, at
the conclusion of Day Three, only one of the top-10 ranked players made it to
the final table.
In 2008,
Peter Eastgate was ranked in 386th place, which was in the middle of the pack.
In 2008, none
of the top-10 ranked players at the conclusion of Day Three made it to the
final table.
In 2007, at
the conclusion of Day Three, the eventual champion Jerry Yang was ranked in
46th place.
In 2007, at
the conclusion of Day Three, five of the nine players who made it to the final
table were ranked in top 20 (Alex Kravchenko, Hevad Khan, Tuan Lam, Lee
Watkinson, and Raymond Rahme).
In 2006, at
the conclusion of Day Three, the eventual champion Jamie Gold was ranked in
35th place.
In 2006, none
of the top ten ranked players at the conclusion of Day Three made it to the final
table.
Based on WSOP
figures during the mega-era (2006 to present when the Main Event went to a 10+
day format), the previous results of Day 3 chip leaders ended up as follows:
2010 – James
Carroll (Alto Loma, CA) finished in 96th place
2009 – Bertrand
Grospellier (London, UK) finished in 122nd place
2008 – Brain
Schaedlich (Cleveland, OH) finished in 456th place
2007 – Dag
Martin Mikkelsen (Stavanger, Norway) finished in 42nd place
2005 – Jon
Lane (Oshkosh, WI) finished in 200th place
Coming next, Day
Four will be played on Friday, July 15th. The restart will be at noon. There are 853 players remaining in the field.
The Main
Event continues through July 19th when the final table players will
ultimately be determined, otherwise known as the “November Nine.”
CHIP LEADERS
The end of
Day Three chip leader is Patrick Poirier, from Tupper Lake, NY. He currently has 1,328,000 in chips, which is
about 50,000 more than his closest challenger.
Poirier’s
stack size is quite impressive in comparison to recent years. At this point in last year’s Main Event (end
of Day Three) no player had yet crossed the million-chip mark. In fact, the chip leader at this stage of the
tournament last year had only 800,000 in chips, which is 528,000 less than this
year’s leader.
Ranking
second in chips is Darryl Jace, from Saugus, MA. He has 1,282,500 in chips.
Poirier and
Jace are the only two players with in excess of 1,000,000 in chips. Exact chip counts will be posted later.
Players from
the United States regained their advantage on the tournament leaderboard. When Day Three began, five of the top six
biggest stacks belonged to European players.
Now, eight of the top ranked players are Americans, with one player each
from Canada and Great Britain breaking up the red, white, and blue party.
Ben Lamb
(Tulsa, OK) was the overall chip leader coming into Day Three. He started the day with 551,600 in chips, but
fell to about 350,000 in chips in what can only be described as a difficult
day. Nevertheless, Lamb is currently
enjoying the run of a lifetime. He won a
gold bracelet this year, and posted 1st, 2nd, 8th,
and 12th place finishes. His
2011 WSOP earnings already total more than $1.3 million.
Starting Day
Three in second place was Kevin Saul (Warrenville, IL). He was the only player in the tournament
other than Lamb with more than 500,000 in chips when play began. Saul ended the day just shy of 400,000 in
chips.
The first
player to cross the 1,000,000-chip mark was Patrick Poirier. He hit the mark with about 30 minutes
remaining in Level 13, when the average stack size was about 190,000 in chips. He ended up as the end of day chip leader.
FORMER WORLD CHAMPIONS
There are 35 players
in history who have won the WSOP Main Event Championship. Of this number, 27 champions are still living. Of the 27 eligible former world champions, 18
participated in this year’s Main Event.
Seven former
world champions started Day Three of the Main Event. Only three survived – Robert Varkonyi, Phil
Hellmuth, and Berry Johnston.
Robert
Varkonyi is believed to have the largest stack amongst the former
champions. He has a slight lead over
Berry Johnston.
Current
Status of Former WSOP Main Event Champions:
1989: Phil Hellmuth – Playing on Day Four (77,000
in chips)
1986: Berry Johnston – Playing on Day Four (130,500
in chips)
2002: Robert Varkonyi – Playing on Day Four (265,500
in chips)
2001: Carlos Mortensen – Eliminated on Day Three
1983: Tom McEvoy – Eliminated on Day Three
2009: Joe Cada – Eliminated on Day Three
1996: Huck Seed – Eliminated on Day Three
2006: Jamie Gold – Eliminated on Day Two
2005: Joe Hachem – Eliminated on Day Two
1978: Bobby “the Owl” Baldwin – Eliminated on Day
Two
2010: Jonathan Duhamel – Eliminated on Day Two
1987/1988: Johnny Chan – Eliminated on Day Two
1995: Dan Harrington – Eliminated on Day Two
1998: Scotty Nguyen -- Eliminated on Day Two
1975/1976: Doyle Brunson – Eliminated on Day One
2003: Chris Moneymaker – Eliminated on Day One
2007: Jerry Yang – Eliminated on Day One
2004: Greg “Fossilman” Raymer – Eliminated on Day
One
2009 champ
Joe Cada was eliminated on this day. He
was also eliminated on the same Day Three in last year’s event.
CELEBRITIES AND NOTABLE PLAYERS
The World
Series of Poker has attracted celebrities and notable personalities since its
inception. This year is no exception.
Current
Status of Poker Hall of Fame members:
Berry
Johnston – Playing on Day Four (130,500 in chips)
Lyle Berman –
Eliminated on Day Three
Mike Sexton –
Eliminated on Day Two
Bobby Baldwin
– Eliminated on Day Two
Dewey Tomko –
Eliminated on Day Two
Dan
Harrington – Eliminated on Day Two
Billy Baxter
– Eliminated on Day Two
Doyle Brunson
– Eliminated on Day One
T.J. Cloutier
– Eliminated on Day One
Erik Seidel –
Eliminated on Day One
Current
Status of former WSOP “Players of the Year”:
2004 -- Daniel
Negreanu – Playing on Day Four (est. 207,000 in chips)
2005 -- Allen
Cunningham – Playing on Day Four (274,000 in chips)
2008 -- Erick
Lindgren – Playing on Day Four (356,000 in chips)
2009 -- Jeffrey
Lisandro – Playing on Day Four (est. 150,000 in chips)
2006 -- Jeff
Madsen – Playing on Day Four (124,000 in chips)
2010 -- Frank
Kassela – Eliminated on Day One
2007 -- Tom
Schneider – Eliminated on Day One
Remarkably,
five of the seven active Players of the Year are still alive in the Main Event.
Current
Status of Non-Poker Celebrities:
Mark Loftouse
(former NHL hockey player, Washington Capitals) – Playing on Day Four
Sam Simon
(Creator of “The Simpsons”) – Playing on Day Four
Brad Garrett
(actor and comedian) – Eliminated on Day Three
Jason
Alexander (actor and comedian) – Eliminated on Day Three
Shannon
Elizabeth (actress) – Eliminated on Day Two
Petter
Northug (Two-time Olympic gold medalist/skier from Norway) – Eliminated on Day
Two
Patrick Bruel
(French singer and actor and former gold bracelet winner) – Eliminated on Day
Two
Teddy
Sherington (UK football star) – Eliminated on Day Two
Rene Angelil
(music manager – Celine Dion’s husband) – Eliminated on Day Two
David Einhorn
(prospective owner – New York Mets) – Eliminated on Day Two
Paul Pierce
(NBA’s Boston Celtics) – Eliminated on Day Two
Nelly
(singer-performer) – Eliminated on Day One
Ray Romano (actor
and comedian) – Eliminated on Day One
Shane Warne (cricketer)
– Eliminated on Day One
Jennifer
Tilly (actress and former WSOP gold bracelet winner) – Eliminated on Day One
Lisa
Hamilton, winner of the 2009 Ladies World Poker Championship, came into Day
Three with 126,700 in chips. She survived
and is one of only 17 females estimated to still be in the Main Event.
Mike Caro,
a.k.a. “The Mad Genius” returned on Day Three with 42,300 in chips. He busted out about midway through the
day. Caro has been one of poker’s
foremost writers and theorists for nearly 30 years.
Jason
Alexander, the well-known actor most famous for playing George on the hit
television series “Seinfeld,” came into the day with 167,000 in chips. However, he was eliminated just prior to the
dinner break.
At the end of
Day One, there were 33 of the 57 gold bracelet winners this year who were still
alive in the tournament. However, Day
Two was not nearly as nice to the winners.
Of the 33 that started Day Two, only 13 made it to the start of Day
Three. There were as follows:
Jake Cody
Viacheslav Zhukov
David Diaz
Tyler
Bonkowski
Darren Woods
Chris Viox
Sam Stein
Jason Mercier
Mikhail
Lakhitov
Arkadiy
Tsinis
Ben Lamb
Kenneth
Griffin
Matt Matros
DAY TWO ODDS AND ENDS
This is the 58th
and final event on the 2011 WSOP schedule which is played in Las Vegas. Seven more gold bracelet events will take
place in Cannes, France, to be held in October 7th through 20th as
part of the 5th Annual World Series of Poker Europe.
This marks
the seventh consecutive year the WSOP has been held at the Rio All-Suites Hotel
and Casino. Prior to 2005, the WSOP was
held at Binion’s Horseshoe in downtown Las Vegas. As a testament to the expansion of the WSOP
since Caesars Entertainment assumed ownership and control of the world most
prestigious poker event, more than twice the money has been awarded to winners
within the Rio during the past six years than during the entire proceeding
35-year period at the Horseshoe.
The total
number of entrants in the WSOP Main Event (all 42 years combined) is 58,657.
Over the past
five years, the average attendance for the WSOP Main Event has been 6,776
entrants. Hence, this year’s figure (6,865
entrants) was slightly ahead of the post-UIGEA average.
The WSOP Main
Event always attracts family members.
Husbands and wives that entered the championship this year include Max
and Maria Stern. Chip and Karina Jett
also entered the Main Event. There were
also two fathers and sons, who entered – including Tom Dwan and his father Tom
Dwan, Sr. Another father-son combo was
Phil Galfond and his father Glenn. A
grandmother-grandson duo was Sean Deeb and his grandmother Ellen Deeb.
One of the
most incredible feats in WSOP history occurred in last year’s Main Event
Championship when all four of the Mizrachi brothers cashed in the tournament. This year, the group is not having such a
good year. Donny Mizrachi was the last
of the brothers to be eliminated. He
went out on Day Three.
Players from
many different nations have been chip leader in the Main Event, at one time or
another. However, for the first time in
history, a Romanian poker player was the chip leader in the world
championship. That took place midway
through Day Three when Anton Ionel became the first player to cross the
700,000-chip mark. He ended up ranked in
the top 25, but still behind the chip leader by a significant margin.
Every WSOP is
filled with humorous moments. Former
gold bracelet winner Erick Lindgren was sitting at an action table with lots of
table chatter. There was a fair amount
of posturing and showboating going on.
At one point, an annoyed player announced to the table, “If this doesn’t
pick up soon, we’re all going to be sitting in for days.” Lindgren immediately snapped, “That’s fine
with me!” cognizant of the fact that the 2011 WSOP November Nine will be known
in less than a week’s time.
MORE ODDS AND ENDS
This tournament
attracted 6,865 entries.
The field
included a total of 242 female players.
This figure represents 3.5 percent of the field.
An unofficial
head count of remaining female players at the end of Day Three showed 17
remaining.
The average
age of all players was 37.2 years.
This is the 950th
gold bracelet tournament event in World Series of Poker history. This figure includes every official WSOP
event ever played, including tournaments during the early years when there were
no actual gold bracelets awarded. It
also includes the 16 gold bracelets awarded to date at WSOP Europe (2007-2010). Moreover for the first time ever, one gold
bracelet was awarded for this year’s winner of the WSOP Circuit National
Championship.
………………………………………………………………………….
INFORMATION AND DATA FROM PREVIOUS
REPORTS:
MAIN EVENT – BY COUNTRY
There were
105 different nations represented at the 2011 WSOP in all gold bracelet events.
There were 85
different nations represented in the Main Event Championship.
Based on the
total number of entries, non-U.S. players made up 33 percent of the total
field. This is the largest percentage of internationally-based players in WSOP
history.
If just the
international contingent of participants were separated from the total field
size, there would be an estimated 2,265 players. The size of this group alone would constitute
a larger field than any other live tournament ever held, outside the WSOP.
The breakdown
of players – alphabetized by country along with number of entrants – was as
follows:
1 -- American
Samoa
3 -- Andorra
21 -- Argentina
80 -- Australia
37 -- Austria
2 -- Azerbaijan
1 -- Bahamas
1 -- Bahrain
1 -- Barbados
25 -- Belgium
2 -- Belize
2 -- Bolivia
1 -- Botswana
83 -- Brazil
4 -- Bulgaria
486 -- Canada
7 -- Chile
10 -- China
9 -- Columbia
3 -- Costa
Rica
1 -- Croatia
4 -- Cyprus
9 -- Czech
Republic
46 -- Denmark
5 -- Estonia
21 -- Finland
213 -- France
1 -- French
Polynesia
156 -- Germany
5 -- Greece
1 -- Guam
4 -- Guatemala
8 -- Hong
Kong
24 -- Hungary
2 -- Iceland
2 -- India
1 -- Indonesia
35 -- Ireland
18 -- Israel
106 -- Italy
24 -- Japan
2 -- Kazakhstan
7 -- Latvia
4 -- Lebanon
8 -- Lithuania
2 -- Macedonia
1 -- Malaysia
2 -- Malta
1 -- Marshall
Islands
12 -- Mexico
3 -- Monaco
1 -- Mongolia
1 -- Montserrat
1 -- Morocco
59 -- Netherlands
5 -- New
Zealand
34 -- Norway
1 -- Oman
2 -- Panama
3 -- Peru
3 -- Philippines
1 -- Poland
18 -- Portugal
4 -- Romania
108 -- Russia
7 -- Saint
Lucia
1 -- Saudi
Arabia
1 -- Senegal
4 -- Singapore
6 -- Slovakia
17 -- South
Africa
6 -- South
Korea
42 -- Spain
79 -- Sweden
26 -- Switzerland
2 -- Taiwan
2 -- Trinidad
and Tobago
4 -- Turkey
1 -- Turks
and Caicos
1 -- Turks
and Caicos Islands
3 -- Ukraine
288 -- United
Kingdom
4,604 -- United
States
3 -- Uruguay
20 – Venezuela
TOURNAMENT
NUMBERS
This is the
third-largest live poker tournament in history.
Only the 2006 WSOP Main Event (at 8,773 entrants) and the 2010 WSOP Main
Event (at 7,319 entrants) were bigger.
Prior to this year, the third largest live tournament was the 2008 WSOP
Main Event -- with 6,844 players.
Here are the
six largest live poker tournaments in history:
2006 WSOP
Main Event – 8,773 players
2010 WSOP
Main Event – 7,319 players
2011 WSOP
Main Event – 6,865 players
2008 WSOP
Main Event – 6,844 players
2009 WSOP
Main Event – 6,494 players
2007 WSOP
Main Event – 6,358 players
WSOP
MAIN EVENT ALL-TIME RECORDS
Most Main
Event Wins (Career):
3
– Johnny Moss (*first win was by vote)
3
– Stu Ungar
2
– Doyle Brunson
2
– Johnny Chan
Most Main
Event Cashes (Career):
10
– Berry Johnston
8
– Humberto Brenes
7
– Bobby Baldwin
7
– Doyle Brunson
7
– Jay Heimowitz
7
– Phil Hellmuth
7
– Mike Sexton
6
– John Bonetti
6
– Johnny Moss
6
– Jason Lester
6
– Steve Lott
6
– Chris Bjorin
6
– John Esposito
6
– Johnny Chan
5
– 14 players tied with 5 cashes each
Most Main
Event Final Tables (Career):
5
– Doyle Brunson
5
– Jesse Alto
4
– Johnny Chan
4
– T.J. Cloutier
4
– Dan Harrington
4
– Berry Johnston
4
– Johnny Moss
4
– Stu Ungar
3
– 6 players tied with 3 final tables each
Youngest
Winner:
Joe
Cada (2009) -- 21 years, 11 months, 22 days
Oldest
Winner:
Johnny
Moss (1974) – 66 years, 11 months, 24 days
Oldest
Participant:
97
years -- Jack Ury (2010)
Most
Consecutive Years Played:
38
– Howard “Tahoe” Andrew (1974 to present)
Most Main
Events Played
(Career):
38
– Tie: Doyle Brunson (did not play 1999 through 2001); Howard “Tahoe” Andrew
WSOP -- FOR THE AGES
The youngest
player to enter the 2011 WSOP Main Event Championship was Logan Deen, from
Cocoa, FL. He turned 21 on the day he
took his seat in the Main Event. This means
he now holds a record that can only be tied, but never broken (unless age
restriction laws are changed in the future).
He was cheered on by his family, who call themselves the “Deen
Team.” Unfortunately, he was eliminated on
Day Three.
The oldest
player to enter the 2011 WSOP Main Event Championship was Ellen “Gram” Deeb,
from Troy, NY. She became the oldest
female participant in Main Event history at the age of 91. Mrs. Deeb was introduced to the huge crowd,
which gave her one of the day’s biggest ovations. After she stood to wave to the crowd, she
grabbed the microphone from a tournament official and snapped, “I just have one
thing to say! You are all playing for
second!” The crowd went wild. Unfortunately, Mrs. Deeb was eliminated on
Day One. The WSOP looks forward to
welcoming her again in 2012.
OVERALL 2011 WSOP STATISTICS
Through Event
#58 (all gold bracelet events), the 2011 WSOP has attracted 75,672 combined
total entries. $191,999,010 in prize money
has been awarded.
Through the
conclusion of Event #57, the breakdown of nationality of gold bracelet winners
has been:
United States
(35)
Canada (5)
Ukraine (4)
France (4)
Great Britain
(3)
Russia (3)
Brazil (1)
Pakistan (1)
Sweden (1)
Through the
conclusion of Event #57, the national origin (birthplace) of winners has been:
United States
(31)
Canada (5)
Ukraine (4)
France (4)
Great Britain
(3)
Russia (3)
Israel (1)
Honduras (1)
Indonesia (1)
Germany (1)
Brazil (1)
Pakistan (1)
Sweden (1)
Through the
conclusion of Event #57, the home-states of (American) winners have been:
California (7)
New York (6)
Nevada (6)
Texas (3)
Florida (2)
Illinois (2)
Connecticut
(2)
New Jersey
(1)
Tennessee (1)
Indiana (1)
Maryland (1)
Virginia (1)
Michigan (1)
North Dakota
(1)
Washington
(1)
Ohio (1)
Through the
conclusion of Event #57, the breakdown of professional poker players to
semi-pros and amateurs who won gold bracelets has been:
Professional Players
(44): Jake
Cody, Cheech Barbaro, Eugene Katchalov, Allen Bari, Harrison Wilder, Matt
Perrins, Sean Getzwiller, Viacheslav Zhukov, David Diaz, Andrew Badecker, Tyler
Bonkowski, Brian Rast (2 wins), John Juanda, Aaron Steury, Darren Woods, Jason
Somerville, Bertrand Grospellier, John Monnette, Elie Payan, Mark Radoja, Chris Viox, Dan Idema, Andy Frankenberger, Chris Lee, Sam Stein, Mark Schmid, Jason Mercier,
Mikhail Lakhitov, Fabrice Soulier, Mitch Schock, Matt Jarvis, Justin Pechie,
Ben Lamb, Rep Porter, Andre Akkari, Joe Ebanks, Lenny Martin, Athanasios
Polychronopoulos, Antonin Teisseire, Matt Matros, Marsha Wolak. Maxim Lykov,
Nick Binger
Semi-Pros (6): Sean R. Drake, Amir Lehavot, Oleksii Kovalchuk,
Eric Rosawig, Arkadiy Tsinis, Alexander Anter
Amateurs
(7): Geffrey Klein, Foster Hays, James
Hess, Kirk Caldwell, Ken Griffin, Owais Ahmed, David Singontiko
Since
tracking first started in 2005, this year’s WSOP has the greatest disparity of
professionals winning over semi-pros and amateurs than any year recorded, so
far – with 50 out of 57 events being won by pros or semi-pros.
Through the
conclusion of this tournament, the victories of 12 of the 57 winners (21
percent) marked the first time the new champion had ever cashed at the WSOP.
Every WSOP
held over the past 11 years has included at least one multiple gold bracelet
champion (meaning two or more wins within the same year). The last year the WSOP was comprised
exclusively of single-event winners was back in 1999. The record for most multiple gold bracelet
winners within a single year was in 2009, when five players managed to win two
or more titles. Brian Rast’s victory in
two tournaments – Events #15 and #55 -- means the multi-gold bracelet streak
will continue for at least another year.
The streak of
consecutive male WSOP gold bracelet winners is currently at 213 consecutive
events. Aside from the annual Ladies
Poker Championship, the last female player to win a WSOP tournament open to
both sexes was Vanessa Selbst, in 2008.
The longest “cold” streak for female players occurred between years 1982
and 1996, when 221 consecutive open events passed without a female champion.
The highest finish
by any female (open events) at this year’s WSOP was accomplished by two
players. Maria Ho finished second
($5,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em). Kim
Nguyen also finished as the runner up ($1,500 buy-in Six-Handed Limit Hold’em).
The highest
finish by any defending champion at this year’s WSOP was by David Baker, who
after winning the previous $10,000 buy-in No-Limit Deuce-to-Seven Draw Lowball
World Championship finished in sixth place in defense of his title.
Reigning
world poker champions rarely perform well the following year after their
victory. Chris “Jesus” Ferguson was the
last world champion to win a gold bracelet the next year, which happened in
2001. Perhaps it’s due to the increasing
size of the fields. But there’s also
great pressure on the champions to do well.
What follows is a list of the only world champions in history to win a gold
bracelet after winning the championship during the previous year:
Johnny Moss
(1975)
Doyle Brunson
(1977)
Bobby Baldwin
(1979)
Stu Ungar
(1981)
Johnny Chan
(1988)
Hamid
Dastmalchi (1993)
Chris “Jesus”
Ferguson (2001)
By contrast,
players who make it to the final table of the Main Event Championship (November
Nine) one year tend to do quite well in subsequent WSOP years. Consider that last year, three former Main
Event finalists won gold bracelets – Eric Buchman, Tex Barch and Scott
Montgomery. This year, Matt Jarvis won
his first gold bracelet one year after making it to the November Nine in 2010.
New
tournament records set at the 2011 WSOP (to date):
Biggest
Heads-Up tournament prize pool in history ($3,040,000) – Event #2
Largest
live Omaha High-Low Split Tournament in history (925 entries) – Event #3
Largest
live Six-Handed tournament in poker history (1,920 entries) – Event #10
Biggest
Deuce-to-Seven tournament prize pool in history ($1,184,400) – Event #16
Largest
live $1,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em tournament in history with single day start
(3389 entries) – Event #56
Largest
live $1,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em tournament in history with single day start
(3175 entries) – Event #20
Largest
consecutive-days starting field sizes in poker history (combined 6,332 entries)
– Event #18 and Event #20
Largest
live Pot-Limit Omaha tournament in poker history (1,071 entries) – Event #22
Largest
Mixed-Game (Eight-Game Mix) in poker history (489 entries) – Event #23
Largest
Seniors tournament in poker history (3,752 entries) – Event #30
Biggest
Seniors No-Limit Hold’em championship prize pool in history ($3,376,800) –
Event #30
Largest
single-day live tournament start in poker history (3,752 entries) – Event #30
Largest consecutive-days starting field
sizes in poker history (combined 6,580 entries) – Event #30/Event #32 (broke
Event #18/Event #20 record from earlier in 2011 WSOP)
Largest four-consecutive days field sizes in poker history
(2,500+3,752+2,828+3,144 =12,224 entries) -- Events 28, 30, 32, 34, June 16-19,
2011
Largest Mixed Pot-Limit tournament in history (606 entries) –
Event #39
Biggest Pot-Limit Omaha prize pool in live poker history
($3,393,400) – Event #42
New player
records set at the 2011 WSOP (to date):
The
35-year span between Artie Cobb’s first cash in this event (1976) and most
recent cash in the same event (2011) represents the longest time span in WSOP
history. He accomplished this in Seven-Card
Stud High-Low Split (Event #25).
Phil
Hellmuth added to his record as the individual all-time leader in cashes (84)
and final table appearances (43).
Howard
“Tahoe” Andrew added to his record as the player with the longest consecutive
streak of WSOP appearances (entering at least one event), currently at 38 years
and counting (1974 to present).
First
player in history with three second-place finishes within a single year – Phil
Hellmuth
Tony
“Top Cat” Cousineau added to his record as the player with the most WSOP
cashes, but no wins (49).
RAISING AWARENESS: BAD BEAT ON CANCER AND THE WSOP
Bad Beat on
Cancer was created in 2003 by Phil Gordon and Rafe Furst as an easy and fun way
for poker players to donate to the Prevent Cancer Foundation. It all began when Chris Moneymaker pledged 1
percent of his 2003 Main Event winnings and went on to capture the championship,
contributing $25,000 when he was awarded the $2.500,000 first- place prize. By taking the pledge, wearing the patch, and
joining ‘Team 1%’, players can feel good supporting a cause that only benefits
when they win. As the official charity
of the WSOP, pledges simply indicate to the payouts staff that they are
donating 1 percent of their winnings, and the funds are automatically withheld.
A tax receipt is generated and sent to
their mailing address. Several high
profile professionals have made ‘life pledges’ of 1 percent of all their
winnings -- including Annie Duke, Phil Hellmuth Jr., Lee Childs, Paul Wasicka,
Andy Bloch, Dennis Phillips, and others. Since 2003, the initiative has raised over $3,500,000
for cancer prevention research, education, and community outreach programs. Players can pick up a patch and join Team 1%
by stopping by the Bad Beat on Cancer booth, located at the 2011 WSOP opposite
the Amazon Room in the concourse. The Nevada Cancer Institute based in Las Vegas
is a benefiting charity from the Bad Beat on Cancer.
Note:
Various categories and statistics will be updated with each gold
bracelet event as they are completed.