WSOP 2011 – a Who’s Who of the Main Event survivors [Editorial]
Monday, 18 July 2011
We’ve reached a pretty exciting time at the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event. Less than one per cent of the field remains in contention for the $8.7m first prize – and the bracelet, natch – with Ryan Lenaghan’s beard leading the field into Day 7 after amassing a frankly so-incredible-it’s-almost-arousing 12,865,000 in chips.
This does, however, minimise my ability to make a lot of Phil Collins puns – though Phil “USCphildo” Collins is still alive on 7.2m and is likely to Dance into the Light of the November Nine with that stack.
Usually, at this stage of a tournament with less than 1% of the field remaining, you’re lucky to get one or two pros among tables of unknowns and amateurs. Not so in the Main Event – though we’ve all seen das luckboxen go deep, the incredible structure and two-hour levels ensure that every single year, some manner of skill prevails. You’ll rarely find a total donkey at the November Nine, Mr. Moon excluded.
However, those of you that don’t write about poker for a living may well be furrowing your brows at some of the names left in contention. Fear not, this is where I come in with a Who’s Who of the Main Event field.
Table 312
1.John Esposito (1m) – over $2.2m in cashes and a win at Festa al Lago in 2005.
2.David Bach (1.985m) – former $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. champ
3.David Sands (2.765m) – online MTT crusher, former Brunson Ten member.
4.Ryan Lenaghan (12.865m) – chip leader, bearer of a magnificent beard. WSOP-C cashes to the tune of $150,000 including a final table.
5.Pius Heinz (5.695m) – LNWMDTOG*
6.Stephane Albertini (2.635m)
7.–empty—
8.Martin Staszko (2.55m) – Czech player making this his fifth (and biggest) cash of the 2011 WSOP.
9.Hilton Laborda (7.16m) – LNWMDTOG
*Legitimate nobody who may destroy the online games.
Table 314
1.–empty—
2.Matt Giannetti (7.94m) – plethora of live cashes to the tune of $450k. Destroys live cash games in Las Vegas.
3.Fabio Sousa (2.15m) - LNWMDTOG
4.JP Kelly (3.75m) – British hope in the field; seeking his third bracelet. Crushes large-field MTTs.
5.Tom Koral (3.39m) – mixed games specialist, 2010 PCA finalist.
6.Andrey Pateychuk (7.255m) – LNWMDTOG
7.Frank Sinopoli (1.105m) – plethora of WSOP cashes, $500k in live tourneys.
8.Minh Nguyen (1m) – named Nguyen so obviously awesome at poker. Final tabled $50,000 Players’ Championship.
9.Zohair Karim (1.24m) – LNWMDTOG
Table 324
1.Phil Collins (7.24m) – USCphildo online, not the Genesis singer/drummer.
2.Konstantinos Mamaliadis (5.065m) – LNWMDTOG
3.Nelson Robinson (6.42m) – LNWMDTOG
4.James Page (4.045m) – LNWMDTOG
5.Erika Moutinho (2.075m) – last woman standing, gained her poker knowledge through David Sands via osmosis.
6.–empty—
7.Gionni Demers (1.625m) – LNWMDTOG
8.Tri Hynuh (6.295m) – LNWMDTOG
9.Stefan Huber (1.47m) – many small flags on Hendon Mob DB but still LNWMDTOG
Table 326
1.Bryan Devonshire (5.97m) – crushes online, builds awesome chip stacks live.
2.Scott Schwalich (2.94m) – LNWMDTOG
3.Ben Lamb (9.98m) – until this summer was LNWMDTOG. Now pwns everything.
4.–empty—
5.Nicolas Fierro (3.8m) – LNWMDTOG
6.Eoghan Odea (2.535m) LNWMDTOG
7.Matthew Kay (1.295m) – won 6-max event at EPT Grand Final. From Ontario, so probably awesome at Limit Hold ‘em.
8.Sam Barnhart (3.145m) – got his seat by destroying the 2010-11 WSOP-Circuit.
9.Ahtoh Makiievskyi (3.385m) – LNWMDTOG, awesome name, hard to type.
Table 334
1.Ferning Chan (1.95m) – LNWMDTOG
2.Jody Howe (1.065m) – Canadian PartyPoker qualifier
3.Lars Bonding (3.37m) - $1.5m in live tournament cashes, plays online as Dsavo
4.Kyle Johnson (5.97m) – LNWMDTOG
5.Andrew Hinrichsen (4.025m) – Aussie online pro with over $200k in live cashes
6.Steve Brecher (1.805m) – 2009 WPT Bay 101 champ. Looks like the lovechild of George W. Bush and Billy Bob Thornton.
7.Jerry Van Strydonck (3.985m) – final tabled 2010 WPT Biloxi. Plays online as DontBluffMePLZZZ
8.Aleksandr Mozhnyakov (6.07m) – fifth cash of the 2011 WSOP, fifth deep run in a large-field Hold ‘em event.
9.Gregory Kaplan (2.76m) – LNWMDTOG
Table 336
1.Tony Hachem (2.25m) – Joe’s brother. Crushes tournaments Down Undah. ANZPT Player of the Year twice in a row.
2.–empty—
3.Philipp Gruissem (2.005m) – plays online as PhilBort; over $2m in online MTT scores.
4.Samuel Holden (2.22m) – UK tournamwenrt regular - LNWMDTOG
5.Bounahra Badih (1.86m) – LNWMDTOG
6.Mario Silvestri (1.725m) – LNWMDTOG
7.Per Linde (3.75m) – Swedish tournament player, $900k in winnings. You know him.
8.Khoa Nguyen (3.53m) – whether US, Canadian or UK-based, this is a LNWMDTOG
9.Ruben Visser (1.07m) – mate of Lex Veldhuis, five figures in live tournament cashes.
Table 340
1.–empty—
2.Andrew Brokos (2.505m) – Team Online at PokerStars. Cashes in the Main Event for fun with 5/6 since 2005.
3.Guillaume Darcourt (5.34m) – Day 2 chip leader, winner of WPT Bucharest in 2010.
4.Kenny Shih (1.24m) – LNWDTGINA (legitimate nobody who destroys the games in Asia)
5.Stuart Tuvey (2.585m) - LNWMDTOG
6.Sebastian Ruthenberg (890k) – German PokerStars Pro. Won EPT Barcelona in 2008 as well as his first bracelet in 7-Card Stud the same year. Over $3.3m in live cashes but the shortest stack in the room.
7.John Hewitt (5.045m) – LNWMDTOG
8.Christopher Moore (5.25m) – won Commerce $10k HU and Wynn $10k. Over $1.7m in live cashes.
9.Erick Lindgren (2.195m) – was the Best Without a Bracelet. Now just one of the best.