Shiina Okamoto Improves in Heads-Up Play
A year ago, Japan's Shiina Okamoto made a deep run in the record-breaking Women's WSOP event. She went into heads-up with a 4-1 advantage, but American Tamar Abraham was stronger.
This year's tournament attracted 1,245 participants, 50 fewer than the record. Okamoto managed to improve on her result, which was a phenomenal achievement.
The level of play at the final table, according to commentators on Reddit, left much to be desired, and Okamoto, a professional player in Asian tournaments, looked head and shoulders above her opponents. In heads-up, she was up against Jamie Kerstetter, who had the sympathies of the American public and a significant advantage in chips – 15.3 million against 9.6 million. PokerGo commentators were openly rooting for their colleague. In the key hand, Kerstetter tried to steal the pot by bluffing the river with a missed open-ended hand, but ran into a full house. After that, Okamoto had 17.4 million against 7.5 million, and she confidently brought the match to victory.
The winner's biography is kept secret. A few short lines were found on social networks, where a fan from Japan reported that Shiina graduated from one of the most prestigious universities in the country and worked for some time in an elite investment bank.
The Name's Bond. James Bond.
Rounding out the parade of winners is Tony “Bond18” Dunst. It seems like he’s long since left the fair and moved on to commentary work. It also seems like if he was going to win a bracelet, it wouldn’t be online, where his skill set is likely still at the level of the late 2000s.
However, in American online poker, you don’t have to be Adrian Mateos. Tony managed to win the $500 online bracelet tournament. Considering the prize he received – $134,886, you can imagine how many people were there. So read and reread “Things I Learned Over Time” – it’s enough to win the World Series!
Negreanu vs. Martirosyan: Matt Savage Disagrees with Dnegs
In our Super High Roller review we already mentioned Negreanu, who fell victim to the “dumbest” rule in history:
–Dumbest ruling I’ve seen in a while and it happened to me
I limp 5k
Artur makes it 13k on the button
Both blinds fold he throws his hand into the muck
They rule the 5k stays but the other 8k he gets back
Makes literally no sense and it’s an open opportunity to angle
Tournament Director Matt Savage strongly disagrees with his old friend:
– "First of all, Daniel is a friend of mine, I respect him immensely. He's done a huge amount for the game and obviously he's had an incredible career. But, in certain situations like this, he's just wrong. You know, he came out and said it was the 'dumbest ruling' ever and that he got screwed by the floor.
Here's a rule that has been in place since 2013 and, basically, the rule says that if you make a raise and the player has not called the bet and you fold your hand accidentally, or the dealer kills your hand accidentally, you will receive that raise back. It's been in use for a long time, it's been on the TDA rules since 2013.
I feel like a player like Daniel should know a rule like that. He's a professional player. He plays big tournaments for millions of dollars and I think that all players should learn the rules and understand the reasons why we come up with those rules. For this one, there's four or five different reasons why this rule is in place.
Again, there’s a big topic out there about dealers making mistakes in these hands. Even in the Daniel hand, the dealer should have stopped that player from folding, right? Since that dealer didn't stop the player from folding in a pot where there was still other action, that player receives money back. It's not a benefit to him to just give away 5,000 and give away the antes."
Main Event – Record Close, But Likely to Stand
Last year's record for the number of participants in the World Series of Poker Main Event – 10,043 – looks set to stand. This year's Main Event was slow to get going, but on Day 4 the pace of registrations picked up sharply, with an unofficial total of 4,995 people sitting down at the tables. The total number of participants has now exceeded 9,200. Registration will be open for the first two levels of Day 2, so the chances of breaking the record remain, but they are not considered high.
Some chip counts of famous players who made it to the second day of the Main:
Brian Hastings – 252,100
Erik Seidel – 183,600
Artur Martirosyan – 166,300
Phil Ivey – 153,500
Adrian Mateos – 143,100
Stephen Chidwick – 126,000
David Peters – 125,800
Isaac Haxton – 124,900
Jamie Gold – 111,100
Parker Talbot – 106,700
John Juanda – 96,000
Alex Foxen – 93,000
Maria Konnikova – 74,400
Phil Hellmuth – 66,700
Patrick Leonard – 18,800
Christopher Frank (Germany) has accumulated the most chips – 698,000. No one else has figures close to his.
Some photos from the first day of the Main:
The final statistical results will be summed up on the second day.
Bracelet by Nikolay Fal
The Russian player won his first bracelet in Event #69 – $1,500 Stud Hi-Lo. Years go by, but the preferences of our poker players do not change: limit games with a split pot remain their strongest side compared to the world level. I wonder why?
Nikolay beat 611 people and won $153,730. In an interview after his victory, he said that he was very happy with the bracelet because stud hi-lo is his favorite game.
His final table opponents included Yuval Bronstein and Jon "Pearljammer" Turner, among others. The most stubborn resistance came from little-known Christian Roberts, who fought for several hours.
Dan Bilzerian Lasted Two Hands
The poker playboy didn't want to waste time on the micro limits. In the first hand, he 3-bet with against Scotland's Derek Reid and three-barreled. Reid had aces, check-called all the streets, and took the pot down on a pair.
In the next hand, Jonathan Dwek raised with , the button called, and Bilzerian shoved for 4,000 chips with from the big blind. Dwek called and made a flush.
Landon Tice and Jeremy Becker's Bets Both in the Red
The reality of the World Series is that no matter how good you are, the odds of winning the series are always going to be less than 0.5. The much-heralded and heavily publicized crossbook between young American talents Jeremy Becker and Landon Theis ends rather boringly:
Let's remember that Negreanu's money is behind Becker, and Matt Burkey's moral support is behind Theis (Theis took full responsibility for the financial side of the issue). After the end of the World Series, the difference in profit will be calculated, and the loser will pay it to the winner.
It looks like the only one who will benefit from this event is Daniel.
Top Full House? No Good.
The first day of the WSOP Main Event saw a classic hand for the event. French amateur Jamie Sanfilippo raised to 700 from the button, and Rupam Paul raised to 2,200 from the small blind. Call.
On the flop Paul made a continuation bet of 2,100. Sanfilippo flatted out 4,200. Called.
Thorn – A check is a check.
River – . Paul checks. Sanfilippo bets a tiny 2,600. Paul check-raises 8,800. Sanfilippo moves all-in for about 40,000.
Paul quickly said he had queens, and after a moment's thought, he passed them face up. Sanfilippo nobly showed a quad of jacks.
Rupam Paul:
Fold, as Twitter advises!
"Today I folded the 3rd nuts in the WSOP Main Event just like everyone on Twitter told me I was supposed to," Kevin Rabichow, one of the most famous apologists of pure GTO, told readers.
We only got to this hand on the river. The board Alexander Lynskey, in the hijack, bet 8,000. Kevin Rabichow, in the cutoff, called. Andre Akkari, an old-school Brazilian, check-raised all-in for 52,200 in the small blind.
Linsky quickly threw it out, but Rabichow thought for a long time.
“There was a check-raise on the flop, and everyone checked the turn,” an eyewitness told the reporter, and this information completely satisfied our colleague; he did not ask any additional questions.
After thinking for about five minutes, Rabichou threw away a flush to a queen and was shown .
Even Brian Hastings laughed at Kevin's geographical ignorance in the comments.
"You missed the Brazilian exception."
Aaron Baron took to Twitter to share how he found himself in an awkward situation.
A nice guy named Rob asked me in the gym if I was playing the WSOP Main Event, then asked a few questions about the lineup, my approach, etc. After filling him in on all the details, I asked him if he had played the Main Event himself, and if so, how far he had gotten.
He: Yes, I got into the money several times, won once.
And then I realized that this was the 2002 world champion Robert Varkonyi.
Apparently Aaron's answers inspired his interlocutor to join the tournament!
The Fight for Player of the Year Continues
Surprisingly, Scott Seiver, who won three bracelets in one series, can still lose the title of the best player of the year at the WSOP – Jeremy Ausmus is hot on his heels. In general, the top ten leaders in this category look very nostalgic.
1. Scott Seiver – 3,757
2. Jeremy Ausmus – 3,368
3. Chris Hunichen – 2,817
4. Phil Ivey – 2,579
5. Shaun Deeb – 2,423
6. Bryce Yockey – 2,361
7. Daniel Negreanu – 2,340
8. Joseph Cuden – 2,329
9. Viktor Blom – 2,327
10. John Racener – 2,320
Maxim Pisarenko is in 34th place with 1,858 points. Phil Hellmuth is struggling to stay in the top 100 with 1,347 points and 91st place.
