After a chaotic day 1 at the World Series, day two was a time for celebration. The health of the game, feared to be damaged, would be determined by the attendance at Event #3, the $1,500 no-limit Hold’em event that a year ago set the all-time record for largest non-main event tournament in live poker history.
When all was said and done, all was good with the world. An amazing 2,998 made it into the event, with some 200 more turned away due to lack of space. If poker is dying, the players certainly haven’t been told about it. Here’s a look at what else happened on the day:
- In the $1,500, the end of day chip leader was Alex Jacob, last year’s USPC champion. Joining him in the final 400 was a bevy of stars including former world champions Greg Raymer and Chris Moneymaker.
- The $5,000 mixed Hold’em event played down to its final table. Amongst those surviving the gauntlet were WPT World Championship runner-up Kirk Morrison, Steve Paul-Ambrose, online monster Jon “Pearljammer” Turner, Greg “FBT” Mueller and “Mr. Smokey” Steven Bolcerek, who enters the final table all of 21 years, 10 days old. He’ll become the new record holder if he wins.
- The playing card fiasco from day 1 was resolved. After an initial shipment of new cards made its way to the tables Friday, Saturday saw the remaining ‘new’ decks removed from circulation.
- Event #2, the employees event, was won by Eric Narsico. The 24-year old Narsico outlasted 1,038 other players to take home $104,701 and the win.
The final table of event #1 was set when Steve Paul-Ambrose took out Kenny Tran in 10th place. It’s been an exceptional month for Ambrose, who got engaged and graduated before making this final table. After a flop of Ks-7s-6d, Tran checked from the big blind, Steve Paul-Ambrose bet 30,000, Tran raised to 60,000, Ambrose re-raised to 90,000, and Tran called.
Ah on the turn inspired a T60,000 bet from Pual-Ambrose. A Tran call was followed by 2s on the river and another T60,000 bet. With little option but to call with anything, Tran finally did, then mucked his hand when Steve showed Ac-7h. The final table was set.
Gary Wise
gary@wisehandpoker.com
