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June 11, 2010 at 6:01 am | Poker News | | Written by: spenda
As of midnight Thursday night 16 events at the 2010 World Series of Poker had completed and there were more than a few big names making deep runs over the past week. Taking place at the Rio in Las Vegas the WSOP is the poker world’s biggest tournament series and this year includes nearly 60 events during May, June, and July including the $10,000 Main Event. The series kicked off, as it does every year, by paying homage to Las Vegas casino employees with a special entry casino employees event. This year Event #1 was won by Hoai Pham who took home $71,424 for the title.
While the casino employee tournament is a great way to reward the hard working people who keep the Vegas lights bright it was Event #2 where the stars really shine. The $50,000 buy-in “Player’s Championship” was full of the best online and live tournament professionals in the world. The final table was a veritable who’s who of poker including Nick Schulman, John Juanda, David Oppenheim, Daniel Alaie, David Baker, and the Mizrachi brothers Michael and Robert. With more than $1,500,000 going to the winner there was definitely a lot of buzz heading into the final table eventually won by Michael Mizrachi. What is even more interesting about this particular scenario is it had been rumored the Mizrachi brothers recently became broke and were close to filing bankruptcy before winning a combined $1.9M at this final table. How they had the rolls to play and how much of the winnings they actually kept will never be known but fortunes in poker can flip just like that.
Another big name taking down a bracelet early on this year was Men “the master” Nguyen who shipped the $10,000 Seven-Card Stud Championship for $394,800 after defeating Ivy-league professor Brandon Adams heads-up. Two other well known poker professionals made it all the way to heads-up play but failed to cash in. Most notably Tom “Durrrr” Dwan waded through a huge field in Event #11 ($1,500 NL Hold’em) and had more than just the $614,248 first-place check on the line when he battled with Simon Watt for the title. Dwan has reportedly made a number of large bracelet bets this year getting 3:1 on his ability to win either a WSOP or WSOPE bracelet by the end of 2011. With a reported $2,000,000+ of his own money on the line Dwan lost more than a few hundred thousand by failing to defeat Watt, he may have cost himself in excess of $7,000,000. Joining Dwan in runner-up land was Allen “chainsaw” Kessler who nearly won the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo Championship. Getting in Kessler’s way was Frank Kassela who took down the title and more than $447,000 in prize money.
There are many more events on the horizon and those sitting at home have more than enough time to qualify and head out to sunny Las Vegas this summer. A lot of online poker sites are offering satellites and the increasingly popular step systems to allow players to find a way to the 2010 WSOP Main Event. PokerStars will continue to send to the most players as their Step System allows members to qualify for as little as $7.50 or a certain amount of Frequent Player Points. The Steps are 1-table SNGs where players can earn tickets to higher steps and work their way up to a $2,100 buy-in qualifier. This final tournament will pay out one seat plus travel money and reward 2nd and 3rd place finishers with a small cash compensation. Please note, once you enter the step system you must see it all the way through. Players cannot cash out tickets for money or even t$. Those new to PokerStars should take advantage of the Stars600 referral code which will result in a $600 initial deposit bonus and entry into freerolls and events such as the FTR300 which is a monthly money-added tournament with a $300 prize pool no matter the number of entrants.
FullTilt also runs a large amount of satellites starting as low as $1+$.10 or 30 FullTilt Points to enter. They go all the way up to $1,000+$60 satellites that run every Thursday until the Main Event begins and have been paying out a handful of entries each time. FullTilt will have the strongest showing of professionals in the Main Event and you can join a crew with Phil Ivey, Patrik Antonius, Tom Dwan, and many more as you battle it out for a first place prize in the neighborhood of $8,000,000 this year. If you are new to FullTilt and would like to attempt to qualify for the WSOP make sure to use the MAXBONUS600 code when signing up to not only guarantee a $600 initial deposit bonus but the ability to enter private freerolls and monthly money-added events.
Finally, Ladbrokes is helping players get to Las Vegas for as little as €15 in their WSOP “Dream Package” which is a €6,000 plan including
-entry into $2,500 Event 56
-10 nights accommodation at the Wynn Casino
-€1,000 Last Longest Bet (which will gain entry into WSOP Main Event)
-€1,000 for travel
-€600 spending money
This is a great way to experience the WSOP. Not only can you play in a smaller buy-in event but you can also earn your way into the Main Event if you happen to last longer than your fellow Ladbrokes Poker qualifiers. If you are new to Ladbrokes be sure to register using the poker code FTRES for a 200% up to $2,000 initial deposit bonus! This bonus is one of the biggest in the industry and a sure fire way to build a bankroll.
Be sure to check back here through out June and July for more exclusive offers as the WSOP Main Event approaches it’s July 5th starting date.
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