2014 World Series of Poker Day 4: Vanessa Selbst Wins Historic Third Bracelet

May 31, 2014

Brett Collson Chief Editor

PokerNews Staff

Vanessa Selbst cemented her legacy as one of the world's best players on Friday, winning Event #2: $25,000 Mixed-Max No-Limit Hold’em at the World Series of Poker in front of a large crowd of onlookers in the Amazon Room. Meanwhile, a close friend of Selbst's collected his own bracelet Friday evening, while a handful of other events filled the three poker rooms of the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino.

Event #2: $25,000 Mixed-Max No-Limit Hold’em

After overcoming a near seven-to-one chip deficit in the semifinals of Event #2: $25,000 Mixed-Max No-Limit Hold’em, Vanessa Selbst overcame yet another big chip disadvantage in the final heads-up match to defeat Jason Mo and capture her third career World Series of Poker gold bracelet.

Event #2 Results

Place	Player	Prize
1	Vanessa Selbst	$871,148
2	Jason Mo	$538,308
3	Al Decarolis	$290,622
3	JC Tran	$290,622
5	Matt Giannetti	$171,461
6	Robert Tepper	$171,461
7	Ryan Fee	$112,752
8	Aaron Jones	$112,752

This unique event kicked off on Tuesday with 131 players playing nine-handed poker, and only 60 remained after Day 1 action. On Day 2 all of the tables were six-handed, and they played until the money bubble burst at 16. Phil Ivey and John Juanda exited empty-handed, finishing 18th and 17th respectively.

Al Decarolis led the remaining 16 players on the penultimate day, and retained the chip lead entering the heads-up semifinals. Unfortunately for him he was unable to get past Selbst, who as mentioned overcame a near seven-to-one chip disadvantage to advance. In the other semifinal, Mo took on 2013 November Niner JC Tran. The two started their match close in chips, but Mo won a big race and was able to seal the deal.

2014 World Series of Poker Day 4: Vanessa Selbst Wins Historic Third Bracelet 101

Mo carried the chip lead into the final match, and started to whittle Selbst down. The Team PokerStars Pro was down to as little as 1.68 million, but came roaring back to claim the title. To her delight, not only was Selbst’s wife on the rail, but her puppies were allowed in the Thunderdome as well.

The match swung on Hand #63 when Selbst won a massive pot and took the chip lead. The turn was the case queen, giving Mo top pair and Selbst a set of queens, and Selbst called a big bet on the river. Mo doubled shortly thereafter, but was unable to chip up enough to even up the match.

On the final hand of the tournament, Mo moved all in for 2.535 million on the button, and Selbst called.

Mo: 9♦7♦
Selbst: K♥J♣

Mo received no help as the board rolled out 10♣A♠2♣A♦J♠, and Selbst locked up her third WSOP gold bracelet.

Only one woman, Barbara Enright, has as many bracelets as Selbst. The Team PokerStars Pro also has over $10 million in career live tournament earnings thanks to the $871,147 top prize.

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Event #3: $1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha

Just six players entered the final day of Event #3: $1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha, and Brandon Shack-Harris emerged from the short-handed sit-and-go to lift the bracelet and claim the $205,634 first-place prize.

To get there, the Chicago native — and close friend of Vanessa Selbst — had to contend with some heavy hitters, including two-time bracelet winner Steve "MrSmokey1" Billirakis, who entered the day with a sizable chip lead. He ended up busting fourth after being unable to get anything going today. Another notable bowing out today was ANZ Player of the Year Iori Yogo. The Japanese player kept it pretty snug today until he busted in third shortly after three-betting a button raise, only to have eventual runner-up Morgan Popham wake up with a dominating hand behind him.

Shack-Harris had to get lucky on the last hand, as he got it in with A♣K♥K♣5♠ only to see Popham turn over the A♦A♥10♥5♣ for the cooler. Shack-Harris flopped nothing, but he managed to backdoor a broadway straight to secure the title.

In total, Shack-Harris outlasted a record-setting field of 1,128 runners to claim his first bracelet. He more than doubled his career live tournament winnings ($141,980), and some of that money will surely find its way onto the mixed-game tables that Shack-Harris is best known for playing.

Event #3 Results

Place	Player	Prize
1	Brandon Shack-Harris	$205,634
2	Morgan Popham	$127,245
3	Iori Yogo	$79,611
4	Steve Billirakis	$57,785
5	Matthew Ryan	$42,658
6	Robert Paddock	$31,978
7	Patrick Arena	$24,324
8	Loren Klein	$18,750
9	Nick Guagenti	$14,649

Event #4: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em

A massive field of 2,224 runners was whittled down to 12 on Friday in Event #4: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em. WSOP Circuit grinder Kyle Cartwright leads the way going into the final day with 973,000 in chips. Daniel Dizenzo and Ylon Schwartz will be among the 11 others chasing down Cartwright when the action resumes at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

Canada's Miguel Proulx began Day 2 as the chip leader but ultimately fell in 56th place. He was joined on the rail by notables Andrew Lichtenberger, Mark Radoja, Jamie Kerstetter and Niall Farrell. Jeff Gross was eliminated in 13th place when he shoved with the A♣10♥ and lost a flip to the pair 5♥5♣ of Dizenzo. His elimination capped off play for the day.

Action will resume at 1 p.m. on Saturday when the remaining 12 players will play down to a champion.

Event #5: $10,000 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball Championship

Day 2 of Event #5: $10,000 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball Championship came to a close early Saturday morning. The field popped the money bubble late in the night, guaranteeing the final 12 players a payday. Online legend Phil Galfond bagged up the chip lead at the end of the night with 604,000 in chips.

While Galfond leads the positively stacked final 12, two-time WSOP bracelet winner Jason Mercier is right on his heels. Mercier, who went into the bubble as the shortest stack in the field, ran up his stack and bagged up 561,000 which is good for second in chips. Alexandre Luneau rounds out the top three with 386,000.

Event #5 Chip Counts After Day 2

Place	Player	Chips
1	Phil Galfond	604,000
2	Jason Mercier	561,000
3	Alexandre Luneau	386,000
4	Tuan Le	377,000
5	Nick Schulman	304,000
6	Justin Bonomo	243,000
7	David Benyamine	236,000
8	Eli Elezra	222,000
9	Sergey Rybachenko	199,000
10	Michael Chow	198,000
11	Jon Turner	176,000
12	George Danzer	156,000

The final 12 players will return to the Amazon Room at 2 p.m. on Saturday where they will play down to a champion. Be sure to return to PokerNews as we document the exciting conclusion to this prestigious event!

Event #6: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout

Day 1 of the $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout took place on Friday and its 948 entrants were spread across 120 tables. By the time the curtain came down on proceedings only 120 players remained and they will return to the Rio on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. and whittle the crowd down further.

The sit-and-go format is a popular one and it attracted amateurs and professional players alike. Big names such as Eugene Katchalov, Mike "The Mouth" Matusow, Christian Harder, Josh Arieh, Shannon Shorr, Joseph Cheong, David "Bakes" Baker and 2012 World Series of Poker Main Event champion Greg Merson were just a few of the superstars who progressed to Day 2.

Each of the 120 returning players will return on Saturday safe knowing that they're already in the money with a minimum payday of $4,411. However, by the time Day 2 ends, that amount will more than triple and the minimum prize will be a more substantial $14,615.

Coverage of Event #6 continues Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. local time on the live reporting blog. Stay tuned!

Event #7: $1,500 Seven-Card Razz

Event #7 $1,500 Seven-Card Razz kicked off at 4 p.m. in the Amazon Room on Friday. The tournament attracted 352 runners (which was up from last year’s 301 players, though that was for a $2,500 buy-in), creating a prize pool of $475,200. That will be distributed to the top 40 players with $121,196 reserved for the winner.

After 10 one-hour levels of play, only 75 players remained with Fabio De Francesco and his stack of 66,700 leading the way. Not far behind is Jordan Siegel, who bagged up 61,100, while Matt Waxman (42,300), Jared Koppel (41,700), and Phil Hellmuth (39,700) all finished the night with healthy stacks.

While hundreds fell, including Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu and Jonathan Duhamel, there were plenty of notables that punched their ticket to Day 2. Among them were Huck Seed (28,000), Randy Ohel (22,600), Ali Eslami (19,200), Dan Kelly (17,900), Berry Johnston (17,500), Brandon Cantu (9,100), and the defending champ Bryan Campanello (7,000).

Day 2 will get underway at 2 p.m. local time on Saturday, and the plan is to play through the money bubble on the way to the final table. Join the PokerNews Live Reporting Team then for all the action and eliminations.

On Tap

The Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino will be buzzing with excitement on Saturday with the start of the $1,500 Millionaire Maker. The highly publicized event will award the first seven-figure payout of the summer, attracting players in droves. Here's a look at the full schedule:

11:00 a.m. — Event #8: $1,500 Millionaire Maker (Day 1a of 3)
1:00 p.m. — Event #4: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em (Day 3 of 3)
1:00 p.m. — Event #6: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Shootout (Day 2 of 3)
2:00 p.m. — Event #5: $10,000 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball (Day 3 of 3)
2:00 p.m. — Event #7: $1,500 Seven-Card Razz (Day 2 of 3)
5:00 p.m. — Event #8: $1,500 Millionaire Maker (Day 1b of 3)