2014 World Series of Poker Day 24: A Double for Danzer, Wins 2nd $10K; Paster Prevails in PLO

June 20, 2014

It was a thrilling Thursday at the 2014 World Series of Poker with two more bracelets won and a couple of the more intriguing events of the summer getting underway.

Current WSOP Player of the Year leader George Danzer grabbed the headlines by winning his second bracelet of the series, again in a $10K event after defeating another tough field in the Event #38: $10,000 Seven-Card Stud Hi-Low Championship. Meanwhile Brandon Paster won his first career bracelet in Event #37: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha, the $10K Heads-Up No-Limit event got started, and the much anticipated “Dealer’s Choice” tournament kicked off as well.

Here’s a rundown of how things went in all five of the events that were in action yesterday.

Event #37: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha

Just 11 returned from a starting field of 967 in Event #37, and when the last hand was dealt Brandon Paster of Arlington, Virginia had won the bracelet and $264,400 first prize — as Paster put it afterwards, “my biggest score by a couple hundred thousand dollars.”

As Danzer ended up doing in Event #38, Paster nearly went wire-to-wire in Event #37, having finished Day 1 with the chip lead, then ending Day 2 just a few chips behind the Dutchman Marcel Vonk who was seeking his second career bracelet after winning a $1K NLHE event in 2010.

Following the early eliminations of AP Phahurat (11th, $14,908) and Dapreesch Scates (10th, $14,908), Vonk would continue to lead for the early part of Day 3 until Paster knocked out Galen Hall in ninth move in front. Kevin Saul followed Hall to the rail in eighth, and Paster would maintain his advantage through subsequent eliminations. Later after eliminating Gabriel Nassif of France in third, Paster would have a better than 10-to-1 chip lead to start heads-up play with Vonk.

Just three hands later Vonk would be all in before the flop with A♦Q♣3♠2♣ versus Paster’s A♠A♣K♦8♠. The 2♦4♣Q♦ flop gave Vonk two pair, but the 8♦ turn put Paster back ahead and the A♥ river sealed the win.

Event #37: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Final Table Results

Event #38: $10,000 Seven-Card Stud Hi-Low Championship

Much attention during the afternoon and evening was directed toward Event #38 where George Danzer continued what has been a stellar three-plus weeks of poker for the German by defeating another elite field to capture his second bracelet. Danzer earlier won the Event #18: $10,000 Seven-Card Razz Championship, final-tabled the Event #5: $10,000 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball Championship (finishing fifth), plus has two other cashes to help put him far ahead of the field at present in the 2014 WSOP POY race.

From a starting group of 134 there were 13 left to play yesterday’s third and final day of Event #38, no less than eight of whom had won bracelets before. Danzer had a big lead to start the day with nearly twice the chips of five-time WSOP event winner Jeff Lisandro in second position.

Todd Brunson (13th, $25,569), Alexander Jung (12th, $29,399), Ted Forrest (11th, $29,399), and ESPN commentator Norman Chad (10th, $34,550) were the first to hit the rail, then a double-knockout by Danzer of Richard Sklar and John Monnette reduced the field to seven, with Sklar being the one to miss finishing as part of the official final table by earning a ninth-place finish ($34,550) and Monnette ending eighth.

Still leading, Danzer earned the next elimination as well, knocking out David Singer in seventh, then Brian Hastings took care of the next two by felting both Chris George in sixth and Lisandro in fifth.

But then Danzer would take out Hastings in fourth, after which Calvin Anderson saw his stack whittled down to a point where he was all in by fourth street in a three-way pot with Danzer and John Racener with Racener eventually betting Danzer out of the hand. Anderson ended up drawing two pair and no low, but Racener had made trip jacks and they were down to two.

Danzer had about a 1.5-to-1 chip advantage over Racener to begin heads-up play, and rapidly began chipping away at the 2010 WSOP Main Event runner-up before the final hand at last arrived. All in on third street, Racener would draw A♦10♥ / Q♠5♦2♦Q♣ / 8♣ to make a pair of queens with no low, but Danzer finished with 8♦K♦ / 9♦J♣K♣3♣ / 2♣ for kings to win the hand and his second title.

Event #38: $10,000 Seven-Card Stud Hi-Low Championship Final Table Results

Event #39: $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em

There were 205 runners to start Day 2 of Event #39: $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em yesterday, the survivors from a big starting group of 992. They played down to the final 117 and the cash in short order yesterday, then motored through to finish with just 26 players with Jake Schindler leading the way ahead of Ryan Olisar and Ryan Jaconetti.

Among the players making it relatively deep into Day 2 but falling shy of making the final day were Keven Stammen (49th, $9,993), James Schaaf (46th, $9,993), James Dempsey (44th, $11,699), Govert Metaal (39th, $11,699), Tyler Cornell (38th, $11,699), and Pierre Neuville (27th, $16,573).

Following Schindler, Olisar, and Jaconetti, Matthew Lapossie and Dylan Linde are also part of the overnight top 10, with Layne Flack (in 14th position), Bart Hanson (18th), Bernard Lee (19th), Matt Affleck (22nd), Erik Cajelais (25th), and Nam Le (26th) also having made Day 3. A first prize of $548,460 awaits the winner.

Event #39: $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em End of Day 2 Top 10 Chip Counts

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Event #40: $10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em Championship

The Event #40: $10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em Championship began yesterday with 136 players participating, a bit down from the 162 who played a year ago. After four rounds’ worth of matches just 16 are left, with Daniel Negreanu and Erik Seidel among the many notables still alive with a chance for the Event #40 bracelet and $335,553 first prize.

With 136 turning out, that meant 120 players earned first-round byes while 16 played down to eight, then the remaining 128 played three rounds of matches to get down to the sweet 16 — all the more sweet because only the top 16 cash in the event, so the completion of the final round last night saw the money bubble burst.

Among the matches in last night’s final round Seidel defeated James Carroll, Negreanu eliminated Sylvain Loosli, Sam Stein knocked out Sam Trickett, Scott Davies beat Dan Smith, Serkan Kurnaz took out Stephen Chidwick, and in the last match of the night to complete John Smith triumphed over Phil Ivey.

Click here to see a complete bracket starting with the final 128 players. Here’s a rundown of the Round of 16 heads-up matches that will begin play today:

Event #41: $1,500 Six-Handed Dealer’s Choice

The last event to get going yesterday was Event #41: $1,500 Six-Handed Dealer’s Choice, one which a lot of players have been looking forward to playing. And from the reactions of many, it sounds like the first day of this new WSOP event was received well.

A total of 419 players took part in the tournament that allowed the players to take turns calling games from a choice of 16 different poker variants. That group created a total prize pool of $565,650 that will be divided among the top 42 finishers with $147,092 going to the winner.

By night’s end just 95 players remained, led by Larry Tull with Melissa Burr, Jimmy Fricke, Perry Green, and Jennifer Harman also finishing inside the top 10. Meanwhile Todd Brunson (in 11th position), Frank Kassela (12th), and Jeff Madsen (14th) are among the many notables who will have above average stacks when play resumes today.

Event #41: $1,500 Six-Handed Dealer’s Choice End of Day 1 Top 10 Chip Counts

On Tap

Five events will be in action today at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino. Event #39 is currently scheduled to play down to a winner, while Event #40 (the $10K Heads-Up) is slated to play down from 16 either to a final four or perhaps to the championship match. Event #41 will push through Day 2, while two new events — Event #42: $5,000 Six-Handed Pot-Limit Omaha and Event #43: $1,500 Limit Hold’em — will get started.

Here’s the full schedule of bracelet events for today (all times PDT):

• 12:00 p.m. — Event #42: $5,000 Six-Handed Pot-Limit Omaha (Day 1 of 3)
• 1:00 p.m. — Event #39: $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em (Day 3 of 3)
• 1:00 p.m. — Event #40: $10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em Championship (Day 2 of 3)
• 2:00 p.m. — Event #41: $1,500 Six-Handed Dealer’s Choice (Day 2 of 3)
• 4:00 p.m. — Event #43: $1,500 Limit Hold’em (Day 2 of 3)

Video of the Day

Sarah Grant had a chance to talk to man-of-the-hour George Danzer about what it means to win a second WSOP bracelet so soon after having finally won his first.

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• Tags

  WSOP George Danzer Brandon Paster John Racener Marcel Vonk Calvin Anderson Jake Schindler Daniel Negreanu Erik Seidel Larry Tull Melissa Burr Jimmy Fricke

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  Daniel NegreanuErik SeidelJimmy FrickeJohn RacenerMarcel VonkGeorge Danzer