2010 World Series of Poker

Event #57: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em Championship
Event Info

2010 World Series of Poker

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
aj
Prize
$8,944,310
Event Info
Buy-in
$10,000
Prize Pool
$68,798,600
Entries
7,319
Level Info
Level
41
Blinds
800,000 / 1,600,000
Ante
200,000

Cheong Still on the Ascent

Joseph Cheong has done a great job chipping up all day. On the bubble of the November Nine, he's at it again. Sitting in the big blind, he called a raise to 675,000 made by button-player Soi Nguyen. Cheong checked a flop of {5-Clubs}{k-Clubs}{j-Diamonds} to Nguyen. Nguyen bet 900,000. After a few momements, Cheong check-raised that bet to 2.25 million. There was no further action; Nguyen folded and Cheong collected the pot.

Tags: Joseph CheongSoi Nguyen

One Raise, No Calls

We've had a few raise-it-and-take-it hands. The most exciting of them was the last, in which Brandon Steven open-shoved for about 3.6 million. Nobody wanted to try to take him out.

Mizrachi Strikes First

The gallery became quite still on the very first hand of play. Michael Mizrachi raised the small blind to 900,000 pre-flop and was called by Matthew Jarvis from the big blind. Mizrachi checked the {10-Spades}{8-Diamonds}{3-Clubs} flop to Jarvis, who made a bet. Mizrachi then check-raised that bet to 2.5 million. Jarvis took about a minute before mucking his cards. Mizrachi's gallery thundered their approval.

Tags: Michael MizrachiMatthew Jarvis

Here We Go!

Jack Effel picked up the mic for what is likely to be the last time during play this July.

"Ladies and gentleman, welcome back to the World Series of Poker Main Event!" Effel was met with rousing applause from the packed gallery.

"The play from ten players down to nine will probably be some of the most exciting poker you'll watch in your entire life. The next couple of hours - or however long it takes - will be intense."

Effel then turned his attention to the players at the table. "You guys played pretty hard from 7,319 down to 10. Whoever gets knocked out, I wish all of you the best of luck. It could go any way, it could be anybody's game. Best of luck!"

Effel passed the mic over to "Rockin" Robbie Thompson. Thompson introduced each of the ten players by name and chip count (Michael Mizrachi got the loudest ovation). Thompson then instructed his dealer to shuffle up and deal.

Cards are in the air. 79 minutes remain in the level. The blinds are 150,000 and 300,000 with an ante of 40,000. One elimination to go!

Seat Draw

Seat 1: Jason Senti (12,495,000)
Seat 2: Joseph Cheong (39,305,000)
Seat 3: John Dolan (24,550,000)
Seat 4: Jonathan Duhamel (49,350,000)
Seat 5: Brandon Steven (3,305,000)
Seat 6: Michael Mizrachi (7,780,000)
Seat 7: Matthew Jarvis (20,075,000)
Seat 8: John Racener (32,625,000)
Seat 9: Filippo Candio (13,260,000)
Seat 10: Soi Nguyen (17,415,000)

Pascal LeFrancois Eliminated in 11th Place ($635,011)

Pascal LeFrancois - 11th place
Pascal LeFrancois - 11th place

After a seeming eternity of small pots, the outer table became a hub of activity as Jonathan Duhamel opened to 750,000. Pascal LeFrancois had the button and called that raise. Joseph Cheong then re-raised the small blind to 2.55 million, inducing a fold from Duhamel. LeFrancois must have smelled a squeeze, because he pushed all in. Cheong quickly called with {k-Hearts}{k-Spades}, and was looking good against LeFrancois' {q-Spades}{j-Spades}. A jack on the flop, {6-Hearts}{j-Diamonds}{2-Hearts}, surely gave Cheong a moment of discomfort, but it passed when the turn came {k-Diamonds} to give Cheong an unbeatable hand. The {3-Spades} ended LeFrancois' tournament in 11th place.

We're now on a break to set up the "last" table of 10 players. This is the November Nine bubble!

Tags: Joseph CheongPascal LeFrancois

Steven Falling Down

Brandon Steven raised to 775,000, and he was called by John Racener in the blinds.

The two men went to a flop of {5-Hearts} {Q-Hearts} {Q-Clubs}, and it went check-check. The action repeated with two more checks on the {K-Clubs} turn. The river {5-Clubs} drew a leading bet of 1.1 million from Racener. Steven quickly called, but those chips were not coming back to him. Racener showed king-jack, and kings up earned him the pot and set Steven all the way down to 2.695 million once again.

Steven shoved the next hand to earn the blinds and antes and grab a few of those lost chips back. Still, he's got a lot of work to do.

Tags: Brandon StevenJohn Racener

Recognizing Greatness

In between hands, TD Robbie took a few seconds to recognize a truly noteworthy accomplishment this year.

"For the first time in history," Robbie said, "four brothers cashed in the Main Event... Let's give it up for the Mizrachis!"

A thunderous ovation followed, and Robbie introduced the three brothers in the stands to the crowd. Eric, Robert, and Danny are the most interested of the onlookers here today, sweating brother Michael as he attempts to pull off one of the more impressive feats in the history of poker.