2010 World Series of Poker Day 27: Kassela Does it Again, Montgomery and Kelly Added to List of Winners, and More
Frank Kassela added bracelet number two to his collection early Thursday morning after outlasting a tough field and playing through a power outage, making him the first multibracelet winner of the 2010 World Series of Poker. Scott Montgomery bested a field of 3,102 players to capture his first WSOP bracelet, and Steven Kelly became the fifth-youngest player in WSOP history to win a bracelet when he shot down the field in Event #39.
Event #36: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em
Scott Montgomery became the 36th bracelet winner of the summer late Wednesday night after outlasting a field of 3,102 players. Montgomery knows a thing or two about playing in big fields; the Canadian outlasted 6,840 players during the 2008 WSOP Main Event for a fifth-place finish.
This time, Montgomery was able to go all the way when, on the button in the final hand of his heads-up battle, he called Michael Carlson's open-shove for 825,000. Montgomery held A♦7♥ versus Carlson's K♦7♥ on a board of 9♣4♥10♦6♠3♦, and with just ace-high, the tournament went to Montgomery.
He joins countrymen Miguel Proulx, Aadam Daya and Pascal Lefrancois to become the fourth bracelet winner from Canada of the 2010 WSOP.
Our WSOP Live Reporting Team was there to capture all the action.
Event #39: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout
Steven Kelly shot down the competition and was the last man standing when the dust cleared for Event #39. To take the top prize, Kelly had to win two ten-handed tables, then outlast two seven-handed tables that were consolidated into one as bust-outs came and players left.
Kelly, who turned 21 two months ago, becomes the fifth-youngest bracelet winner in the WSOP's 41-year history. Despite his age, Kelly has racked up winnings in online cash games and came to the tournament more experienced than one might expect.
Experienced or not, Kelly's victory did not come easily. To snag the bracelet and nearly $400,000 in prize money, Kelly had to outlast bracelet winners Annette Obrestad, J.C. Tran, Chau Giang, Robert Mizrachi, Justin Scott and Randy Holland. He also had to shoot down Jeffrey King, who won the 2006 Harrah's Atlantic City Circuit Championship.
See how it all went down over at our WSOP Live Reporting pages.
Event #40: $2,500 Seven-Card Razz
The mighty Frank Kassela did it again. In the wee hours of Thursday morning, Kassela became the first multibracelet winner of the 2010 WSOP after besting a field of 365 players in one of most frustrating games in poker ― seven-card razz.
The two-time bracelet winner made an incredible comeback after he ended Day 1 of the tournament as the shortest stack (5,100 in chips) of the 205 remaining players. Battling back from a short stack and outlasting a final table that included Jennifer Harman, Chris Bjorin and Vladimir Schemelev and a Las Vegas blackout ― yes, the power went out and play continued under the power of backup generators ― Kassela proved himself a force to be reckoned with on the felt.
You can check out the live reporting pages to see how it all happened.
Event #41: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Low Split 8 or Better
The field has been cut down to 15 players in Event #41. Thirteen should be very worried, however, though they are going for their first WSOP bracelet. Two of them have been there more than once ― Phil Hellmuth and Barry Greenstein are still in the hunt to add to their bracelet collection.
Greenstein has three bracelets to his name, his last came in the seven-card razz event in 2008 and is always a force to be reckoned with.
Although this probably goes without saying, since he says it so much himself, Hellmuth has the most bracelets in WSOP history, but with this week's win by Phil Ivey, many are wondering if that record will soon be broken. Hellmuth won bracelet number 11 in 2007 and, given that he will head into Day 3 fourth in chips with a stack of 331,000, could very well pick up number 12.
The 15 players will return at 2:30 p.m. Thursday.
Follow our WSOP live updates to see if Hellmuth makes it 12, Greenstein makes it 4 or if it goes to someone new.
Event #42: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em
Day 1 of Event #42 was quick and brutal. Just 278 of the 2,521 players who began the day were left when chips were bagged for the night. Leading the field going into Day 2 are Jackson Zheng and Humberto Brenes, with stacks of 151,000 and 146,400 respectively.
Carter Phillips has a chance to make WSOP history ― if he is able to hold onto his stack until the end he will become the youngest player ever to win two bracelets in a single year. But if that is going to happen Phillips will have to steal the chips from Shannon Shorr, Grayson Ramage, Nam Le, Darren Spurlock and Arnaud Mattern.
See if Phillips is able to make history or if the tournament will go to someone else by following all the Day 2 WSOP action here.
Event #43: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. World Championship
As was expected, the field in Event #43 was as tough as they come. The field was so stacked that even the best and most experienced players in poker found themselves between a rock and a hard place.
Annie Duke began the day with Phil Ivey on her right when he busted the seat was filled by John Juanda. Former Main Event champJoe Hachem found himself to the left of another former Main Event champ, Greg Raymer, after his first table broke. Dan Shak, "Miami" John Cernuto, Brock Parker, Bill Chen, James Mackey and Zac Fellows were all seated around a single table when the tournament began. As play continues into Day 2, things are unlikely to get any easier.
Seven former Main Event winners are still left: Hachem, Raymer, Chris Ferguson, Scotty Nguyen, Huck Seed, Carlos Mortensen and Doyle Brunson. Daniel Negreanu, Freddy Deeb, Jennifer Harman, Erik Seidel, Allen Kessler and Frank Kassela are also among the 169 players still in the field.
Players will return for Day 2 Thursday and our WSOP live update team will be there to bring you all the action as it happens.
On Tap
Event #44: $2,500 Mixed Hold'em (Limit/No Limit) is sure to be interesting. Play will begin at 12 p.m. Thursday.
You can catch all the action on our WSOP Live Reporting pages.
Video of the Day
Phil Ivey's bracelet ceremony kicked off with a press conference. Find out what he had to say below.
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