2015 WSOP Day 7: Prasetyo Leads Colossus Final Table, Le Goes Back-to-Back & Much More
Day 7 of the 2015 World Series of Poker was a busy one. At one point six different events were playing out at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, and some big storylines emerged including the largest live event in poker history, The Colossus, reaching its final table and Tuan Le becoming the first player in six years to successfully defend a WSOP title.
Here's everything you need to know.
Prasetyo Leads The Colossus Final Table; Henson & Garcia Still in Contention
What started with 22,374 players is now down to the final nine. On Tuesday, Event#5: The Colossus played down from 39 players to the final table and saw plenty of players see their dreams of winning live poker's biggest-ever tournament come to an end.
Among those to leave empty handed were Mike Leah (39th - $23,022), Ryan Laplante (29th - $27,215), Anthony Spinella (22nd - $32,352), Adam Lamphere (19th - $32,352), and Bradley Burns (10th - $55,968), who suffered a great deal of bad luck on the last hand of the day, the same hand that saw Aditya Prasetyo finish with a hefty chip lead of 30% of the chips in play.
In the hand, with the blinds at 200,000/400,000/50,000, Prasetyo opened for 850,000 from middle position and Burns moved all in for approximately 6 million from the button. The blinds both folded and Prasetyo snap-called.
Prasetyo: A♣K♣
Burns: A♠K♠
"I thought I was ahead when he moved all in because he had 20 BBs and I'd been pretty active," Prasetyo said after the hand. "I feel like the table was thinking I was opening with a lot of hands, which I was, I just happened to pick up a premium at that point. The guy who moved all in had just lost a big hand against me so I feel like he was on tilt and he wanted to get his chips back."
Whatever the case, the chips were in the middle when the flop came down 9♣3♣Q♣.
"Obviously we had the same hand and when the dealer spread the flop I was pretty happy to see the window card," Prasetyo continued. "I was hoping for another club to flop a flush draw and freeroll the hand. Two clubs followed so I was pretty happy about that."
Burns, dreams thoroughly crushed, was left drawing dead and watched helplessly as the turn and river cards were run out to make it official. With that, the final table was set with Prasetyo bagging up 39,300,000. Here's a look at the official final table:
The Final Table
| Place | Player | Hometown | Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aditya Prasetyo | Cambridge, MA | 39,300,000 |
| 2 | Kenny Hallaert | Hansbeke, Belgium | 18,575,000 |
| 3 | Bradley Mcfarland | Whitehall, PA | 14,250,000 |
| 4 | Paul Lentz | San Francisco, CA | 10,475,000 |
| 5 | David Farber | Lake Mary, FL | 8,725,000 |
| 6 | Lance Garcia | Houston, TX | 7,275,000 |
| 7 | Garry Simms | Shelbyville, KY | 6,850,000 |
| 8 | Anthony Blanda | Las Vegas, NV | 4,600,000 |
| 9 | Ray Henson | Houston, TX | 2,475,000 |
PokerNews caught up with Prasetyo after he bagged and tagged. Check out what he had to say by clicking here.
The final nine players will return on Wednesday at Noon local time to play down to a winner. PokerNews will have a recap of that tournament upon completion of play.
Tuan Le Goes Back-to-Back
Prior to Tuesday, Thang Luu was the last player to defend a WSOP title, which came back in 2009 when he won the $1,500 Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 event in back-to-back years. Now, Tuan Le becomes the latest players to accomplish the remarkably rare feat.
In 2014, Le topped a field of 120 players to win Event #5: $10,000 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball for $355,324 and his first gold bracelet. This year, in Event #7: $10,000 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball, Le outlasted 108 other players to win a $322,756 first-place prize and etch his name in the history books.
"This year’s victory is like ten times as big as last year," Le said after the win. "When you defend a title, that’s a totally different ball game. It’s a statement. Anyone can get a rush one time and win, but to do it again, makes a statement. For me, last year was about the money. This year was about the bracelet."
For more on Le's win, check out our standalone piece highlighting his victory.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tuan Le | Los Angeles, CA | $322,756 |
| 2 | Max Casal | Burbank, CA | $199,438 |
| 3 | Ismael Bojang | Vienna, Austria | $130,851 |
| 4 | Phil Galfond | New York, NY | $89,939 |
| 5 | James Obst | Adelaide, Australia | $63,863 |
| 6 | Rep Porter | Woodinville, WA | $46,813 |
| 7 | Calvin Anderson | Yukon, OK | $35,389 |
David Eldridge Leads Final 15 in Event #8: $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em
Day 2 of Event #8: $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em saw 108 players return to action, but just 72 were slated to get paid. Among those to leave empty handed were Felix Stephensen, Amit Makhija, Kathy Liebert, Humberto Brenes, and Michael Rocco, who had actually begun the day as chip leader.
Once the money bubble burst, dozens of players made their way to the payout desk including Chris Moorman (69th - $2,432), Antonio Esfandiari (45th - $4,011), Joe Cada (32nd - $4,830), Jesse Sylvia (31st - $4,830), and Jonathan Duhamel (24th - $5,883).
Among those who'll return for Day 3 are chip leader David Eldridge (677,000), Michel Leibgorin (667,000), Paul Michaelis (562,000), Tom Marchese (258,000), Tristan Wade (249,000), and Kyle Bowker (235,000).
The third and final day will get underway at 1 p.m. local time on Wednesday as one lucky player will win a gold bracelet and the accompanying $189,818 first-place prize.
Money Bubble Bursts in Event #9: $1,500 Razz; PokerNews' Mickey Doft Cashes
Event #9: $1,500 Razz began with 462 players, but after Day 2 came to a close, just 16 remained with Christopher George and his stack of 356,000 leading the way. Others still in contention include Matthew Smith (307,000), Eli Elezra (251,000), Bart Hanson (245,000), Cyndy Violette (201,000), and Max Pescatori (197,000).
Day 2 saw 169 players return to action, and with just 48 of them slated to get paid, a bunch were destined to leave empty handed. Among those to bust early were Jeremy Ausmus, Todd Brunson, Maria Ho, Daniel Negreanu, Barry Greenstein, James Woods, Allen Kessler, and Richard Ferro, who exited in 49th place as the bubble boy.
Shortly after the bubble burst, one of PokerNews' own, Mickey Doft, exited with his first-ever WSOP cash. After playing the Razz event five times prior with nary a cash, "Mojito Mickey" finished in 45th place for $2,738. Needless to say, it was a proud moment for the PokerNews family.
Among those to follow Doft out the door were Eric Crain (39th - $3,218), Eddie Blumenthal (32nd - $3,785), former champ Bryan Campanello (31st - $3,785), and Randy Ohel (21st - $4,540).
The final 16 players will return at 2 p.m. local time on Wednesday to play down to a winner, who will take home a smooth $155,947.
Down to the Sweet 16 in Event #10: $10,000 Heads Up NLH Championship
Event #10, the $10,000 Heads Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship, drew 143 entries, created a prize pool of $1,344,200. Of that, $334,430 is reserved for the eventual winner.
With the bracket set for 128 players, there were 30 picked at random who would have to earn their way into the bracket by winning a play-in match, which was essentially a $5,000 satellite. Once the bracket was set, three rounds were played and only 16 players remain.
For a look at the entire bracket, click here.
Here are the matches set for Day 2:
- Andy Philachack vs. Matthew Cooper
- Timothy Adams vs. Simon Lam
- Paul Volpe vs. Barry Hutter
- Isidro Sifuentes vs. George Danzer
- Jake Schindler vs. Keith Lehr
- Byron Kaverman vs. Valeriu Coca
- Olivier Busquet vs. JC Tran
- Max Silver vs. Dee Tiller
Play resumes Wednesday at 1 p.m. local time and will play down to the final two players.
Vigeant and Firsau Bag Big on Day 1 of Event #11: $1,500 Limit Hold'em
The other event to kick off on Tuesday was Event #11: $1,500 Limit Hold'em. The tournament attracted 660 runners and created a prize pool of $891,000, with $196,055 of that going to the eventual winner.
Players who thrived on Day 1 were Francois Vigeant and Vasili Firsau, who finished as the top two stacks. Others who advanced to Day 2 were Chris Tryba, Brock Parker, and Joe Kuether, just to name a few.
Of course not everyone was so lucky. Among those to fall were Michael Mizrachi, Sam Barnhart, Brandon Shack-Harris, Daniel Negreanu, Jonathan Little, Phil Hellmuth, Huck Seed, and Antonio Esfandiari.
Day 2 will get underway with 225 players at 2 p.m. local time on Wednesday, which is also when two new events – Event #12: $1,500 Six-Handed No-Limit Hold'em and Event #13: $2,500 Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi-Low 8-or Better – will kick off.
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PR & Media Manager for PokerNews, Podcast host & 2013 WSOP Bracelet Winner.
