Registration has closed and the numbers are in. 116 players entered the 2010 $50,000 Players' Championship creating a prize pool of $5,568,000. 16 places will be paid with the champion earning a $1,559,046 payday.
For a complete look at the payout schedule, click on the "Payouts" tab above.
It's a little difficult to compare year-to-year numbers when it comes to the $50,000 Players' Championship, primarily because the format has slightly changed every year.
2010 (8-game mix, televised, NLHE at final table): 116 entries
2009 (H.O.R.S.E., not televised): 95 entries
2008 (H.O.R.S.E., televised, H.O.R.S.E. at final table): 148 entries
2007 (H.O.R.S.E., televised, H.O.R.S.E. at final table): 148 entries
2006 (H.O.R.S.E., televised, NLHE at final table): 143 entries
This year's numbers are up a bit from last year's, no doubt due to the fact that (a) no-limit and pot-limit games have been added to the mix and (b) ESPN is televising the final table this year, where the 8-game mix will be abandoned in favor of straight no-limit hold'em.
Pot-Limit Omaha:
David Benyamine was shaking his head after a PLO showdown against Chau Giang. Benyamine raised the button to 2,000 pre-flop, with Giang calling from the big blind. Giang coughed loudly after a flop of 
, then checked. Benyamine followed up with a bet of 3,600 that Giang called.
Both players verbally checked the 
turn, then checked again when the 
river made the board slightly scary. Giang turned over 
for a wheel, which was good enough.
No-Limit Hold'em
Joe Serock opened for 2,100 from UTG and got five callers including Phil Hellmuth and Erik Sagstrom. The flop came down 
and Hellmuth led out for 5,000. Only Sagstrom called. They went heads-up to the turn, which fell the . Hellmuth bet another 12,000 and Sagstrom called. When the 
hit the river, Hellmuth gave the table a slow knock and Sagstrom bet 16,000.
Hellmuth took off his sunglasses and stared at the board in silence. He uttered not a word about the quality of his luck, the quality of the river card, or Northern European idiots as he pondered his decision. Ultimately, he mucked without saying a word. Do we have the feng-shui expert to thank for that?
Omaha 8/b:
It was a pretty tough break for Lyle Berman. He flopped two pair and a low draw with 
against Patrik Antonius' top pair and gutshot straight draw, 
, on a board of 
. The turn 
was a terrible card, overcoating Berman's hand, but after check-raising the flop he followed through with turn bet that Antonius called. Both players checked the river, allowing Antonius to take down the entire pot with aces and tens with a king kicker.
No-Limit Hold'em:
Tom Dwan is down a healthy chunk of his stack after tangling with the WSOP record-holder for most cashes in a single WSOP -- Nikolay Evdakov. There was a pre-flop raise that Evdakov called from the cutoff. Dwan, sitting in the big blind, then re-raised to 7,200. The original raiser folded but Evdakov called again.
Dwan led for 11,300 on a flop of 
. Evdakov made a just-slightly-bigger-than-mini mum raise to 25,000. Dwan called.
Dwan check-called 30,000 on the 
turn and another 25,000 on the 
river. He couldn't beat Evdakov's top pair, 
. As a result Dwan's stack is down to 35,000 while Evdakov is up to 215,000.
Pot-Limit Omaha:
Getting overcoated by a board pair is not a pleasant experience, but somehow Brett Richey made it work anyway. Richey raised 
pre-flop, then called Justin Smith's button re-raise. Richey flopped two pair, 
, and check-called 7,200. The turn wasn't a great card for Richey, the 
, making his hand kings and eights with an ace kicker. He check-called another 16,800.
Both players checked the river. Richey's hand as enough to take down the pot.
Players are on a break.
Level: 4
Blinds: 0/0
Ante: 0
Omaha 8/b:
Cole South bet the flop, bet the turn, and bet the river of a 
board. Chiu raised the river and induced a crying call from South. South's flopped two pair, 
, was no good against Chiu's straight, 
. Chiu won the pot, but he's still among the short stacks with 34,000.
