Event #55: The $50,000 Poker Players' Championship
Day 5 Started
2013 World Series of Poker
Event #55: The $50,000 Poker Players' Championship
Day: 5
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2013 World Series of Poker
Buy-in
$50,000
Prize Pool
$6,336,000
Entries
132
Level
26
Blinds
0 / 0
Ante
0
A Poker Players' Champion Shall Be Crowned
Today the 2013 World Series of Poker Event #55: The $50,000 Poker Players' Championship will come to an end after five days of play. Just eight players from a 132-player field remain in contention for one of poker's most prestigious titles and the accompanying $1,774,089 first-place prize.
They include chip leader Don Nguyen, who begins today with 5,680,000; Matthew Ashton, who is at his fourth final table of the summer (2,996,000); German sensation George Danzer (2,868,000); high-stakes pro David Benyamine (2,709,000), Minh Ly, who is making his second Poker Players' Championship final table in three years (2,307,000), 2010 WSOP Main Event champ Jonathan Duhamel (1,627,000), long-time veteran John Hennigan (1,412,000) and the ever-consistent Mike Wattel (810,000).
The final eight players will play out the finale at the ESPN Main Stage.
Here's a look at how the final table stacks up:
| Seat | Player | Country | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Matthew Ashton | UK | 2,996,000 |
| 2 | Jonathan Duhamel | Canada | 1,627,000 |
| 3 | Don Nguyen | USA | 5,068,000 |
| 4 | Mike Wattel | USA | 810,000 |
| 5 | George Danzer | Germany | 2,868,000 |
| 6 | Minh Ly | USA | 2,307,000 |
| 7 | John Hennigan | USA | 1,412,000 |
| 8 | David Benyamine | France | 2,709,000 |
The fifth and final day is schedule for 2 p.m. PDT, which is about an hour from now. The PokerNews Live Reporting Team is on hand at the ESPN Main Stage to bring you all the action on the way to determining a new $50,000 Poker Players' Champion, so stay tuned!
Seat 8: David Benyamine (2,709,000)
David Benyamine is a very well known poker player with numerous first-place finishes, including a World Poker Tour title from 2003 and a World Series of Poker bracelet from 2008, and over $6.55 million in live tournament earnings. What many may not know is that Benyamine was formerly a professional tennis player, but was forced to retire from the game due to a shoulder injury.
The first 15 cashes on Benyamine's record all came from Paris, France between the years of 1999 and 2003, but it wasn't until July of 2003 that he really put himself on the poker map when he won the €10,000 WPT Grand Prix de Paris for €357,200. Early the following year, Benyamine added a second WPT final table by finishing sixth in the L.A. Poker Classic for $132,355.
When it comes to the WSOP, Benyamine's first recorded in-the-money result was in 2007 in the $2,500 Omaha/Seven-Card Stud 8-or-Better event. He took sixth in that event for $29,708. He also cashed in the $5,000 H.O.R.S.E. that summer at the Series.
In 2008, Benyamine added four more WSOP cashes en route to snatching his first gold bracelet in the $10,000 World Championship Omaha 8-or-Better event for $535,687. He also finished seventh in the $5,000 No-Limit 2-7 Single Draw for $58,990, third in the $5,000 Pot-Limit OMaha for $316,307 and 10th in the $5,000 World Championship Seven-Card Stud 8-or-Better for $30,667 that same year.
As if Benyamine's 2008 WSOP wasn't enough success for him that year, he went on to add a second-place finish in the $15,000 WPT Bellagio Cup IV for $840,295, a couple deep runs at the European Poker Tour London, and a 25th-place finish in the WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic. All told, Benyamine earned over $2.2 million that year — his best year ever.
The largest score of Benyamine's career came in 2011 down in Melbourne, Australia at the Aussie Millions. There Benyamine took third in the AU$250,000 Super High Roller for a hefty AU$1.1 million, finishing behind top pros Erik Seidel and Sam Trickett.
Benyamine has never cashed in the $50,000 Poker Players' Championship, but has proven over the years that he is very capable in all forms of poker. Couple that with the 2.709 million in chips to put him right in the middle of the pack, Benyamine will be an extremely tough opponent to defeat.
Seat 7: John Hennigan (1,412,000)
John Hennigan is widely considered to be one of the toughest players in the world by his peers, and one of the most elite performers in the game by all. With over $3.7 million in live tournament earnings, two World Series of Poker gold bracelets and one World Poker Tour title, his record speaks for itself.
A former pool player, Hennigan is nicknamed "Johnny World" because of his willingness to bet on anything and everything in the world. Learning to play pool at a young age, Hennigan played the game professionally and traveled the pool circuit. Gambling is a part of many pool games, and he was a big gambler. When he couldn’t find someone to gamble with in pool, he looked to other avenues, one of which was poker.
Hennigan flew under the radar and stayed out of the big spotlight for some time in the poker world. He ran deep in the WSOP Main Event in 1999, but found his big breakout in 2002. That year, Hennigan won his first gold bracelet in the $2,000 H.O.R.S.E. event at the WSOP, earning $117,320.
That same year, he placed fourth in the WPT’s Five Diamond World Poker Classic for over $80,000. To close out the year, he took down the United States Poker Championship Main Event in Atlantic City for $216,000; an event in which he would return to the following year and place fifth in.
With one gold WSOP bracelet wrapped around his wrist, Hennigan was back in 2004 to claim another. He bested a final table that included T.J. Cloutier, An “The Boss” Tran, James McManus and David Chiu to take down the $5,000 Limit Hold’em event. The win was worth an additional $325,360 to his bankroll. Then at the 2005 WSOP, Hennigan placed in the money in three events and earned over $330,000 total.
Throughout his time on the tournament circuit, Hennigan continued to play cash games on the side. He sat in on some of the largest games around with the best players. He has often been referred to as one of the best, all-around cash players, and he's earned a lot of respect from his peers as being an extremely tough opponent to face.
In 2007, Hennigan traveled back to Atlantic City for the Borgata Winter Open. He came out on top of the Championship Event and earned over $1.6 million. In 2008, Johnny World won the Ante Up for Africa charity event at the WSOP.
Last year, Hennigan took 12th in this very event for $120,994.
With 1.412 million in chips entering Day 5 of Event #55: The $50,000 Poker Players' Championship, Hennigan is the second shortest stack returning. Given his acknowledged skill and experience, he will surely be a player that his opponents don't want to see climb up the ladder and get ahold of some chips.
Seat 6: Minh Ly (2,307,000)
In 2011, Minh Ly was in a familiar situation as he found himself at the final table of that year's $50,000 Poker Players' Championship. Eventually finishing third for $665,763, it was the second largest score of Ly's career in poker.
The first cash on record for Ly dates back to 1993. In 1995, he recorded his first six-figure cash by placing second to Dan Harrington in the $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em event at the 1995 Four Queens Poker Classic in Las Vegas. For that finish, Ly scored $121,900. Several years then passed before Ly next cashed for over $50,000, but that result was an impressive as it came from a third-place finish in the $3,000 Limit Hold'em event at the 2001 World Series of Poker. Then in 2002, Ly took ninth in the WSOP Main Event for $85,000.
In 2005, Ly had his best year ever on the felt, earning over $1.7 million, which included four WSOP cashes — two for six figures — and one World Poker Tour title worth over $1 million. Ly's two big results from the Series came when he finished runner-up to Doyle Brunson for $203,715 in the $5,000 Short-Handed No-Limit Hold'em event and 19th in the $10,000 Main Event for $304,680. A few months after the summer, in October, Ly went on to best a field of 420 players to win the WPT's 2nd Annual Doyle Brunson North American Poker Championship for $1.06 million. In that event, Ly was able to extract revenge on the man who defeated him in the 1995 Four Queens Poker Classic event, Harrington, by beating him in heads-up play.
When Ly came into the fifth and final day of play for this event in 2011, he was the chip leader by a long shot with over 27% of the chips in play with nine remaining, much similar to the type of chip lead Don Nguyen has here today. Ly went on to finish third in that event, and he'll definitely be aiming to better that result this time around. Although the one thing not on Ly's side is a massive chip lead — he enters the day with 2.307 million and is in fifth place out of the eight finalists — the seasoned pro and staple in the world's largest cash games should certainly not be overlooked.
Seat 5: George Danzer (2,868,000)
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George Danzer enters the final table third in chips, and is in search of his first career WSOP gold bracelet. In 2010, the German finished third in the $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Single Draw World Championship, and in 2012 he finished in the same position in the same event. In 2012 he also finished runner-up in the $2,500 Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo event, falling just short in a heads-up match against two-time bracelet winner Oleksii Kovalchuk.
Danzer’s biggest score outside of the WSOP came in 2009, where he finished 24th in the EPT Grand Final for €52,000.
Known for his online handle "trickyscarfy," Danzer has a total of 35 career cashes in the World Championship of Online Poker and 13 in the Spring Championship of Online Poker. Only one player, Jon "PearlJammer" Turner, has more combined cashes in the two online poker series'.
On the actual felt, Danzer has just over $700,000 in career tournament earnings, and he can more than double that number today with a runner-up finish or better.
Seat 4: Mike Wattel (810,000)
Mike Wattel could very well be the most underestimated player at the table which is compounded by the fact that he starts as the short stack. The truth is Wattel is one of the most formidable players in the poker, especially when it comes to mixed games.
Wattel has one World Series of Poker bracelet to his credit. It came back in 1999 in the 30th Annual WSOP Event #15 $1,500 Limit Omaha Hi/Lo after he defeated a final table that included Scotty Nguyem, Howard "Tahoe" Andrew, Chris Bjorin, Mike Matusow and Marsha Waggoner. Wattel earned $134,865 for that score.
Since then, Wattel has amassed 35 WSOP cashes for $1,607,396 including several six-figure scores. His largest actually came in the 2010 WSOP when he finished fifth in Event #56 $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em for $186,250. No matter where Wattel finishes today he'll score the biggest WSOP cash of his career.
With that said, Wattel's biggest score ever actually came in April 2007 when he finished sixth in the $25,000 World Poker Tour Championship for $309,405. Other notable tournament cashes include runner-up in the 2001 WSOP $1,500 Razz for $41,900, runner-up in the 2005 WSOP $1,000 Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo for $88,800, 95th in the 2005 WSOP Main Event for $77,710, seventh in the 2009 $10,000 World Championship Mixed Events 8 Game for $64,373, and tenth in the 2009 $50,000 World Championship H.O.R.S.E. for $123,895.
On a more personal note, the 42-year-old Wattel, born in Illinois, currently lives in Chandler, Arizona and is the father of two boys.
For more on Wattel, check out his player profile on PokerNews.
Seat 3: Don Nguyen (5,068,000)
To be honest, little is known about our chip leader, Don Nguyen other than the fact that he hails from Chino Hills, California and has made his presence known here at the 2013 World Series of Poker.
Nguyen's first-ever WSOP cash came last year when he finished 24th in Event #34 $5,000 PLO Six Handed for $16,463. In June of this year, Nguyen finished 33rd in Event #8 $2,500 Eight-Game Mix for $4,784. Nothing too special, but then came Event #16 $10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em five days later.
Nguyen impressed on his way to the final four, which is where he squared off against online legend Ben "Sauce123" Sulsky. All eyes were on Sulsky as the man who has consistently dominated the virtual felt was in the midst of a deep run in one of the most prestigious live tournaments around. Nguyen, however, made quick work of Sulsky, defeating him in just 41 short hands. On the final hand, Nguyen raised to 60,000 from the button, Sulsky three-bet to 145,000, Nguyen pushed out what looked like 800,000 in chips, and Sulsky moved all in for 935,000. Sulsky showed 
and was ahead of Nguyen's 
. However, after the board ran out 
, Nguyen was able to seize victory with his straight and secure his seat in the finals.
Nguyen was one player away from a WSOP bracelet, but he ultimately fell to Mark Radoja in the final match. Even so, Nguyen took home $204,648 for his runner-up finish in one of the summer's most prestigious tournament and established himself as a one to watch here at the WSOP.
No matter where Nguyen finishes today, and he's the best positioned to make a run at the title, he'll score the biggest cash of his young career.
For more on Nguyen, check out his player profile on PokerNews.
Seat 2: Jonathan Duhamel (1,627,000)
Jonathan Duhamel really needs no introduction, but we'll give him one anyway. Born in Boucherville, Quebec, the Canadian native began taking the game seriously when he was only sixteen. “I started playing with the older brother of one of my friends and a few other friends, just like almost everyone,” Duhamel said. “I loved it from the start and I immediately realized that in this game, there were good players and very bad players too. The difference was evident.”
Duhamel attended college in pursuit of a finance career, but his plans soon changed. He discovered that he was making so much money playing online poker that he needed to take it more seriously. Against the advice of his family and friends, Duhamel took the plunge and pursued poker full time. Obviously that decision paid off when he made the November Nine at the 2010 World Series of Poker.
As you no doubt know, Duhamel went on to win that event for $8,944,310 and etched his name in poker history. At this year's WSOP, which has been called the "Year of the Canadians" as ten bracelets have been awarded to citizens of that country, Duhamel has cashed three times for $36,595 (including a tenth-place finish in Event #25 $5,000 Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better).
“My greatest quality, I think, is my calm. I manage to never tilt," Duhamel has said in the past. "What I need the most to improve is to stop playing the sheriff and respect more players, especially the bad players who also have good hands sometimes.”
Today Duhamel hopes to become the 11th Canadian to capture a bracelet this summer, which would be his second piece of gold.
For more on Duhamel, check out PokerNews' player profile on the former champ.
Seat 1: Matthew Ashton (2,996,000)
Very few players who've made a bigger impression at the 2013 World Series of Poker than Liverpool's Matthew Ashton. The single 25-year-old Brit hasn't won a bracelet yet, but today marks his fourth final table of the summer!
Ashton actually made the final table of the 2011 WSOP $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship where he finished sixth for $101,813. It was a nice score, but one easily written off as luck. Fast forward to May of this year when he won the €5,000 8 Game Event at the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo for $57,171 and then followed that up by taking third in the 2013 WSOP Event #5 $2,500 Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo a few weeks later. Suddenly Ashton, who took home $86,437 for the latter score, wasn't looking like a one-hit wonder.
One week later, Ashton was back at a final table when he ultimately finished runner-up to Mike "The Mouth" Matusow in Event #13 $5,000 Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo for $164,700. One week after that, Ashton was back at it when he finished seventh in Event #23 $2,500 Seven Card Stud for $18,266.
Ashton begins this final table second in chips, and whether or not he's able to capture his first bracelet, his accomplishments this summer are truly remarkable.
For more on Ashton, check out PokerNews' player profile on the Brit.