Buckle Up for Short-Handed, Fast-Paced, Big Buy-In Poker!
Short-handed poker is all the rave these days, especially the six-handed form. Doyle Brunson once called no-limit Texas hold'em the "Cadillac of Poker" because of the game's ability to emphasize the highest level of strategy and skill. If that's the case, then the six-handed variant is a CTS-V coupe — aggressive and shifty with a wide-open throttle.
Event #32: $10,000 Six-Handed No-Limit Hold'em Championship is special. Not only does it feature an adrenaline-pumping form of big-bet poker, but it also garners a pricy $10,000 buy-in, and that combination will no doubt get everyone's blood pumping.
With the $10,000 championship events returning to the 2014 WSOP schedule, this event is back after a one-year hiatus in which a $5,000 and $25,000 six-handed hold'em event were held. In 2011 and 2012, there was a $10,000 six-handed hold'em event and the first-place prize topped $1.1 million each time. In 2011, Joe Ebanks won the event, and in 2012, Greg Merson was victorious before going straight through to win the Main Event.
Let's take a look at all of the big buy-in ($5,000+) six-handed hold'em events held at the WSOP since 2005:
| Year | Buy-in | Entrants | Winner | First-Place Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | $25,000 | 175 | Steve Sung | $1,205,324 |
| $5,000 | 516 | Erick Lindgren | $606,317 | |
| 2012 | $10,000 | 474 | Greg Merson | $1,136,197 |
| 2011 | $10,000 | 474 | Joe Ebanks | $1,158,481 |
| $5,000 | 732 | Matt Jarvis | $808,538 | |
| 2010 | $25,000 | 191 | Dan Kelly | $1,315,518 |
| $5,000 | 568 | Jeff Papola | $667, 443 | |
| 2009 | $5,000 | 928 | Matt Hawrilenko | $1,003,163 |
| 2008 | $5,000 | 805 | Joe Commisso | $911,855 |
| 2007 | $5,000 | 728 | Bill Edler | $904,672 |
| 2006 | $5,000 | 183 | Jeff Madsen | $643,381 |
| 2005 | $5,000 | 301 | Doyle Brunson | $367,800 |
As you can see, that list of winners is full of big-time players, including none other than Mr. Brunson himself. With the way the WSOP schedule is set up this year, not much will get in the way of all of the big names coming out for this one. Some of the top no-limit hold'em players may still be deep in Event #29: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em, but other than that, the field should be jam packed full of elite players and notable faces.
As for numbers, one could expect somewhere in the range of 400-500 entrants for this event, although a field as small as 300 or as large as 600 wouldn't come as a complete surprise. That should create a nice, juicy prize pool for the event, and our thoughts are that the field size will lean towards the larger side rather than the smaller one.
Play is scheduled to kick off promptly at 4 p.m. PT, so buckle up and get ready for some high-intensity poker action. The big buy-in six-handed hold'em events have never failed to impress in the past, and this one surely won't, either.
For now, while you wait, check out the second episode of Ivey Stories where Richard Sklar gives us some insight to Ivey's golf game and the large sums of money often bet on the course:
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, Klein called, and Finger was in the tank. He eventually folded, and Riess revealed 
for a full house.
for trip jacks, then mucked.
with around 5,000 in the middle, and both players checked. The river was the 
, and Katz tossed out a min-bet of 300.
.
for a superior hand, and was pushed the pot.
), Ladouceur led out for another 13,000, and Julius called.
flop, Greg Merson, Jonathan Jaffe, and Nick Schulman were involved in action together. Merson was first and checked. Jaffe was next and bet 1,850, only to get raised to 4,200 by Schulman. Merson ducked out of the way with a fold, but Jaffe thought things over and then called.
.
, and with a player behind him he chose to just call. That player folded, and the hands were tabled.
, taking away the players' two-pair outs, and the 
on the river missed him completely. He was eliminated, while Gruissem is up to 77,000 chips.
pair the board on the river. Merson bet 2,400, and Schulman called.
for a pair of tens, and Arieh mucked.
