Event #46: $50,000 Poker Players' Championship
Day 1 Started
2014 World Series of Poker
Event #46: $50,000 Poker Players' Championship
Day: 1
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2014 World Series of Poker
Buy-in
$50,000
Prize Pool
$5,568,000
Entries
102
Level
26
Blinds
0 / 0
Ante
0
Welcome to the 9th Annual $50,000 Poker Players' Championship
Back in 2006, the World Series of Poker introduced the $50,000 Poker Players' Championship, a tournament designed to determine the game's greatest all-around player. The event was originally played in a H.O.R.S.E. format, but now it's morphed into a rotation of eight games — limit hold'em, Omaha hi-low, razz, seven-card stud, stud hi-low, no-limit hold'em, pot-limit Omaha, and 2-7 triple draw lowball.
The tournament, which was created at the request of the players back in 2006, attracted 143 entrants in its first year. David "Chip" Reese ended up winning the inaugural event for $1,716,000, and since then some of the game's best have laid claim to the title (see chart below).
According to the WSOP, "poker greats consider the winner of the event the best all-around player because it demonstrates he or she can outplay the competition in a wide range of game variations with high stakes on the line."
There have also been some noteworthy milestones, which we'll highlight for you here:
- Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi is the only player to win the Chip Reese Trophy twice.
- Seven other players have final tabled the event twice, including John Hanson, Andy Bloch, Bruno Fitoussi, Matt Glantz, David Singer, Barry Greenstein, and Huck Seed.
- Last year's champ, Matthew Ashton, became the first non-American to win the title. He did so by defeating American Don Nguyen in heads-up play (in 2006 and 2011, the final table of this event was comprised solely of Americans).
- No woman has ever cashed in this event.
- Andy Bloch and Barry Greenstein lead the all-time cashing list in this event with four cashes each.
- The $50,000 buy-in is the second-most expensive of the 65 events at the 2014 WSOP.
Not only will the eventual winner take home a WSOP gold bracelet and a large payday, they'll have their name inscribed on the commemorative "Chip Reese Trophy," which is named in honor of the inaugural winner, who passed away in 2007. "The iconic trophy was first added for the event's champion in 2008, with the winner keeping the top part of the trophy for the year, while his name is engraved on the bottom half, etched forever in history," the WSOP explains.
The biggest names in poker are expected to take part in this tournament, but some who've already stated that they'll be forking over $50,000 are Gus Hansen, Dan Heimiller, Ben Yu, Robert Mizrachi, Randy Ohel, Vanessa Selbst, Mike Gorodinsky, and the defending champ Matthew Ashton. In addition there have been satellites running the past two days, so we'll see a handful of qualifiers taking their shot, all hoping to add their name to this prestigious list:
Former $50,000 Poker Players' Championship Winners
| Year | Winner | Prize | # of Entrants | Prize Pool |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Chip Reese | $1,716,000 | 143 | $6,864,000 |
| 2007 | Freddy Deeb | $2,276,832 | 148 | $7,104,000 |
| 2008 | Scotty Nguyen | $1,989,120 | 148 | $7,104,000 |
| 2009 | David Bach | $1,276,806 | 95 | $4,560,000 |
| 2010 | Michael Mizrachi | $1,559,046 | 116 | $5,568,000 |
| 2011 | Brian Rast | $1,720,328 | 128 | $6,144,000 |
| 2012 | Michael Mizrachi | $1,451,527 | 108 | $5,184,000 |
| 2013 | Matthew Ashton | $1,774,089 | 132 | $6,336,000 |
Day 1 will feature five levels — each lasting 100 minutes — and players will begin with 150,000 in tournament chips. Cards will be in the air at 4 p.m. local time, so join us then as we kick off one of the most prestigious events of the summer!
Level: 1
Triple Draw 2-7 Hold’em - Omaha/8B - 300 600 600-1,200
Razz – Stud - Stud/8B 100 200 600 600-1,200
No-Limit Hold’em – PLO (No Ante) 100 100 300
PokerNews Impromptu: Pregame $50K Poker Interview w/ Randy Ohel
Level 1
WSOP bracelet winner Randy Ohel is playing the $50,000 Poker Players' Championship for the second year in a row. PokerNews caught up with him to talk about selling action and what he learned about this event last year. Daniel Negreanu even makes a surprise appearance.
Shuffle up and Deal!
Level 1
The cards are now in the air for the ninth annual $50,000 Players Championship. This tournament will be played out seven-handed, as opposed to eight handed in the previous years. This means that during the 2-7 Triple Draw part of this tournament there will only be one player sitting out.
In total five levels of 100 minutes will be played today.
The Pros Came to Play
Level 1
As it is a custom in tournaments this size many players like entering late, but these pros already entered right at the start. Late registration remains open until 4:00 PM tomorrow.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
150,000 | 150,000 |
|
150,000 | 150,000 |
|
150,000 | 150,000 |
|
150,000 | 150,000 |
|
150,000 | 150,000 |
|
150,000 | 150,000 |
|
150,000 | 150,000 |
|
150,000 | 150,000 |
|
150,000 | 150,000 |
|
150,000 | 150,000 |
|
150,000 | 150,000 |
|
150,000 | 150,000 |
|
150,000 | 150,000 |
|
150,000 | 150,000 |
|
150,000 | 150,000 |
|
150,000 | 150,000 |
|
150,000 | 150,000 |
|
150,000 | 150,000 |
|
150,000 | 150,000 |
|
150,000 | 150,000 |
|
150,000 | 150,000 |
|
150,000 | |
|
150,000 | 150,000 |
|
150,000 | 150,000 |
|
150,000 | 150,000 |
Deeb Needs a Lesson
Level 1
2-7 Triple Draw
Shaun Deeb stood pat on the last draw in position as Eli Elezra drew one. Elezra squeezed out his card and checked, and Deeb checked it back.
"Ten," Deeb said.
Elezra tossed a pair of deuces into the middle in disgust, and Deeb tabled 
.
"Ten-nine?" Elezra said. "I'm gonna teach you a lesson buddy, if you're gonna play like that."
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
158,000 | 8,000 |
Eight Perfect For Seiver
Level 1
2-7 Triple Draw
Action folded over to Matt Glantz on the button and he put out a raise. Daniel Negreanu folded the small blind and Scott Seiver called from the big blind. For the first draw, Seiver took two new cards while Glantz opted for three. Seiver came out with a bet and Glantz called to see the next draw.
On the second draw, Seiver opted for one card while Glantz once again took three.
"Wow," said Seiver. "Staying strong."
Seiver bet out again and Glantz came over the top with a raise. Seiver made it three bets to go and Glantz flatted. Seiver stood pat on the final draw and Glantz took one new card. Seiver bet, Glantz called, and Seiver fanned 
for an eight-perfect. Glantz mucked his cards and Seiver pulled in the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
156,000 | 6,000 |
|
|
144,200 | -5,800 |
The POY Leader Faces The Current Champ
Level 1
Last year Daniel Negreanu became the World Series of Poker Player of the Year and this year's leader in that race, George Danzer, is currently at his table. Danzer and Negreanu are flanked by Matt Glantz, who made the final table in this event twice, and Scott Seiver, who finished seventh in this tournament back in 2011.
Danzer already won two bracelets this year after coming close to winning one many times in previous years. Last year in this event was one of those times as the German pro finished fifth for $388,523. Negreanu, out of these four players, is the only one who has not made the final table of this event. The Canadian super star has one cash in this tournament dating back to 2008.
Meet Elior "Crazy Elior" Sion
Level 1
The $50,000 Poker Players' Championship attracts the best players from across the world. Most of these players are easily recognizable, but there is one players seated over at Table 372 that may not be overly familiar to poker fans. We're talking about Elior Sion, who is currently testing his mettle against the likes of Phil Ivey and Mike Leah.
If you don't know that name, you may recognize him by his online handle "Crazy Elior." Sion broke onto the online poker scene back in 2011, and since then he's steadily moved up the stakes to become a regular at the $300/$600 pot-limit Omaha and $200/$400 no-limit hold'em tables. While he's used to mixing it up against the likes of Viktor "Isildur1" Blom and Ben "Bttech86" Tollerene, Sion hasn't been faring overly well in 2014; in fact, right now he is down $515,300 on the virtual felt.
Sion, who hails from London, England, was born in 1990, which makes him one of the youngest players in the field. Other than that, little is known about Sion, who declined to be interview by PokerNews earlier this year.
As for his WSOP experience, Sion has three cashes to his credit. The first came back in the 2012 WSOP Event #27 $1,500 H.O.R.S.E., where he took fifth for $55,422. The other two came last week when he finished 91st in Event #33 $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em for $2,628 and 11th in Event #39 $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em for $30,927.
Sion is accustomed to playing behind a compute screen, but here in Event #46: $50,000 Poker Players' Championship he is underneath the poker spotlight. Rest assured we'll be keeping track on the online star throughout the tournament.