Event #81: $1,500 50th Annual Bracelet Winners Only No-Limit Hold'em Day 1 | 2019 World Series of Poker

07-10-2019 22:51 UTC-7

Kim Calls Down Martini

Jan_Kores

Level 7 : 500/1,000, 1,000 ante

Julien Martini three-bet to 7,000 over Jiyoung Kim's 2,300-raise from early position. Kim called and they went to the flop. Kim checked, Martini bet 4,000, and Kim called.

The hit the turn and Kim check-called another 12,000.

Martini fired one more shell on the river, making it 14,000. Kim called again and Martini showed . Kim turned up and claimed the pot, vaulting over 220,000 in chips.

Player	Chips	Progress
Jiyoung Kim	225,000	225,000
Julien Martini	37,000	-19,500

Tags: Jiyoung Kim Julien Martini

07-10-2019 22:35 UTC-7

Luther Shoves on Turn

Jan_Kores

Level 7 : 500/1,000, 1,000 ante

Nikita Luther had three-bet from the hijack and called a cold four-bet from a player directly to her left.

Luther check-called 15,000 on the flop and the hit the felt. With around 70,000 in the middle, Luther opted to shove her 70,700. She let her opponent think for a few minutes and then called a clock.

The other player let the countdown run all the way to zero and his hand was declared dead and the juicy pot was shipped to Luther.

Player	Chips	Progress
Nikita Luther	140,000	35,000

Tags: Nikita Luther

07-10-2019 22:24 UTC-7

Gagliano on the Rise

Jan_Kores

Level 7 : 500/1,000, 1,000 ante

On the turn reading , Michael Gagliano fired 3,500 into 4,900 and Arkadiy Tsinis called from the button.

They saw the complete the board and Gagliano bet another 8,500. Tsinis studied the situation for a while and then folded.

Player	Chips	Progress
Michael Gagliano	205,000	95,000
Arkadiy Tsinis	155,000	51,000

Tags: Michael Gagliano Arkadiy Tsinis

07-10-2019 22:21 UTC-7

Player	Chips	Progress
James Mackey	123,000	36,000
Jeremy Wien	108,000	7,400
Nikita Luther	105,000	7,000
Liv Boeree	104,000	22,000
Angel Guillen	100,000
Anatolii Zyrin	95,000
Perry Friedman	87,300	-10,500
Benny Glaser	73,000	15,000
Tyler Groth	57,500	-29,500
Vitaly Lunkin	57,000	17,500
Julien Martini	56,500	-91,500
Asi Moshe	56,000	-60,000
Chad Holloway	44,500	-10,500
Jessica Dawley	26,500	-23,500
Joe Cada	23,000
Ylon Schwartz	21,000	-17,500
Konstantin Puchkov	Busted

The Toughest Home Game in the Midwest

Hayley Hochstetler

Level 7 : 500/1,000, 1,000 ante

James Mackey, Grant Hinkle, Blair Hinkle, Jeff Tebben

The 50th Annual Bracelet Winners Only No-Limit Hold’em Event may seem like an exclusive and elite field, but to four players it feels just like a home game. Kansas City locals Jeff Tebben, Grant Hinkle, Blair Hinkle, and James Mackey are all amongst the entrants, but what some may not know is that these four play in what is proclaimed “The toughest home game in the midwest.”

Monday Night Poker ("MNP") is a $40 tournament that was born in 2003 following the booming Moneymaker effect. What was once a group of friends that wanted to watch Monday Night Football rapidly turned into some of the most decorated poker players in the greater Kansas City area. Jeff Tebben was part of this original gathering and recalls the early days. “We really had no idea what we were doing. The structure was terrible, the payouts were ridiculous, and it was pretty much just an excuse to hang out together, watch football, and maybe get lucky and win a few bucks.”

Eventually the group saw the addition of Grant Hinkle, a quiet leader who, at the time, had a little bit of online success. That success soon turned into WSOP history-making. Hinkle went to Las Vegas for the 2008 WSOP and ended up winning an event later broadcast on ESPN that was one of the largest poker fields ever, a $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em Event, taking home $831,462. Just 11 days later, Hinkle's brother, Blair, won his first gold bracelet in the WSOP $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em event for $507,613, making the Hinkle brothers the first siblings in the history of the WSOP to win gold bracelets within a single year.

Two years later, Jeff Tebben also ended up with a WSOP bracelet of his own, taking down a $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em event for $503,389. Soon James “Corwin” Mackey, Blair Hinkle’s former roommate at the University of Missouri before they both dropped out of college to chase their poker dreams, joined the Monday Night Poker group. Known as "migcom" in the online poker world, Mackey had won a bracelet at the age of 21 the year prior to the Hinkle Brothers, scoring $ 730,740 in a $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em event.

Over time the MNP league saw their circle grow, as well as their winnings, gradually amassing over $11.5 million in combined earnings and collecting—in addition to the 4 WSOP Bracelets: 4 Heartland Poker Tour titles, 3 Rungood Poker Series titles, 8 WSOP Circuit Rings; five being Main Events, a 5 Diamond title, a Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Title, and a WPT title.

"People constantly assume that MNP is some sort of high-roller league, but it couldn’t be further. It has remained at the original $40 buy-in since it’s inception," Jeff Tebben told PokerNews.

Today the Hinkle brothers can be seen at the same table, eleven years after winning their bracelets, fighting for another chance at one of poker's most prestigious trophies.

When asked about playing at the same table as his brother, Grant Hinkle says, "I enjoy playing poker at the same table as Blair at MNP. He is historically one of the worst in our fun turbo home game. I hate playing at the same table in real events. It has happened probably 6 or 7 times and is always awkward and particularly painful for me, as he constantly puts me in tough spots."

Will this group make history at WSOP 2019? So far the four bracelet winners of the MNP group have a combined 13 cashes, with one being today, and are playing for bragging rights at the next Monday Night Poker game as well as a coveted 5th gold bracelet.

Tags: Blair Hinkle Grant Hinkle James Mackey Jeff Tebben

07-10-2019 22:08 UTC-7

Du Squeezes from the Big

Jan_Kores

Level 7 : 500/1,000, 1,000 ante

Michael Mizrachi raised to 1,000 under the gun, receiving calls from Ronnie Bardah (cutoff) and Blair Hinkle (button). Yue Du woke up with a hand in the big blind and he squeezed to 7,000. All three remaining players called and they went four-way to the flop with nearly 30,000 in the middle.

The dealer spread out a flop of and Du fired 17,000. Mizrachi thought about it for a moment but then he released his hand. Bardah and Hinkle quickly followed suit and Du scooped the pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Blair Hinkle	153,000	99,000
Yue Du	140,000	20,000
Ronnie Bardah	46,000
Michael Mizrachi	43,000

Tags: Blair Hinkle Michael Mizrachi Ronnie Bardah Yue Du

07-10-2019 21:58 UTC-7

Tsinis Scoops Most of Esposito's Chips

Jan_Kores

Level 7 : 500/1,000, 1,000 ante

Arkadiy Tsinis was in early position, betting 5,500 into 13,000 on the flop of . John Esposito raised to 20,000 in the cutoff and Tsinis tanked for a while. Then he announced he was all in and Esposito called right away.

Tsinis held and he needed to fade Esposito's open-ender with .

The turn gave Esposito a few extra outs but the river stayed with Tsinis, who had 45,500. Esposito asked whether Tsinis got him covered, but while it was close, Esposito was left 800.

Player	Chips	Progress
Arkadiy Tsinis	104,000	104,000
John Esposito	800	-97,200

Tags: Arkadiy Tsinis John Esposito

Level: 7

Blinds: 500/1,000

Ante: 1,000

07-10-2019 21:33 UTC-7

Third Break

Jan_Kores

Level 6 : 400/800, 800 ante

Players are on a 15-minute break.

07-10-2019 21:33 UTC-7

Ponzio Eliminates Cunningham

Jan_Kores

Level 6 : 400/800, 800 ante

Ben Ponzio squeezed to 7,000 out of the big blind and three remaining players called to continue to the flop.

Ponzio fired 15,000 when the hit the felt, forcing two folds. Action stopped at Allen Cunningham in the cutoff.

"I thought it would be longer than this," said Cunningham who was among the late entrants.

He paused for about a minute and then moved all in for around 27,000. Ponzio called right away.

Cunningham was in a decent spot, holding the best hand for the moment. He had but Ponzio had heaps of outs with .

Unfortunately for Cunningham, one of the lethal cards came right on the turn, with the leaving him drawing dead.

The river was meaningless and Cunningham was eliminated.

Player	Chips	Progress
Ben Ponzio	106,000
Allen Cunningham	Busted

Tags: Allen Cunningham Ben Ponzio