Some people make light of the specialty events at the World Series of Poker. The Ladies Championship is often relegated to just “the girls” and the Super Seniors is often just a place for crotchety old folks. In reality, these are both tournaments that bring new players into the game in fun environments.
The Ladies Championship is sometimes the first taste of a WSOP event for female poker players. It is a tournament in which women tend to be welcoming and friendly. This year, several players offered free coaching to women playing the event for the first time, and other people in poker gifted seats to the tournament to women who wouldn’t be able to afford to play.
The Super Seniors gives players a chance to play with others who are 60 years of age and older. It is often a light-hearted atmosphere, free of younger players who are new to the game or not appreciative of the opportunity to play.
These two events were finding their way through their levels and to their final tables on Thursday.
Event 56: $50K Poker Players Championship 6-Handed
Five players started the six-handed final table with defending champion Dan Cates in the chip lead. Benny Glaser quickly took over, but Johannes Becker lost ground and became the first elimination, courtesy of Yuri Dzivielevski. Cates came roaring back, and he eventually put Glaser on a short stack. Naoya Kihara busted Glaser shortly thereafter.
Cates then busted Kihara in third place. Cates had nearly 26M chips for heads-up play, with Dzivielevski holding little more than 7.5M. They ended up playing their match for more than seven hours before Cates took it down for back-to-back PPC victories.
The final seven players returned for a final day of deepstack action, with Alex Jim as the chipleader and Tamas Lendvai as the shortest stack. But the latter chipped up and ousted Tsuf Saltsberg in seventh place and Abdullah Alshanti in sixth. Lendvai also busted Daniel Marcus in fifth. Jon Van Fleet took out Alex Jim in fourth, but Lendvai ousted Van Fleet in third.
Heads-up, it took Frank Reichel only a few moments to push his stack in, and Lendvai called for the win. His emotions overflowed, as he accepted the win. Lendvai said, “Since I’ve been playing poker, I’ve been dreaming about this moment, so what can I say. It means the world. It means everything and more for me and my family.”
What started with 87 players moved along quickly toward the final table. After dinner, the ten remaining players gathered at one table with Massoud Eskandari as the dominant chipleader.
PT Hayes busted in tenth place to set the official final table, and Marc Walter was the next to go. Jennifer Gianera then busted Gary Fisher in eighth, and Sharri Crawford took out Eric Van Der Burg in seventh. After Eskandari took out Bruce Olson, play stopped with five players to pursue victory.
Event 59: Day 3 of 4
$1K buy-in
NLHE Super Seniors (1 RE)
Total entries:
2,669
(1893 in 2021)
Players remaining:
5
Total prize pool:
$2,375,410
Players paid:
401
Minimum payout:
$1,601
Winner payout:
$330,609
Final table counts:
#1
Massoud Eskandari (USA) 19M
#2
Jennifer Gianera (USA) 16.5M
#3
James Jewell (USA) 8.425M
#4
Peter Mylenki (USA) 4.2M
#5
Sharri Crawford (USA) 4.2M
Event 60: $10K Short Deck NLHE
Five players returned on the final day with Shota Nakanishi in the lead. And it was he who started strong, eliminating Stephen Chidwick in fifth place and Sean Winter in fourth. He stayed aggressive and took out Brian Rast in third place, and he held 4.35M chips going into heads-up against the 2.25M of Ben Lamb.
Nakanishi stayed aggressive, but Lamb met him in that space and held on for quite a long time. Ultimately, Nakanishi won, with the support of his Japanese rail, and exclaimed, “I’m so happy! Very happy right now!”
Day 2 of this event started with 274 players but thinned the field to get into the money. As the night moved forward, players like Jessica Vierling and Katie Swift busted, as did Karina Jett and Molly Mossey. Play then stopped with 42 players.
Event 61: Day 2 of 4
$1K buy-in
Ladies NLHE Championship (1 RE)
Total entries:
1,074
(968 in 2019, 644 in 2021)
Players remaining:
42
Total prize pool:
$955,660
Players paid:
162
Minimum payout:
$1,600
Winner payout:
$166,975
Top chip counts:
#1
Cherish Andrews (USA) 1,800,000
#2
Natalie Hof-Ramos (Germany) 1,100,000
#3
Chenyi Liu (USA) 785,000
#4
Marybeth Anderson (USA) 760,000
#5
Christina Gollins (USA) 745,000
Event 62: $1,500 NLHE Super Turbo Bounty
It was a fast tournament but did play into a second day. The 20 players who started that day quickly moved to two tables, at which point players like Romain Guilbert, Mihai Manole, and Elvis Toomas left to collect their payouts. The final ten then took places at one table, but the tenth-place elimination of Shaun Colquhoun set the official final table.
Jan Bednar busted Ken Drewry to kick things off, and John Bredengerd sent Dimitre Dimitrov to the rail. Bednar was back up to bust Kevin Davis, at which point Dash Dudley scored a big double through Yuhei Sanada, who departed right after. Dudley busted the table’s original chipleader, Harpreet Padda, and David Sanchez dispatched Bednar.
Bredengerd was short bug doubled through Dudley and then Sanchez. Both of those players, however doubled back. Sanchez eventually busted Bredengerd and took a chip lead into heads-up. But Dudley applied the pressure and went on to win his third WSOP gold bracelet.
The second day of this tournament set the field and played into the money. Dan Zack took a min-cash, as did Matt Livingston and Matthew Beinner. That left 20 players to continue on.
Event 63: Day 2 of 4
$10K buy-in
PLO-8 Championship
Total entries:
284
(193 in 2019, 208 in 2021)
Players remaining:
20
Total prize pool:
$2,648,300
Players paid:
43
Minimum payout:
$16,171
Winner payout:
$611,362
Top chip counts:
#1
Chino Rheem (USA) 2,595,000
#2
Filippos Stavrakis (USA) 1,880,000
#3
Seungjin Lee (S.Korea) 1,860,000
#4
Damjan Radanov (USA) 1,275,000
#5
Amnon Filippi (USA) 1,275,000
Event 64: $600 PLO Deepstack
The first day of this event generated 2,858 entries for a prize pool that stopped just short of $1.5M. When play stopped that evening, only 102 players remained.
Event 64: Day 1 of 2
$600 buy-in
PLO Deepstack (2 RE)
Total entries:
2,858
(2577 in 2019, 1571 in 2021)
Players remaining:
102
Total prize pool:
$1,458,580
Players paid:
429
Minimum payout:
$961
Winner payout:
$199,466
Top chip counts:
#1
Guillaume Soumier (France) 3,055,000
#2
Tommi Lankinen (Finland) 2,440,000
#3
Geln Keogh (Ireland) 2,385,000
#4
Xiaohui Yu (USA) 1,930,000
#5
Stanislav Halatenko (UK) 1,780,000
Event 65: $3K NLHE Freezeout
There were more than 1300 players who wanted a single shot at this bracelet, as no reentries were allowed. They played down and very close to the money bubble before stopping with 226 players.
Event 65: Day 1 of 3
$3K buy-in
NLHE Freezeout
Total entries:
1,359
(720 in 2021)
Players remaining:
226
Total prize pool:
$1,458,580
Players paid:
204
Minimum payout:
$4,818
Winner payout:
$598,173
Top chip counts:
#1
Onur Unsal (Turkey) 1,244,000
#2
Joel Micka (USA) 829,000
#3
Krasimir Yankov (Bulgaria) 784,000
#4
Niko Koop (Germany) 741,000
#5
Blake Bohn (USA) 738,000
Today’s Poker Menu
Event 59 plays to a Super Seniors winner.
Event 61 plays a third day of the Ladies Championship.
Event 63 plays to a PLO-8 Championship winner.
Event 64 plays to a PLO Deepstack winner.
Event 65 plays a second day of the NLHE Freezeout.
Event 66 kicks off the uber-popular Mini Main Event.
Event 67 starts a two-day Super Turbo Bounty with a $10K buy-in.
