The last twenty-four hours has seen one of poker’s most controversial stars come agonisingly close to a seventh bracelet, while the man who defeated him heads-up picked up what was the seventh bracelet of his own career
Elsewhere, Joseph Cheong picked up the first bracelet of his career, with China’s Zinan Xu also going deep.
Event 41: John Hennigan bags number 7 at Daniel Negreanu’s expense
The $10,000 Seven Card Stud was always going to attract a small, yet high quality field, and with 88 runners buying into this year’s event, $827,200 formed the prize pool, with $245,541 set aside for 1st place. Of the final 12 players left standing in this tournament, 11 were former bracelet winners, such was the quality of the field.
Daniel Negreanu led the way as the final table convened, but David “ODB” Baker and John Hennigan ensured things were kept close at the top of the standings. These three eventually got the action down to three handed, and with Baker falling soon after, it was left to Negreanu and Hennigan to contest the big money and the all-important gold. Negreanu entered heads-up play with the chiplead, but an early surge by his opponent quickly levelled things up.
After several more hours of back and forth, Hennigan eventually took control and finished the Canadian off. John Hennigan banked $245,541 for his win, along with his seventh career bracelet.
The final payouts are as follows:
1st – John Hennigan – $245,451
2nd – Daniel Negreanu – $151,700
3rd – David “ODB” Baker – $104,416
4th – Mikhail Semin – $73,810
5th – David Singer – $53,621
6th – Chris Tryba – $40,066
7th – Frank Kassela – $30,817
8th – Frankie O’Dell – $24,419
Event 34: Joseph Cheong takes his first WSOP title as Zinan Xu takes 3rd
The $1,000 Double Stack NLH brought together 6,214 runners, creating a prize pool of $5,592,600.
Among the runners were plenty of Asian hopefuls and several of them enjoyed a good run in the tournament. China’s Sin Ren Chen took 198th place and Taiwan’s Terry Fan hit the rail in 184th, with both players winning $3,900. India’s Aditya Sushant finished 136th and China’s Dong Guo took 135th, with Hong Kong’s Yan Shing Tsang taking 130th. All three players won $4,501.
Chinese player Xiao Ruan took 96th, Australian Joel Feldman claimed 85th with both players winning $6,150. India’s Yasheel Doddanavar took 68th for $8,685 and Singaporean Justinian Tan finished 64th, picking up the same figure.
Chinese players Tao Fan and Nan Hong finished 33rd and 28th respectively, both winning $19,084.
At the sharp end of the tournament, India’s Ashish Ahuja finished a creditable 15th place for $37,421, while China’s Zinan Xu put in the strongest showing, taking 3rd place for $314,876.
As the most recognisable name at the final table, Joseph Cheong did not disappoint fans, sweeping aside the opposition at this final table and claiming his first ever gold bracelet.
This bracelet represents a moment of redemption for a player who bluffed off a huge stack three handed at the Main Event final table in 2010. He wins $687,782 for taking down this event.
The final payouts are as follows:
1st – Joseph Cheong – $687,782
2nd – David Ivers – $424,791
3rd – Zinan Xu – $314,875
4th – Andrea Buonocore – $235,099
5th – Arianna Son – $176,820
6th – Ido Ashkenazi – $133,970
7th – David Guay – $102,258
8th – Ivan Deyra – $78,638
9th – Brock Wilson – $60,930
Other winners
Event 37 – $800 NLH Deepstack
Prize pool: $1,999,296
Entries: 2,808
Winner: Robert Mitchell – $297,537
Event 40 – $1,500 PLO
Prize pool: $1,641,600
Entries: 1,216
Winner: Ismael Bojang – $298,507
Event 46 – $500 WSOP.com Online NLH Turbo Deepstack
Prize pool: $795,150
Entries: 1,181
Winner: Dan “centrfieldr” Lupo – $145,274
Article by Craig Bradshaw
