Poker Tournament Results

40th World Series of Poker 2009

Brock Parker

Tournament Report

Tournament Highlights: The Winner The 2009 World Series of Poker $2,500 buy-in Six-Handed Limit Hold’em championship is Brock Parker, from Silver Spring, MD. Parker is a 27-year-old professional poker player. His real first name is John, but he goes by “Brock.” Parker first started playing poker about ten years ago. But his interest in the game evolved from the card game Magic. Magic is a card game that is similar to poker in that it combines skill, psychology, and luck. By the time he took his turn in the spotlight of a WSOP final table Parker and others were accustomed to the pressure of playing in front of crowds and for money. Magic tournaments usually give away prize money which attracts big crowds. Parker is one of a number of top poker players from the Washington, DC area. He lives just north of the nation’s capital. Two other close friends and former WSOP gold bracelet winners, Eric Froehlich and Alex Borteh who live nearby, were both on hand to cheer for Parker. He is also near tournament pro Justin Bonomo, who lives close by. Another top player who is close to Parker and got his start in poker via Magic is David Williams, who won a gold bracelet in 2006. Two-time gold bracelet winner Eric Froehlich stated that he got his start in poker, due largely to Parker’s influence. “We all played magic together,” Froehlich stated. “But Brock was the good poker player. We watched him play and he made all this money and it looked like fun, so we got into it also. I think a lot of (Magic players) who first got into poker came to it because of Brock...He was part of the Magic scene and he is responsible for many of us becoming poker players.” Parker’s friends noted that Limit Hold’em is his best game. This is somewhat contrary to conventional wisdom which suggests most younger players prefer No-Limit Hold’em. Parker has known most of his poker friends since he was in his teens. “He’s an online legend, and it’s well deserved,” said Alex Borteh. Borteh added: “Daniel is great as a player and a person. But a lot of people get famous because the toot their own horns. People don’t know Brock because he does not post on poker forums all day or draw attention to himself. He is a below-the-radar kind of guy” Parker collected $223,697 for first place. He was also awarded his first WSOP gold bracelet. Parker laughed off the “David versus Goliath” description of the result. “Yeah right, whatever,” he said. The Final Table The final table contained only one former WSOP gold bracelet winner – Daniel Negreanu, from Las Vegas, NV. Nevertheless, that was enough of a presence to attract a standing-room only crowd throughout the competition. The runner up was Daniel Negreanu, from Las Vegas, NV. The four-time WSOP gold bracelet winner held the chip lead during most of the finale. But Negreanu had a tough time later and ended up finishing second. While he has four outright wins, he has three second-place finishes, as well. Negreanu had a shot to win his third Limit Hold’em competition at the WSOP, which would have tied him with Phil Hellmuth in that category. Instead, Negreanu fell just short. Negreanu was well aware that his final adversary, Brock Parker, was a first-rate player. However, many spectators viewed the battle as a “David Versus Goliath” battle, with the popular Negreanu getting slain at the end by a relative “unknown.” Not true. Fact is, Parker is an extraordinary player, known to many of the top tournament players in the game. When Negreanu lost the final hand and busted out second, there was an audible shock in the air, not only for what had happened, but how quickly the final hand came once the two finalists were heads up. Negreanu was gracious and congratulatory towards Parker, then exited quickly to play in another tournament. The third-place finisher was Tommi Horkko, from Tampere, Finland. It’s extraordinary to consider that Horkko came within two spots of joining fellow countryman Villa Wahlbeck as the only Finnish gold bracelet winners in history. It’s even more of an oddity that this came close to occurring on consecutive days. Finland went 39 previous years without a gold bracelet and within the past two days has earned a first- and third-place “finish.” The fourth-place finisher was Kevin Hong, from Los Angeles, CA. The fifth-place finisher was former WSOP gold bracelet winner, Barry Shulman, from Las Vegas, NV. Shulman is the publisher of Card Player magazine, the longest-running publication in poker. Shulman won his gold bracelet in the Seven-Card Stud Eight-or-Better event in 2002. The sixth-place finisher was Kyle Ray, from Fayetteville, GA. There was no defending champion from last year. The event was not offered in 2008. Other In-the-Money Finishers Other In-the-Money finishers in this event included – Daniel Alaei (24th) and Barry Shulman (30th). Odds and Ends Anyone who doubts Daniel Negreanu’s drawing poker as a celebrity and ambassador for the game would be advised to try and find a seat in the final table arena, filled to full capacity. In official WSOP records, the “final table” includes only the top six finishers, since the final table is comprised of just six players, instead of the customary eighth or nine for other games. The tournament was played over three consecutive days. On Day Three, the final table was dealt out on ESPN’s Main Stage. The “secondary stage,” located nearby, hosted the other finale played on the same day. Most days at the WSOP this year will include two final tables. The official WSOP gold bracelet ceremony takes place on the day following the winner’s victory. The ceremony takes place on at center stage of the main tournament room and begins during the break of the noon tournament. The ceremony usually starts around 2:20 pm. The national anthem of the winner’s nation is played. The entire presentation is open to public and media. Video and photography is permitted by both media and the public. The Event The $2,500 buy-in Limit Hold’em event attracted 367 entrants. This created a prize pool totaling $844,100. The top 36 finishers collected prize money. Six-Handed Hold'em emphasizes short-handed poker skills. Rather than a full table comprised of nine players, each table is played six-handed (or less, as players bust out). This generally requires competitors to play cards out of the standard range of starting-hands. It also makes post-flop skill paramount to victory. The game was included on the WSOP schedule as a concerted effort to measure as diverse a range of poker skills as possible. Six-Handed No-Limit Hold'em first made its WSOP debut in 2005. This is the sixth six-handed tournament played in WSOP history. Several observers noted that the heads-up match between Parker and Negreanu was perhaps another illustration of a symbolic torch being passed to another generation of poker players. A decade ago when Negreanu won his first gold bracelet, many believed poker was about to change. They were right. Now, Negreanu is in his 30s and there is a new generation of challengers. Negreanu went card dead at the worst possible time of the tournament, He lost most of the final hands dealt and finally went out just as spectators were settling in for a long heads-up showdown. The final hand of the night came when Negreanu had K-10 and made a pair of tens. But Parker had an ace and made a pair of aces, which collected the final pot of the night. Parker was cheered to victory by his own rooting section, comprised of fellow poker pros, two of which were previous WSOP gold bracelet winners – Alex Borteh and Eric “E-Fro” Froehlilch. The tournament officially began on Friday, June 5th, at 5 pm. The tournament officially ended on Sunday, June 7th, at 10:20 pm. WSOP Statistics Through the conclusion of Event #14, the 2009 WSOP has attracted 17,099 entries. $32,345,925 in total prize money has been awarded to winners. Through Event #14 -- 12 Americans have won gold bracelets. One Russian player has won. One Finnish player has won. No other nations have been represented on the gold bracelet stand. So far, this is a far cry from last year, when 16 of the 55 gold bracelet events were won by non-Americans (29 percent). This number increased to 19 of 59 events (32 percent), including the four gold bracelet tournaments played at WSOP-Europe. All U.S. 50 states have had at least one entrant into this year’s WSOP. All ten Canadian provinces have had at least one entrant into this year’s WSOP. International players (non-Americans) make up about 15 percent of the field, in events played so far. Note that this number is expected to grow higher when the Main Event is played next month, which attracts an even greater number of international visitors. It’s important to remember that last year, one international visitor named Peter Eastgate came to the WSOP and won the world title and $9,152,416. The Event #14 winner Brock Parker is to be classified as a pro player. He plays poker full-time, and is a regular on the tournament circuit in Europe. Accordingly, the “Pro-Am” gold bracelet scoreboard (excluding Event #1 – Casino Employees) currently reads: Professionals -- 9 wins (Thang Luu, Steven Sung, Jason Mercier, Phil Ivey, Rami Boukai, Anthony Harb, Ville Wahlbeck, Keven Stammen, Brock Parker) Amateurs -- 3 wins (Freddie Ellis, Ken Aldridge, Travis Johnson) Semi-Pros -- 1 win (Vitaly Lunkin)