Poker Tournament Results

40th World Series of Poker 2009

Brian Lemke

Tournament Report

Tournament Highlights: Event Headlines 1. Brian Lemke Wins First WSOP Gold Bracelet and $692,690 in Prize Money 2. One of the Youngest Final Tables in History Competes in 2009 WSOP Event #15 – Average Age of Nine Finalists is 24.8 Years 3. Brian Lemke Dedicates WSOP Win to His Late Cousin, Justin Shronk The Winner -- The 2009 World Series of Poker $5,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em champion is Brian Lemke, from Norristown, PA which is located in the Philadelphia area. Lemke is 32-years-old and is self-employed. He has previous performed various odd jobs, most notably a bartender. He is a part-time pro, who plays mostly online. Prior to this victory, Lemke’s biggest live poker win was about $8,000. He won about 80 times that amount in this tournament. Lemke was emotional following his victory. At the table, he wore a shirt in tribute to his late cousin – Justin Shronk – who sadly passed away at the age of 27 on April 22, 2009. Shronk was a producer for the poker radio show “Poker Road.” Lemke dedicated his win to Justin Shronk. On his shirt was written: “No matter how long we live and breath, and whether or not we remember the name JUSTIN, we will never ever forget the force of nature that was SHRONK.” “We always used to talk poker. When (Shronk) moved out here to Las Vegas to take the gig with Poker Road, he was going to show me around. But I never got to take advantage of that,” Lemke said. “I know he is up there looking down now. He should have been right here with me.” He was with me the whole time – the entire time. I know he brought that queen for me,” Lemke said, referring to the winning card on the final hand of the tournament. “It was a much tougher field than I am used to playing in,” Lemke observed when discussing the large number of entries and challenging competition. “I miss him and that bracelet is dedicated to him, my family, my grandma, and his mom,” Lemke said. “I still can’t believe this happened,” he said. “I envisioned this happening, but right now I feel like I am still….I’m sure it is going to settle in when I walk out of here.” Lemke commented that his final opponent, Fabian Quoss is a great player. Lemke stated he sat with Quoss during much of the later stages of the tournament and developed a healthy respect for his adversary. “I kind of feel bad for sucking out on him,” Lemke said. “But that’s poker – I’ll take it.” Note: Lemke caught a three-outer on the final hand of the night. Lemke collected $692,690 for first place. He was also awarded his first WSOP gold bracelet. Lemke stated that he plans to invest his winnings, via conventional financial means. He also stated that he plans to move to Las Vegas and will use some of the fund to move and perhaps buy a home. Prior to victory, Lemke had been looking at places to live in Las Vegas. Lemke was cheered on to victory by about a dozen friends, all dedicate poker player. He stated that he learned a great amount about skills from his friends, especially Mark Hern. “This win is theirs, too,” he said. Lemke has a ten-year-old son, which he supports. According to the official records, Lemke now has 1 win, 1 final table appearances, and 1 in-the-money finishes at the WSOP. This was his first time to cash. The Final Table -- The final table contained two former WSOP gold bracelet winners – David “the Dragon” Pham (2 wins) and Thomas “Thunder” Keller (1 win). Poker is for players of all ages. But this was quite possibly the youngest final table composition in WSOP history. Here are the ages of the nine finalists – 21, 21, 22, 22, 25, 26, 27, 28, and 32. The oldest player at the table, Lemke (32), ended up winning. The runner up was Fabian Quoss, from Nuremberg, Germany. He is a 27-year-old student. The third-place finisher was Thomas “Thunder” Keller, from Scottsdale, AZ. Once the top cash-game player in Arizona, Keller won his gold bracelet back in 2004, the last year the WSOP was played at Binion’s Horseshoe. The fourth-place finisher was Mike Sowers, from Thomasville, NC. This was his second time to make a WSOP final table. He finished 8th in last year’s Pot-Limit Hold’em world championship. The fifth-place finisher was Lika Gerasimova, from Yakutiya Suntar, Russia. Gerasimova is another top player from what is indisputably one of the world’s hottest poker markets – Russia. The sixth-place finisher was Danny Illingworth, from San Diego, CA. This was Illingworth’s first live tournament since turning age 21. The seventh-place finisher was Isaac Baron from Menlo Park, CA. He is another 21-year-old poker player. Baron made it to the final table of last year’s European Poker Tour championship in Monte Carlo. The eighth-place finisher was Billy Kopp, from Erlanger, KY. He is a 22-year-old student at the University of Kentucky who did very well at last month’s WSOP Circuit series at Harrah’s New Orleans. The ninth-place finisher was Christian Iacobellis, from Rye, NY. The defending champion from 2008 was Scott Seiver, from Cold Springs Harbor, NY. He entered this year’s tournament but did not cash. Other In-the-Money Finishers -- Other former WSOP gold bracelet finishers who cashed in this event included – Erik Seidel, Nenad Medic, Hasan Habib, David “the Dragon” Pham, Dan Heimiller, and Kathy Liebert. With this cash, Erik Seidel now has 53 in-the-money finishes, which ranks seventh on the all-time list. Tony Cousineau cashed in this event (44th). He now holds the somewhat dubious record – albeit one that many players would envy -- as the player who has cashed the most times without ever winning a WSOP gold bracelet, with 36. Odds and Ends -- 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 $5,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em event attracted 655 entrants. This created a prize pool totaling $3,078,500. The top 63 finishers collected prize money. The chip leader at the end of Day One was Calixo Clemenceau, from Aritiba, Puerto Rico. He ended up cashing in 61st place. When heads-up play began, Fabian Quoss enjoyed slightly greater than a 4 to 1 chip lead over Brian Lemke. But during the match, Lemke became the aggressor and gradually chipped away at his opponent. Quoss was clearly unlucky on what turned out to be the final hand of the night. When the final hand was dealt, the players were close to even in chips, with Lemke holding the advantage. The final hand of the tournament came when all the money went into the pot pre-flop. Quoss had A-Q. Lemke had A-8. Lemke appeared to be in big trouble, but managed to hit a three-outer on the turn to make a straight. The final board showed J-10-9-Q-x, giving Quoss top pair, but Lemke the straight. The tournament officially began on Saturday, June 6th, at 12 noon. The tournament officially ended on Tuesday, June 9, at 2:30 am. WSOP Statistics -- Through the conclusion of Event #16, the 2009 WSOP has attracted 18,113 entries. $35,914,460 in total prize money has been awarded to winners. Through Event #16 -- thirteen Americans have won gold bracelets. One Russian player has won. One Finnish player has won. One Australian player has won.* Note: Last year 16 of the 55 gold bracelet events were won by non-Americans (29 percent). This number increased to 19 of 59 events (32 percent), counting the four gold bracelet tournaments played at WSOP-Europe. *Note above that Jeffrey Lisandro is to be classified as an Australian. He specifically chose the Australian national anthem to be played at his gold bracelet ceremony. Lisandro could have alternatively chosen to be identified as an Italian player, but Australia will get the gold bracelet victory. 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. Event #15 winner Brian Lemke is to be classified as a semi-pro player. He plays poker part-time and makes extra income (which will likely become full-time following this win). Accordingly, the “Pro-Am” gold bracelet scoreboard (excluding Event #1 – Casino Employees) currently reads: Professionals -- 10 wins (Thang Luu, Steven Sung, Jason Mercier, Phil Ivey, Rami Boukai, Anthony Harb, Ville Wahlbeck, Keven Stammen, Brock Parker, Jeffrey Lisandro) Amateurs -- 3 wins (Freddie Ellis, Ken Aldridge, Travis Johnson) Semi-Pros -- 2 wins (Vitaly Lunkin. Brian Lemke) Four of the 16 winners this year (25 percent) were previous winners.