Poker Tournament Results

40th World Series of Poker 2009

Daniel Alaei

Tournament Report

Tournament Highlights: Event Headlines – 1. Poker Pro Daniel Alaei Wins Second Gold Bracelet and 2009 Omaha High-Low Split World Championship 2. Greg Jamison Makes Final Table of Omaha High-Low Split World Championship Third Consecutive Year 3. Final Table Features Four Former WSOP Gold Bracelet Winners The Winner -- The 2009 World Series of Poker Omaha High-Low Split champion is Daniel Alaei, from Los Angeles, CA. Alaei is a 26-year-old professional poker player. He has more than $2.5 million in career tournament earnings, and more earnings in high-limit cash games. Alaei is perhaps best well known for his many appearances on popular television shows which feature cash game action, including the first three seasons of “High Stakes Poker.” Alaei is a big believer in mind over matter. He is an avid reader, enjoys mentally-stimulating games, and likes to pursue new challenges. Alaei says his parents are his heroes. He credits his mother for inspiring him to do better and admired his father for overcoming obstacles. Alaei believes in behaving properly at the poker table at all times. He does not like or engage in theatrics. While at the table, Alaei usually wears thick black designer sunglasses and a military-style cap. “In the poker world, bracelets are like trophies,” Alaei said afterward. “So, it is good to win. Now, I want a third bracelet. Before, I wanted number two. And now, I want number three.” Alaei’s first gold bracelet victory came in the Deuce-to-Seven Lowball event at the 2006 WSOP, at which he won a nearly identical sum of money ($430,000). Yet that competition was quite different as it ended very late in the night and was played in front of few people who remember the victory. That night, Alaei defeated David Williams in heads-up play, earning his victory. By contrast, this event was televised over the Internet, which was watched by thousands of viewers, and was played in front of a capacity crowd at the Rio. “At my last win, it was so late and we were so tired. This is very different. We played until five in the morning. It was really grueling. At the end of it, I just wanted to go to sleep. But tonight, I might go out and have some dinner and drinks. Then, I come back tomorrow. There’s another tournament tomorrow,” Alaei said. “I do not play too much limit (poker),” Alaei said. “I mostly play No-Limit and Pot-Limit.” “Everybody at the final table is a great player,” Alaei stated. “Everybody here played good. This is a big buy-in event with a smaller field, so there just aren’t many bad players. No one was giving anything away. Everyone was playing their best.” Alaei collected $445,898 for first place. He was also awarded his second WSOP gold bracelet. While the large crowd gathered primarily to cheer for well-known superstars Daniel Negreanu or Annie Duke, Alaei was cheered on to victory by several friends, including Erick Lindgren. According to the official records, Alaei now has 2 wins, 2 final table appearances, and 17 in-the-money finishes at the WSOP. Alaei has cashed in the WSOP Main Event twice, in 2004 and 2005. Remarkably, although Alaei has only made two WSOP final tables, he has won them both. With this victory, Alaei becomes the 124th player in history to achieve $1 million in winnings at the WSOP. The Final Table -- The final table contained four former WSOP gold bracelet winners – including Daniel Negreanu (4 wins), Scott Clements (2 wins), Annie Duke (1 win), and Daniel Alaei (1 win). Greg Jamison’s achievement in this tournament merits special mention. He finished sixth. Jamison has now made the final table of this event three consecutive years. He finished second last year and was fifth in 2007. This rivals Thang Luu’s remarkable achievement earlier this year, when he made his third straight final table in the $1,500 Omaha High-Low event. The runner up was Scott Clements, From Mt. Vernon, WA. Clements is an Omaha High-Low specialist. He won his two gold bracelets in Omaha High-Low Split (in 2006 and 2007). Had Clements won this event, he would have become the first player in history to wins three Omaha High-Low Split titles. The third-place finisher was Ben Boyd, from Los Angeles, CA. This was his second time to cash at the WSOP, after making the money in a 2006 event. The fourth-place finisher was Daniel Negreanu, from Las Vegas, NV. The Canadian-born poker superstar appeared primed to win gold bracelet number five, a victory which would have been made all the sweeter due to his second-place finish in another tournament just four days ago. But Negreanu went low on chips late and ended up with an admirable, yet disappointing exit. The fifth-place finisher was John Monnette, from Palmdale, CA. Less than a week ago, Monnette finished second to Phil Ivey in the No-Limit Deuce-to-Seven World Championship. The sixth-place finisher was Greg Jamison, from Las Vegas, NV. In addition to the three consecutive Omaha High-Low Split championship final tables, he also cashed in last year’s WSOP Main Event, finishing 248th. The seventh-place finisher was Thomas Koral, from Skokie, IL. He has been playing professionally for about four years. This was Koral’s second WSOP final table appearance. The eighth-place finisher was Annie Duke, from Los Angeles, CA. The poker celebrity won her WSOP gold bracelet playing Omaha High-Low Split in 2004. She ranks first among women on the all-time cashes list in WSOP history. Duke also cashed in the previous Omaha High-Low Split event, which concluded last week. The ninth-place finisher was Yueqi “Rich” Zhu, from Rowland Heights, CA. This was his fourth WSOP final table appearance and 21st time to cash at the WSOP. The defending champion from 2008 was David Benyamine, from Paris, France (also Las Vegas, NV). He entered this tournament, but did not cash. Other In-the-Money Finishers -- Other former WSOP gold bracelet finishers who cashed in this event included – Ville Wahlbeck (13th), Ted Lawson (15th), Toto Leonidas (17th), and Alex Kravchenko (18th). Daniel Negreanu now ranks 29th on the all-time WSOP cashes list – with 37. He has now cashed four times at this year’s WSOP and has made two final tables. Annie Duke currently ranks 30th on the all-time WSOP cashes list – with 35. Odds and Ends -- The tournament was played over three consecutive days. On Day Three, the final table was dealt out on ESPN’s feature table. The secondary table, located nearby, hosted the other finale played on the same day, which was the Ladies World Poker Championship. Most days at the WSOP this year will include two final tables. This was the second-largest Omaha High-Low Split prize pool in poker history. In fact, only two previous events had ever surpassed the million-dollar mark -- the $5,000 buy-in championship held at the 2006 WSOP and the $10,000 buy-in championship last year. In 1983, the fist Omaha-High tournament was introduced at the WSOP. The first Omaha High-Low Split tournament was played in 1990. During the 1990s, the WSOP schedule included both Omaha-High and Pot-Limit Omaha events. Since then, Omaha-High has gradually faded in popularity (the game was removed from the WSOP schedule after 2003), while Omaha High-Low Split continues to generate a steady following. Only four players in WSOP history have won two gold bracelets in Omaha High-Low Split. They are Thang Luu, Scott Clements, Scotty Nguyen, and Chris “Jesus” Ferguson. Brent Carter and Berry Johnston are currently tied for the lead in the “Most Omaha Cashes” category in WSOP history – with 20. Omaha High-Low Split is also sometimes called “Omaha Eight-or-Better,” because the low hand must qualify with a rank of eight or lower. This is the second of three Omaha High-Low Split events on the 2009 WSOP schedule. However, Omaha is also included in the rotation of several mixed-game categories. All 57 tournaments on the 2009 WSOP schedule (plus WSOP-Europe) are categorized as “gold bracelet” events. However, this is also known as a World Championship event. This means the winner of this event is the Omaha High-Low Split world champion. Starting last year, all $10,000+ buy-in tournaments were designated as official World Championships. Omaha High-Low Split is typically not broadcast on television. The game is difficult to televise and follow (for most viewers). However, given the star-studded finale, an exception was made as Bluff Media and ESPN 360 decided to feature the Omaha finale on the live online broadcast. Twenty more events are scheduled, which are split between ESPN 360 and Bluff Media. For a complete broadcast schedule of all events, go to: http://www.worldseriesofpoker.com/tourney/tourneydetails.asp?groupID=607 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 $10,000 buy-in Omaha High-Low World Championship attracted 179 entries. The total prize pool amounted to $1,682,600. The top 18 finishers collected prize money. The chip leader at the end of Day One was two-time gold bracelet winner Chris Bjorin, from London, England. He ended up crashing on the bubble, just one spot out of the money. The chip leader coming into the final table was Scott Clements. He ended up finishing in second place. He was the chip leader about 75 percent of the duration of the final table. The final table lasted about six hours. Alaei was an average stack during most of the play. He stated his intent was to stay patient and not take too many risks early. Then, when Alaei managed to get a nice rush of cards, he accumulated chips quickly and coasted to victory. When heads-up play began, Alaei enjoyed a decisive 8 to 1 chip advantage over Scott Clements. It took only two hands for the tournament to end. “Once you get a big chip lead, it’s hard for them to get it away from you,” Alaei stated following the win. The final hand of the tournament came when Alaei was dealt A-K-K-4 versus Clements’ A-5-3-2. The final board showed Q-9-7-10-K, giving Alaei three kings and the win. The tournament officially began on Sunday, June 7th, at 5 pm. The tournament officially ended on Tuesday, June 9, at 11:05 pm. WSOP Statistics -- Through the conclusion of Event #18, the 2009 WSOP has attracted 19,352 entries. $38,561,660 in total prize money has been awarded to winners. Through Event #18 -- fifteen 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. Event #18 winner Daniel Alaei is to be classified as a professional player. He plays full-time and is a regular on the tournament circuit. Accordingly, the “Pro-Am” gold bracelet scoreboard (excluding Event #1 – Casino Employees) currently reads: Professionals -- 11 wins (Thang Luu, Steven Sung, Jason Mercier, Phil Ivey, Rami Boukai, Anthony Harb, Ville Wahlbeck, Keven Stammen, Brock Parker, Jeffrey Lisandro, Daniel Alaei) Amateurs -- 3 wins (Freddie Ellis, Ken Aldridge, Travis Johnson) Semi-Pros -- 3 wins (Vitaly Lunkin. Brian Lemke, Lisa Hamilton) Five of the 18 winners this year (28 percent) were previous gold bracelet winners.