Poker Tournament Results

40th World Series of Poker 2009

Brock Parker

Tournament Report

Tournament Highlights: Event Headlines – 1. Brock Parker Wins His Second WSOP Gold Bracelet This Year 2. Parker Crowned King of Six-Handed Hold’em – With Two Wins in Short-Handed Variant 3. 2009 WSOP Produces Repeat Winner – Again (Last Non-Duel Win Year at WSOP Was Ten Years Ago) The Winner -- The 2009 World Series of Poker $2,500 buy-in Six-Handed No-Limit Hold’em champion 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 young 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 $552,745 for first place. He was also awarded his second WSOP gold bracelet. According to the official records, Parker now has 2 wins, 4 final table appearances, and 13 in-the-money finishes at the WSOP. Parker currently has $1,041,050 in WSOP winnings. With this victory, Parker becomes the 125th player in history to achieve $1 million in winnings at the WSOP. Winner Quotes -- On winning gold bracelet number 2: “I can’t describe this. This is just unreal. It actually does not feel real to me.” On why he’s so successful at Six-Handed poker: “I like to play more hands. Playing nine-handed is pretty boring. I guess Six-Handed gets more motivated because I get to play in a lot of pots.” On the difference between Six-Handed poker and the conventional nine-handed game: “It’s more fun. It’s more enjoyable to mix it up and play in more pots. On what’s he’s being doing since his first gold bracelet victory four days ago: “I played this tournament. That’s it. I went out and I ate and went home and tried to sleep – and I couldn’t. So, I woke up with no sleep and played this tournament. Then, it was until 1 am the first day and until 3 am the second day….I haven’t had much time to do much else other than sleep and play poker.” On the advantages of immediately coming off a victory and playing in the next event: I don’t know if people are afraid, but they think I’m running good. They want to say out of my way and that helps with my confidence and lets me pull off things I might not (otherwise) pull. I get to go with my gut a little bit more.” On plans to play tomorrow and beyond: “I’m probably going to play the next tournament. I can’t ‘not’ do it, especially now.” On his current status as the leader in the 2009 WSOP “Player of the Year” standings: “I’m excited for ‘Player of the Year.’ I want to try for that, for sure. Especially now that they are making a big deal out of it.” On being able to maintain focus: “I started to think about (the bracelet and the money) a little bit. But I push it out of my head. I was worried I might get too caught up in it. But the hands keep coming. If you keep getting hands -- that is enough pressure, because you have to play to win every pot.” The Final Table -- The final table contained only one former WSOP gold bracelet winner – Brock Parker (1 win). Five of the top six finishers in this event were age 23 or under. The senior finalist was 33-year-old Jesse Rios. The runner up was Joe Serock, from San Francisco, CA. He finished 11th in the $10,000 buy-in Mixed Games World Championship last week. The third-place finisher was Russell Crane, from Howell, NJ. The fourth-place finisher was Jesse Rios, from Salida, CA. This was Rios fourth time to cash at this year’s WSOP, which ties him among several other players at the moment. The fifth-place finisher was Alex Wilson, from New Haven, CT. He is an online pro, making his first WSOP cash. The sixth-place finisher was Clayton Newman, from Athens. GA. He cashed in last year’s WSOP Main Event. This was his first final table appearance. The defending champion from 2008 was Dario Minieri, from Rome, Italy. 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 – Men “the Master” Nguyen (16th), Blair Hinkle (26th), Erick Lindgren (29th), Howard Lederer (30th), Bill Edler (49th), and Layne Flack 68th). Men “the Master” Nguyen now ranks second on the all-time WSOP cashes list – with 60. He remains ten cashes behind the all-time leader Phil Hellmuth, with 70. Tony Cousineau, from Daytona Beach, FL cashed for the third time at this year’s WSOP. Cousineau holds an enviable, yet frustrating record as the player with the most cashes in WSOP history without winning a gold bracelet – which now stands at 37. Cousineau noted that he went bust with pocket kings twice on the same day (this tournament, followed by the $3,000 buy-in HORSE event), each time losing to four-of-a-kind. “That’s never happened before,” Cousineau complained to anyone who would listen. Odds and Ends -- Attendance increased in this event by 5 percent over last year, when there were 1,102 entrants. This was the third of four Six-Handed Hold’em tournaments on the 2009 WSOP schedule. Six-Handed tournaments are not commonly offered at most casinos. The reason is simple. The tournaments require just as many tables, dealers, and resources as a standard nine-handed event. But in Six-Handed tournaments, the number of players (and takeout) is reduced by a third. The WSOP believes the game merits gold bracelet status to the point where four Six-Handed Hold’em tournaments are on this year’s WSOP schedule. Ken Aldridge won the first Six-Handed tournament on this year’s schedule (Event 9). He did not enter this event. Six-Handed Hold'em emphasizes short-handed poker skills. Rather than a full table 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-hand requirements. It also makes post-flop skill paramount to victory. The game is included on the WSOP schedule in an effort to test as diverse a range of poker skills as possible. Six-Handed No-Limit Hold'em made its WSOP debut in 2005. Three Six-Handed events were included on the 2006 schedule. Last year, there was only one Six-Handed event. Former champions from these events include Isaac "The General" Galazan, Dutch Boyd, Bill Chen, Jeff Madsen, Jason Warner, and Ralph E. Porter. 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, was dark as this was one of the few days with just one final table. Most days at the WSOP this year will include two final tables. Bluff Media and ESPN 360 featured the final table on its Internet 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 $2,500 buy-in Six-Handed No-Limit Hold’em championship attracted 1,068 entries. The total prize pool amounted to $2,456,400. The top 108 finishers collected prize money. The chip leader at the end of Day One was Brett Switzer, from Athens, GA. He ended up finishing in 23rd place. The chip leader coming into the final table was Joe Serock, who ended up finishing second. The final table lasted about eight hours. This was one of the longer short-handed finales on record. Brock Parker was second in chips during most of the finale, never overcoming Joe Serock’s chip lead until the final stages of the event. When heads-up play began, Joe Serock enjoyed a 2 to 1 chip advantage over Brock Parker. However, both players, and the audience, sensed it would be a tough battle. Parker seized control early by winning a few key posts and drew to close to even. Then, about 20 hands into the face off, Parker seized the chip lead for the first time. About one hour in the duel, the chip stacks were nearly dead even. Parker’s dominance continued for another 15 minutes and he stood at 3 to 1 over Serock when the final hand was dealt. The final hand of the tournament came when Serock was dealt 10-10 and moved all-in. Parker called and tabled Q-Q. The bigger pair held up and Parker on the tournament. The tournament officially began on Sunday, June 8th, at 12 noon. The tournament officially ended on Wednesday, June 10th, at 11:35 pm. WSOP Statistics -- Through the conclusion of Event #19, the 2009 WSOP has attracted 20,420 entries. $41,018,060 in total prize money has been awarded to winners. Through Event #19 -- sixteen 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. When it comes to ratio of players to wins and cashes, Finland appears to be winning the international race. Russia is a close second. Consider that 14 players from Finland have registered for events played thus far. Six have cashed and one player won. Among Russians, 42 players have entered to date, and 16 have cashed, with one victory. Contrast this with the United States, which has produced 10,344 entries, with 1,691 cashes and 15 wins. This breaks down as follows: Six percent of the Finnish players at this WSOP have won a gold bracelet. 43 percent of the Finnish players at this WSOP have cashed. 2 percent of the Russian players have won gold bracelets, but 38 percent have cashed. By contrast, .001 percent of American players have won gold bracelets and 16 percent have cashed. Among U.S. states, California leads all the major categories (wins, cashes, money won), with Nevada a close second. Event #19 winner Brock Parker is to be classified as a professional player. He plays full-time. Accordingly, the “Pro-Am” gold bracelet scoreboard (excluding Event #1 – Casino Employees) currently reads: Professionals -- 12 wins (Thang Luu, Steven Sung, Jason Mercier, Phil Ivey, Rami Boukai, Anthony Harb, Ville Wahlbeck, Keven Stammen, Brock Parker, Jeffrey Lisandro, Daniel Alaei, Brock Parker) Amateurs -- 3 wins (Freddie Ellis, Ken Aldridge, Travis Johnson) Semi-Pros -- 3 wins (Vitaly Lunkin. Brian Lemke, Lisa Hamilton) Six of the 18 winners this year (33 percent) were previous gold bracelet winners. In the WSOP “Player of the Year” standings, Ville Wahlbeck (Helsinki, Finland) was the leader coming into this event. But Brock Parker will undoubtedly take the top spot when points are retabulated. Daniel Negreanu (Las Vegas, NV) remains within striking distance. John Monnette and Jeffrey Lisandro are also very much in the running.