Poker Tournament Results

40th World Series of Poker 2009

Richard Austin

Tournament Report

Event Headlines – 1. Richard Austin Wins WSOP Gold Bracelet The Winner • The 2009 World Series of Poker $5,000 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha champion is Richard Austin, from Jeffersonville, IN. IMPORTANT NOTE TO ALL MEDIA/READERS: Following Austin’s victory, he declined to be interviewed. Furthermore, Austin refuses to participate in the traditional WSOP gold bracelet ceremony. This means there will be no gold bracelet ceremony held on Saturday, June 20th. Austin is the first WSOP winner to decline participation in post-tournament activities. All other 34 gold bracelet winners this year have agreed to participate in interviews and festivities. The WSOP Media and Pubic Relations makes every effort to provide as much background information about the winner as possible. However, coverage of this tournament (Event 35) is, by necessity, limited to facts and figures about the event, rather than the winner. • Austin collected $409,484 for first place. He was also awarded his first WSOP gold bracelet. • According to the official records, Austin now has 1 win, 1 final table appearance, and 1 in-the-money finishes at the WSOP. He has $409,484 in career WSOP winnings. Winner Quotes (Richard Austin) – NOTE: The winner refused to be interviewed. The Final Table -- • The final table contained only former WSOP gold bracelet winner – Cliff Josephy (1 win). • The final table included players from five different nations – including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Sweden, and the United States. • The runner up was Sorrel Mizzi, from Toronto, ON (Canada). He has numerous wins and cashes in major events worldwide. However, Mizzi has yet to win a WSOP title. Mizzi now has two runner-up finishes and over $600,000 in WSOP winnings. He picked up $253,048 for second place in this event. • The third-place finisher was Cliff Josephy (a.k.a. “JohnnyBax”), from Syosset, NY. He won his gold bracelet in the $1,500 buy-in Seven-Card Stud event in 2005. Third place paid $166,771. • The fourth-place finisher was Dan Hindin, from Danbury, CT. He is a 24-year-old former trader-turned poker pro. This was his first time to cash in a WSOP event – which paid $116,748. • The fifth-place finisher was Rifat Palevic, from Malmoe, Sweden. He is a 29-year-old poker pro. Palevic won a major event in Prague (Czech Republic) last year. • The sixth-place finisher was Felipe “Mojave” Ramos, from Sao Paulo, Brazil. He is a 26-year-old poker pro. Ramos has cashed in several tournaments on both the Latin American Poker Tour and European Poker Tour. Had Ramos managed to win this event, he would have become only the second South American player in history to win a WSOP gold bracelet. The first (and only) was his fellow countryman Alexandre Gomes, from Brazil, who won in 2008. • The seventh-place finisher was Van Marcus, from Melbourne, Australia. He is a 26-year-old student. Van Marcus won the Asian Pacific Poker Tour Main Event in Manila (Philippines) last year. • The eighth-place finisher was Peter Jetten, from Toronto, ON (Canada). He is a 24-year-old poker pro. Jetten finished as the runner up in last year’s $10,000 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha world championship. • The ninth-place finisher was Samuel Ngai, from Edmonton, AB (Canada). He is a 26-year-old poker pro. In-the-Money Finishers -- • Former WSOP gold bracelet finishers who cashed in this event included – Cliff Josephy, Jeffrey Lisandro, Jesper Hougaard, David “Devilfish” Ulliott, and Ralph Perry. • The defending champion from 2009 was Phil Galfond, from Madison, WI. He entered this event but did not cash. Odds and Ends -- • Turnout for this year’s $5,000 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha championship increased by a whopping 138 percent over last year – the biggest increase for any tournament so far this year. This year, there were 363 entries as opposed to 152 last year. • It should be noted that last year’s $5,000 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha championship included the option for re-buys. There are no re-buy events this year. • This is the 24th of 35 tournaments completed thus far at this year’s WSOP, with more than a $1 million prize pool. • Final table action from start to finish was broadcast live over the Internet. Eight more events are scheduled, which are split between ESPN 360 and Bluff Media. For a complete broadcast schedule of events, go to: http://www.worldseriesofpoker.com/tourney/tourneydetails.asp?groupID=607 The Event -- • The $5,000 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha championship attracted 363 entries. The total prize pool amounted to $1,706,100. The top 36 finishers collected prize money. • The tournament was played over three consecutive days. • The End of Day One chip leader was Jesper Hougaard, from Copenhagen, Denmark. He ended up finishing 23rd. • The chip leader coming into the final table was Cliff Josephy. He ended up taking third place. • Winner Richard Austin came into the final table ranked fourth out of nine players. When play became three-handed, he had both of his opponents covered by about a 2 to 1 margin. • The decisive moment of the tournament took place on the very final hand. In a monstrous three-way pot, with the gold bracelet at stake, Austin got very lucky against both of his opponents who were holding superior cards: AUSTIN: Qh - Js - 8c - 5c MIZZI: As - Ah - 5d - 3d JOSEPHY: Ad - Kh - Ks - 8d Mizzi and Josephy were the early aggressors. Both re-raised enough times to be all-in pre-flop. Austin called the raise with the inferior hand. The flop came: Kc - 9d - 3c Josephy had flopped a monster, with the top set (kings). Mizzi held an overpair (aces). Austin had a flush draw and an inside straight draw. The turn came: 8s The turn gave no improvement to any of the three players, although Josephy was in the lead with a set of kings when the final card was dealt. The river came: 7c The river gave Austin a club-flush. He had both of his opponents covered in chips and therefore won the tournament. • The tournament officially began on Wednesday, June 17th, at 12 noon. The tournament officially ended on Friday, June 19th, at 8:10 pm. WSOP Statistics – • Through the conclusion of Event #35, the 2009 WSOP has attracted 33,533 entries. $60,575,288 in total prize money has been awarded to winners. • Through Event #35 – the nationalities of WSOP gold bracelet winners reads as follows: United States – 25 United Kingdom – 2 Canada – 2 Russian Federation – 1 Finland – 1 Australia – 1 Sweden – 1 Mexico – 1 Note: Last year 19 of the 59 gold bracelet events were won by non-Americans (32 percent). In, 2007, the number was 15 of 55 (29 percent). In 2006, the number was 5 of 45 (11 percent). • Event #35 winner Richard Austin is to be classified as an amateur player. However, it should be noted that little his known about this player. Accordingly, the “Pro-Am” gold bracelet scoreboard (excluding Event #1 – Casino Employees) currently reads: Professionals -- 23 wins (Thang Luu, Steven Sung, Jason Mercier, Phil Ivey-1, Rami Boukai, Anthony Harb, Ville Wahlbeck, Keven Stammen, Brock Parker-1, Jeffrey Lisandro, Daniel Alaei, Brock Parker-2, John-Paul Kelly, Jeff Carris, Nick Schulman, Phil Ivey-2, Pete Vilandos, Tomas Alenius, Roland de Wolfe, J.C. Tran, James Van Alstyne, Angel, Guillen, Greg Mueller, Eric Baldwin) Amateurs -- 6 wins (Freddie Ellis, Ken Aldridge, Travis Johnson, Zac Fellows, Michael Eise, Richard Austin) Semi-Pros -- 4 wins (Vitaly Lunkin, Brian Lemke, Lisa Hamilton, Leo Wolpert) • Nine of the 35 winners this year (26 percent) were previous gold bracelet winners. There have been two double winners in 2009 -- Brock Parker and Phil Ivey. • Through the conclusion of Event 35, the WSOP “Player of the Year” standings reads as follows (with point totals): 255 – Ville Wahlbeck 225 – Phil Ivey 220 – Brock Parker 220 – James Van Alstyne 195 – Roland de Wolfe 175 – Pete “the Greek” Vilandos 175 – Angel Guillen 165 – Daniel Alaei 160 – Steve Sung 155 – Daniel Negreanu 150 – Rami Boukai