Poker Tournament Results

40th World Series of Poker 2009

Peter Traply

Tournament Report

Tournament Highlights: Event Headlines – 1. Peter Traply Wins First WSOP Gold Bracelet 2. Traply Becomes the First Hungarian Player in History to Win a WSOP Gold Bracelet 3. Young Guns: No-Limit Hold’em Shootout Draws Youngest Final Table Ever – Players’ Ages Range from 21 to 24 The Winner -- The 2009 World Series of Poker $5,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em Shootout champion is Peter Traply, from Budapest, Hungary. Traply is a 22-year-old professional poker player. Traply earned his college degree in communications. He decided to play poker for a time before deciding on what career he wishes to pursue. Traply is fluent in Hungarian. He speaks English well. Prior to this victory, Traply’s biggest successes took place in Europe. He made it to the final table of the European Poker Tour championship at Monte Carlo earlier this year. He finished in eighth place. Traply’s eighth-place showing at EPT Monte Carlo was a disappointment. He vowed to improve his game and perform better at the next opportunity. That objective was accomplished here, some three months after the frustration in Monte Carlo. Traply collected $348,755 for first place. He was also awarded his first WSOP gold bracelet. According to official records, Traply now has 1 wins, 1 final table appearance, and 2 in-the-money finishes at the WSOP. Traply’s other cash was in the 2008 WSOP Main Event (188th place). Traply endured a tough WSOP prior to his victory. He played in every No-Limit Hold’em event (except the $40,000 buy-in championship). Tarply did not cash a single time at this year’s World Series, prior to this victory. Traply becomes the first Hungarian WSOP champion in history. The best previous finish by a Hungarian player was Richard Toth, who finished second in 2006. Winner Quotes (Peter Traply) – On the Hungarian poker scene: “In Hungary, the poker is growing very fast. There is a poker boom right now. And, I think it will be bigger after I won my bracelet.” More on Hungarian poker: “There are a lot of good online players in Hungary.” On the numbers of Hungarians who come to play in the WSOP: “This year, there are about 30 or so players who have come to play in the World Series. Many of them are my friends and they were cheering for me.” On winning his first WSOP gold bracelet: “It’s amazing. I am really, really happy. This is one of my poker dreams and it came true.” On failing to cash several times before winning big: “I played every single No-Limit Hold’em event (except the $40K). I didn’t manage one single cash. I ran really bad. But, I guess I can’t complain now.” On being the first Hungarian to win at the WSOP and his expectations back home. “I think I will be a national hero, or something.” The Final Table -- The final table contained no former WSOP gold bracelet winners. This was the 13th of 41 finales held this year with no former winners -- which guaranteed a first-time champion. This was the youngest final table composition in the 40-year history of the WSOP. The player ages were – 21, 21, 22, 23, and 24. There were players from four different nations represented at the final table – including Hungary, Germany, Russia, and the United States. The runner up was Andrew Lichtenberger, from East Northport, NY The third-place finisher was Max Lykov, from Moscow, Russia. The fourth-place finisher was Danny Wong, from Las Vegas, NV. The fifth-place finisher was Nasr El Nasr, from Berlin, Germany. In-the-Money Finishers -- The defending champion was Philip Tom, from Las Vegas, NV. He entered this tournament but did not cash. Odds and Ends -- A “Shootout” means the objective is to win all the chips at a table in order to advance to the next round. On Day One, the tournament began with 280 players competing in what amounted to a nine- and ten-handed Sit n' Go (tables varied due to the odd number of players). One player from each table (the winner) progressed to play in the second round. On Day Two, those 30 winners were divided into six tables, each playing a five-handed Sit n' Go. The six winners from the second round progressed to Day Three to take seats at the final table -- which was played five-handed. Essentially, the winner of the tournament was required to win three consecutive Sit n' Go rounds. Players who won the first round were guaranteed prize money. Players who won the first and second round won the top five spots and made it to the final table. The player who won three rounds won the gold bracelet. Shootouts emphasize short-handed poker skills. 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. In a sense, each round is a “final table” for all the competitors since the objective is to accumulate chips and eliminate opponents. This is the 28th of 41 tournaments completed thus far at this year’s WSOP, with more than a $1 million prize pool. Given the international composition of the final table, there were large crowds of supporters of players from various nations. Constant chanting and cheering was reminiscent of a European soccer match, rather than a poker game. The final table was played on ESPN’s main stage. Coverage was broadcast live over the Internet. Four 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. Peter Tarply will have the Hungarian National Anthem played at his WSOP gold bracelet ceremony. Shootout Leaders (WSOP History) -- The players with the most WSOP gold bracelets (wins) in Omaha events (all variations) are – T.J. Cloutier, Scotty Nguyen, and Phil Ivey (tie), currently with 3. The player with the most lifetime WSOP cashes in Omaha events (all variations) is Brent Carter, currently with 21. The players with the most WSOP gold bracelets (wins) in Pot-Limit Omaha are – “Amarillo Slim” Preston, Johnny Chan, and Phil Ivey (tie), currently with 2. The player with the most lifetime WSOP cashes in Pot-Limit Omaha is Chau Giang, currently 16. The Event -- The $5,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em Shootout attracted 280 entries. The total prize pool amounted to $1,316,000. The top 30 finishers collected prize money. The tournament was played over three consecutive days. The final table lasted about five hours. Tarply was cheered to victory by about a dozen Hungarian supporters, chanting songs and slogans in their native language. Some of the Hungarians were poker players and others were visiting Las Vegas and heard about a Hungarian at the final table and decided to come and watch the finale. When Tarply won, he was draped by a Hungarian flag with the national colors, red, green and white. The tournament officially began on Sunday, June 21st, at 12 noon. The tournament officially ended on Tuesday, June 23rd, at 7:45 pm. WSOP Statistics – Through the conclusion of Event #41, the 2009 WSOP has attracted 40,195 entries. $81,916,582 in total prize money has been awarded to winners. Through Event #41 – the nationalities of WSOP gold bracelet winners reads as follows: United States – 27 United Kingdom – 2 Canada – 2 Russian Federation – 1 Finland – 1 Australia – 1 Sweden – 1 Mexico – 1 Italy – 1 Holland – 1 Hungary – 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 #41 winner Peter Traply is to be classified as a professional player. Accordingly, the “Pro-Am” gold bracelet scoreboard (excluding Event #1 – Casino Employees) currently reads: Professionals -- 28 wins (Thang Luu, Steven Sung, Jason Mercier, Phil Ivey-1, Rami Boukai, Anthony Harb, Ville Wahlbeck, Keven Stammen, Brock Parker-1, Jeffrey Lisandro- 1, 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, Jordan Smith, Jeffrey Lisandro-2, Marc Naalden, Matt Graham, Peter Traply) Amateurs -- 6 wins (Freddie Ellis, Ken Aldridge, Travis Johnson, Zac Fellows, Michael Eise, Richard Austin) Semi-Pros -- 5 wins (Vitaly Lunkin, Brian Lemke, Lisa Hamilton, Leo Wolpert, Ray Foley) Eleven of the 41 winners this year (26 percent) were previous gold bracelet winners. There have been three double winners in 2009 -- Brock Parker, Phil Ivey, and Jeffrey Lisandro. Through the conclusion of Event 40 , the WSOP “Player of the Year” standings reads as follows (with point totals): 255 – Ville Wahlbeck 255 – Jeffrey Lisandro 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 165 – Daniel Negreanu