Poker Tournament Results

40th World Series of Poker 2009

Last Name, First Name City State/Country Chip Count Table Seat 1 Habbak, Jesse Grand Forks ND 2.750.000 B1 1 2 Tavelli, Ian Santa Rosa CA 4.385.000 B1 2 3 Calderaro, James Venice FL 6.475.000 B1 3 4 Tamayo, Jonathan Humble TX 3.300.000 B1 4 5 Zackey, Warren Honeydew South Africa 5.485.000 B1 5 6 Buchman, Eric Valley Stream NY 10.005.000 B1 6 7 Margets, Leo Barcelona Spain 1.530.000 B1 7 8 Vedes, Tommy Queens NY 5.070.000 B1 8 9 Akenhead, James London United Kingdom 8.615.000 B1 9 10 Ivey, Phil Las Vegas NV 11.350.000 B2 1 11 Shulman, Jeff Las Vegas NV 10.170.000 B2 2 12 Caragiorgas, George Laval QC, Canada 1.615.000 B2 3 13 Maimone, Nick Charlotte NC 1.545.000 B2 4 14 Lichtenberger, Andrew East Northport NY 5.625.000 B2 5 15 Mattes, Marco Weinsheim Germany 5.285.000 B2 6 16 Cada, Joseph Shelby Township MI 6.565.000 B2 7 17 Moon, Darvin Oakland MD 20.160.000 B2 8 18 Smith, Jordan College Station TX 4.510.000 B2 9 19 Robbins, Jamie San Diego CA 9.795.000 B3 1 20 Esfandiari, Antonio Las Vegas NV 4.470.000 B3 2 21 Balmigere, Francois Toulouse France 1.440.000 B3 3 22 Ludovic, Lacay Paris France 5.610.000 B3 4 23 Begleiter, Steven Chappaqua NY 11.885.000 B3 5 24 Lamb, Ben Las Vegas NV 9.410.000 B3 6 25 Saout, Antoine Saimr Martin des Champs France 11.135.000 B3 7 26 Schaffel, Kevin Coral Springs FL 11.245.000 B3 8 27 Kopp, Billy Erlanger KY 15.970.000 B3 9 Tournament Highlights: Day 7 Headlines 1. World Series of Poker Continues – Down to 27 Players in the Main Event 2. And on the Eighth Day – Darvin Moon Retains His Chip Lead 3. Logger from Western Maryland Still Atop the WSOP Leaderboard – Darvin Moon Primed to Become the next Moneymaker 4. Seven-Time Gold Bracelet Winner Phil Ivey (Las Vegas, NV) Currently in Fourth Place The day played all the way down to three tables. All 64 players who started play on Day 7 were already guaranteed $90,344 in prize money. Now, after 12 days and 60 total hours of tournament play, all finishers are guaranteed at least $352,832 in prize money. -- Day 7 began with 64 players. The day ended with 27 survivors. -- Tables are usually played nine handed. Three tables remain. -- This was the 47th day of the 2009 WSOP. Play continues for one more day, plus the finale to be played in November. There will also be four gold bracelet events played at WSOP-Europe, to be held in London in September. -- Tomorrow (Wednesday) begins at noon and will play down to nine players, which constitutes the final table. This year’s final table will make up the 2009 “November Nine.” Following tomorrow’s play down to nine players, the tournament takes a 115-day recess. -- Play on Day 7 began on July 14, 2009 at 12:05 pm. Play on Day 7 -- Following 2009 WSOP champion Peter Eastgate’s elimination in Day 6, no more former world champions remain alive in the Main Event. -- At the start of play on Day 7, six former WSOP gold bracelet winners were still alive in the Main Event. They included: Phil Ivey (7 wins), Tom Schneider (2 wins), Antonio Esfandiari (1 win), Blair Rodman (1 win), Jordan Smith (1 win), and Prahlad Friedman (1 win). -- Players competed for nearly four complete levels. Play ended towards the end of Level 29. There are 7 minutes 17 seconds remaining. Next, at Level 30, blinds will be 50,000-100,000 with a 10,000 ante. The average stack size is currently 7,215,556. -- Day 7 started with a field of 64 players and ended with 27 survivors. This means only about .41 percent of the original 6,494 starters survived past the seventh day. -- Only one female started the day still in contention. Leo Margets (Barcelona, Spain) began play ranked in 18th place. She survived and is currently in 26th place. Margets will need to make a big move on Day 8 to make the November Nine. Only one female in history has made it to a Main Event final table – Barbara Enright in 1995. -- Former gold bracelet winner Blair Rodman, from Rancho Mirage, CA was eliminated in 34th place. -- Dennis Phillips (St. Louis, MO) who finished third in last year’s Main Event, was eliminated in 45th place. -- 2007 WSOP “Player of the Year” and two-time gold bracelet winner Tom Schneider, from Scottsdale, AZ was eliminated in 52nd place. -- Former gold bracelet winner Prahlad Friedman (2003, $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold’em), from Malibu, CA was eliminated in 64th place. -- Players who survived Day 7 will return to continue their quest for the 2009 world poker championship gold bracelet and $8.5 million in first-place prize money on July 15th, starting at noon. -- Seven-time WSOP gold bracelet winner Phil Ivey remains in contention, currently ranked in fourth place. -- Card Player magazine editor Jeff Shulman remains alive in the Main Event, currently ranked in seventh place. He finished seventh in the 2000 WSOP championship. -- Play on Day 7 ended at 10:40 pm. A Breakthrough Year for France? France is blessed with many talented poker players. However, in the 40-year history of the WSOP, only one French player has made it to a Main Event final table. That took place in 1998 when Marc Brochard finished in eighth place. In 2003, poker pioneer Bruno Fitoussi finished in 15th place. Other than those two showings, France has been shut out of championship celebrations. This year could be a breakthrough year for France. Of the 27 remaining players, three are from France. Antoine Saout, from Saint Martin des Champs, is presently in 6th place. Lacay Ludovic, from Paris, is in 15th place. Francois Balmigere, from Toulouse, is in 27th place. Interestingly, Ludovic and Balmigere attended college together, but became professional poker players. France appears to have a very bright future in poker, as all three of the French players are under the age of 25. Two Notable Corrections: -- Bradley “B.J.” Craig (Cleveland, OH) finished in 50th place. This was his first time to cash at the WSOP. There is another player named Bradley Craig (Stitbulle, ON Canada) who cashed in a WSOP event in 2005, who is a different player. -- There are two tournament players named Thai Tran. The 49th-place finisher in the Main Event was Thai K. Tran, from Houston, TX. The player asks that all his records be updated with the name THAI K. TRAN. About the Day 7 Chip Leader (Darvin Moon) Darvin Moon remains as the chip leader after seven days of play. He lives in the small eastern Maryland town of Oakland. Moon owns and operates a small logging company with other family members. Most of his days are spent in pine forests scattered throughout the Maryland panhandle. He is married and was cheered on by his wife, who was sitting in the crowd. This is Moon’s first time to play in the WSOP. It was also his first time to visit Las Vegas. Moon lost his lead early in the day and fell to around tenth place in the standings. Just when it appeared he might crumble and fade away, Moon managed to win a few big hands and stay near the top of the leaderboard. He won a few big pots late in the day to regain his chip advantage over Billy Kopp (Erlanger, KY), who is currently in second place. Meet Billy Kopp (Second Place in WSOP Main Event) Billy Kopp is from Erlanger, KY. He is 23-years-old and is attending the University of Kentucky as a full-time student. He is close to receiving a degree in hospitality management and tourism. Kopp was the chip leader late on Day 7, but fell to second place when Darvin Moon (at another table) made a late run and regained his chip lead. Currently, Kopp has nearly 16 million in chips while Moon is atop the leaderboard with 20 million. Other rivals are all 12 million in chips, and less. Kopp has come close to victory recently. He was the runner up at the WSOP Circuit championship held at Harrah’s New Orleans in May. Kopp admits to being brought into the game about six years as part of the so-called “ Moneymaker effect,” which brought millions of new players to poker. When asked about the surroundings of playing in the WSOP Main Event, Kopp remarked confidently: “I am not really intimidated by anybody. I think it is my ball game….I think I can play with the best of them.” Meet George Caragiorgas (Currently in 24th Place) Poker tournaments are often won by players who come from the middle of the pack or are far behind at a critical stage of the competition. Most recently, Jerry Yang and Joe Hachem began play at the final table with a low stack, yet somehow managed to stage memorable comeback victories. George Caragiorgas, from Montreal, Quebec (Canada) has to be hoping for a similar result. He will start Day 8 ranked 24th in the chip count, with 1,615,000 (the chip leader has more than 20 million). Question: You are currently one of the shorter stacks. What is your strategy for tomorrow? Caragiorgas: I have to wait for a good spot to put my money in. Then, I have to hope for the best. If I can accumulate a couple of chips, that’s good because you can’t do much (at this stage) with 1.7 million in chips. If I can get 4 or 5 million in chips, we can play some poker. Right now, it is either push or fold. Question: What’s your story, George? Caragiorgas: I was born in Greece. My family came to Montreal, Canada when I was three years old. So, I’ve been living in Montreal for the last 33 years. I am married to Fotini and I have two little girls. I am in the restaurant business and I just love poker more than you can possibly imagine. Question: What kind of restaurant? Caragiorgas: A Greek restaurant. It’s called Marathon, like the race. It’s in Montreal. Question: You were here at the WSOP back in 2006. What do you remember? Caragiorgas: Yeah, I was here back in 2006 when Jamie (Gold) won. It was my first time here. I was a lot more nervous then, than I am now. I was, I can’t explain it, but my poker level has drastically improved in the last three years. I am a much better poker player now. I just came with a dream back in 2006. It was a good rush three years ago. I finished like 300 spots from the money (Note: Caragiorgas made the top 1,000 out of more than 8,700 who entered). Coming that close to the money given there were nearly 9,000 players was quite a feat. But, I managed to do a little better this time around. Question: So, what do you expect to happen tomorrow? Caragiorgas: My strategy is pretty simple. I just have to wait for a good spot. I have to stick it in with what I hope is the best hand and hope it holds up. I am definitely going to put my money in good, that’s for sure. Question: Anything else to add? Caragiorgas: Yeah, just one thing. I am really loving life right now. ESPN WSOP Broadcasts -- ESPN has been broadcasting its WSOP coverage since 2003. This year, four events will be featured. These events include the $40,000 buy-in 40th Anniversary No-Limit Hold’em Championship, the World Champions Invitational, the third-annual Ante-Up for Africa charity tournament, and the Main Event. -- Although the number of WSOP events receiving broad coverage has been reduced to four, the total number of broadcast hours is actually the same as last year. More coverage will be given to the Main Event, since the world championship receives the greatest amount of viewer interest. -- The total amount of time the WSOP will be broadcast this year is 32 new and original hours of coverage. -- Debut WSOP broadcasts on ESPN will remain in their customary Tuesday night time slot. -- The 2009 WSOP broadcasts will begin on July 28th. WSOP Main Event (Final Table Records) MOST LIFETIME FINAL TABLE APPEARANCES Doyle Brunson (5) 1976 1st 1977 1st 1980 2nd 1982 4th 1983 3rd Jesse Alto (5) 1988 9th 1985 6th 1978 5th 1986 4th 1984 3rd Johnny Moss (5) 1974 1st 1971 1st 1985 7th 1979 5th 1980 4th Dan Harrington (4) 1995 1st 1987 6th 2004 4th 2003 3rd T.J. Cloutier (4) 1988 5th 1998 3rd 1985 2nd 2000 2nd Stu Ungar (4) 1997 1st 1980 1st 1981 1st 1990 9th Note 1: Johnny Moss’ victory in 1970 is not included amongst final table records, since the winner that year was determined by a vote. Note 2: Crandall Addington actually holds the record with nine Main Event final table appearances. However, most of these did not include a prize-money payout (field sizes were considerably smaller during the 1970s when most of Addington’s appearances occurred). Note 3: Final table appearances were counted only if the player also received a payout. Note 4: WSOP Main Event final tables were played six-handed during a 16-year span. However, the top nine finishers during those years are included in final table records. WSOP Main Event (Cashing Records) MOST LIFETIME CASHES IN MAIN EVENT: 10 – Berry Johnston 7 – Doyle Brunson 7 – Humberto Brenes 7 – Jay Heimowitz 7 – Phil Hellmuth (updated to include this year’s cash) 7 – Mike Sexton (updated to include this year’s cash) 7 – Bobby Baldwin (updated to include this year’s cash) MORE ON BERRY JOHNSTON: Berry Johnston’s cashes in the Main Event include: 113th in 2007 16th in 1996 21st in 1995 17th in 1992 5th in 1990 29th in 1989 32nd in 1987 1st in 1986 3rd in 1985 3rd in 1982 MOST CONSECUTIVE CASHES IN MAIN EVENT: 4 – by three players Theodore Park (2005 – 2008) *did not cash this year Bo Sehlstedt (2004 – 2007) Robert Turner (1991 – 1994) Notable Players -- Here is the current status of all former WSOP world champions who played in this year’s Main Event. All have been eliminated: 1972: “Amarillo Slim” Preston – eliminated on Day 2 1976/1977: Doyle Brunson – eliminated on Day 1 1978: Bobby Baldwin – CASHED IN 352nd PLACE 1983: Tom McEvoy – eliminated on Day 1 1986: Berry Johnston – eliminated on Day 2 1987/1988: Johnny Chan – eliminated on Day 2 1989: Phil Hellmuth – CASHED IN 436th PLACE 1993: Jim Bechtel – eliminated on Day 3 1995: Dan Harrington – CASHED IN 252nd PLACE 1996: Huck Seed – eliminated on Day 1 1998: Scotty Nguyen – eliminated on Day 2 2000: Chris “Jesus” Ferguson – CASHED IN 561st PLACE 2001: Carlos “the Matador” Mortensen – eliminated on Day 3 2002: Robert Varkonyi – eliminated on Day 2 2003: Chris Moneymaker – eliminated on Day 1 2004: Greg “Fossilman” Raymer – eliminated on Day 3 2005: Joe Hachem – CASHED IN 104th PLACE 2006: Jamie Gold – eliminated in Day 1 2007: Jerry Yang – eliminated on Day 1 2008: Peter Eastgate – CASHED IN 78th PLACE -- Here is the current status of all current and former WSOP “Player of the Year” champions who played in this year’s Main Event. All have been eliminated: 2005: Daniel Negreanu – eliminated on Day 1 2006: Allen Cunningham – eliminated on Day 2 2007: Tom Schneider – CASHED IN 52nd PLACE 2008: Erick Lindgren – eliminated on Day 2 2009: Jeffrey Lisandro – eliminated on Day 3 -- Here is the status of those players with notable results from this year’ s WSOP: David Bach (HORSE World Championship winner) – eliminated on Day 2 Alex Bolotin (“Ante-Up for Africa” championship winner) – eliminated on Day 3 Darryll Fish (cashed 7 times at this year’s WSOP) – eliminated on Day 2 Jeffrey Lisandro (won three gold bracelets this year) – eliminated on Day 3 Ville Wahlbeck (finished 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 6th in four events) – eliminated in Day 4 Greg Mueller (won two gold bracelets this year) – eliminated on Day 4 Phil Ivey (won two gold bracelets this year) – STILL ALIVE (currently in 4th place) -- Here is the status of notable non-pro celebrities from this year’s Main Event: Chuck Pachenco (movie producer) – CASHED IN 612th PLACE Jason Alexander (actor) – eliminated on Day 3 Scott Ian (musician with band “Anthrax”) – eliminated on Day 3 Shane Warne (world famous cricket player) – eliminated on Day 3 Torrie Wilson (female wrestler) – eliminated on Day 1 John Salley (former NBA basketball player) – eliminated on Day 1 Patrick Bruel (French actor and singer) – CASHED IN 428th PLACE Lou Diamond Phillips (actor and singer) – CASHED IN 186th PLACE Marlon Wayans (actor) – eliminated on Day 2 Jordan Farmar (NBA basketball player) – eliminated on Day 3 Sam Simon (Hollywood writer and producer) – eliminated on Day 3 Joseph Kahn (music video producer) – eliminated on Day 1 Ray Romano (actor) – eliminated on Day 1 Sully Erna (musician) – eliminated on Day 1 Shannon Elizabeth (actor) – eliminated on Day 1 Brad Garrett (actor) -- eliminated on Day 1 Jennifer Tilly (actor) – eliminated on Day 1 Orel Hershiser (former major league baseball player – eliminated on Day 1 Historical Footnote: The highest Main Event finish by a celebrity was actor and comedian Gabe Kaplan, who finished 13th in the 1991 championship. The highest Main Event finish for a (non-poker) celebrity was actor Telly Savalas, who finished 21st in the 1992 championship. -- Here is the current status of last year’s “November Nine” (2009 Main Event Final Table participants). All have been eliminated. Three of the nine players cashed: Ivan Demidov – eliminated on Day 2 Peter Eastgate – CASHED IN 78th PLACE Kelly Kim – CASHED IN 423rd PLACE Craig Marquis – eliminated in Day 1 Scott Montgomery – eliminated on Day 2 Dennis Phillips – CASHED IN 45th PLACE David “Chino” Rheem – eliminated on Day 1 Ylon Schwartz – eliminated on Day 2 Darus Suharto – eliminated on Day 3 -- Here are the nations represented among the 27 survivors: US – 19 players France – 3 players UK – 1 player Canada – 1 player Germany – 1 player Spain – 1 player South Africa – 1 player -- This is the 57th and final event on the 2009 WSOP schedule which is played in Las Vegas. Four more gold bracelet events will take place later this year in London, England at the Empire Casino, to be held from September 19th through October 1st. -- Players have come to the WSOP from at least 115 different nations and territories. By contrast, only 80 nations were represented at the most recent Winter Olympic Games. -- This marks the fifth consecutive year the WSOP has been held at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino. Prior to 2005, the WSOP was held at Binion’s Horseshoe in downtown Las Vegas. More money has been awarded to winners within the Rio during the past five years than during the entire proceeding 35-year period at the Horseshoe. This is a testament to the expansion of the WSOP since Harrah’s Entertainment assumed ownership and control of the world most prestigious poker event.