Phil Ivey Inches Away From 11th Bracelet

Aleksejs Ponakovs Wins $100,000 NLHE High Roller for $1.897 Million

This was a World Series of Poker tournament where the entire poker world was rooting for one man.

Phil Ivey, an undisputed legend of the game, ran up a big stack on Day1. By the time it got down to the top 3, he was the chip leader. Poker fans around the world were watching with bated breath if the beloved poker pro can clinch his first bracelet since 2014. It would have been his 11th, which would have made him the stand-alone 2nd place holder on the all-time bracelet list (right now he’s tied in second place with Johnny Chan and Doyle Brunson).

However, alas, he could not pull through. He was defeated by the Latvian Aleksejs Ponakovs in the heads-up battle for the title. Thus Ivey had to contend with the $1.173 million second-place prize. Meanwhile, the winner Ponakovs took home $1.897 million.

Jake Schindler Takes Down $50,000 NLHE High Roller for $1.328 Million

It’s been a while since we last posted an update about the ongoing World Series in Las Vegas.

This event was #12 on the schedule and concluded 2 weeks ago. It saw well-known high roller Jake Schindler winning his evasive first-ever WSOP gold bracelet. He collected over $35 million in live tournament cashes before capturing his first WSOP gold.

On the final hand, he got lucky enough to dominate his heads-up opponent Brek Schutten’s AQ with his AK. Evidently, the two got it all-in before the flop. The third street gave Schindler a pair of Kings, so he didn’t have to do much sweating while the rest of the board got dealt out.

Daniel Zack Triumphs in $10,000 7-Card Stud 8-or-Better Hi-Lo Event for $324,174

One of the great things about the World Series of Poker is that lesser-played game types get significant attention as well, not just the usual Hold’em or PLO events.

Daniel Zack topped the field in the $10K 7-Card Stud Hi-Lo event. Since he won the $10K PLO Hi-Lo championship earlier in this year’s WSOP, he’s now in a firm lead in the Player of the Year point race. Overall, this was his third WSOP gold bracelet, having won one in 2019 as well.

These are some of the major event results so far:

Negreanu’s Crazy Stalker, Scott Seiver Fails to Cash After 43 Bullets

This may be one of the weirdest WSOP stories ever.

During his classic WSOP vlog series on YouTube, Daniel Negreanu shared a peculiar encounter he had with a strange man online. This man claims to know about Negreanu’s other family, a supposed wife, and kids, that he had left behind in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. He has even tried to extort money with the situation, offering to not go public with the alleged story if Negreanu is willing to pay him.

The 6-time WSOP champion took it to the authorities. As expected during an ongoing investigation, he’s been quiet about the developments since. What we do know is that he hired armed security for his home to protect his wife Amanda while he’s away; and he too is being escorted by security in the Vegas casinos.

In a lighter story, 4-time WSOP gold bracelet winner Scott Seiver bought into an event 43 (!) times and still failed to cash. In his defense, it was the innovative Flip&Go format that was created by GGPoker (you can play it in their online room as well).

Flip&Go tourneys start with a mandatory all-in pre-flop. Players get dealt 3 cards, then discard one of the cards of their choice after the flop. The one winner at each table advances, and they’re automatically in the money. From then on, it plays out as a Hold’em tournament. 

It’s a fun format, but skill evidently plays less of a role - and buying in 43 times still doesn’t guarantee success, as Seiver just learned the hard way. 

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