Plenty of action has already taken place in this year’s World Series of Poker Europe, the series’ first event after Black Friday as well as the event’s first year in its new home Cannes, France. Going into this year’s summer and fall tournament schedule, many wondered how the DOJ action against online poker would affect the live tournament scene. So far, we’ve actually seen a great deal of attendance increase in many events, such as this year’s World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.
The World Series of Poker Europe seems to be continuing that trend, as this year’s Main Event saw a massive 71% increase, as well as Event #2 which saw an overall WSOPE record-setting field. With these impressive numbers, major wins by notable players including Michael Mizrachi, and a dramatic WSOP Player of the Year storyline including Phil Hellmuth; advertisers, ESPN producers, and WSOP tournament staff are sure to be left smiling after this year’s event.
Last year’s Main Event in London saw James Bord conquer a field of 346 that left the Brit with a €830,401 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event championship prize. This year, an enormous field of nearly 600 (593 to be exact) players have all ponied up €10,400 to create a prize pool of €5.6 million, with €1.4 million (approximately $1.9 million) going to the first place winner. These numbers are record setting for the WSOPE Main Event, and mark a 71% increase after last year’s event.
The Main Event wasn’t the only record breaking tournament, however. Event 2, a €1,090 buy-in No-limit tournament saw the largest recorded turnout in WSOPE Main Event history with 771 players. Andrew Hinrichsen took down the event for €148,030. This win was particularly special for Hinrichsen, who was poised of a final table run in this year’s WSOP Main Event, until finishing in 23rd place after an encounter with Eoghan O’Dea. Hinrichsen described his feelings after winning the event with ESPN.com. "I am pretty speechless at the moment, to be honest. I have not even had much time to think about it. These kinds of things are always so unrealistic when you think about it. You just don't think about it much until it actually happens. So, now I guess I will have the next few days to think about this and enjoy it."
As we reported earlier, Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi added another accomplishment to his extremely impressive resume with his €336,008 win in the €10,400 NLHE Split Format, WSOPE Event 5. Read our complete breakdown of the Grinder’s victory here. Steve Billirakis was another notable to find gold in this year’s WSOPE after conquering Event #3, a PLO event that awarded him €238, 140. Read our earlier report of Billirakis’ huge win here.
One of the biggest storylines going into this year’s World Series of Poker Europe was whether or not the “Poker Brat” Phil Hellmuth could recapture the WSOP Player of the Year lead from Ben Lamb, who eclipsed the lead of Hellmuth after his Main Event run that has landed him in this year’s November 9. Hellmuth had an impressive initial showing in a few WSOPE preliminary events with a 7th place final table finish in Event #1, but fell short on Day 1A of the Main Event. His tweet after busting pretty much summed it all up for Phil Hellmuth, whose 2011 WSOP year will be forever known as a year of second place finishes, “I'm out of WSOPE...Congrats to @Benbalamb for winning 2011 WSOP "Player of the Year." Looks like I'm second again in POY, just like 2006.” Though the Poker Brat never won an event this year, his three runner-up finishes, including a near $50k Poker Players’ Championship win is sure to be noticed by the poker world and his critics.
As the WSOPE Main Event continues, only 64 players of the near 600 entrants will make the money. The final table will be broadcast on ESPN3.com on Thursday, starting at 8 a.m. Eastern Time.
Below are the complete WSOPE results thus far.
Event #1: €2,680 Six-Handed No-Limit Hold’em
Winner: Guillaume Humbert €215,999
Notable finishers: Phil Hellmuth €24, 183 (7th place)
Event #2: €1,090 No-Limit Hold’em
Winner: Andrew Hinrichsen €148,030
Notable finishers: Roberto Romanello €37,874 (5th place)
Event #3: €5,300 Pot-Limit Omaha
Winner: Steve Billirakis €238,140
Notable finishers: Sam Trickett €77,642 (4th place)
Event #4: €3,200 No-Limit Hold’em Shootout
Winner: Tristan Wade €182,048 (check out our report here)
Notable Finishers: Bertrand Grospellier €47,763 (5th place,) Steve O’Dwyer €36,357 (6th place)
Event #5: €10,400 No-Limit Hold’em (Split Format)
Winner: Michael Mizrachi €336,008
Notable Finishers: Shawn Buchanan €207,624 (2nd) Brian Hastings €54,810 (8th) Jason Mercier €26,618 (9th)
Event #6: €1,620 Six-Handed Pot-Limit Omaha
Winner: Phillippe Boucher €124,584
Notable Finishers: Bryan Devonshire €13,948 (8th place)
The World Series of Poker Europe seems to be continuing that trend, as this year’s Main Event saw a massive 71% increase, as well as Event #2 which saw an overall WSOPE record-setting field. With these impressive numbers, major wins by notable players including Michael Mizrachi, and a dramatic WSOP Player of the Year storyline including Phil Hellmuth; advertisers, ESPN producers, and WSOP tournament staff are sure to be left smiling after this year’s event.
Last year’s Main Event in London saw James Bord conquer a field of 346 that left the Brit with a €830,401 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event championship prize. This year, an enormous field of nearly 600 (593 to be exact) players have all ponied up €10,400 to create a prize pool of €5.6 million, with €1.4 million (approximately $1.9 million) going to the first place winner. These numbers are record setting for the WSOPE Main Event, and mark a 71% increase after last year’s event.
The Main Event wasn’t the only record breaking tournament, however. Event 2, a €1,090 buy-in No-limit tournament saw the largest recorded turnout in WSOPE Main Event history with 771 players. Andrew Hinrichsen took down the event for €148,030. This win was particularly special for Hinrichsen, who was poised of a final table run in this year’s WSOP Main Event, until finishing in 23rd place after an encounter with Eoghan O’Dea. Hinrichsen described his feelings after winning the event with ESPN.com. "I am pretty speechless at the moment, to be honest. I have not even had much time to think about it. These kinds of things are always so unrealistic when you think about it. You just don't think about it much until it actually happens. So, now I guess I will have the next few days to think about this and enjoy it."
As we reported earlier, Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi added another accomplishment to his extremely impressive resume with his €336,008 win in the €10,400 NLHE Split Format, WSOPE Event 5. Read our complete breakdown of the Grinder’s victory here. Steve Billirakis was another notable to find gold in this year’s WSOPE after conquering Event #3, a PLO event that awarded him €238, 140. Read our earlier report of Billirakis’ huge win here.
One of the biggest storylines going into this year’s World Series of Poker Europe was whether or not the “Poker Brat” Phil Hellmuth could recapture the WSOP Player of the Year lead from Ben Lamb, who eclipsed the lead of Hellmuth after his Main Event run that has landed him in this year’s November 9. Hellmuth had an impressive initial showing in a few WSOPE preliminary events with a 7th place final table finish in Event #1, but fell short on Day 1A of the Main Event. His tweet after busting pretty much summed it all up for Phil Hellmuth, whose 2011 WSOP year will be forever known as a year of second place finishes, “I'm out of WSOPE...Congrats to @Benbalamb for winning 2011 WSOP "Player of the Year." Looks like I'm second again in POY, just like 2006.” Though the Poker Brat never won an event this year, his three runner-up finishes, including a near $50k Poker Players’ Championship win is sure to be noticed by the poker world and his critics.
As the WSOPE Main Event continues, only 64 players of the near 600 entrants will make the money. The final table will be broadcast on ESPN3.com on Thursday, starting at 8 a.m. Eastern Time.
Below are the complete WSOPE results thus far.
Event #1: €2,680 Six-Handed No-Limit Hold’em
Winner: Guillaume Humbert €215,999
Notable finishers: Phil Hellmuth €24, 183 (7th place)
Event #2: €1,090 No-Limit Hold’em
Winner: Andrew Hinrichsen €148,030
Notable finishers: Roberto Romanello €37,874 (5th place)
Event #3: €5,300 Pot-Limit Omaha
Winner: Steve Billirakis €238,140
Notable finishers: Sam Trickett €77,642 (4th place)
Event #4: €3,200 No-Limit Hold’em Shootout
Winner: Tristan Wade €182,048 (check out our report here)
Notable Finishers: Bertrand Grospellier €47,763 (5th place,) Steve O’Dwyer €36,357 (6th place)
Event #5: €10,400 No-Limit Hold’em (Split Format)
Winner: Michael Mizrachi €336,008
Notable Finishers: Shawn Buchanan €207,624 (2nd) Brian Hastings €54,810 (8th) Jason Mercier €26,618 (9th)
Event #6: €1,620 Six-Handed Pot-Limit Omaha
Winner: Phillippe Boucher €124,584
Notable Finishers: Bryan Devonshire €13,948 (8th place)
