Nobody could have expected Day 1 of the 2011 World Series of Poker to turn out the way it did. There were surprising field sizes, a confrontation that made headlines and the biggest shock of the day would in fact come from someone who isn't even in attendance at the Rio: Phil Ivey.
Typically a stalwart at the biggest events in the World Series of Poker, Ivey was a surprising no-show to the $25,000 event. Rumors were flying as the tournament began and, almost like clockwork, Ivey released a statement, first on Facebook, then on his website, saying he would not be playing at the WSOP. Additionally, he is suing Tiltware over the non-repayment of player accounts.
Lance Bradley, editor-in-chief of Bluff magazine, told me early Wednesday that at the tables of the $25,000 heads-up event, all the talk was about Ivey. His absence was more conspicuous than his presence would have been if he were in attendance and playing for a prized-WSOP bracelet. Now, the focus shifts back to Full Tilt and their efforts to repay customers in the United States. Full Tilt has not released anything publicly besides a few posts on the twoplustwo.com forums, and the silence, compounded with Ivey's statement, is only doing the company more damage.
By Ivey coming forward with this statement, he's sent a message to the company which he's endorsed for more than half a decade. Despite his continual attempts to limit his exposure, nobody carries more weight in the industry from a public standpoint than Ivey, and this single note will further hurt the company, regardless of the outcome. How will Full Tilt respond? Hopefully, by confronting FTP publicly about their current situation, Ivey will force FTP to become more proactive in letting the players who stood by them for years know what exactly is causing the delay.
Even without Ivey, the highlight of the day was seeing the WSOP attaining a field of 128 players for the $25,000 Heads-Up World Championship. Early last week, the World Series of Poker told me that their line for the event was 44 players. They had been hearing rumors about who would be playing, and their pre-registration numbers weren't strong. Clearly, they were very happy to see 128 turn up and create a $3 million prize pool. After two rounds of play, the final 32 players will continue their chase for a bracelet on Wednesday.
The defending champion of this event (previously with a $10,000 buy-in), Ayaz Mahmood, was eliminated during second-round action.
The first round of play on Wednesday will burst the money bubble, and the 16 winners will secure themselves $67,436. Here's a look at some of the best starting matches on Day 2 of Event 2:
Daniel Alaei versus Gus Hansen - Hansen is technically the defending heads-up champion after winning the 10,000 pound heads-up event at the 2010 WSOP Europe. Alaei is extremely talented and is looking to win a bracelet in three consecutive years. This will be an epic matchup.
Dani Stern versus Jake Cody - Two of the young stars of the game will get a chance to battle it out in this matchup. Cody is the British juggernaut who is already a WPT and EPT champion. Stern has two WSOP final tables already in his career, including a fourth-place finish in the $40,000 event in 2009.
John Duthie versus Carlos Mortensen - A little bit of an old-school matchup here. Both players have seen enormous success around the world, but Mortensen might have the additional confidence he'll need after winning the Aussie Millions heads-up event in January. Duthie was the runner-up in the $10,000 heads-up WSOP event in 2009.
Ashton Griffin versus Tom Dwan - Ashman versus Durrrr. Both offer creative approaches to the game and have much more to win than just a bracelet if they're able to take the event down.
Oliver Busquet versus Andrew Robl - Two of the final eight players from the National Heads-Up Poker Championship square off in this round. Busquet is the heads-up specialist who primarily pounced on anyone who would be bold enough to face him online prior to Black Friday. Robl has numerous heads-up cashes, including a top-16 finish at the 2010 WSOPE event.
Other matches include:
David Benyamine versus Anthony Guetti, Chris Moorman versus Richard Lyndaker, Isaac Haxton versus Jonathan Jaffe, Steve Blilirakis versus Trevor Pope, Matt Marafioti versus Maxim Lykov, Eric Froehlich versus Steve Zolotow, Jason Smirnov versus Darren Elias, Erik Cajelais versus Nikolay Evdakov, Yevgeniy Timshenko versus Amritraj Singh, Kunimaro Kojo versus Nick Shulman and David Paredes versus John Juanda.
Speaking of John Juanda, he was involved in a little altercation with 2010 WSOP Europe main event champion James Bord. According to PokerNews.com, Bord lashed out at Juanda due to reasons that are still unknown at this time. After Juanda had won his second match in the event, he was escorted to his car by security guards, as he was concerned for his safety.
The big picture:
The WSOP kicked off the 58-event series with the $500 Casino Employees event. Last year,Haoi Pham defeated a field of 721, a field that the WSOP was proud of. In 2011, the stakes were the same, but the field was even greater at 850 players. The day ended with 77 players surviving the day and everyone remaining (and four who were eliminated during late play) have made the money.
The first bracelet of the WSOP will be awarded on Wednesday (or early Thursday morning).
Wednesday's events include the two aforementioned events and the start of Event 3, $1,500 pot-limit Omaha high-low split.
Typically a stalwart at the biggest events in the World Series of Poker, Ivey was a surprising no-show to the $25,000 event. Rumors were flying as the tournament began and, almost like clockwork, Ivey released a statement, first on Facebook, then on his website, saying he would not be playing at the WSOP. Additionally, he is suing Tiltware over the non-repayment of player accounts.
Lance Bradley, editor-in-chief of Bluff magazine, told me early Wednesday that at the tables of the $25,000 heads-up event, all the talk was about Ivey. His absence was more conspicuous than his presence would have been if he were in attendance and playing for a prized-WSOP bracelet. Now, the focus shifts back to Full Tilt and their efforts to repay customers in the United States. Full Tilt has not released anything publicly besides a few posts on the twoplustwo.com forums, and the silence, compounded with Ivey's statement, is only doing the company more damage.
By Ivey coming forward with this statement, he's sent a message to the company which he's endorsed for more than half a decade. Despite his continual attempts to limit his exposure, nobody carries more weight in the industry from a public standpoint than Ivey, and this single note will further hurt the company, regardless of the outcome. How will Full Tilt respond? Hopefully, by confronting FTP publicly about their current situation, Ivey will force FTP to become more proactive in letting the players who stood by them for years know what exactly is causing the delay.
Even without Ivey, the highlight of the day was seeing the WSOP attaining a field of 128 players for the $25,000 Heads-Up World Championship. Early last week, the World Series of Poker told me that their line for the event was 44 players. They had been hearing rumors about who would be playing, and their pre-registration numbers weren't strong. Clearly, they were very happy to see 128 turn up and create a $3 million prize pool. After two rounds of play, the final 32 players will continue their chase for a bracelet on Wednesday.
The defending champion of this event (previously with a $10,000 buy-in), Ayaz Mahmood, was eliminated during second-round action.
The first round of play on Wednesday will burst the money bubble, and the 16 winners will secure themselves $67,436. Here's a look at some of the best starting matches on Day 2 of Event 2:
Daniel Alaei versus Gus Hansen - Hansen is technically the defending heads-up champion after winning the 10,000 pound heads-up event at the 2010 WSOP Europe. Alaei is extremely talented and is looking to win a bracelet in three consecutive years. This will be an epic matchup.
Dani Stern versus Jake Cody - Two of the young stars of the game will get a chance to battle it out in this matchup. Cody is the British juggernaut who is already a WPT and EPT champion. Stern has two WSOP final tables already in his career, including a fourth-place finish in the $40,000 event in 2009.
Ashton Griffin versus Tom Dwan - Ashman versus Durrrr. Both offer creative approaches to the game and have much more to win than just a bracelet if they're able to take the event down.
Oliver Busquet versus Andrew Robl - Two of the final eight players from the National Heads-Up Poker Championship square off in this round. Busquet is the heads-up specialist who primarily pounced on anyone who would be bold enough to face him online prior to Black Friday. Robl has numerous heads-up cashes, including a top-16 finish at the 2010 WSOPE event.
Other matches include:
David Benyamine versus Anthony Guetti, Chris Moorman versus Richard Lyndaker, Isaac Haxton versus Jonathan Jaffe, Steve Blilirakis versus Trevor Pope, Matt Marafioti versus Maxim Lykov, Eric Froehlich versus Steve Zolotow, Jason Smirnov versus Darren Elias, Erik Cajelais versus Nikolay Evdakov, Yevgeniy Timshenko versus Amritraj Singh, Kunimaro Kojo versus Nick Shulman and David Paredes versus John Juanda.
Speaking of John Juanda, he was involved in a little altercation with 2010 WSOP Europe main event champion James Bord. According to PokerNews.com, Bord lashed out at Juanda due to reasons that are still unknown at this time. After Juanda had won his second match in the event, he was escorted to his car by security guards, as he was concerned for his safety.
The big picture:
The WSOP kicked off the 58-event series with the $500 Casino Employees event. Last year,Haoi Pham defeated a field of 721, a field that the WSOP was proud of. In 2011, the stakes were the same, but the field was even greater at 850 players. The day ended with 77 players surviving the day and everyone remaining (and four who were eliminated during late play) have made the money.
The first bracelet of the WSOP will be awarded on Wednesday (or early Thursday morning).
Wednesday's events include the two aforementioned events and the start of Event 3, $1,500 pot-limit Omaha high-low split.
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