2021 APAT WSOP Fantasy League

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The 2021 WSOP has started and so has the APAT WSOP Fantasy League.

This is an abridged version of the updates for those who don't have Facebook. The full updates are at https://tinyurl.com/APATWSOP-Updates.

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The teams:

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Event 1: $500 Casino Employees No Limit Hold'em

Winner	James Barnett
Runners	420
Paid	63
Final Table	9

Player	Position	Points
-	-	-

Selector	Points
-	-

Jimmy Barnett's reaction to winning the Casino Employees Event was different to the 2019 winner, who promptly withdrew from his dealing commitments for the Series. Jimmy has arranged with his boss to play some and deal some, so everyone should be happy.

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Event 2: $25,000 H.O.R.S.E.

Winner	Jesse Klein
Runners	78
Paid	12
Final Table	9

Player	Position	Points
Benny Glaser	3	15
Phil Hellmuth	6	8
Ben Yu	7	6
Daniel Negreanu	10	1
Cary Katz	12	1

Selector	Points
Jo 2	30
Stephen 1	30
Aneurin	24
Barrie 2	24
Gareth	22
Carl 1	15
Del	15
Jo 1	15
Rob	15
Richard	10
Chris H 1	9
David	9
Derek	9
Jon	9
Luca 2	9
Nic 1	9
Simon L	9
Stephen 2	9
Stu	9
Tom	9
Karen	9
John 2	8
Michael	8
Barrie 1	7
John 1	6
Carl 2	1
Luca 1	1

A stacked tournament ended up with a loaded final table, but an unknown winner. Klein's recorded tournament winnings prior to this, at $23k, were less than the buy-in for this event, though he is a high-stakes mixed-game player. Virtually everyone else in the tournament was a household name in poker circles, but Klein outlasted them all, having the satisfaction not only of winning, but of sticking a couple of beats on Hellmuth near the end. Phil has said he is targeting a multi-game bracelet this time, and this was a good attempt.

Matthew Ashton returned for this event. Having smashed the WSOP mixed games a few years ago, he seemed to lose interest, so it's good to see him again. All the top British mixed players (Ashton, Chidwick, Glaser, Owen) were present, as were the Germans, so it seems that the pro's have generally managed to find their way to Vegas.


Glaser is ready for a quick getaway as his lookalike opponent has all the chips.

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Event 3: $1,000 Covid-19 Relief No Limit Hold'em Charity Event

Winner	Jeremy Ausmus
Runners	260
Paid	39
Final Table	9

Player	Position	Points
Daniel Zack	32	1
Shannon Shorr	38	1

Selector	Points
Carl 1	1
Gareth	1
Jo 2	1
John 1	1
Stu	1

Entries were surprisingly low for this - maybe the players weren't keen on an event where a percentage of the prize-pool is removed. That percentage was supposed to be 10% of the $1,000 entry fee. With 266 entries, the WSOP worked out that meant $25,000 for charity, so I guess they had a slice before calculating the 10%.
The tournament was a turbo with twenty minute levels, which probably also contributed to the low entries. It turned out to be quite pro-heavy and bracelet-holder Ausmus ended up winning his second.


Funky Face-Shield

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Event 5: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better

Winner	Connor Drinan
Runners	607
Paid	92
Final Table	9

Player	Position	Points
Robert Mizrachi	3	15
Ryan Hughes	18	1
Adam Hendrix	69	1
David "Bakes" Baker	75	1
Max Pescatori	80	1

Selector	Points
Jon	15
Aneurin	1
Derek	1
John 2	1
Rob	1

Drinan and Mizrachi were the big names on the final table and the key moment came in a large pot between these two, when Drinan called a River bluff from Mizrachi, which gave Conor a big lead and left Rob short and he was soon out. on and Gareth cheered Mizrachi on, but it turned out that only one of them had actually chosen him.


A Shot in the Arm for Anti-Vaxxer James Woods, who cashed in 73rd place

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Event 6: $25,000 High Roller No Limit Hold'em 8-Handed

Winner	Tyler Cornell
Runners	139
Paid	21
Final Table	8

Player	Position	Points
Adam Hendrix	8	4
Jason Koon	9	1

Selector	Points
Derek	4
David	1
Stu	1

Well done to Derek for spotting Adam Hendrix, overlooked by everyone else.

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Event 7: $1,500 Dealers Choice 6-Handed

Winner	Jaswinder Lally
Runners	307
Paid	47
Final Table	6

Player	Position	Points
Phil Hellmuth Jr	18	1
Ryan Hughes	35	1

Selector	Points
John 2	2
Jon	1
Aneurin	1
Derek	1
Rob	1
Jo 2	1
Stephen 1	1
Barrie 2	1
Del	1
Jo 1	1
Richard	1
Chris	1
David	1
Luca 2	1
Nic	1
Simon L	1
Stephen 2	1
Stu	1
Tom	1
Karen	1
Michael	1

In your face suckers! Gimme dat trophy!

A second cash for Hughes and a second deep finish for 'over-the-hill' Phil.

Indian-Canadian Lally had $3.6k winnings before this, but it was another case of an amateur overcoming the professionals.

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Event 8: $600 No Limit Hold'em Deepstack

Winner	Zhi Wu
Runners	4527
Paid	680
Final Table	9

Player	Position	Points
Sean Perry	219	1
Maurice Hawkins	355	1
Daniel Buzgon	425	1
Shaun Deeb	640	1

Selector	Points
Simon L	2
John 2	1
Jon	1
Aneurin	1
Derek	1
Rob	1
Jo 2	1
Stephen 1	1
Barrie 2	1
Del	1
Jo 1	1
Richard	1
Chris	1
Luca 2	1
Tom	1
Karen	1
Michael	1
Gareth	1
Carl 1	1
Barrie 1	1
John 1	1
Simon A	1

Zhi Wu's first WSOP cash was a good one - 1st out of 4,527.

Among the memorable players to cash in this were William Hill, Matthew Stuff, Happy Fitzgerald, Ken Norton, Neo On and Bong Yang.

Sofia Lovgren was 343rd, which is enough reason to feature her in my book.

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Some guys have all the luck!

Imagine you get to heads-up out of four and a half thousand players in your first WSOP tournament and you are dealt AA, and manage to get it all in, winning $281k for your $600 buy-in to match your sponsorship deal with Michael Kors. If ever there was a day when Zhi Wu should have tried his luck with Sofia Lovgren, this was it!

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Event 4: $500 The Reunion No Limit Hold'em

Winner	Long Ma
Runners	12973
Paid	1820
Final Table	9

Player	Position	Points
Ryan Laplante	19	1
Joseph Cheong	150	1
Shannon Shorr	803	1
Sam Razavi	898	1

Selector	Points
Carl 1	2
Chris	1
John 1	1
Jon	1
Michael	1
Rob	1
Simon L	1
Stu	1

The WSOP's results lists are worse than ever this year. I can't remember ever seeing so many gaps or so many repetitions. If you think you have a player who hasn't been credited, let us know.

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Who has banked the most cash so far? That's right, it's the WSOP.

Long Ma received an incredible $513k for winning The Reunion. Even more incredible was the $1.038m that the WSOP retained from that one tournament.

Puts UK operators' rake into perspective.

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Event 9: $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship

Winner	Alan Engel
Runners	134
Paid	21
Final Table	9

Player	Position	Points
Phil Hellmuth Jr	5	10
Robert Mizrachi	7	6
Christopher Vitch	10	1
Paul Volpe	14	1
Benjamin Yu	20	1
Ryan Laplante	21	1

Selector	Points
Jon	17
Jo 2	12
Stephen 1	12
Rob	11
Del	11
Jo 1	11
Chris	11
Simon L	11
Stu	10
Michael	10
John 2	10
Aneurin	10
Derek	10
Barrie 2	10
Richard	10
David	10
Luca 2	10
Nic	10
Stephen 2	10
Tom	10
Karen	10
Gareth	2
John 1	1
Barrie 1	1
Carl 1	1
Luca 1	1
Simon A	1

Another win for Canada. Canada used to win plenty of bracelets, but has really underperformed in recent years. It still has many more cashes every year than every country except the US, but they just haven't been able to covert them, to the extent that the three won in 2019 was the highest since the glory days of 2013, when they won ten. 2021 looks like it could be the year that Canada retakes its rightful place.

Rob Mizrachi and Phil Hellmuth were playing their second final tables of the Series and several others already have two or three cashes. Rob was 3rd in #5 (the $1,500 Hi-Lo) and 7th in this, but he wasn't the only one to do well in both. Khamar Xaytavone was 15th in #5 and 9th in this, while Engel cashed 43rd in the $1,500 before winning his second bracelet in this one against a starry field. Ryan Laplante was another to pick up his second cash.

Jon Young used his poker-industry knowledge to build some points.

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And what about Hellmuth? Written off years ago by people who didn't know what they talking about, he has continued to perform outstandingly at the World Series and elsewhere. One of the criticisms used to be that he had 'only' won bracelets in big-field Hold-em events, as if there was something wrong with that. That has been put to bed as he has repeatedly scored highly in mixed-game events, crowned by winning a Razz bracelet in 2015. Since then, he has won two WPT titles and been runner-up once, one of the wins being a Heads-Up tournament and the other two events being mixed games. He has also finished 2nd and 3rd in WSOPE mixed events and picked up another large-field Hold'em bracelet. More recently, he has demonstrated his Heads-Up abilities, with numerous one-on-one wins, including whipping Esfandiari and Negreanu three times each. He has played three tournaments in this Series and his worst finish is 18th, with two final tables. Surely everyone now accepts that this is the greatest poker player ever?

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Brandon Shack-Harris