2016 WSOP Fantasy Game & Staker

[Big Club]

How ironic would it be if he won the bet with Selbst, with bracelet #3 in the Ladies event.  I know it"ll cost him $10k, but I don"t see how he can turn the event down.  I"m not sure I"d write him off in the main just yet, either.  He might fill the Negreanu spot this year.

Mercier - Selbst Heads up in the Ladies event would be fun.

[MintTrav]

STAKER NEWS

Sensational outcome in #55:: the $50k Poker Players Championship, which has given us our single biggest ever Staker winner and a new overall leader.

Wlll the $25k PLO or $111k One Drop change it all again?

[MintTrav]

Event #55: $50,000 Poker Players Championship

Runners	91
Paid	14
Final Table	6

Player	Position	Points
Brian Rast	1	25
Justin Bonomo	2	18
Michael Mizrachi	4	12
Daniel Alaei	8	1
Paul Volpe	11	1
Daniel Negreanu	12	1
Mike Gorodinsky	13	1

Selector	Points
Carl	27
Luca	21
Suzanne	19
Glenn	19
IrishTom	13
Barrie	3
Simon L	2
Richard	2
Chris	2
Neil	1
Simon B	1
Tom F	1
Adam	1
Steve	1
Paul	1
Karen	1
Paxo	1
John	1

A loaded field led to a loaded final table. There were 11 bracelet-holders in the 14 cashers, and numerous others knocked out before that. Eventually Rast won after an epic heads-up battle against Bonomo, with the play receiving a lot of praise, though it wasn"t universal. Third-placed Eric Wasserson was highly critical of Bonomo"s "really weak" play. Bonomo does seem to have a problem finishing. He had over 18m chips three-handed, with the other two on 2m each. Although he has one bracelet, this was his sixth 2nd place and he has had four 3rd places. Regarding this tournament, though, the consensus seems to be that Wasserman is a dick.

Howard Lederer got to three places off the money in 17th. I think I would have liked to see him win it just to stir things up. Mercier went one place better but no cash and no bracelet.

Well done to Rast and all that. He is obviously a very good player, coming back from a 5-1 deficit against Hellmuth to win his previous PPC, and doing something similar this time, though he has a delusion that he is doing something worthwhile with his life. “This is what I have chosen to do with my life. I would be dishonest if I were to say that I haven't thought about my place in the game. I could have done a lot of things with my life when I was in my early 20s. I chose poker. And I do care. I don't care what other people in the world think. But I care what other poker professionals think. I take poker seriously and where my legacy is and how my peers think of me is a measure of professional respect. What I was able to do today was really special.” Yawn.


The Rast, Esfandiari and Bounahra families celebrate the win with the cast of Friends.

[MintTrav]

STAKER - WSOP #55: $50,000 Poker Players Championship

Staker	Profit
Paul Roper	£867,285
Glenn Laming	£285,780
Carl Pilgrim	£206,009
Rob Swindells	£141,106
Richard Prew	£  62,895
Charlie Press	£  31,131
Simon Brooke	£  11,006

No, it"s not a misprint. £867k! Paul smashed the Staker bank by putting 100% of his stake on Rast and receiving the same payout as the player for winning the tournament (except Rast has to pay tax on his).

And six-figure returns for Glenn, Carl and Rob, which would have been sensational if someone hadn"t won £867k. Eight hundred and sixty bloody seven thousand pounds!

Glenn was the exception,  placing over half his stake on Bonomo, whereas Carl, Rob and Richard were all Rastafarians.

Charlie and Simon put their trust in Mizrachis, with Charlie banking on Michael, while Simon had a piece of both Michael and Robert, who were both among the 14 cashers.

[MintTrav]

STAKER LEADERBOARD - Top Ten

Staker	Profit
Paul Roper	£764,409
Simon Lawlor	£175,528
Glenn Laming	£173,123
Rob Swindells	£117,387
Carl Pilgrim	£106,434
Simon Brooke	£  80,629
Ross Freeman	£  63,848
Shane Hopkins	£  37,551
Suzanne Hayward	£  30,187
Leigh Wiltshire	£  23,925

http://www.staker.co.uk/leaderboard.asp

Huge moves on the Staker Leaderboard mean that, if you"re not currently in the top ten, you need a big hit to get in there. How can you do that? Well, there are some mega tournaments coming up. Cashing in the One Drop will definitely get you in there. And the Main Event will probably as well (though all depending on what proportion of your stake you get into the cash).

The $111k One Drop and $10k Ladies start soon - the Staker cutoff for both is 9pm tonight and the cutoff for the Main is 9pm tomorrow.

This is a major chance to crack the top ten and get the Goliath token.

Not forgetting that there is a £250 prize for the Main Event!

http://www.staker.co.uk/enter-game.asp

[MintTrav]

Event #59: $5000 No-Limit Hold'em

Runners	863
Paid	130
Final Table	9

Player	Position	Points
Dominik Nitsche	4	12
Ismael Bojang	5	10
Fedor Holz	39	1
Craig McCorkell	92	1
Bryn Kenney	102	1

Selector	Points
Adam	13
Suzanne	12
Richard	11
Simon B	11
Chris	10
Neil	2
Tom F	1
Paul	1
Paxo	1

Yue Du became the first Chinese resident ever to win a bracelet. He had half the chips starting the final table, where he knocked out every player.
Some less than optimal heads-up play, I would suggest:
Hand #121: Michael Gentili gets a walk
Hand #126: Yue Du gets a walk
Hand #131: Michael Gentili gets a walk
Hand #136: Yue Du gets a walk

Since Mercier bagged his last bracelet, his gf Natasha Barbour has cashed in six events. She finished 3rd in this, winning $348k, more than all but one of his prizes this year, including his 2nd place and one of his bracelets. With her now being the main earner, JM was quick off the mark to secure her future earnings as soon as she was eliminated.


Jason made it a day to remember for Natasha, wearing a nice clean cap for the special occasion.

[madsteve]

Time for Dan Smith to come to the party with a few big points to get me into contention.

[PauletweRoper]

with 13 left whos people sweating in the one drop. I got 25% on Fedor and 25% on seiver.

[s4ooter]

I have 100% Fedor.

Just win

[redsimon]

Got 25% Fedor 25% Farrall, going be some big wins possibly from 1 drop.

6 stakers on Fedor

5 on Antonio

3 on Scott seiver

2 On Niall

2 on Dario who"s cashed

1 on Sergio who"s cashed

1 on Dan Smith

1 on Mateos

[MintTrav]

Thanks for chipping in on the thread, guys. I"ve been travelling and playing the APAT tournament, but I"ll try to catch up tomorrow with the weekend"s evrnts in Vegas.

[fandango]

Got 25% Fedor 25% Farrall, going be some big wins possibly from 1 drop.

6 stakers on Fedor

5 on Antonio

3 on Scott seiver

2 On Niall

2 on Dario who"s cashed

1 on Sergio who"s cashed

1 on Dan Smith

1 on Mateos

Will be interesting to see if %s of how much was punted by those in the top 10 prior to One drop lol.. I played it small ball which will probably cost me.. Had 2% of Dario and 5% of Fedor but will mean nothing if those who had nothing to lose punted big on the top 8or9 finishes..

[LombBomb]

Had the lot on Niall.  Not too bad.

[s4ooter]

100% on Fedor

[redsimon]

I"m just glad still to be in top 10 after One Drop, think I"m 4th overall. Could never envisage that the leaders would have 3 million quid