PokerWorks

Matt Hawrilenko from Boston, MA, won more than $1,000,000  when he claimed the gold bracelet and first place in event #56 , Six-handed No Limit Holdem $5,000 buy-in, at this year’s WSOP.  Hawrilenko has a slight chip lead as the WSOPE Main Event moves into Day Four with 36 players still alive and in the prize money.

Hawrilenko, a 27 year old poker pro, also known as “Hoss-TBF,” made three final table appearances at the 2009 WSOP.  And in winning his first gold bracelet on July 2nd, he won the third biggest first place prize ($1,003,218) at this year’s WSOP; the only other two events topping it were the $40,000 No Limit Holdem Event and the $50,000 HORSE Event.  He also became the 131st WSOP Millionaire in history—defined as players who have won more than $1,000,000 in WSOP tournaments.  WSOP official records show Hawrilenko as having one win, five final table appearances, and 13 in the money finishes at the WSOP—the WSOPE Main Event is still pending.

Antione Saout, France, and James Ankenhead, England, are still in action at the WSOP Europe Main Event Championship; they will be battling it out on the green felt in Las Vegas in November fighting for the WSOP Main Event Championship title.  Both are hoping to surpass Russian Ivan Demidov’s outstanding feat from last year; runner up in the 2008 WSOP Main Event and finishing third at the WSOPE in 2008.
 
Poker legend Doyle ‘Dolly’ Brunson has the opportunity to tie Phil Hellmu th with an 11th WSOP Gold Bracelet in London.  Can he do it?  Most of the poker playing world has him as their favorite pick, not only because he can play poker but because he’s what the word poker is all about.  Brunson sits with a close to average sized stack of 246,500 chips.  The world will be watching as the action begins tomorrow.

English football star Teddy Sheringham, known primarily for playing for Manchester United and England’s World Cup soccer team is in the race with 272,000 chips and is really hoping to become a two-sport champion.
 
Liz Lieu has played high stakes poker for a number of years and competed in major tournaments where her performance is noted as exceptional.  Lieu is the last woman remaining in this year’s WSOPE Main Event.  Winning this event would give her the honor of being the second female winner at the WSOPE.  Lieu ranks 26th out of 36 players remaining and needs to do some serious catching up as play begins tomorrow.
 
Notable players now in the money are: Doyle Brunson, Barry Shulman, Dave “Devilfish” Ulliott, Chris Bjorin, Steve Zolotow, John Kabbaj, Daniel Negreanu, and Men “The Master” Nguyen.
 
The previous WSOP Europe champions were both knocked out on Day Three.  John Juanda, from Las Vegas, was the first to fall.  The four-time gold bracelet winner, was the defending champ in this event, and fell short in his quest for a repeat victory.  A few hours later, 2007 champion Annette Obrestad followed Juanda to the rail.  The 2009 Main Event will produce a new winner.

Notable players who did not survive day two included – John Juanda, Todd Brunson, Antonio “the Magician” Esfandiari, Ben Roberts, Freddy Deeb, Jani Vilmunen, John Tabatabai Joe Beevers, Annette Obrestad, Amnon Filippi, , Philip Tom, Farzad Bonyadi, and others.

The World Series of Poker Europe main event play continues at noon on Wednesday and will play down until the final table of nine players is reached.  The Main Event coverage and results will run daily through October 2nd.