Sunday, the 9th of October, 2011, found the first bracelet of the 2011 World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) going to the winner of Event 1 and Day 1b of Event 2 sent the event into the history books as it became the biggest event in WSOPE history.
Event #1: €2,680 Six-Handed No-Limit Hold'em — Guillaume Humbert Sports a New Bracelet
A prize pool of €864,000 was created by 360 players taking to the felt to become the first bracelet winner of the WSOPE. It took nearly 12 hours on Day 3 for Guillaume Humbert to become the first bracelet winner of the 2011 WSOPE; he stated the day with the chip lead and ended the day with all of the chips stacked in his corner.
Between playing in two fantastic venues - Hotel Majestic Barriere and Le Croisette Casino Barriere - it took two days of action to play down to the 12 players who took their seats on Sunday. The day started with Roy Finlay on a siz where he eliminated David Benyamine in 12th, Anton Wigg in 11th, and Bruno Benveniste in 10th.
The final table bubble was waiting when Casey Kastle left in 9th place and Alexander Salabaschew left in 8th place. The honor of bubble boy was reserved for Phil Hellmuth. Even though Hellmuth began the day second in chips, the 11-time WSOP bracelet winner managed to double up Adrien Allain in the first level and never found the energy to become a force in the game after that. He ended up blinding away until he was left with two big blinds and was eliminated in 7th place.
Marton Czuczor was eliminated by Azusa Maeda and the first to go from the final table. Azusa Maeda took out Adrien Allain next. Out of action next was Matan Krakow in 4th and Roy Finlay was out in third.
Heads-up play between Azusa Maeda and Guillaume Humbert was intense but nothing that jumped and sparked appeared to be going on. The final hand found Humbert checking to Maeda when the flop came 9c7d6c. Maeda moved all-in and Humbert snap called with the 5c8h. Maeda held the 4d3d, the 4h on the turn didn't improve his hand. The rivered 4c gave Maeda trips but he couldn't beat Humbert's flopped straight.
2011 WSOPE Event #1 Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Guillaume Humbert | €215,999 |
| 2 | Azusa Maeda | €133,471 |
| 3 | Roy Finlay | €92,629 |
| 4 | Matan Krakow | €65,068 |
| 5 | Adrien Allain | €46,250 |
| 6 | Marton Czuczor | €33,255 |
For the entire play-by-play of Event #1, check out the PokerNews Live Reporting Blog.
Event #2: €1,090 No-Limit Hold'em — Breaks the Record
Day 1b ended on Sunday after nine levels of play with 50 players ready to come back for Day 2. The chip leader at the end of Day 1b was Yannick Autaa - 60,000 in chips, and Eric Baudry not far behind with 58,300.
Day 1a brought 381 players to the contest and Day 1b brought 390 players for a grand total of 771 entrants. The previous record was 608 entrants in the 2009 £1,000 event won by JP Kelly.
Day 1b notables that are moving on to Day 2 include Tyler Kenney, John Eames, Peter Jetten, Vanessa Selbst, Kevin MacPhee, and Roberto Romanello. Eliminated on Day 1b were James Bord, Bryan Devonshire, Ana Marquez, Sam Trickett, Tristan Wade, Dennis Phillips, Bryn Kenney, Jeff Lisandro, Carlos Mortensen, Michael Mizrachi, and Vanessa Rousso.
Out of the combined field, Australian Andrew Hinrichsen bagged 63,900 chips on Day 1a and starts day 2 as the chip leader.
Stay up to date with PokerNews Live Reporting Blog.
Please do follow us on Twitter! And like us on Facebook.
*Image Courtesy of PokerNews.com
Play an Online League Event
The $15K Carbon Poker League on PokerWorks is an ongoing tournament series which sees players accumulating points towards qualifying for the $10,200 added Big Final, taking place on January 8 at 1800 GMT. Carbon Poker Review