SIX-HANDED MONSTER
Las Vegas, NV (June 9, 2011) – The largest Six-Handed No-Limit Hold’em tournament in history concluded today with the play and conclusion of the $1,500 Buy-In No-Limit (6-Handed) Championship, held at the 2011 World Series of Poker.
 
The new poker champion is Geffrey Klein, from Houston, TX.  He is a 44-year-old gynecologist.  Klein pulled off a stunning comeback during heads-up play and won what must be considered as one of the most unlikely victories of the 2011 WSOP, so far.
 
Down 9 to 1 in chips, it appeared Klein was destined for a respectable second-place finish.  But he never gave up.  Klein stayed patient and maneuvered is way back from the dead en route to a major tournament win that left virtually every witness speechless due to the outcome.
 
Klein collected $544,388 in prize money.  Incredibly, this was his first time to cash in a WSOP event.  Klein was also presented with the ultimate symbol of achievement in the game of poker, the WSOP gold bracelet.  This marked his first WSOP victory.
 
The runner up was Eddie Blumenthal, who had nothing to be ashamed of given his record during the first week of the series.  He has arguably the most impressive WSOP record of any player, so far.  He catapulted near the top of the standings in the WSOP "Player of the Year" race, by virtue of his second-place finish in this tournament, combined with a fourth-place finish in the $5,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em Championship, which attracted 865 players.  Two top four finishes within a five-day span is a stunning accomplishment, given the gargantuan field sizes and intense level of competition. 

This was the tenth event on this year’s WSOP SCHEDULE.  The tournament attracted 1,950 entries, which shattered the previous all-time record for (live) six-handed tournaments.  The former mark was set last year, when 1,663 Six-Handed enthusiasts jammed the Rio in search of victory.  This year's number of entries represented a 14 percent increase.  The flood of new entries is almost certainly a result of the aftereffects of what has been called "Black Friday," which all but killed online poker for American players.  Given so many online poker games were played Six-Handed, it's likely many of the players who were shut out of competing online found their way to Las Vegas to play in the WSOP instead.
 
The total prize pool was also a 6-Handed record, amounting to $2,592,000.  The top 180 finishers collected prize money, the most players ever paid for a live 6-Handed tournament.
 
So far, this year’s tournament series has produced several newcomers WSOP stardom.  Remarkably, all of the first ten gold bracelet winners have been first-time winners.  In fact, half of the tournaments (5 of 10) were all won by players who had never previously finished in-the-money in any WSOP tournament -- including this event.
 
A full official report will be posted shortly.  For a list of all players who cashed, in EVENT #10, please click here.