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THE WSOP DAILY SHUFFLE: TUESDAY, JUNE 26, 2012

They Keep on Coming! Parade of Poker Players Continues; Greg Ostrander Wins $742K and First Gold Bracelet; New Yorker Henry Lu Defeats Brit Neil Channing in Epic Heads-Up Battle.

Jun 25 2012 05:45 PM EST

THE WSOP DAILY SHUFFLE: TUESDAY, JUNE 26, 2012

Photo Caption: Nothing comes easy for Neil Channing. On Monday night, the London poker pro hoped to finally earn what has been a painfully evasive first WSOP gold bracelet victory. While essentially all of his British mates have been fortunate enough to win their own WSOP titles, Channing has repeatedly come up short many times. Channing had an excellent shot to win the $1,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em (Event #43). He was chip leader during most of the final table, but ended up finishing second to New Yorker Henry Lu. It may take a while longer, but Channing should eventually get his long-overdue win. The best things in life aren’t meant to be easy.

To see more photos from the 2012 WSOP, please visit the official WSOP PHOTO BLOG.

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DAILY HEADLINES

Former Cop Busts 1,394 Poker Players (Event #41) -- 1,000th Gold Bracelet in WSOP History Awarded to Greg Ostrander (Event #41)

Henry Lu Wins $1,500 Buy-In No-Limit Hold’em (Event #43) -- 22-Year-Old New Yorker Wins First Gold Bracelet and $654,380

Russian Konstantin Puchkov Hits Eight Cashes – Now Tied With Terrence Chan (Both Players Two Off All-Time Mark)

2012 WSOP Player of the Year Race Heating Up

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FORMER COP BUSTS 1,394 POKER PLAYERS

Greg Ostrander won his first gold bracelet on Monday afternoon. The 40-year-old former police officer from upstate New York won the $3,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em title.

This was the 41st of 61 gold bracelet events on the 2012 WSOP schedule. The four-day competition attracted a tougher-than-usual lineup of No-Limit Hold’em specialists – 1,394 in all who started with high hopes of a gold bracelet victory. It was a cop-turned-poker pro from Webster, NY who ultimately enjoyed his finest poker moment on the ESPN Main Stage, played to completion in an overtime session at the Rio in Las Vegas.

Prior to this, Ostrander's only other notable WSOP accomplishment took place in last year's Main Event Championship, when he outlasted more than 7,000 players and ended up with an impressive 232nd-place finish. This time, he went much, much deeper, collecting a whopping $742,072 for this victory.

The runner-up was Jackie Glazier, from Australia, who barely missed becoming the second female to win a gold bracelet at this year’s WSOP, following a prior victory by Allyn Jaffrey-Shulman in the Seniors World Championship. Glazier is the tenth female to make a final table so far at this WSOP.

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HENRY LU’S ECSTASY AND NEIL CHANNING’S AGONY

The 2012 WSOP is nearly two-thirds of the way complete. The energy and excitement of the globe’s grandest gaming spectacle shows absolutely no signs of slowing down as yet another huge crowd turned out for the $1,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em tournament, classified as Event #43.

Tournament newcomer Henry Lu added his name to this year’s extraordinary list of gold bracelet champions after winning his first WSOP title tonight at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. He not only received the game’s most coveted prize – the gold bracelet – but a whopping $654,380 in prize money as well -- his biggest score ever.

The three-day competition drew another massive field. The tournament began with 2,770 entrants on Saturday and concluded on Monday night on the ESPN Main Stage in front of a large crowd and a worldwide WSOP.com live stream viewing audience.

The runner up was the popular, but long-suffering British poker veteran Neil Channing, who barely missed the chance at what would have been his long-awaited first WSOP victory.

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KONSTANTIN PUCHKOV HITS EIGHTH CASH IN 2012 – NOW TIED WITH TERRENCE CHAN

Konstantin Puchkov is determined to keep one of the most vaulted WSOP records in Russia.

In the midst of a chase with Terrence Chan for most cashes at this year’s WSOP, both players currently have eight in-the-money finishes, following in Puchkov’s min-cash in Event #43. About 15 gold bracelet events remain (in Las Vegas – not including WSOP Europe, with seven added).

The all-time record for most cashes at a WSOP belongs to Nikolay Evdakov, who set the mark with ten, back in 2008. Sadly, Evdakov passed away earlier this year.

Several players are actually within striking distance. However, Puchkov and Chan remain the clear favorites to match, if not break the record, entering the final stretch of the series.

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WHO WILL WIN 2012 WSOP PLAYER OF THE YEAR?

It’s still anyone’s guess. But there are some clear favorites at this point – familiar names who would have been at or near the top of any list prior to the start of this year’s 61-event gold bracelet schedule.

Through the completion of Event #43, Phil Ivey holds a slim points lead over John Monnette. A few other notable names are just a deep run or two off the pace, but have some serious work to do if they hope to achieve the coveted title. Most notably, Andy Frankenberger and Phil Hellmuth, who currently rank third and fourth, respectively.

Even though leaders Ivey and Monnette enjoy some obvious advantages, there still remains a lot of poker to be played. Not only do about 15 or so gold bracelet events remain in Las Vegas, including the WSOP Main Event Championship, there are also seven events to be played at Cannes, France as part of 2012 WSOP Europe. That two-week poker series runs September 21st through October 4th.

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WSOP TRIVIA QUESTION OF THE DAY

Question of the Day: Why was the WSOP Main Event Championship not televised (or recorded in any way) between the years 1984 and 1988?

Answer coming in tomorrow’s WSOP Daily Shuffle.

Yesterday’s Question of the Day: Who is the only player in WSOP history to not appear for the final day of the WSOP Main Event? Hint: He had a seat among the final nine, but did not show up.

Answer: Late poker great Stu Ungar might possibly have been a four-time world champion (instead of three) had he not let the 1989 Main Event slip away. Ungar held a monster-sized chip lead at the end of Day One in the finals that year. The tournament was only three-days long at the time. However, Ungar was burdened with serious personal problems and became incapacitated prior to the start of Day Two. He had so many chips in his stack that he survived a full day without even showing up. While Ungar was receiving treatment at a local hospital, his stack was blinded all the way down to the final table that year. He ultimately finished in ninth place.

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DAY 30: THE WSOP TODAY – TUESDAY, JUNE 26, 2012

9:00 AM
Today’s first tournament is a $75 buy-in TURBO MEGA-SATELLITE.

12:00 NOON
EVENT #47, the $1,500 buy-in POT-LIMIT OMAHA HIGH-LOW SPLIT tournament, begins with the play of Day One. Registration will be available up through the completion of four levels, plus two breaks, which is estimated to be about 4:40 pm. Action takes place inside Brasilia. This is a three-day event. This same event on last year’s schedule drew 1,003 entries.

EVENT #47 UPDATES can be followed at WSOP.com. Coverage includes chip counts as well as written updates supplied from the tournament floor by our friends at PokerNews.com.

The official Structure Sheet for EVENT #47 can be viewed HERE.

1:00 PM
EVENT #44, the $1,000 buy-in NO-LIMIT HOLD’EM tournament, continues with Day Three – including the final table. There are 16 players remaining from the starting field of 2,949. Thomas Conway is the current chip leader with 880,000, and gold bracelet winner Keven Stammen is still in contention as well. Action will take place inside Amazon. Chip counts can be found HERE.

EVENT #46, the $2,500 buy-in NO-LIMIT HOLD’EM tournament, continues with Day Two. There are 233 players remaining from the starting field of 1,607. Ryan D'Angelo is the current chip leader with 190,300. The top 171 finishers will make the money. Action will take place inside Amazon. Chip counts from the end of the first day of play can be found HERE.

2:00 PM
EVENT #45, the $50,000 buy-in POKER PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP (EIGHT-GAME MIX) tournament continues with the play of Day Three (of five). There are 62 players remaining from the starting field of 108. Andy Bloch is the current chip leader in this ultra-prestigious event.

The first DAILY DEEP STACK NO-LIMIT HOLD’EM tournament begins. The entry fee is $235. Registration is open for four (30 minute) levels, plus one break – which means until about 4:20 pm.

2:20 PM
The official gold bracelet ceremony includes two recent winners – Dung “Gomer” Nguyen (Event #39) and Oleksii Kovalchuk (Event #42) The anthems of the United States of America and the Ukraine will be played.

4:00 PM
The first MEGA-SATELLITE begins. The entry fee is $330

5:00 PM
EVENT #48, the $3,000 buy-in LIMIT HOLD’EM tournament, begins with the play of Day One. Registration will be available up through the completion of four levels, plus two breaks, which is estimated to be about 9:40 pm. Action takes place inside Amazon. This is a three-day event. This same event on last year’s schedule drew 354 entries.

EVENT #48 UPDATES can be followed at WSOP.com. Coverage includes chip counts as well as written updates supplied from the tournament floor by our friends at PokerNews.com.

The official Structure Sheet for EVENT #48 can be viewed HERE.

6:00 PM
The second DEEP STACK NO-LIMIT HOLD’EM tournament begins. The entry fee is $185. Registration is open for four (30 minute) levels, plus one break – which means until about 8:20 pm.

7:00 PM – SPECIAL EVENT
The BIG ONE FOR ONE DROP ($1 MILLION BUY-IN) tournament is holding a mega-satellite, which costs $200 to enter. The gold bracelet tournament begins on July 1st.

8:00 PM
The second MEGA-SATELLITE of the day begins. The game is No-Limit Hold’em (Note: This event regularly features different games – so be sure and check the schedule in advance). The entry fee is $550.

10:00 PM
The third and final DEEP STACK NO-LIMIT HOLD’EM tournament begins at 10 pm. The entry fee is $135. Registration is open for four (30 minute) levels, plus one break – which means until about 12:20 am.

3:00 AM
All WSOP gold bracelet tournaments end for the night.

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* Please note that all listed times are estimates and subject to change

-- by Nolan Dalla

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