Online Poker Tournaments
Event 35: Ayaz Mahmood turns out to be the champion of champions
2010-07-29
Ayaz Mahmood made his career’s first World Series of Poker (WSOP) gold bracelet victory by winning the $10,000 buy-in Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em championship. Mahmood first attended the WSOP in 2003 and this was his fourth appearance in the final. He defeated Ernst Schmejkal in the final match which was played in the best of three format. Mahmood had an earning of $626,674 as the prize money for winning the event. The event number 35 saw 256 entries with the net prize money being totalled at $2,406,400 and having 32 final paid places. The match was played at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino Las Vegas, Nevada. The details of the way match went by are as under.
Event Details:
On the first day 256 of the best players in poker were up against each other in a contest which required strong nerves and brilliant skills to win. The event had some of the best names from poker. Out of the 256, 64 survived to play the next day. At the end of the next day there were only 8 left to make an attempt for the golden bracelet and the huge winning sum.
The final eight did not have a single former WSOP winner. The winner Mahmood had to win nine straight heads-up matches in total to emerge victorious. Ernst Moritz Schmejkal was the toughest opponent that he faced and also the last one. Though he defeated him 2-0 in the best of three final format, the victory was not easy for him as the match had to be extended to an unscheduled fourth day.
Match 1 saw the two opponents battling it out for more than 6 hours and although in the final two hours Mahmood had the lead, it was not easy for him to take the first match.
Match 2 was played on the fourth day. The final hand was dealt after five hours of play when against Schmejkal’s Ad 6s, Mahmood had Qh Th. This was followed by Ah Td 9c. When the final two cards were Jd Ks, Mahmood managed to make a straight and win the second match. Thus he won the best of three finals by 2-0.
The runners up won $386,900 while the two semi-finalists, Jason Somerville from New York and Alexander Kostritsyn from Moscow each won $ 219,969. Both of them had won 6 of their 7 matches. The remaining players in the final eight won $94,956 each. The finishers were Vanessa Rousso from USA, Faraz Jaka from USA, Ludovic Lacay from England and Thang Pham from USA. The defending champion of last year Leo Wolpert failed to cash in this year.
About the Winner:
Ayaz Mahmood is a Bangladeshi born 38 year old who has been living in the US since he was 14. He is in fact the first Bangladeshi born WSOP champion. Before turning to playing poker full time in 2004, Mahmood owned a furniture store in Houston.
He was quite excited on winning the title and said that he had waited ten years for this. He said that it was not an easy task to win the title against strong players and was happy on being able to do so. He said that now he would like to have a shot at the main event.
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TWO MORE WSOP FIRSTS (Update)2010-06-28Hamrick and Gordon take their first bracelets home
Going into Day 30 of the 41st World Series of Poker, the latest bracelet winners are Dean Hamrick, who bubbled last year’s main event final table, and Ian Gordon, who started low but staged a remarkable comeback in his event.
Starting the day against 24 other survivors, Hamrick won event 42, the $1,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em competition after a long 15 hour final day of poker that included a three hour rollercoaster of a heads up against Thomas O’Neal.
It was the culmination of a three day battle through a field that originally numbered 2 521, many of them well respected names in the game.
The young player from Michigan’s reward was his first bracelet and a substantial first prize of $604 222, boosting his career earnings above $1.5 million whilst his very worthy opponent’s second place was worth $375,627.
Ian Gordon was not especially high on the winner-radar when the final day of event 43 - the $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. World Championship started with 23 survivors from an initial entry field of 241.
British player Richard Ashby was among the favourites, having a good stack and already claiming one bracelet this series, and by the time Eugene Katachalov was busted out in 3rd place for a $248 341 take-home it was Ashby who faced Gordon in the heads up.
The two contestants showed good sportsmanship in toasting each other with glasses of champagne before getting down to business, and the grand finale was surprisingly just one hand long.
Gordon emerged with the bracelet and $611 666 main prize, with Ashby having the consolation of a $378,027 runner-up’s check.
The final table of event 44, a $2,500 Mixed Hold'em contest, was reached in only two days despite a star-studded entry field of 507 players. Jarred Solomon and Gavin Smith led the remaining survivors into Day 3 action, and this is how the eliminations occurred:
Mike Santoro in 9th place ($21,304)
Dwyte Pilgrim in 8th place ($27,438)
Daniel Idema in 7th place ($35,601)
Jarred Solomon in 6th place ($46,562)
Jamie Rosen in 5th place ($61,441)
Michael Michnik in 4th place ($81,871)
Timothy Finne in 3rd place ($110,324)
Finne’s departure set the scene for a lengthy heads up between Gavin Smith and Danny Hannawa in which the pair battled for two hours through the alternating limit and no-limit rounds before Smith prevailed to collect his first bracelet and $268 238, leaving Hannawa with a second-placing payday of $166 005.
Early morning Sunday there were still 35 players struggling for supremacy in event 45, the $1,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em competition, an event which attracted 3 097 registrations.
Going into Day 2 Saturday afternoon barely 400 players remained, led by Will Failla, but with players of quality still in the field, including Chino Rheem, Dutch Boyd, Theo Tran, John Phan, John Juanda, Jonathan Little, Victor Ramdin, and Adam Junglen.
Early morning Sunday when the Day 2 chips were bagged it was UK player Sam Trickett in the lead on 922 000, closely pursued by Larry Wilder on 916 000.
Day 2 of event 46, the $5,000 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo Split contest came to a close without reaching a final table in the early hours of Sunday morning with 21 players still standing from an original entry field of 310, which had been reduced to 130 in Day 1 action.
Colin Burton held the chip lead as Day 2 action commenced, but there was some serious competitors still in the game that included James Dempsey, Mike Matusow, Barry Greenstein, Alexander Kravchenko, Vladimir Shchemelev, Dan Heimiller, Phil Hellmuth, Erick Lindgren, Howard Lederer and Kathy Liebert.
Chips were bagged at level 18 with 21 players remaining and Sergey Altbrechin in the lead on 486 000, chased by Dave ‘Devilfish’ Ulliot on 415 000. Further back in the field but still very much in contention were Erik Seidel, Rob Hollink, Allen Kessler, Andy Black and Dan Heimiller.
Event 47, another of the popular $1,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em competitions started off Day 1a Saturday afternoon with 1 759 players and completed the day down to 310 hopefuls, who will combine Monday with the survivors of Day 1b.
Justin Brickner has a comfortable lead on 86,000, ahead of Antonio Esfandiari on 35,000, Chau Giang, Michael Mizrachi, Tom Dwan, Jerry Yang, Chris Ferguson, Billy Baxter, Dennis Phillips and Bernard Lee all failed to survive the day.
Among the survivors going into Day 2 Monday will be Antonio Esfandiari, Matt Glantz and Scott Montgomery.
Also starting Saturday afternoon was event 48, a $2,500 buy-in Mixed competition in which 453 players entered.
By late Saturday night, when the chips were bagged after 8 hours of play, there were 192 players at level 8 with Jared Jaffe just ahead of Justin Smith in chip counts.
It could be another long road to a final table with a field that still contains experienced and talented players like Daniel Negreanu, Mike Matusow, Jennifer Harman, Alex Kravchenko, Michael Mizrachi, Bill Chen, Justin Bonomo, Chris Ferguson and Andrew Robl.
Players return to the felt late Sunday afternoon Vegas time.
THRILLER WEEKEND FOR POKER2010-05-28Plenty of action as WSOP opens in Vegas
Friday sees the start of the 2010 World Series of Poker at the Rio in Las Vegas, where top players from around the world are already starting to arrive. They’ll be pitting their skills against their contemporaries in some 57 tough events through to July 17, along with the external action and prop bets that invariably form a part of poker's biggest vibe.
The opening weekend promises to be full of action; starting at midday in Vegas is the annual $500 Casino Employees NLHE, won by Andrew Cohen last year, who bested an entry field of 865 other hopefuls.
Also kicking off Friday - at 5pm - is the inaugural outing of the new and ESPN televised $50 000 buy-in Player’s Championship. Contestants will be playing Limit Hold ‘Em; Omaha High-Low Split Eight or Better; Seven Card Razz; Seven Card Stud; Seven Card Stud High-Low Split Eight or Better; No Limit Hold ‘Em; Pot Limit Omaha; and 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball for some seriously big money in an event that is certain to draw the big names in the game. In last year's equivalent, David Bach was triumphant and took home $1.2 million.
The Player's Championship has the same buy-in as last year's HORSE event, which it replaces; if last year's turnout is anything to go by there should be at least 100 entries, making for a major prize pool. The HORSE event buy-in will go back to the more affordable $10 000 this year, which will hopefully encourage a good turnout.
Saturday will see the start of the first of six $1 000 buy-in NLHE competitions. Anticipating large entry fields, the organisers have allowed for two starting days on each of these events, which take place Saturday, and then on June 5-6; June 12-13; June 19-20; June 26-27 and July 1-2.
Rounding off what promises to be a highly entertaining weekend is the 5pm Sunday start of the $1 500 buy-in Omaha High-Low Split Eight or Better tournament.
Bracing itself for a record year, the Rio has created an additional 58 000 square feet of space for the action to take place, with extra room being created by the absence this year of the live expo stalls.
Full details of the schedule are available on the WSPOP website, where poker fans will note that the main event is scheduled to commence July 5 with four starter days to accommodate the heavy entry field. The tourney will play down to the last 9 survivors on July 17, when the television-mandated break until November will be imposed.
BERLIN TO FEATURE IN POKERSTARS E.P.T. 2009-12-23A thousand players expected for main event
The famous German city of Berlin joins the schedule of stops in the Pokerstars European Poker Tour for the first time next year, and it's likely to be the biggest professional poker tourney ever held in the country.
March 2nd to 7th 2010 is the date for the Berlin bash, a spokesman said this week: "We are excited to be making our first stop in the beautiful city of Berlin. We have experienced great success throughout the first half of EPT Season 6, with thousands of players competing in the initial six events."
He went on to reveal that a two story glass palace will be built especially for the PokerStars EPT in partnership with Spielbank Berlin and Pokerfloor. Located in the centre of Berlin, on the prestigious Marlene-Dietrich-Platz at Potsdamer Platz, the venue will have an area of 2 000 m², allowing an entry field of a thousand players.
The space will be fully utilised; Pokerstars is expecting a full one thousand player entry field for the main event that will include numerous international and national top players.
Among those set to play are tennis legend and Team PokerStars SportStar Boris Becker; all of Team PokerStars Germany - including the Season 5 Germany winner Sandra Naujoks, who comes from Berlin, and Jan Heitmann from Munich who is Boris Becker's poker coach, as well as all the other guests from "TV Total PokerStars.de Nacht".
Pokerstars has guaranteed a million Euro first prize.