Chinese investor and high-stakes cash game player Yue Du won Event #59 $5,000 NL. That marked the first-ever bracelet for Du, who became the first player from China to bring a bracelet back home. His nickname should be the terminator, because he knocked out everyone at the final table, including Natasha Barbour, who finished in third place. She failed in an attempt to become the third woman to win a bracelet in an open event at the 2016 WSOP. Meanwhile, the TAG TEAM event returned to the WSOP for the first time in 34 years! The dynamic duo of Doug Polk and Ryan Fee shipped Event #61 $1,000 NL TAG TEAM.
Chalk up a first victory for China! Yue Du, also known as Alan Du, won his first-ever WSOP bracelet by taking down Event #59 $5,000 NL. Du won a bracelet at his first-ever WSOP final table too. And he did it in insane fashion. Du picked off all eight opponents at the final table. Unstoppable? Indeed. Several Chinese-American players have won bracelets, most notably Johnny Chan and David Chui. However, Du's victory marked the first time a player who calls China as his home won a bracelet.
Over in the TAG TEAM event, the winning team was the combo of Ryan Fee and Doug Polk. They took down Event #61 $1,000 NL Tag Team for the bracelet(s). They chopped up the first-place prize money of $153K.
Meanwhile, on Saturday the 25K PLO High Roller will be playing down to a champion. Three players are still alive and trying to win $1.1M... plus the bling. Jens Kyllonen from Finland is the chip leader, with Tommy Le and Dan Smith still alive.
Also, the One Drop is in full swing. The first day of action in this $111,111 buy-in High Roller affair commenced on Friday night. Only 88 players are alive out of 171 entrants...but late reg is still open until the start of Day 2.
Event #59 $5,000 NL - Final Results
China's Yue "Alan" Du went on a tear and knocked out everyone at the final table en route to his victory in the 5K event. Du became China's first-ever bracelet winner. Chinese-born American citizens like Johnny Chan and David Chui have took down multiple bracelet winners, but this was the first time an actual Chinese national won a WSOP bracelet in Las Vegas. Du is a businessman and investor who is a regular in Macau nosebleed cash games and other high-stakes action around Asia.
Six players returned for a fourth day of action. Du was the chip leader and no one really challenge him all night. Anyone who went up against Du met their fate. The trip of Europeans were the first three to bust on Day 4. German pro Dominik Nitsche was dunzo in fourth.
Natasha Barbour entered the final day 3/6 but she finished in third place. At least she is getting married! Her boyfriend Jason Mercier waited until she busted to pop the question. Barbour was attempting to become the third woman to win a bracelet in an open event this summer. Alas, she came up short of the mark.
Canada's Mike Gentili got heads up against Du, but he could not muster up a comeback and busted in second place.
First place paid out $800K for this $5,000 buy-in event. That's not a bad score for Du for his first-ever WSOP final table appearance.
2016 WSOP - Event #59 $5,000 NL
Entrants: 863
Prize Pool: $4,056,100
Payouts: 130
Event #59 - Final Table Payouts:
1. Yue Du (China) $800,586
2. Mike Gentili (Canada) $494,797
3. Natasha Barbour (USA) $348,374
4. Dominik Nitsche (Germany) $248,640
5. Ismael Bojang (Austria) $179,923
6. Marius Gierse (German) $132,030
7. Matt O'Donnell (USA) $98,269
8. Sertac Turker (Turkey) $74,201
9. Arne Coulier (Belgium) $56,851
Event #61 $1,000 NL TAG TEAM - Final Results
The TAG TEAM event at the WSOP returned after a 34-year hiatus. The team format quickly became one of the most popular events at the 2016 WSOP. Bracelets were awarded to the team of Ryan Fee and Doug Polk. They defeated the trio of Niel Mittelman, Adam Greenberg, and Gabe Paul to win this event First place paid out $153K to the winning team, so Fee/Polk earned roughly $77K each.
The sixth place team included a couple of British 2016 WSOP bracelet winners in Adam Owen and Benny Glasser. Plus Belgium's Bart Lybaert, who cashed in a redonk number of events, was the fourth-wheel on their team.
Pro Jon Little played this event with his parents -- Rita and Larry Little from Pensacola, Florida. The Little clan advanced to the final table, but Jonathan Little busted out in ninth place. Heck of a run for the Littles!
Side note: bracelet winner Ryan Laplante cashed in this event, for his front-running 12th cash at the 2016 WSOP.
2016 WSOP - Event #61 $1,000 NL TAG TEAM
Entrants: 863
Prize Pool: $776,700
Payouts: 130
TAG TEAM - Final Table Results:
1. Ryan Fee (USA) $76,679
1. Doug Polk (USA) $76,679
2. Niel Mittelman (USA) $31,583
2. Adam Greenberg (USA) $31,582
2. Gabriel Paul (USA) $31,583
3. Marvin Rettenmaier (Germany) $33,229
3. Mohsin Charania (USA) $33,229
4. Christopher Godfrey (USA) $23,639
4. James Dempsey (UK) $23,639
5. TJ Shulman (USA) $17,059
5. John Gale (UK) $17,059
6. Owais Ahmed (USA) $6,245
6. Adam Owen (UK) $6,246
6. Benny Glaser (UK) $6,245
6. Bart Lybaert (Belgium) $6,246
7. Robert Altman (USA) $9,282
7. Reuben Peters (USA) $9,282
8. Michael Padula (USA) $4,668
8. Marco Caruso (USA) $4,667
8. Daniel Urban (USA) $4,668
9. Jonathan Little (USA) $3,575
9. Larry Little (USA) $3,574
9. Rita Little (USA) $3,575
Event #62 $25,000 PLO HIGH ROLLER - Day 4 and Final Table
This high roller event needed an extra day to determine the champ. The third day of the 25K PLO High Roller began with 20 players. They were able to get down to a final table, but there were still three players still alive when action was suspended late on Day 3 after Ryan D'Angelo hit the rail in fourth place.
What are the final three playing for? The bling and $1.1M in cash! Finland's Jens Kyllonen bagged up the most chips at the end of Day 3 with nearly 11M. Tommy Le is second overall with 8.6M, and Dan Smith is the shorty with 3M. Le made a pair of final tables in PLO events, but the highest he finished was third in Event #37 Running of the PLO Donks. Whereas Dan Smith is in the group of "best American online pros who never won a bracelet."
Sean Winter was the first player to exit the final table in eighth place. Day 3 chip leader Ludovic Geilich from the UK advanced to the final table, but he busted in seventh place.
Robert Mizrachi was trying to win a second bracelet this summer, but he bubbled off the final table in ninth place. Other notables who busted on Day 3 but failed to make the final table included Yevgeniy Timoshenko (18th place), Paul Volpe (15th place), and The Grinder (12th place). Yeah, both Mizrachi brother went deep, but busted just before the final table.
2016 WSOP - Event #62 $25,000 PLO HIGH ROLLER
Entrants: 184
Prize Pool: $4,370,000
Payouts: 28
Event #62 - Final Table Payouts:
1. $1,127,035
2. $696,558
3. $487,361
4. Ryan D'Angelo (USA) $347,641
5. Veselin Karakitukov (Bulgaria) $252,909
6. Dmitry Savelyev (USA) $187,724
7. Ludovic Geilich (UK) $142,227
8. Sean Winter (USA) $110,035
Event #63 $1,000 NL - Day 3
One of the last low-end running of the donks is underway. Italian Raffaele Castro is the chip leader with 25 to go out of 2,452 runners. Tony Dunst is fourth overall. Other notables still alive... Faraz Jaka, Steven Wolansky, Sebastian Pauli, and France's Christophe Pommier. First place pays out $339K.
Event #64 $3,000 PLO 8 - Day 3
Only 21 players are still alive in the 3K PLO8 event out of 473 runners. Scott Clements, one of the world's premier O8 players, is the chip leader. British pro Richard Ashby is right behind. Other notables still left in the hunt... Tim Vuskon, Noah Bronstein, Ari Engel, Kyle Bowker, Blair Rodman, Marco Johnson, Ben Yu, and Jon Turner. First place pays out $295K.
Event #65 $10,000 Ladies NL Championship - Day 2
Only one dude played in this Ladies Championship. $149K will be awarded to first place. Only 112 ladies are still alive out of 819 runners. Anetta Holley bagged up the most chips at the end of Day 1. The bubble burst late in the first day, so everyone is in the money. Notables still alive... Vanessa Selbst, Mina Greco, Norway's Elisabeth Hille, Ting Ho, Mandy Baker, Ebony Kenney, Thi Nguyen, France's Nadia Ennebati and short-stacked Jamie Kerstetter.
Event #66 $1,000 NL WSOP.com ONLINE - Day 2 and Final Table
The second-ever online bracelet event is down to six players out of 1,247 entries. Clayton "SLARKDUCK" Maguire is the chip leader. Also still alive... Simeon Naydenov (FeelGoodInc), Marc-Oliver Carpentier-Perrault (mariovideo), Park Yu Cheung (Sparrow), Spencer Taylr (TheGoat21), and Richard Tuhrim (jklolz). The final six will now migrate to the Rio and play the remainder of the tournament out in real life! First place pays $210,279.
Event #67 $111,111 High Roller for One Drop NL - Day 2
Only 88 players are still alive in the One Drop High Roller out of 171 entries. The registration is technically still open until the start of Day 2. Koray Aldemir bagged up the most chips but Fedor Holz is right behind in second. Brian Green is third overall. The Grinder is also 4/81. Dominik Nitsche rounded out the top 5 in chips.
Plenty of big names still alive... including hedge fund manager David Einhorn, Jeff Gross, Kyle Julius, 2015 WSOP Main Event champ Joe McKeehen, Adrian Mateos, Robert Mizrachi, Mustapha Kanit, Stevie Chidwick, Andrew Robl, Moshin Charania, Antonio Esfandiari, Scott Seiver, Erik Seidel, Davidi Kitai, Jason Mericer, Lucky CHewey, Jason Koon, Tom Marchese, Max Silver, Vivek, Tony Gregg, Noah Schwarts, Byron Kaverman, Phil Hellmuth, David Peters, Chance Kornuth, Justin Bonomo, Isaac Haxton, Michael Gathy, Brian Rast, Sergey Lebedev, Olivier Busquet, Dietrich Fast, and tech guru Jason Calacanis.
