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Event #50 - $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha World Championship

PLO World Championship Begins at Noon

It's Pot-Limit Omaha's biggest day of the year -- the start of Event 50, $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha World Championship. Poker's biggest names will be out in force for this one, the last major buy-in tourney before next week's Main Event.

The action begins at noon today in the Amazon Room. In 2007, Robert Mizrachi conquered a 314-player field in this event, pulling down a winner' check for $768,889.
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A Note About Chip Counts

Players begin the tournament with 10,000 in tournament chips plus a red reload chip that is good for another 10,000 chips at a time of the players' choosing. This red chip is not in play, must be redeemed between hands, and has no cash or tournament value during the deal. Some will choose to use it right when they sit down; others will wait until they need the extra chips. If they do not spend their red chip by the end of level three, the 10,000 reload chips will be added to their stack at that time, for a total of 20,000 starting chips. Be aware that our chip counts do not indicate whether a player has reloaded or not, so they may be misleading up until the mandatory add-on at the end of level three.
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Day 1 Ends

Play has concluded for Day 1. Things started out wild and woolly, with players freely throwing chips into pots while they retained their red rebuy chip. Once the rebuy chips were taken out of play, things settled down for a more calm, predictable tournament (to the extent that PLO is ever calm or predictable).

Players are now bagging and tagging their chips. Josh Arieh is our far and away chip leader, approaching 400,000 chips. So far we haven't spotted anyone else with over 250,000.
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Official Day 1 Chip Counts

The WSOP has now released official chip counts for all 86 players who survived Day 1 action in Event 50, $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em. The list is headed by Josh Arieh, who enjoyed a solid first day and finished the session with 343,700 in chips, well ahead of the rest of the field.

Josh Arieh 343,700
Guillaume Patry 226,400
Shawn Buchanan 214,800
Peter Jetten 205,400
Michael Mizrachi 204,000
Len Ashby 199,800
Brant Hale 197,200
Billy Argyros 195,100
Eddy Scharf 162,900
Karl Mahrenholz 155,500
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David Williams Eliminated in 26th Place ($28,651)

Action folded to David Williams, sunglasses on and hat pulled low, on the button. He peeked at his cards, then raised pot to 28,000. The small blind folded, but Julian Powell made the call in the big blind.

The flop was . Powell checked to Williams, who bet pot, a total of 60,000. Powell quickly check-raised all in. Williams mulled it over, then pushed his chips in as well.

Williams:
Powell:

\"Come on, hold!\" said Powell, referring to his two pair, kings and sixes. The turn helped neither player. The river made Powell a better two pair, but did not improve Williams.

The stacks were counted down to make sure Powell had Williams covered. He did, so Williams got up from the table to start the process of collecting his $28,651.
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Rob Hollink Eliminated in 22nd Place ($28,651)

Rob Hollink was short of time and short of chips. Now he\'s out of both. He got his last 40,000 in preflop with and was called by Josh Arieh and his naked aces -- .

The board ran out . Arieh\'s hand held up, knocking Hollink out to collect his $28,651.
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Eddy Scharf Eliminated in 17th Place ($35,814)

Eddy Scharf made it all the way to the final two tables, but that is where his tournament ends. He moved all in preflop for 59,000, only to see Billy \"The Croc\" Argyros raise to 170,000 and Shawn Buchanan call all in behind hiim for 115,000. Buchanan\'s wound up besting Scharf\'s naked kings and Argyros\' suited ace and middle cards when the board came to make Buchanan a full house. He chips up to 280,000.

For his part, Scharf exits to a nice payday of $35,814.
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Josh Arieh Eliminated in 12th Place ($53,721)

Moments after tripling back into contention, Josh Arieh found himself with just 75,000 in chips and very severely in the danger zone. He picked his spot and moved them all in preflop on the last hand, holding . Greg Hurst made the call from the big blind, getting a discounted price to play. He tabled .

The board frowned on Arieh, coming down . Unable to get over the hump, Arieh shipped the last few of his chips to Hurst, shook hands with the table, and quickly departed out the side door.

Josh Arieh had been our leader for the vast, vast majority of the tournament, and for a long time it appeared that he might take it coast-to-coast. Something happened after the players returned from dinner though, and Arieh could get nothing going. He has steadily bled chips for the last six hours, and eventually ran out entirely. For his hard work, he will take home more than $50,000... but from the look on his face as he left, it\'s not exactly the target he was shooting for.
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Final-table Seat Assignments

The nine-player lineup for the finale of Event 50, the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha World Championship, has been set. Leading the chase tothe bracelet will be Michael Mizrachi, who will start the day with 1,767,000 in chips, nearly half a million more than second-place Brandon Moran.

Here's how the final nine will line up:

Seat 1: Kido Pham (Dallas, Texas) -- 1,080,000
Seat 2: Brandon Moran (Chicago, Illinois) -- 1,286,000
Seat 3: Peter Jetten (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) -- 492,000
Seat 4: Michael Mizrachi (Las Vegas, Nevada) -- 1,767,000
Seat 5: Billy Argyros (Melbourne, Australia) -- 729,000
Seat 6: Greg Hurst (Tazewell, Tennessee) -- 637,000
Seat 7: Tom Hanlon (Dublin, Ireland) -- 192,000
Seat 8: Marty Smyth (Belfast, Ireland) -- 1,068,000
Seat 9: Richard Harroch (San Francisco, California) -- 372,000
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Hand #62 - Kido Pham Eliminated in 6th Place ($170,116)

Marty Smyth has the button in Seat 8. Michael Mizrachi calls first from middle position. Billy Argyros limps as well, as does Richard Harroch in the small blind. Action is on Kido Pham, and he raises the field from the big blind. Mizrachi is the only caller, and it\'s heads up the rest of the way.

Flop: . Pham checks, and The Grinder seizes the opportunity to bet 300,000. Pham makes the call.

The turn is the . Pham pauses for a moment and then checks. Mizrachi moves all in, standing up to await his fate. He has Kido slightly covered, and the winner of this pot would be the big chip leader regardless of the outcome.

The two men engage in a little brief chatter, and Pham throws his head back, tortured by the decision he faces. After a few minutes of standing, Mizrachi\'s legs apparently get a little tired. He sits back down and again the two men exchange some more short conversation. From the rail, The Grinder\'s wife catches her man\'s eye and holds one finger up to her mouth in the, \"Shhh\" gesture.

After at least seven or eight solid minutes of time in the tank, Kido reaches his fist across the table, and he and Mizrachi bump knuckles in a friendly gesture. Kido then stands up, thinks for another brief minute, and finally says, \"I call.\" The hands are turned up:

Pham:
Mizrachi:

The Grinder is well-ahead and has Kido Pham on the brink of elimination. Kido needs to catch another ace or a jack to stay alive. The river brought no such help though; the seals Pham\'s fate, and sends him to the exit in sixth place. He will pocket more than $170,000 for his work over the past three days.
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Billy \"The Croc\" Argyros Eliminated in Fourth Place ($268,605)

Hand No. 98 -

Billy \"The Croc\" Argyros has the button in Seat 5. Michael Mizrachi limps in as first to act before The Croc raises to 270,000. Action folds back to Mizrachi who reraises all in. The Croc makes the call, and for the second time in three hands, The Croc\'s fate is in Mizrachi\'s hands.

Mizrachi:
The Croc:

Single-suited aces for The Croc against Mizrachi\'s three Broadway cards. A cheer erupts from The Croc\'s cheering section when the flop comes to make a set of aces for The Croc, but it\'s far from over. Mizrachi has a gutshot draw against The Croc\'s set. It\'s the complete opposite of the all-in confrontation just two hands ago, when Mizrachi had the set and The Croc had the gutshot draw. The shoe\'s on the other foot.

In that previous hand, The Croc caught his gutshot on the turn. Mizrachi proves he\'s equal to the task when he rolls his own gutter ball with the on the turn to make a Broadway straight. Live poker is so rigged.

The Croc needs a board pair on the river, and just like Mizrachi, he doesn\'t get it when the river falls .

Seriously? Seriously. These two players just played the same hand from opposite sides of the fence twice within three hands. The second time sent The Croc to the mat. He won\'t be getting back up, but he will be getting $268,605.
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Hand #103 - Michael Mizrachi Eliminated in 3rd Place ($331,279)

Peter Jetten has the button in Seat 3, and he raises to 225,000. The Grinder reaches for a stack of chips, and reraises the full pot, putting in 755,000 chips. Jetten moves all in, and Mizrachi snap calls, putting himself all in and in danger of being eliminated. With the betting complete, the cards are shown down:

Mizrachi:
Jetten:

The entire audience stands and begins to cheer, anxiously awaiting the results of this big showdown. Mizrachi is roughly a 2-to-1 underdog, and he needs to improve to stay alive. With the betting complete, the dealer runs the board:



Mizrachi caught himself a pair, but he failed to get over the hump, and he is eliminated in third place. For his efforts over the past three days, The Grinder will pocket $331,279. There will be no back-to-back bracelets for the Mizrachi family in the Pot-Limit Omaha World Championship.
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Marty Smyth Wins Event #50: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha World Championship; Peter Jetten Eliminated in 2nd Place ($528,257)

Hand No. 133 -

Peter Jetten has the button, and he limps in. Marty Smyth raises the pot, and Jetten comes along.

The flop shows up . Smyth bets the pot, 600,000. Jetten announces, \"I raise the pot.\" Before he even has the chips out of his stack, Smyth moves all in, and Jetten quickly calls. When the stacks are counted down, it\'s Peter Jetten who is covered, and he is all in at risk of elimination. With a mountain of chips in the middle of the table, the hands are turned up:

Jetten:
Smyth:

The showdown bring the entire crowd to their feet and cues a rowdy chorus of cheers from the two opposing sections of fans. Jetten and Smyth have both flopped their straight, but Smyth is freerolling with a redraw to a straight flush!

The suspense in the air is tangible, and the cheering becomes a wave of noise that engulfs the whole room. The Irish side of the room cheers, \"Club, club, club!...\" while the Canadians across the stage simultaneously chant, \"Brick, brick, brick!\" With everyone still on their feet and the noise almost overwhelming, the dealer burns and turns fourth street:



The Canadian section erupts even louder when they see that brick peel off. Their guy has to fade just one more card to chop the pot and go back to square one. The crowd leans forward on their feet as the dealer knocks the table, burns and turns the final card:

!

A huge roar follows from the entire room. Marty Smyth nails an incredibly profitable club on the river, making him the winning flush and earning him the title and the bracelet! We truly could not imagine a more thrilling finish to our event!
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1 $ 859,549 Marty Smyth
2 $ 528,256 Peter Jetten
3 $ 331,279 Michael Mizrachi
4 $ 268,605 Player Billy Argyros
5 $ 214,884 Richard Harroch
6 $ 170,116 Kido Pham
7 $ 134,302 Tom Hanlon
8 $ 107,442 Brandon Moran
9 $ 80,581 Greg Hurst
10 $ 53,721 David Benefield
11 $ 53,721 Shawn Buchanan
12 $ 53,721 Josh Arieh
13 $ 44,767 Jimmy Tran
14 $ 44,767 Julian Powell
15 $ 44,767 Kenneth Matsson
16 $ 35,814 Guillaume Patry
17 $ 35,814 Eddy Scharf
18 $ 35,814 Rino Mathis
19 $ 28,651 Dario Alioto
20 $ 28,651 Len Ashby
21 $ 28,651 Stephen Ladowsky
22 $ 28,651 Rob Hollink
23 $ 28,651 Brant Hale
24 $ 28,651 Magnus Petersson
25 $ 28,651 Sigi Stockinger
26 $ 28,651 David Williams
27 $ 28,651 Jamie Pickering
28 $ 25,069 Nikolay Evdakov
29 $ 25,069 Robin Larsson
30 $ 25,069 Vegard Nygaard
31 $ 25,069 Ben Blackmore
32 $ 25,069 Nick Gibson
33 $ 25,069 Jonas Klausen
34 $ 25,069 David Singer
35 $ 25,069 Jorge Arias
36 $ 25,069 Eric Cloutier
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Congratulations to Marty Smyth, Champion of Event #50 ($859,532)

Marty Smyth had a raucous cheering section throughout the final table on the way to his win in Event No. 50 - $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha. He bested a field of 381 competitors to take him his first WSOP gold bracelet and $859,532 in pocket money. He played admirably throughout what he called "the most stressful day" he can remember in a while. It was so stressful that he didn't know what a great situation he was in on the final hand.

"I didn't realize I had clubs," he said. "That's the God's honest truth."

Whether he realized it or not, clubs made Marty Smyth the champion of this event. Congratulations to him once again.
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Courtesy Of Pokernews
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