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Vitaly Lunkin

Vitaly Lunkin’s $40k Event #2 Win Kicks off WSOP on ESPN Tonight

by Wicked Chops Entity on 7.28.2009 in Poker News | 3 comments


The 2009 WSOP on ESPN kicks off tonight at 8pm ET with the $40,000 NLH event won by Vitaly Lunkin.

At the time, we described it as a “ratings killer.” Not much has changed since, although there are a few storylines that could be interesting. Our guess is the main focus will be put on the three young gunsTM–Isaac Haxton, Justin Bonomo, and Dani “Ansky” Stern (two Ansky references in one day?)–while weaving in the Greg Raymer finishing third as a big story. And no, we’re not rocket scientists for figuring that out.

Preview clip above and a second parter here. Using the super-cute-with-new-haircut Jennifer Harman saying “all in” was a slick move by the editing team.

Tagged as: 2009 WSOP, Vitaly Lunkin

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2009 WSOP Round-Up: Greg ‘FBT’ Mueller Wins Second Bracelet

by Wicked Chops Entity on 6.29.2009 in Uncategorized | 2 comments

Gus Hansen and Phil Ivey horsing* around at the table yesterday during the $50k H.O.R.S.E. World Championship. (*fuck, we're doing it in captions now)

Gus Hansen and Phil Ivey horsing around in front of a cute Asian filly* yesterday during the $50k H.O.R.S.E. World Championship. (*damn, we're doing it in captions now)

Maybe this year isn’t the Year of the BrotherTM, but instead it’s the Year of the Really Good, Really Boring PlayerTM. Looking at the $50k H.O.R.S.E. leaders, that’s definitely the case. Here’s the rundown:

:: Event #40 ($50,000 H.O.R.S.E.): This is a long, grueling race, but some thoroughbreds are beginning to separate themselves as they make a charge for the finish line.* Event #2 winner and general charisma machine Vitaly Lunkin is the overnight chip leader, stacked at (1,527,000). He’s followed by Erik Sagstrom (1,315,000) and half-man, half-amazing Freddy Deeb (1,300,000). Also top five in chips are David Bach (1,265,000) and still-in-contention-for-POY Ville Wahlbeck (842,000). See? Has there been a better group of players that you don’t care about? Could you be less excited? Gus Hansen (801,000), our Official Pick to Win It Huck Seed (672,000), Tony G (642,000) and Erik Seidel (464,000) also remain. Get full chip counts here.

:: Event #50 ($1,500 Limit Hold’em Shootout): That didn’t take long. After a number of runner-up finishes and near-misses, Greg ‘FBT’ Mueller captures his second bracelet in a week. It’s just like high school. Mueller defeated Marc Naalden heads-up for the title and banks $194,854. Millie Shiu, a woman, finished third. David Williams finished fourth. Get full chip counts here.

:: Event #51 ($1,500 NLH): About 30 remain. Alex Jacob anyone? See the rest here.

:: Event #52 ($3,000 NLH): A solid showing of 854 whittled down to 149 by the end of play. Timothy Horan is the overnight chip leader, stacked at 149,000. Some notable big stacks remaining include but are certainly not limited to Antonio Esfandiari (127,900), Jeffrey Lisandro (113,800), Peter “Nordberg” Feldman (93,100), and no way seriously GTFO Mike Caro (58,500). Get full chip counts here.

:: Event #53 ($1,500 Seven Card Stud 8B): The final event of the day brought in 467 and ended with around 150. Allie Prescott is the overnight chip leader. Annie Duke and Daniel Negreanu are around the top of the leaderboard. Get full chip counts here.

* Fuck! There we go again.

Tagged as: 2009 WSOP, Greg "FBT" Mueller, Gus Hansen, Poker News, Vitaly Lunkin

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2009 WSOP Round-Up: Vitaly Lunkin Wins $40k; Thang Luu Repeats

by Wicked Chops Entity on 6.1.2009 in Uncategorized | 1 comment

We'd rather be Lunkin than good...

We'd rather be Lunkin than good...

:: Event #2 ($40,000 NLH): In what could bestbe described as a “ratings killer,” Vitaly Lunkin won the 2009 WSOP $40k NLH event. Lunkin, who hails from Russia, won a bracelet at last year’s WSOP in a $1,500 NLH tourney. He defeated Isaac Haxton heads-up for the title and banks over $1.8M for the win. Greg Raymer finished third and Justin Bonomo fifth. Get full results here.

:: Event #3 ($1,500 Omaha Hi/Lo): Thang Luu became the first person to defend a WSOP title since [BJ Nemeth or Gary Wise fill in the blank here] by capturing his second consecutive $1,500 Omaha Hi/Lo bracelet. He finished second in the same event in 2007. He may have this Omaha Hi/Lo thing figured out. Luu outlasted a record field of 918 to bank $243,342. Get full results here.

:: Event #4 ($1,000 NLH): As you know, the Stimulus Event sold-out for a total of 6,012 entrants. A total of about 767 made it to Day 2. There still seems to be some sorting out of chip counts and leaders, but get a basic rundown here.

:: Champions Event: Bringing together 20 past WSOP Main Event winners, the 40th Anniversary Champions Event has gone about as expected. Jamie Gold, Chris Moneymaker, and Jerry Yang were the first three knocked out. Since eliminating Gold on the first orbit, Carlos Mortensen has held the chip lead for the entirety of play. Going into final table play today at 3pm, Mortensen is stacked at 42,375. He’s followed by Tom McEvoy with 31,000. Doyle Brunson, who like when Chip Reese captured the first $50k H.O.R.S.E. tourney would only be fitting if he won this, is fourth with 20,250. Phil Hellmuth is the uber-short-stack with just over 1,125. Get full chip counts here.

For additional WSOP coverage, visit FOWCP sites: TaoPoker| Pokerati.com| Benjo| PokerListings| LasVegasVegas| AlCantHang| PokerRoad | Lance Bradley | Matt Parvis

Tagged as: 2009 WSOP, carlos mortensen, Doyle Brunson, Vitaly Lunkin

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