After the United States fell into recession, many poker players were looking for cheaper buy-in tournaments to splash around in. During the 2009 WSOP, there was one open $1,000 No-Limit Hold 'Em buy-in event which was appropriately nicknamed the "Stimulus Special."
Last year WSOP bumped the number of open $1,000 NLHE events to six total. This year there are five of these recession-friendly events.
Below is a chart showing the winners of all the $1,000 events from 2009 through today. (Note, this table does not include Ladies Events, Seniors Events, or Rebuy Events.)
Who will be the next player to join this prestigious list of winners? Stay tuned to PokerNews to find out!
A player in middle position raised to 1,000 and Jean-Robert Bellande moved all in for another 5,025. Action folded back around to the original raiser and he made the call.
Bellande held and his opponent held .
The flop was beautiful for Bellande when it came out to give Bellande a set of fives. The came on the turn and the hit on the river.
A short-stacked player in middle position pushed all in and it folded around to the player in the big blind who made the call. The caller tabled his hand -- -- then stood to get a look at his opponent's .
"Kings?!" he said. "Dude... you're about to get beat."
The flop came and the kings were still good, but the turn brought the . Then came the river... the ! The table couldn't help but offer remarks on the remark.
"It's because you said it," said one. "I sit here quiet as a clam 99% of the time and don't win," said the failed prognosticator, attempting to defend his preflop hubris. "I figured one time I'd be a little... robustful and maybe I'd win."
We watched one player raise to 650 from early position and Clinton Alford reraise all-in for his last 3,450 from the hijack. The player in the cutoff also decided to move all-in and the original raiser got out of the way.
Showdown:
Alford:
Opponent:
With big slick against a pocket pair, the players found themselves in the classic race situation. The flop of was a good one for Alford and the on the turn kept him in the lead. After the arrived on the river, his pair of nines had held up for the double.
With the 2011 edition of the WSOP becoming a showcase for Phil Hellmuth to show of his non-Hold'em bona fides, we thought we'd let you know he's faring in the game that made him a household name.
Although his table has been broken at least twice, forcing Hellmuth to retune his famous reading abilities to a new group of players, he now sits with 7,500 chips. While his stack is a bit below the average at this point in Day 1, with Hellmuth's patient style and sound strategy, he is by no means short-stacked.
Although we missed the preflop betting, we saw that Shayne Khanna and two other players were all in.
Khanna:
Opponent 1:
Opponent 2:
Khanna looked poised to knock both the other players out until the flop came giving one of the other players two pair and the lead. The turn of the gave Khanna an open-ended straight draw, and the on the river completed his straight sending the other players to the rail.
Khanna's stack was at an impressive 40,000 after the hand.
A player in middle position opened with a raise, and Daniel Makowsky defended his big blind. The flop came . Makowsky checked, the raiser continued for 900, and Makowsky called. Both players then checked the turn.
The river brought the and another check from Makowsky. His opponent hesitated, then checked behind. Makowsky tabled for a pair of jacks, and with some frustration his opponent showed his .
"I'm not going anywhere," said Makowsky across the table. He now has about 40,000, one of the larger stacks in the room at present.
"If an ace comes I'm not folding ace-queen."
"Oh my God! I folded pocket threes!"
"I tried to trap and I trapped myself. I mean you sit here about two hours and you don't win a pot, you get bored...."
Freddy Deeb called from the cutoff position and the player in the big blind raised to 1,000. Deeb made the call. The flop ran out .
The player in the big blind checked and Deeb made it 1,900 to go. His opponent moved all in and Deeb made the call to put himself at risk of elimination.
Deeb:
Opponent:
The turn brought the and the hit on the river to send Deeb to the rail.