Lamb & Grospellier in Contention for their Second Bracelet of 2011
With the field rapidly dwindling, there are a couple of interesting storylines to keep an eye on, both involving 2011 World Series of Poker Bracelet winners.
The first is that of Ben Lamb, who is fresh off a victory in Event #42 $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship. Lamb navigated a stacked field of 361 players to claim his first WSOP gold bracelet and the accompanying $814,436 first-place prize. Combine that with his second-place finish in Event #31 Pot-Limit Omaha, for which he earned $259,918, and you’re looking at the current leader in the WSOP Player-of-the-Year Race. Not including this event, Lamb has 486.25 points, which is more than 60 points ahead of his nearest competitor.
Lamb’s deep run in this event is especially impressive as he literally entered it less than an hour after winning the PLO Championship. With a second gold bracelet, POY points, and the biggest first-place prize of the WSOP (thus far) up for grabs, Lamb is certainly worth keeping an eye on headed to Day 3.
Joining Lamb in the spotlight is none other than Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier, who has three cashes so far this WSOP. Of course his most notable came in Event #21 Seven Card Stud Championship when he defeated Steve Landfish in a back-and-forth heads-up match to claim the $331,639 prize, not to mention his first gold bracelet. Grospellier currently sits in 18th on the POY Leaderboard with 299.25 points, a total he is guaranteed to add to no matter where he finishes in this event.
Capturing two bracelets in the same year is rare, let alone in two Championship Events. Both Lamb and Grospellier have the opportunity to accomplish that here in Event #46. If either are able to do so, it’ll no doubt go a long way in helping them compete for the coveted POY title.