CELEBRATION! 693 PLAYERS IN THE MONEY!

MAIN EVENT HEADLINES – DAY FOUR

We’re in the Money!

Day Four Finished!  378 Players Remain Alive

2011 World Series of Poker Main Event Championship Continues

Brooklyn’s Manoj Viswanathan Begins Day Five as the Chip Leader; Only Player Over 2 million in Chips

Day Four Ends, Day Five Set to Begin on Saturday

Poker History in the Making: ESPN Live Broadcast Runs through July 19th

All Former Champs Busted – Every Previous World Champion Eliminated from Main Event

Berry Johnston Ousted -- Misses 30th Straight Year with a WSOP Cash – Streak Currently in Jeopardy

OVERVIEW

We’re in the money!

Exactly 693 poker players were all smiles today inside the Rio Las Vegas, as the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event reached one of the most thrilling moments of the grueling marathon tournament.

The expansive tournament arena was jam-packed with players, fans, cards, chips, televisions cameras, and plenty of dreams.  About three hours into Day Four, which was played on Friday, the player count reached 694 players.  That meant 693 were about to celebrate a victory of sorts, since they were all guaranteed to receive a payday of nearly $20,000.  Since a large percentage of poker players who attend the WSOP every year are amateurs and first-time players, just finishing in the money was a huge accomplishment.

But the other extreme was the excruciating disappointment felt by the unfortunate 694th-place finisher.  That spot, otherwise known as the "bubble," is the ultimate mixed blessing in tournament poker.  On one hand, the player outlasted almost 90 percent of the entire field, including countless former champions and gold bracelet winners.  Yet, the player received absolutely no prize money, coming to within a razor-thin margin of cashing.

At 4:01 p.m., the 694th-place player busted out of the Main Event.  His name is Reza Kashani, from Irvine, CA.  He is the owner of remodeling company located in Orange Country.  Kashani, 31, who has been playing poker for only about a year, paid his own way into the Main Event.

"I think I got a lot of good experience from this," Kashani said moments after being eliminated.  "I think this is going to help me for next year."

Indeed, the news of the day was not entirely bad for Kashani, who was playing in his first WSOP-related tournament.  The WSOP announced he would be given a free entry into the 2012 Main Event Championship, to be held next year in Las Vegas.  Accordingly, Reza Kashani becomes the first official entry into next year's world poker championship.

"I am going to get to come back here next year," Kashani said.  "All the players who are coming and will be here, they better watch out for me!"

And so, the world's richest and most prestigious poker tournament now continues. The 693 players who officially finished in the money are guaranteed to receive at least $19,359 in prize money.  However, the big prize is making it all way to the final table -- otherwise known as the “November Nine.”  This year’s top eight finishers will each receive in excess of $1 million, with a whopping $8,711,956 paid to the new world poker champion.

……………………………

Day Four of the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event Championship was completed on Friday at the Rio in Las Vegas. 

The field size was reduced even further from the initial door-busting 6,865 participants, who started this tournament a week ago high hopes and grand expectations. There were 853 players who survived the first three days of competition. That number was cut in half again as only 378 players currently remain alive in poker’s world championship.

For most players, Day Four was a mixture of good news and bad news. There were 160 players who came into Day Four who failed to reach the money. Most of them could take some satisfaction in outlasting 85 percent of the field. But the notion of playing excellent poker for four long days, and then not cashing in the Main Event was bittersweet.

All of the in-the-money finishers were guaranteed to receive at least $19,359 in prize money. Players reached the money when 693 players remained. That moment was reached at 4:01 p.m. when Reza Kashani, from Irvine, CA, officially became the 694th-place finisher.

During the next few days, excitement will continue to grow. Players will continuously fall by the wayside, knowing they cashed in the Main Event, but also missed the opportunity to leave an even bigger mark on poker history. For the players who do remain alive, there’s now the realization that the world championship gold bracelet is actually within their grasp.

Day Four included quite a few interesting developments. Here’s how many of the top players performed on this day:
 
Chip Leaders:  Manoj Viswanathan (Brooklyn, NY) ended Day Four with 2,115,000 in chips. He’s the only player in the tournament with more than 2 million in chips. Incredibly, this marks his first time ever to cash at the WSOP. Television cameras and worldwide attention will certainly be focused on him, starting Day Five.

Sam Barnhart (Little Rock, AR), winner of a gold bracelet in this year’s WSOP Circuit National Championship, is also close to the chip lead in second place with 1,925,000. He is currently the highest-ranked former gold bracelet winner.
 
Former Champions Eliminated:  Phil Hellmuth, Jr., Berry Johnston, Robert Varkonyi

Former Champions Remaining: None

Well-Known Players Who Cashed (Eliminated):  Chris Bjorin, Ben Roberts, Viacheslav Zhukov, Bryan Micon, Blair Hinkle, Vanessa Rousso, Joe Serock, Dennis Phillips, Clint Schafer, John Myung, Russell Rosenblum, Kristy Gazes, Lee Childs, Chris Viox, Adam Junglen, Steve O’Dwyer, Mickey Appleman, Jake Cody, Shannon Shorr, Todd Brunson, David Diaz, Leif Force, Joshua Tieman (by no means complete).
 
Well-Known Players (Still Alive):  Sam Barnhart, Bryan Devonshire, David Bach, Peter Feldman, Jean-Robert Bellande, Ben Lamb, Joseph Cheong, Steve Brecher, Matt Stout, Eli Elezra, Garry Gates, Martin de Knijff, Daniel Negreanu, Tony Hachem, David Sands, Sorel Mizzi, Erick Lindgren, David Diaz (by no means complete)

Entering Day Four, 1986 world champion Berry Johnston was shooting for his 11th Main Event cash -- the most by any player in history. This year marks the 25th anniversary of his WSOP victory. Johnston is currently on the tail end of the longest career streak of any player in history, with cashes in at least one WSOP event each year for the past 29 years. He has cashed every year since 1982. However, Johnston still has no cashes thus far this year. He was eliminated during Day Four, with about 750 players remaining. In order for his cashing streak to continue, Johnston will need to make the money at least one time at 2011 WSOP Europe, which includes seven more gold bracelet events to be played in Cannes, France in October.

Chris Bjorin (originally from Sweden and now living in the UK) cashed again this year. He finished in 460th place. This was his fourth straight Main Event in-the-money finish, which sets a new record. Many players had cashed three straight years. No player cashed in four straight. In between WSOP Main Event cashes, Bjorin also cashed in the WSOP Europe Main Event two years ago. Between the two big events, he has more cashes than any other player from 2008 to present (with five).

Now entering Day Five, no former world champions remain alive in the Main Event. The 2002 Main Event champion Robert Varkonyi (Brooklyn, NY) was the last man sitting in the tournament. He exited in 514th place.

The quest for poker’s world championship continues on Saturday, July 16th.  A complete list of all remaining players and chip counts can be seen HERE.
 
For comprehensive updates of Event #58 and a list of all remaining players with chips counts, please visit the WSOP.com tournament portal page HERE.

ESPN LIVE COVERAGE

ESPN is trying a bold new experiment this year that is likely to be viewed as a historic occasion for the WSOP, and for the game of poker.    Television coverage is more than doubling in size and scope, including – for the first time in history – comprehensive daily/nightly overage of the majority of the tournament. Daily coverage runs through July 19th, when the “November Nine” finalists will be determined.

For the first time ever, the WSOP enjoyed semi-live coverage on ESPN (there’s a 30-minute delay). No poker tournament has ever been covered to the extent of this Main Event Championship.  In addition to the original 32 broadcast hours that will appear as scheduled every Tuesday night on ESPN, an additional 34 hours of semi-live coverage will air, which means players and fans will see more poker played than ever before. Content is spread across ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN3.com and runs Day Three through Day Eight. WSOP.com will stream ESPN3.com content in countries/territories not served by ESPN.

Here’s a look at ESPN’s upcoming WSOP Main Event schedule (all times are listed PST):

Saturday, July 16 (Day Five)

• 12:30-7 p.m. — ESPN2/ESPN3.com

• 9 p.m.-11:30 p.m. — ESPN2/ESPN3.com

Sunday, July 17 (Day Six)

• Noon-5 p.m. — ESPN3.com

• 7 p.m.-11:30 p.m. — ESPN2/ESPN3.com

Monday, July 18 (Day Seven)

• Noon-4 p.m. — ESPN3.com

• 4-7 p.m. — ESPN2/ESPN3.com

• 9 p.m.-11:30 p.m. — ESPN2/ESPN3.com

Tuesday, July 19 (Day Eight – “Get Down” Day)

• Noon-5 p.m. — ESPN3.com

• 5-7 p.m. — ESPN/ESPN3.com

• 9 p.m.-1:30 a.m. — ESPN2/ESPN3.com

TOURNAMENT PLAY

Play on Day Four started promptly at noon. Play ended about 10:55 p.m. There was a two-hour dinner break. This means eight total hours were played. This unusual playing schedule (short breaks and longer dinner time) was implemented in order to accommodate the strict time windows of live television coverage.

Day Four started with 893 entries and ended with 378 players. This means 42.3 percent of starters survived the day.

At this point in the tournament, participants have completed 18 full levels of play, meaning 36 total tournament hours have been played.

The big news of the day was finally reaching the money, which is one of the most exciting moments of the tournament. This year, 693 players were guaranteed a payout, while those who did not make the cut were forced to return home with lasting memories and wounded dreams -- but no cash.

In order to avoid intentional slow-playing and general chaos, the tournament is/was played one hand at a time when the cashing point approaches. When play reached two spots from the money, play went hand-for-hand. One hand was dealt at a time to all tables. Players busted out slowly until 693 players were verified as remaining in the tournament.

The hand-for-hand lasted only six hands, which went about 45 minutes. This was considerably less than the much longer 2009 hand-for-hand sequence -- which lasted 14 hands and dragged out nearly two hours (the longest ever recorded).

The 694th-place, so-called “bubble” finisher was Reza Kashani, from Irvine, CA.  He is the owner of a remodeling company in Orange Country.  Kashani has been playing poker for only about a year. He paid his own way into the Main Event, which was his first WSOP event ever.

Following Kashani’s elimination, he was brought to the center stage of the tournament room. The WSOP announced he would be given a free entry into the 2012 Main Event Championship, to be held next year in Las Vegas.  Accordingly, Reza Kashani becomes the first official entry into next year's world poker championship.

The average chip stack is 544,000 in chips.

Coming next, Day Five will be played on Saturday, July 16th.  The restart will be at noon. There are 378 players remaining in the field.

The Main Event continues through July 19th when the final table players will ultimately be determined, otherwise known as the “November Nine.” 

CHIP LEADERS

Manoj Viswanathan (Brooklyn, NY) became the first player in the tournament to cross the 2 million chip mark. He ended the day as the chip leader, with 2,115,000 in his stack.

The start of Day Four chip leader was Patrick Poirier, from Tupper Lake, NY. He began the day with 1,328,000 in chips, but suffered a bad run of events, ending up with 335,000 in chips, which is now less than average.

Ben Lamb, who is enjoying a breakthrough WSOP and is now primed to overtake Phil Hellmuth in the 2011 “WSOP Player of the Year” race, is among the top 25 in chips entering Day Five. He was an early chip leader after Day Two, fell back to the pack during Day Three, and then regained some momentum on Day Four. Lamb’s performance in the Main Event will be a major focus of attention in the next few days.

THE NATIONS

When play began on Day Four, the following nations still had players alive in the Main Event:

Argentina - 1

Australia - 6

Austria - 4

Azerbaijan - 1

Belgium - 3

Bolivia - 1

Brazil - 9

Bulgaria - 1

Canada - 65

Chile - 1

China - 3

Colombia - 1

Costa Rica - 1

Czech Republic - 3

Denmark - 2

Finland - 3

France - 29

Germany - 30

Guatemala - 2

Hong Kong - 1

Hungary - 4

Indonesia - 1

Ireland - 3

Israel - 2

Italy - 13

Japan - 3

Latvia - 2

Lithuania - 1

Mexico - 2

Monaco - 1

Netherlands - 7

Norway - 3

Panama - 2

Portugal - 5

Romania - 2

Russia - 21

Senegal - 1

Slovenia - 2

South Africa - 4

South Korea - 1

Spain - 6

Sweden - 9

Switzerland - 5

Turks and Caicos Islands - 2

Ukraine - 1

United Arab Emirates - 1

United Kingdom - 40

United States - 540

Venezuela - 1

An updated list of survivors/countries making it to Day Five, and beyond, will be available in the next report.

FORMER WORLD CHAMPIONS

There are 35 players in history who have won the WSOP Main Event Championship. Of this number, 27 champions are still living. Of the 27 eligible former world champions, 18 participated in this year’s Main Event.

Seven former world champions started Day Three. Only three survived – Robert Varkonyi, Phil Hellmuth, and Berry Johnson.

Three former world champions started Day Four. None survived. All former champions have now been eliminated. The top finisher amongst the former champs was Robert Varkonyi, who ended up in 514th place. He was also the only former winner to cash.

Current Status of Former WSOP Main Event Champions:

2002: Robert Varkonyi – Eliminated on Day Four

1989: Phil Hellmuth – Eliminated on Day Four

1986: Berry Johnston – Eliminated on Day Four

1983: Tom McEvoy – Eliminated on Day Three

2009: Joe Cada – Eliminated on Day Three

1996: Huck Seed – Eliminated on Day Three

2001: Carlos Mortensen – Eliminated on Day Two

2006:  Jamie Gold – Eliminated on Day Two

2005:  Joe Hachem – Eliminated on Day Two

1978: Bobby “the Owl” Baldwin – Eliminated on Day Two

2010: Jonathan Duhamel – Eliminated on Day Two

1987/1988: Johnny Chan – Eliminated on Day Two

1995: Dan Harrington – Eliminated on Day Two

1998: Scotty Nguyen -- Eliminated on Day Two

1975/1976: Doyle Brunson – Eliminated on Day One

2003: Chris Moneymaker – Eliminated on Day One

2007:  Jerry Yang – Eliminated on Day One  

2004: Greg “Fossilman” Raymer – Eliminated on Day One

CELEBRITIES AND NOTABLE PLAYERS

The World Series of Poker has attracted celebrities and notable personalities since its inception. This year is no exception.

Current Status of Poker Hall of Fame members (all eliminated):

Berry Johnston – Eliminated on Day Four

Lyle Berman – Eliminated on Day Three

Mike Sexton – Eliminated on Day Two

Bobby Baldwin – Eliminated on Day Two

Dewey Tomko – Eliminated on Day Two

Dan Harrington – Eliminated on Day Two

Billy Baxter – Eliminated on Day Two

Doyle Brunson – Eliminated on Day One

T.J. Cloutier – Eliminated on Day One

Erik Seidel – Eliminated on Day One

Current Status of former WSOP “Players of the Year” (three players remaining):

2004 -- Daniel Negreanu – Playing on Day Five (above average chips)

2005 -- Allen Cunningham – Playing on Day Five (average chips)

2008 -- Erick Lindgren – Playing on Day Five (average chips)

2009 -- Jeffrey Lisandro – Eliminated on Day Four

2006 -- Jeff Madsen – Eliminated on Day Four

2010 -- Frank Kassela – Eliminated on Day One

2007 -- Tom Schneider – Eliminated on Day One

Current Status of Non-Poker Celebrities:

Robert Iler (actor – “The Sopranos”) – Playing Day Five (below average chips)

Mars Callahan (actor-director) – Playing Day Five (below average chips)

Sam Simon (creator of “The Simpsons”) – Eliminated on Day Four

Mark Loftouse (former NHL hockey player, Washington Capitals) – Eliminated on Day Four

Brad Garrett (actor and comedian) – Eliminated on Day Three

Jason Alexander (actor and comedian) – Eliminated on Day Three

Shannon Elizabeth (actress) – Eliminated on Day Two

Petter Northug (Two-time Olympic gold medalist/skier from Norway) – Eliminated on Day Two

Patrick Bruel (French singer and actor and former gold bracelet winner) – Eliminated on Day Two

Teddy Sherington (UK football star) – Eliminated on Day Two

Rene Angelil (music manager – Celine Dion’s husband) – Eliminated on Day Two

David Einhorn (prospective owner – New York Mets) – Eliminated on Day Two

Paul Pierce (NBA’s Boston Celtics) – Eliminated on Day Two

Nelly (singer-performer) – Eliminated on Day One

Ray Romano (actor and comedian) – Eliminated on Day One

Shane Warne (cricketer) – Eliminated on Day One

Jennifer Tilly (actress and former WSOP gold bracelet winner) – Eliminated on Day One

At the end of Day One, there were 33 of the 57 gold bracelet winners this year who were still alive in the tournament. However, Day Two was not nearly as nice to the winners. Of the 33 starting Day Two, only 13 made it to Day Three. Then, the third day of play reduced the champions list to the following players, with starting chip counts:

 Sam Barnhart --469,500 in chips

Jake Cody -- 121,000 in chips

Viacheslav Zhukov -- 194,500 in chips

David Diaz -- 187,500 in chips

Tyler Bonkowski -- 236,500 in chips

Darren Woods -- 316,000 in chips

Chris Viox -- 232,000 in chips

Ben Lamb -- 354,500 – in chips

By the end of Day Four, the only 2011 gold bracelet winners that survived were the following three players:

Sam Barnhart (1,925,000; 2nd Overall)

Tyler Bonkowski (313,000; below average)

Ben Lamb (1,268,000; above average)

Chris Bjorin continues to defy the notion that poker has become a young person’s game. The silver fox from the U.K. (he’s originally from Sweden) cashed again this year, finishing in 460th place. This was his fourth straight Main Event in-the-money finish, a new record for the longest streak in history for cashes in the Main Event. In between WSOP Main Event cashes, Bjorin also cashed in the WSOP Europe Main Event two years ago. Between the two big events, he has more cashes than any other player from 2008 to present.

DAY FOUR ODDS AND ENDS

This is the 58th and final event on the 2011 WSOP schedule which is played in Las Vegas. Seven more gold bracelet events will take place in Cannes, France, to be held in October 7th through 20th as part of the 5th Annual World Series of Poker Europe.  

This marks the seventh consecutive year the WSOP has been held at the Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino. Prior to 2005, the WSOP was held at Binion’s Horseshoe in downtown Las Vegas. As a testament to the expansion of the WSOP since Caesars Entertainment assumed ownership and control of the world most prestigious poker event, more than twice the money has been awarded to winners within the Rio during the past six years than during the entire proceeding 35-year period at the Horseshoe.

The total number of entrants in the WSOP Main Event (all 42 years combined) is 58,657.

Over the past five years, the average attendance for the WSOP Main Event has been 6,776 entrants. Hence, this year’s figure (6,865 entrants) was slightly ahead of the post-UIGEA average.

The WSOP Main Event always attracts family members. Husbands and wives that entered the championship this year include Max and Maria Stern. Chip and Karina Jett also entered the Main Event. There were also two fathers and sons, who entered – including Tom Dwan and his father Tom Dwan, Sr. Another father-son combo was Phil Galfond and his father Glenn. A grandmother-grandson duo was Shaun Deeb and his grandmother Ellen Deeb.

One of the most incredible feats in WSOP history occurred in last year’s Main Event Championship when all four of the Mizrachi brothers cashed in the tournament. This year, the group is not having such a good year. Donny Mizrachi was the last of the brothers to be eliminated. He went out on Day Three.

Players from many different nations have been chip leaders in the Main Event, at one time or another. However, for the first time in history, a Romanian poker player was the chip leader in the championship. That took place midway through Day Three when Anton Ionel became the first player to cross the 700,000-chip mark. However, he was eliminated on Day Four and ended up as the 427th-place finisher.

Players typically employ many different devices to maintain focus and stay motivated. One popular token of inspiration is family photos. Several players in the tournament posted photos of wives, girlfriends, parents, and children next to their chips. One player even had a photo of his dog next to his stack.

One of the best comeback stories of Day Four was Brian Zeid, from Cleveland, OH. Late in the day, he was down to just a single 1,000-denomination chip. The ante was 500. That meant Zeid had only enough chips to play two hands, and then would have to survive a round or two of blinds. Incredibly, Zeid went on a heater over the next half-hour and took his 1,000 chip all the way up to 130,000 in chips. About 90 minutes later, he went out in 401st place.

Daniel Negreanu had an interesting day. He began the day low on chips. But he managed to survive four hours until the money bubble was reached. He was all-in for his tournament life at one point, and could have been the 684th-place finisher had he lost what would have been a memorable hand. One place away from the money, Negreanu was all-in with his last 100,000 or so holding A-Q against A-T suited. He managed to win the hand, and then three hours later was up to more than 600,000 in chips, well above the average.

MORE ODDS AND ENDS

This tournament attracted 6,865 entries. 

The field included a total of 242 female players. This figure represents 3.5 percent of the field.

An official head count of remaining female players at the end of Day Four showed 6 remaining. They are – Claudia Crawford, Jan Callaway, Amanda Musumeci, Michele Koerner, Erika Moutinho, and Mimi Luu.

The average age of all players who participated in the Main Event was 37.2 years.

This is the 950th gold bracelet tournament event in World Series of Poker history. This figure includes every official WSOP event ever played, including tournaments during the early years when there were no actual gold bracelets awarded. It also includes the 16 gold bracelets awarded to date at WSOP Europe (2007-2010). Moreover for the first time ever, one gold bracelet was awarded for this year’s winner of the WSOP Circuit National Championship.

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INFORMATION AND DATA FROM PREVIOUS REPORTS:

MAIN EVENT – BY COUNTRY

There were 105 different nations represented at the 2011 WSOP in all gold bracelet events.

There were 85 different nations represented in the Main Event Championship.

Based on the total number of entries, non-U.S. players made up 33 percent of the total field. This is the largest percentage of internationally-based players in WSOP history.

If just the international contingent of participants were separated from the total field size, there would be an estimated 2,265 players. The size of this group alone would constitute a larger field than any other live tournament ever held, outside the WSOP.

The breakdown of players – alphabetized by country along with number of entrants – was as follows:

1 -- American Samoa

3 -- Andorra

21 -- Argentina

80 -- Australia

37 -- Austria

2 -- Azerbaijan

1 -- Bahamas

1 -- Bahrain

1 -- Barbados

25 -- Belgium

2 -- Belize

2 -- Bolivia

1 -- Botswana

83 -- Brazil

4 -- Bulgaria

486 -- Canada

7 -- Chile

10 -- China

9 -- Columbia

3 -- Costa Rica

1 -- Croatia

4 -- Cyprus

9 -- Czech Republic

46 -- Denmark

5 -- Estonia

21 -- Finland

213 -- France

1 -- French Polynesia

156 -- Germany

5 -- Greece

1 -- Guam

4 -- Guatemala

8 -- Hong Kong

24 -- Hungary

2 -- Iceland

2 -- India

1 -- Indonesia

35 -- Ireland

18 -- Israel

106 -- Italy

24 -- Japan

2 -- Kazakhstan

7 -- Latvia

4 -- Lebanon

8 -- Lithuania

2 -- Macedonia

1 -- Malaysia

2 -- Malta

1 -- Marshall Islands

12 -- Mexico

3 -- Monaco

1 -- Mongolia

1 -- Montserrat

1 -- Morocco

59 -- Netherlands

5 -- New Zealand

34 -- Norway

1 -- Oman

2 -- Panama

3 -- Peru

3 -- Philippines

1 -- Poland

18 -- Portugal

4 -- Romania

108 -- Russia

7 -- Saint Lucia

1 -- Saudi Arabia

1 -- Senegal

4 -- Singapore

6 -- Slovakia

17 -- South Africa

6 -- South Korea

42 -- Spain

79 -- Sweden

26 -- Switzerland

2 -- Taiwan

2 -- Trinidad and Tobago

4 -- Turkey

1 -- Turks and Caicos

1 -- Turks and Caicos Islands

3 -- Ukraine

288 -- United Kingdom

4,604 -- United States

3 -- Uruguay

20 – Venezuela

TOURNAMENT NUMBERS

This is the third-largest live poker tournament in history. Only the 2006 WSOP Main Event (at 8,773 entrants) and the 2010 WSOP Main Event (at 7,319 entrants) were bigger. Prior to this year, the third largest live tournament was the 2008 WSOP Main Event -- with 6,844 players.

Here are the six largest live poker tournaments in history:

2006 WSOP Main Event – 8,773 players

2010 WSOP Main Event – 7,319 players

2011 WSOP Main Event – 6,865 players

2008 WSOP Main Event – 6,844 players

2009 WSOP Main Event – 6,494 players

2007 WSOP Main Event – 6,358 players

WSOP MAIN EVENT ALL-TIME RECORDS

Most Main Event Wins (Career):

3 – Johnny Moss (*first win was by vote)

3 – Stu Ungar

2 – Doyle Brunson

2 – Johnny Chan

Most Main Event Cashes (Career):

10 – Berry Johnston

8 – Humberto Brenes

7 – Bobby Baldwin

7 – Doyle Brunson

7 – Jay Heimowitz

7 – Phil Hellmuth

7 – Mike Sexton

6 – John Bonetti

6 – Johnny Moss

6 – Jason Lester

6 – Steve Lott

6 – Chris Bjorin

6 – John Esposito

6 – Johnny Chan

5 – 14 players tied with 5 cashes each

Most Main Event Final Tables (Career):

5 – Doyle Brunson

5 – Jesse Alto

4 – Johnny Chan

4 – T.J. Cloutier

4 – Dan Harrington

4 – Berry Johnston

4 – Johnny Moss

4 – Stu Ungar

3 – 6 players tied with 3 final tables each

Youngest Winner:

Joe Cada (2009) -- 21 years, 11 months, 22 days

Oldest Winner:

Johnny Moss (1974) – 66 years, 11 months, 24 days

Oldest Participant:

97 years -- Jack Ury (2010)

Most Consecutive Years Played:

38 – Howard “Tahoe” Andrew (1974 to present)

Most Main Events Played (Career):

38 – Tie: Doyle Brunson (did not play 1999 through 2001); Howard “Tahoe” Andrew

WSOP --   FOR THE AGES

The youngest player to enter the 2011 WSOP Main Event Championship was Logan Deen, from Cocoa, FL. He turned 21 on the day he took his seat in the Main Event. This means he now holds a record than can only be tied, but never broken (unless age restriction laws are changed in the future). He was cheered on by his family, who call themselves the “Deen Team.” Unfortunately, he was eliminated on Day Two.

The oldest player to enter the 2011 WSOP Main Event Championship was Ellen “Gram” Deeb, from Troy, NY. She became the oldest female participant in Main Event history at the age of 91. Mrs. Deeb was introduced to the huge crowd, which gave her one of the day’s biggest ovations. After she stood to wave to the crowd, she grabbed the microphone from a tournament official and snapped, “I just have one thing to say! You are all playing for second!” The crowd went wild. Unfortunately, Mrs. Deeb was eliminated on Day One. The WSOP looks forward to welcoming her again in 2012.

OVERALL 2011 WSOP STATISTICS

Through Event #58 (all gold bracelet events), the 2011 WSOP has attracted 75,672 combined total entries. $191,999,010 in prize money has been awarded. 

Through the conclusion of Event #57, the breakdown of nationality of gold bracelet winners has been:

United States (35)

Canada (5)

Ukraine (4)

France (4)

Great Britain (3)

Russia (3)

Brazil (1)

Pakistan (1)

Sweden (1)

Through the conclusion of Event #57, the national origin (birthplace) of winners has been:

United States (31)

Canada (5)

Ukraine (4)

France (4)

Great Britain (3)

Russia (3)

Israel (1)

Honduras (1)

Indonesia (1)

Germany (1)

Brazil (1)

Pakistan (1)

Sweden (1)

Through the conclusion of Event #57, the home-states of (American) winners have been:

California (7)

New York (6)

Nevada (6)

Texas (3)

Florida (2)

Illinois (2)

Connecticut (2)

New Jersey (1)

Tennessee (1)

Indiana (1)

Maryland (1)

Virginia (1)

Michigan (1)

North Dakota (1)

Washington (1)

Ohio (1)

Through the conclusion of Event #57, the breakdown of professional poker players to semi-pros and amateurs who won gold bracelets has been:

Professional Players (44): Jake Cody, Cheech Barbaro, Eugene Katchalov, Allen Bari, Harrison Wilder, Matt Perrins, Sean Getzwiller, Viacheslav Zhukov, David Diaz, Andrew Badecker, Tyler Bonkowski, Brian Rast (2 wins), John Juanda, Aaron Steury, Darren Woods, Jason Somerville, Bertrand Grospellier, John Monnette, Elie Payan, Mark Radoja, Chris Viox, Dan Idema, Andy Frankenberger, Chris Lee, Sam Stein, Mark Schmid, Jason Mercier, Mikhail Lakhitov, Fabrice Soulier, Mitch Schock, Matt Jarvis, Justin Pechie, Ben Lamb, Rep Porter, Andre Akkari, Joe Ebanks, Lenny Martin, Athanasios Polychronopoulos, Antonin Teisseire, Matt Matros, Marsha Wolak. Maxim Lykov, Nick Binger

Semi-Pros (6): Sean R. Drake, Amir Lehavot, Oleksii Kovalchuk, Eric Rosawig, Arkadiy Tsinis, Alexander Anter

Amateurs (7): Geffrey Klein, Foster Hays, James Hess, Kirk Caldwell, Ken Griffin, Owais Ahmed, David Singontiko

Since tracking first started in 2005, this year’s WSOP has the greatest disparity of professionals winning over semi-pros and amateurs than any year recorded, so far – with 50 out of 57 events being won by pros or semi-pros.

Through the conclusion of this tournament, the victories of 12 of the 57 winners (21 percent) marked the first time the new champion had ever cashed at the WSOP.

Every WSOP held over the past 11 years has included at least one multiple gold bracelet champion (meaning two or more wins within the same year). The last year the WSOP was comprised exclusively of single-event winners was back in 1999. The record for most multiple gold bracelet winners within a single year was in 2009, when five players managed to win two or more titles. Brian Rast’s victory in two tournaments – Events #15 and #55 -- means the multi-gold bracelet streak will continue for at least another year.

The streak of consecutive male WSOP gold bracelet winners is currently at 213 consecutive events. Aside from the annual Ladies Poker Championship, the last female player to win a WSOP tournament open to both sexes was Vanessa Selbst, in 2008. The longest “cold” streak for female players occurred between years 1982 and 1996, when 221 consecutive open events passed without a female champion.

The highest finish by any female (open events) at this year’s WSOP was accomplished by two players. Maria Ho finished second ($5,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em). Kim Nguyen also finished as the runner up ($1,500 buy-in Six-Handed Limit Hold’em).

The highest finish by any defending champion at this year’s WSOP was by David Baker, who after winning the previous $10,000 buy-in No-Limit Deuce-to-Seven Draw Lowball World Championship finished in sixth place in defense of his title.

Reigning world poker champions rarely perform well the following year after their victory. Chris “Jesus” Ferguson was the last world champion to win a gold bracelet the next year, which happened in 2001. Perhaps it’s due to the increasing size of the fields. But there’s also great pressure on the champions to do well. What follows is a list of the only world champions in history to win a gold bracelet after winning the championship during the previous year:

Johnny Moss (1975)

Doyle Brunson (1977)

Bobby Baldwin (1979)

Stu Ungar (1981)

Johnny Chan (1988)

Hamid Dastmalchi (1993)

Chris “Jesus” Ferguson (2001)

By contrast, players who make it to the final table of the Main Event Championship (November Nine) one year tend to do quite well in subsequent WSOP years. Consider that last year, three former Main Event finalists won gold bracelets – Eric Buchman, Tex Barch and Scott Montgomery. This year, Matt Jarvis won his first gold bracelet one year after making it to the November Nine in 2010.

New tournament records set at the 2011 WSOP (to date):

Biggest Heads-Up tournament prize pool in history ($3,040,000) – Event #2

Largest live Omaha High-Low Split Tournament in history (925 entries) – Event #3

Largest live Six-Handed tournament in poker history (1,920 entries) – Event #10

Biggest Deuce-to-Seven tournament prize pool in history ($1,184,400) – Event #16

Largest live $1,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em tournament in history with single day start (3389 entries) – Event #56

Largest live $1,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em tournament in history with single day start (3175 entries) – Event #20

Largest consecutive-days starting field sizes in poker history (combined 6,332 entries) – Event #18 and Event #20

Largest live Pot-Limit Omaha tournament in poker history (1,071 entries) – Event #22

Largest Mixed-Game (Eight-Game Mix) in poker history (489 entries) – Event #23

Largest Seniors tournament in poker history (3,752 entries) – Event #30

Biggest Seniors No-Limit Hold’em championship prize pool in history ($3,376,800) – Event #30

Largest single-day live tournament start in poker history (3,752 entries) – Event #30

Largest consecutive-days starting field sizes in poker history (combined 6,580 entries) – Event #30/Event #32 (broke Event #18/Event #20 record from earlier in 2011 WSOP)

Largest four-consecutive days field sizes in poker history (2,500+3,752+2,828+3,144 =12,224 entries) -- Events 28, 30, 32, 34, June 16-19, 2011

Largest Mixed Pot-Limit tournament in history (606 entries) – Event #39

Biggest Pot-Limit Omaha prize pool in live poker history ($3,393,400) – Event #42

New player records set at the 2011 WSOP (to date):

The 35-year span between Artie Cobb’s first cash in this event (1976) and most recent cash in the same event (2011) represents the longest time span in WSOP history. He accomplished this in Seven-Card Stud High-Low Split (Event #25).

Phil Hellmuth added to his record as the individual all-time leader in cashes (84) and final table appearances (43).

Howard “Tahoe” Andrew added to his record as the player with the longest consecutive streak of WSOP appearances (entering at least one event), currently at 38 years and counting (1974 to present).

First player in history with three second-place finishes within a single year – Phil Hellmuth

Tony “Top Cat” Cousineau added to his record as the player with the most WSOP cashes, but no wins (49).

Chris Bjorin cashed in the Main Event for the fourth straight year – a new record.

RAISING AWARENESS: BAD BEAT ON CANCER AND THE WSOP

Bad Beat on Cancer was created in 2003 by Phil Gordon and Rafe Furst as an easy and fun way for poker players to donate to the Prevent Cancer Foundation.  It all began when Chris Moneymaker pledged 1 percent of his 2003 Main Event winnings and went on to capture the championship, contributing $25,000 when he was awarded the $2.500,000 first- place prize.  By taking the pledge, wearing the patch, and joining ‘Team 1%’, players can feel good supporting a cause that only benefits when they win.  As the official charity of the WSOP, pledges simply indicate to the payouts staff that they are donating 1 percent of their winnings, and the funds are automatically withheld.  A tax receipt is generated and sent to their mailing address.  Several high profile professionals have made ‘life pledges’ of 1 percent of all their winnings -- including Annie Duke, Phil Hellmuth Jr., Lee Childs, Paul Wasicka, Andy Bloch, Dennis Phillips, and others.  Since 2003, the initiative has raised over $3,500,000 for cancer prevention research, education, and community outreach programs. Players can pick up a patch and join Team 1% by stopping by the Bad Beat on Cancer booth, located at the 2011 WSOP opposite the Amazon Room in the concourse.  The Nevada Cancer Institute based in Las Vegas is a benefiting charity from the Bad Beat on Cancer.

Note: Various categories and statistics will be updated with each gold bracelet event as they are completed.