October 15 2012, Chad Holloway

The Season X World Poker Tour $25,000 World Championship continued on FSN on Sunday night with part two of a three-episode arc. The tournament originally took place at the Bellagio in Las Vegas from May 19 to 26, 2012, and attracted 152 players, creating a prize pool of $3,660,500. At stake was a top prize of $1,196,858 and the title to one of the world’s most prestigious poker tournaments.

In Part I of the WPT Championship, the early stages of the tournament were highlighted, which saw Joe Serock emerges at the Season X Player of the Year after the tightest race in WPT history. It also showcased the first elimination of the final table, which happened when Trevor Pope moved all in for 1.46 million from the button holding . Philippe Ktorza then moved all in for 1.7 million from the small blind with , pushing Michael Mizrachi out from the big blind. Pope was a 3-1 dog and was up out of his seat even before the flop fell , giving him a gut-shot draw to a wheel. The turn gave Ktorza a set, but it also gave Pope an added flush draw. Unfortunately for him, the river was not what he needed and Pope finished in sixth place for $155,571.

Here’s how things stacked up at the top of the broadcast:

WPT Season X $25,000 World Championship Final Table

The Fashion Report: The WPT’s Mike Sexton has been a proponent of dressing nicely at high-profile final tables, and they don’t get much bigger than the WPT Championship; as such, I figured I’d put my keep fashion eye to the test and size of the five finalists.

Michael Mizrachi: I’ve seen “The Grinder” on the circuit quite a bit, and more times than not he wears a hat. That wasn’t the case at the final table as Mizrachi sported a shaved head and a plaid long-sleeve maroon and grey button-up complete with a Deepstacks patch. It was a strange getup in that it wasn’t too casual, but wasn’t really fancy. Grade: B-

Nick Schulman: A black t-shirt is definitely not classy, but when you look at the big, strapping Nick Schulman, you think more bad-boy outlaw, so the black t-shirt, which showed off the tattoo on his right arm and silver bracelet, worked just fine for the young pro. Grade: B

Marvin Rettenmaier: Those Europeans sure know how to dress, and this German pro is no different. “Mad Marvin” was sporting a long-sleeve white button-up, and when rolled up, the sleeves showed a fancy design. He completed that with a PartyPoker patch and a light brown scarf fastened in a way I’ve only seen in Europe. All he needed was a haircut! Grade: A

Steve O’Dwyer: A blue and white plaid button-up isn’t particularly special, but then again Steve O’Dwyer’s look is more about his trademark beard and flowing locks than anything. A shirt is a mere accessory, and in this case it did its job. Grade: B

Philippe Ktorza: Much like his European counterpart, Ktorza sported a white button-up with the sleeves rolled up. The Frenchman didn’t have a scarf, but he did sport a patch of the French flag, a nice watch, and a pair of sunglasses. It didn’t pop, but it was definitely upscale casual. Grade: B+

Steve O’Dwyer

Crazy Three-Way: With the blinds at 40,000/80,000 and a 10,000 ante, Michael Mizrachi looked down at and raised to 200,000. Marvin Rettenmaier, who was next to act, came in with a three-bet to 485,000 holding , prompting Steve O’Dwyer to move all in for 965,000 with . Mizrachi proceeded to five-bet all in for 2.14 million, and after thinking about it for a few moments, Rettenmaier called to put both players at risk.

Mizrachi was a 57 percent favorite to take down both the 2.35 million chip side pot and 3.025 million chip main pot, while O’Dwyer had just a 2 percent chance of winning outright, though he could still chop the main pot with Rettenmaier. The flop wasn’t of note, and neither was the turn. The river gave Mizrachi, who was going for his third WPT title, the chip lead with 5.375 million while sending O’Dwyer to the rail in fifth place for $192,176.

The Ladies Love Ktorza: Nick Schulman opened for 250,000 with only to have Philippe Ktorza move all in for 1.55 million after looking down at . Schulman thought long and hard before asking, “Hammer time?” He then dropped in a call and both players were up out of their seats. I’d like to say there was a good sweat, but the flop made sure there wasn’t one as Ktorza flopped four queens, leaving Schulman drawing dead. The French contingent went wild on the rail as the meaningless turn and river completed the board.

Five Questions Outtakes: Throughout Season X, the WPT aired a popular segment called Five Questions. This week’s segment featured outtakes from throughout the season. Here’ a small sample:

What is with your hairdo?

Will Failla: “Well, I was in Cannes, south of France, I’m watching all these French fries win all these chips, and I’m saying to myself, ‘What is it? What is it?’ And all of a sudden it hit me, I see their hairdo, and everybody’s got this French comb over. Haven’t lost a tournament since I’ve had the French comb over.”

Irv Gotti on his friend Phil Ivey: “I’ll give you one Phil Ivey story, he’s going to hate this too. He was really pissed when he lost that [WSOP] Main Event when he got to the final table, so when he got interviewed and everything, he kept his poker face, but when we went out, he was like, ‘[BLEEP].’ It was the first time I’ve ever seen him upset about poker. Usually he’s got ice in his veins.”

Schulman Out in Fourth Place: With the blinds at 60,000/120,000 and a 20,000 ante, action folded to Marvin Rettenmaier in the small blind and he raised to 280,000. Nick Schulman responded by moving all in for 2.765 million and was snap-called by Rettenmaier. Even before the cards were turned up, Schulman’s face said he was in trouble.

Nick Schulman

The crowd was unusually quiet, and both Rettenmaier and Schulman were on their feet. Schulman needed some help, but the flop left him wanting. The turn paired Schulman, but the 27-year-old pro still needed either another five or an ace on the river keep his hopes of a second WPT title alive. The dealer burned and revealed the . Rettenmaier celebrated with his rail as Schulman exited in fourth place for $256,235.

“I just thought maybe he was a little card dead, getting a little desperate. I thought I might have him dominated, but you know, in retrospect, maybe I never do. It was probably a bad call,” Schulman told Jessica Welman in his post-elimination interview after being asked about his curious call against Philippe Ktorza. “I think I played pretty well, this last hand, he’s opening almost every hand in that spot… sometimes it just doesn’t go your way.”

Who will be the next to join this prestigious list:

Tune in Next Week:The conclusion of the WPT World Championship is set to air on Sunday, Oct. 21, on FSN, so be sure to check your local listings. If by chance you miss it, check back next week for the latest recap of all the action here on PokerNews.

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*Pictures courtesy of World Poker Tour.

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September 18 2012, Matthew Pitt

The World Poker Tour Malta Main Event reached the end of Day 2 after six 90-minute levels were played out at the Casino at Portomaso. By the time the tournament director called an end on the day’s proceedings, Jackson Genovesi, who began the day as chip leader ended as the chip leader.

Genovesi started the day with 147,500 chips and managed to turn them into an impressive stack of 767,500. A large percentage of these chips were won during a hand that Genovesi described to PokerNews as “sick.” It involved the elimination of the former World Series of Poker Main Event champion Jonathan Duhamel.

In the hand in question, a preflop raising war broke out that resulted in Duhamel six-bet shoving with a pair of tens. Genovesi made the call with a pair of jacks that held.

Yorane Kerignard (522,000), who has a fantastic record in major live poker tournaments within Europe, has also moved on to Day 3. Kerignard has four European Poker Tour final tables to his name, but has yet to cash in a WPT tournament. Francesco Favia (429,500), Ilan Boujenah (297,500) and Eros Nastasi (297,000) have also moved on.

One man who will not be in the field when play resumes is 12-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth. After Bastien Lebel opened to 4,000 in early position, Hellmuth made the call from middle position. The player on the button was Zeljko Krizan, who moved his short-stack into the middle with . The action moved back to Lebel, who decided the best play for his was to move all in for just over 100,000 chips. This was slightly more than Hellmuth had in front of him and after some deliberation Hellmuth decided to make the call with . The board ran out , and with that, Hellmuth was eliminated.

Although Hellmuth will not be in attendance on Day 3, there will be plenty of noise from at least one man still in the hunt for a WPT title. PartyPoker pro Tony G managed to make it through with 117,000 chips.

Play resumes at 1300 CET (0400 PDT) and will continue until the 26 players have been whittled down to a final table of six. The prize money will start being paid out when the 22nd place has been decided. A min-cash is worth “5,240 but by the time Day 3 comes to an end, each surviving player will have locked up a guaranteed “23,300.

Join the PokerNews Live Reporting team for all the action from the WPT Malta Main Event starting at 1300 CET (0400 PDT) Wednesday!

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