May 29 2012, Shari Geller

Day 2 of the 2012 World Series of Poker boasted two firsts – the first bracelet awarded and the first large field, open event at the Rio this summer. Chiab “Chip” Saechao won Event #1: $500 Casino Employees No-Limit Hold’em, and took home $70,859 and a shiny new gold bracelet. Event #2: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em, got under way at 1200 PDT (2000 BST) with 2,101 players competing for their share of a $2,836,350 prize pool. This event heralded the return of Phil Ivey to the Rio, after having sat out last year’s WSOP. But Ivey was far from the only familiar face at the tables. A veritable “Who’s Who” of the poker world turned out on Memorial Day to take their first shot at a bracelet. After 11 levels, the field had dwindled to 240, still 24 shy of the money.

Event #1: $500 Casino Employees No-Limit Hold’em

The final day of this two-day event began with 46 players. The chip leader was the appropriately nicknamed Chiab “Chip” Saechao, followed closely by James Routos and Matthew Wilmot. All eyes were on WSOP executive director Ty Stewart, the most famous name left in the field. Three hours later, the field was reduced to the final two tables, but sans Stewart. Donald Michael had propelled to the lead, with roughly 17 percent of the chips in play, in part due to his knockout hand against Stewart to reach the top 18.

The two went heads-up to a flop of and Stewart led out with a bet of 25,000, about half his stack. Michael came over the top to put Stewart all-in. Stewart was in trouble with for middle pair against Michael’s for top pair. The board ran out and Stewart was out in 19th place ($2,223).

Amy Brady had been the chip leader earlier in the day after busting Joshua Murray and taking down the biggest pot of the day in a blind versus blind contest. They limped to see a flop of and, not surprisingly, the raggedy board was just what the blinds needed. Brady bet, Murray raised, Brady reraised and the pot was already up to over 100,000. After the fell on the turn, Brady shoved and Murry made the call. He had flopped bottom two with and Brady had top pair with . But a on the river gave Brady the pot and Murray was out in 25th place ($2,223).

Brady ended her day in 14th place after a failed semi-bluff. With the board reading , Patricia Baker led out from the big blind for 35,000. Brady tanked then moved all-in for 117,000 more. Baker, who barely had Brady covered, made the call. Brady showed for an open-ended straight draw and Baker had top pair with . Brady missed all her outs on the turn and river and she took home the consolation prize of $3,379.

Saechao and Routos, two of the three chip leaders going into Day 2, joined Baker as the last three standing. When the dust settled, Saechao was crowned the winner, with Baker the runner up. Saechao had crippled Baker earlier when he won his second of two late-in-the-day coin flips, this one in sick fashion. His pocket tens were behind Baker’s on the flop, but the turn was the and, as if to rub it in even further, a on the river gave Baker trips to Saechao’s boat. Their final hand had Baker coolered as her straight fell to Saechao’s flush.

To read all the exciting action, check out our live reporting blog.

Event #2: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em

Some of the biggest names in the poker world turned out for the first open event of the 2012 WSOP, plopping down a mere $1,500 to take part in one of the weekly low buy-in events. Phil Ivey, absent from last year’s event, was in attendance along with Daniel Negreanu, Kathy Liebert, Allen Cunningham, Jennifer Harmon, Gavin Smith, and dozens of well-known pros. Main Event winners like Jonathan Duhamel and Phil Hellmuth, November Niners including Chino Rheem and Ylon Schwartz, and TV regulars Jean-Robert Bellande and Maria Ho represented a wide-range of the poker world. Out of this group, only Hellmuth survived to Day 2.

Ho may not have made it to the end of the day, but she had the knockout heard round the Rio when she ended Ivey’s day during Level 5. With blinds at 100/200, Ho raised to 450 from the hijack seat, Ivey repopped for his last 1,600 out of the small blind and Ho called. Ivey was ahead to Ho’s . The flop seemed safe, coming {2hs}, the on the turn added four more outs and one of those, the , sent Ivey out the door.

The other Phil, Hellmuth, had a better day. During Level 8 he tweeted that he had hit quad aces, which was overkill considering he had pocket aces against his opponents pocket queens. But in Level 9, he took pocket tens against his opponent’s pocket sevens only to see the board cruelly run out . Hellmuth built back up and will go into Day 2 with an above-average chip stack of 44,600.

After 10 levels of play, Sadan Turker is the chip leader with 158,100. Close on his heels are poker pros Eli Elezra, second in chips with 155,900; and Brandon Cantu, fourth with 130,100. Included among those still in the hunt for the first open bracelet of the year are such notables as Layne Flack, Noah Schwartz, John Juanda, Vanessa Selbst, Jason Mercier and Carter Gill.

The top 216 finishers will cash, with payouts ranging from a minimum of $2,893 to the top prize of $517,725.

Be sure to follow all the coverage of Event #2 when it restarts on Tuesday at 1300 PDT (2100 BST).

On Tap

Tomorrow, in Event #2, the first order of business will be getting into the money. The remaining 240 players will return to play down first to the top 216 and then to the final table as we move closer to knowing if the first open bracelet will be taken down by a known pro or an unknown amateur. Two more open events will kick off. First, is Event #3: $3,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em/Pot-Limit Omaha. The first match will start at 1200 PDT (2000 BST). Entrants will be capped at 512, so register early if you’re interested in playing. Later in the day, at 1700 PDT (0100 BST), Event #4: $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Low 8-or-Better, will get under way.

To make sure you don’t miss any of the action, follow our live tournament reporting.

Video of the Day

Kristy Arnett caught up with a scruffy Phil Hellmuth during a break in Event #2. The two discussed dental emergencies, second-place finishes, and no-limit hold’em records.

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May 17 2012, Brett Collson

If you’ve played multi-table tournaments on PokerStars or Full Tilt Poker since 2009, there’s a good chance you’ve played a pot with Ami Barer. The fresh-faced poker pro has been one of the game’s most determined grinders in recent years, playing in tournaments ranging from the $1 rebuy to the $5,200 PokerStars SCOOP Main Event – and virtually everything in between.

Barer, a 21-year-old from Vancouver, will be playing in his first World Series of Poker this summer. It will be the first taste of poker’s summer camp for Barer, who has made a living playing online tournaments since he was in high school.

Unlike many of his peers who were forced to pack up and find a new home in order to resume their poker career after Black Friday, Barer kept his grinding station intact and continued crushing online tournaments like he had been during his career. And while that career may seem brief, his list of accomplishments rivals many of the most talented online tournament players on the planet.

In just three years playing under the moniker “UhhMee” on PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, Barer has accumulated more than $3.6 million in online tournament cashes. His best result came in the 18th Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS), where he claimed his first gold jersey and a top prize of $122,000. He also has a fourth place finish in another FTOPS event for $82,500, and a fifth place result in a recent SCOOP event on PokerStars. Not to mention dozens of five-figure scores that would take us hours to catalog.

Most of Barer’s exploits have come on the virtual felts, but the youngster made several appearances at live events around the globe. He burst onto the live scene in 2009 with a 25th place finish at the “10,000 European Poker Tour Grand Final for $59,168. Barer gained some early attention in that event by finishing Day 1b as the chip leader and was among the leaders heading into Day 3, but an unsuccessful face-off with Ludovic Lacay on Day 4 left Barer hitting the rail short of his first live final table.

Barer hasn’t cashed in a live tournament in 15 months, but there won’t be much rust to shake off when the WSOP kicks off later this month. Barer has been grinding online non-stop since the beginning of May; in fact, between May 3 and May 16, the hold’em specialist racked up 135 cashes on PokerStars alone, making 14 final tables. That amounts to a final table every day.

Obviously, those numbers aren’t attainable in the live realm. Multi-tabling WSOP events isn’t advised unless you’ve wagered millions in bracelet bets like Tom Dwan. Therefore, it will be interesting to see if Barer can translate his high-volume approach to the slow, daily grind inside the Rio Convention Center. But since endurance and work ethic play huge factors in success at the WSOP, we’re expecting big things from the Vancouver pro this summer.

PokerNews will be keeping a close eye on Barer in the coming months, so be sure to check our Live Reporting Page for the duration of the 2012 WSOP. Stay tuned for more rookies to look out for, as well.

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