WPT Poker's 2012 Fantasy WSOP (sponsored by Book Vegas) |
With the Main Event just kicking off at the 2012 World Series, there hasn’t been much movement in our league standings, but England have finally got their first meaningful points on the board in what has been something of a lacklustre year.
Inevitably the points, a very useful 50, come from England captain Sam Trickett who came runner-up in the $1 million-entry Big One for One Drop. His 50 points propelled the team up the rankings, along with Denmark, who got their biggest points haul so far with captain Petere Eastgate final-tabling a small Hold’em event.
It’s very much all to play for as the $10,000 Main Event starts at the Rio.
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Points Totals (July 7th)
|
| USA |
180 |
| (Jason Mercier (capt): 80; Ben Lamb: 0; Vanessa Selbst: 85; Melanie Weisner: 15) |
| Canada |
165 |
| (Shawn Buchanan (capt): 80; Sorel Mizzi: 30; Mike McDonald: 35; Mike Leah: 20) |
| Ukraine |
125 |
| (Yevgeniy Timoshenko (capt): 10; Oleksii Kovalchuk: 60; Eugene Katchalov: 15; Alex Dovzhenko: 40) |
| Sweden |
100 |
| France |
90 |
| Greece |
80 |
| England |
70 |
| Denmark |
60 |
| Ireland |
55 |
| Germany | 55 |
| Brazil |
35 |
| Spain |
35 |
| Italy |
30 |
| Netherlands |
20 |
| Russia |
10 |
| Finland | 0 |
Many thanks to www.book-vegas.com for our top prize. The travel firm are offering the winner a fantastic trip to Vegas, which includes flight, 4 nights in a top hotel, limo transfer from the airport, discounts and club access. For the next 5 runners-up there are WPT Poker goodie bags.
OLDER POSTS:
USA’s class is telling with just 10 events of the 2012 WSOP left to complete
Vanessa Selbst took down her 2nd career bracelet in the $2,500 10-game event to cement her place as arguably the all-time greatest female player as well as giving her team a welcome 50 points. Those points were enough to keep the US in the No.1 spot, just ahead of Canada, who are closing in with 165. Shawn Buchanan added a minor cash to his year’s haul, and Mike “Timex” McDonald bagged himself a further cash and a final table to add more points to the board.
Chris Bjorin’s 156th WSOP cash (well, it seemed like it) keeps Sweden in the running, but England will be hoping for some Sam Trickett magic in the Big One for One Drop, running now, to get some points on the board for the beleaguered team.
(After 42 events)
With 42 events done and dusted at this year’s WSOP, things are beginning to hot up in our Fantasy competition, as the USA, Ukraine and Canada pull ahead of the pack.
The biggest story came in Event 42, the Omaha/7 card Stud mixed event, with Ukrainian Oleksii Kovalchuk (a WPT Poker big tip at the start of the year) taking down his 2nd career bracelet. The 50 points helped the team into 2nd place in our list, but the rest of the team (especially compatriot Alex Dovzhenko) have pitched in with cashes and final tables of their own.
On the USA team it was a familiar tale of success from captain, Jason Mercier. His final table earned him double points, but Vanessa Selbst and Melanie Weisner were on hand with valuable cashes of their own. Only 2011 Player of the Year Ben Lamb has disappointed, with not one cash to his name in 2012’s festival.
 Jason Mercier - Team USA Captain
For those of you picking England there was some respite from a poor team display after James Dempsey came 11th in the $2,500 Mixed Hold’em. However, with the Big One for One Drop and Main Event just around the corner, there’s still plenty of time for captain Sam Trickett to make amends.
|
Points Totals (after 42 events)
|
| USA |
125 |
| (Jason Mercier (capt): 80; Ben Lamb: 0; Vanessa Selbst: 35; Melanie Weisner: 10) |
| Ukraine |
120 |
| (Yevgeniy Timoshenko (capt): 10; Oleksii Kovalchuk: 60; Eugene Katchalov: 15; Alex Dovzhenko: 35) |
| Canada |
115 |
| (Shawn Buchanan (capt): 70; Sorel Mizzi: 30; Mike McDonald: 5; Mike Leah: 10) |
| France |
85 |
| Greece | 60 |
| Ireland |
55 |
| Sweden |
40 |
| Brazil |
30 |
| Germany | 25 |
| Spain |
25 |
| Italy |
20 |
| Netherlands |
15 |
| Denmark | 5 |
| Russia | 5 |
| England |
5 |
| Finland | 0 |
(After 42 events)
With 30 events in the bag at the World Series, it’s all change at the top of our leaderboard as the country captains start to turn on the style.
Canadian Shawn Buchanan finally discovered his run-good in Event 22, the $2,500 Triple Draw, coming 6th. It came hot on the heels of two minor cashes (both 62nd place finishes) to give him 70 points. Talented online pro Mike “GoLeafsGo” Leah notched his first cash as well, and you can expect more strong results from him as the WSOP progresses.
Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier repaid the faith some of you showed in him by final-tabling the $3,000 6-max event, aided by a further minor cash. His 60-point haul helped lift France into 2nd place on our list. Elsewhere, another minor cash for captain Jason Mercier and Melanie Weisner’s first cash of the Series helped keep the USA in the hunt. Propping up the table, however, are Finland, Greece, and England, but with arguably two of the best players in the world in Chris Moorman and Sam Trickett, and the Big One for Big Drop around the corner (in which England team caption Trickett will be playing) the latter have more than a reasonable chance of coming back into contention.
(After 17 events)
So, it’s all go at the WSOP at the stupendous Rio in Las Vegas. After a quietish start things started to get exciting when Phil Ivey reached the final table of the $10k Pot Limit Hold’em Championship. Bracelet no.9 was denied him, however, as former WPT Player of the Year Andy Frankenberger eventually took down his 2nd bracelet in 2 years. It was Ivey’s 2nd final table of the WSOP. Elsewhere, Phil Hellmuth won bracelet no.12 after winning the 7 Card Stud event, and another old-schooler, Andy Bloch, broke his WSOP hoodoo with victory.
So, what does that mean for our Fantasy WSOP tally going into Event 18? Well, er, not very much, as none of those players featured in our teams. However, there were still plenty of points for our included players, and unsurprisingly Ukraine and USA lead the way with 30 events still to go. Ukraine are the only team to have all players notch up points so far, with captain Yevgeniy Timoshenko on 10 after one cash (his points were double as captain), and Alex Dovzhenko on 25 following his final table in Event 11. For USA, Jason Mercier has two cashes (20 points) and Vanessa Selbst has been busy racking ‘em up, with one cash and one final table. Germany scored their first points after Marvin Rettenmaier, fresh from his WPT World Championship win, final-tabled the $5,000 Mixed Max tournament.
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