The buzz around the tournament floor today has mostly surrounded Doyle Brunson's decision to play this event. This has been the only event on the 2013 World Series of Poker schedule that Texas Dolly has played and despite his quiet demeanor, his presence in the room is well-known. Prior to playing this event, the 79-year old gambling legend sent out a series of tweets that sweetened the deal for him playing in this event. Brunson has bets with 28 players that see him earning extra money if he cashes, makes the final table, and/or wins the tournament.
Since the inception of this event, Brunson has cashed twice and made the final table during one of those runs. In 2006, which was the inaugural year, Brunson scored an eighth-place finish which was good for $274,560. Two years later, Brunson finished in 16th place which pocketed him $124,320. Brunson has not cashed in this event since.
Could these bets fuel the fire within Brunson to propel him into a deep run? Only time will tell, but we'll certainly keep tabs on his progress throughout one of the most prestigious poker tournaments of the year.
Daniel "Kid Poker" Negreanu chipped up a bit during the first 100-minute level, and just now was opening from late position in a deuce-to-seven hand. Erick Lindgren was in the big blind, and he peered across the table after checking his cards.
"Who's making that raise?" he asked with a grin before folding. "I was suited!" cracked Negreanu.
Ville Wahlbeck has arrived and is walking around between the tables reuniting with fellow players. He's yet to register for the event but will be doing so shortly, thereby increasing the field by one more formidable mixed-game player. Wahlbeck won a bracelet in 2009 in the $10K 8-game event, the same year he final tabled $10K events in seven-card stud, 2-7 no-limit draw, and the $50K H.O.R.S.E. event.
"You're looking fresh," said Lindgren after thanking Wahlbeck, and the latter explained he had only just arrived yesterday. "That's the plan," added Wahlbeck, and both nodded as Wahlbeck continued his walk, obviously not in a big hurry to sit down. Indeed, with five days' worth of poker ahead for those making the final table in this one, the Poker Players' Championship is indeed more a marathon than a sprint.
Vanessa Selbst opened with a middle position raise only to have Eugene Katchalov make it three bets from two seats down. Action folded back to Selbst and she called to see a flop.
The two watched as the dealer spread on the felt. Selbst rapped the table and Katchalov fired out a continuation bet. Selbst came over the top with a check-raise and Katchalov called. The turn was the and Selbst kept up the aggression by dropping out a bet. Katchalov raised and Selbst wiggled in her seat a bit. She thought for a moment before choosing to call.
The river was the and Selbst checked over to Katchalov. He casually tossed one last bet in and Selbst came right over the top with a raise. Katchalov pursed his lips as if surprised by the bet. Eventually, however, he called.
"I got lucky," said Selbst, flipping over for a rivered Broadway straight. Katchalov threw his hand into the muck and Selbst dragged in the pot.
With the board showing and about 8,000 in the middle, John Racener (small blind) checked, Sergii Baranov (big blind) checked, and John Hennigan bet 5,000. Racener then check-raised to 18,000, forcing a quick fold from Baranov and a slow one from Hennigan.
Here is a list of all the players who have ever cashed in this event complete with their total money earned from those cashes:
Player
Money Earned
Michael Mizrachi
$3,010,573
Freddy Deeb
$2,360,462
Scotty Nguyen
$1,989,120
Andy Bloch
$1,813,988
Chip Reese
$1,784,640
Brian Rast
$1,720,328
John Hanson
$1,641,679
Bruno Fitoussi
$1,448,599
David Bach
$1,436,646
Michael DeMichele
$1,243,200
Vladimir Schemelev
$1,131,904
Phil Hellmuth
$1,063,034
Matt Glantz
$945,070
Barry Greenstein
$928,919
Chris Klodnicki
$896,935
Erick Lindgren
$781,440
Phil Ivey
$777,600
David Singer
$749,280
David Oppenheim
$745,545
Minh Ly
$665,763
Amnon Filippi
$586,080
Huck Seed
$560,769
Jim Bechtel
$549,120
Erik Sagstrom
$522,393
Owais Ahmed
$482,058
TJ Cloutier
$480,480
Dewey Tomko
$474,624
Kenny Tran
$444,000
Lyle Berman
$444,000
John Juanda
$436,865
Luke Schwartz
$406,736
Doyle Brunson
$398,880
Vitaly Lunkin
$368,812
Daniel Alaei
$342,099
Robert Mizrachi
$341,429
Roland Israelashvili
$317,882
Ralph Perry
$314,880
George Lind
$300,411
David “Bakes” Baker
$272,275
Stephen Chidwick
$253,497
Jeff Lisandro
$248,635
Scott Seiver
$243,978
Patrick Bueno
$230,880
Ville Wahlbeck
$219,655
Mike Wattel
$215,444
Patrik Antonius
$205,920
Robert Williamson III
$205,920
Gavin Smith
$205,920
Bill Chen
$205,856
Brett Richey
$204,579
Ben Lamb
$201,338
Thor Hansen
$188,256
Chau Giang
$184,087
Mikael Thuritz
$182,463
Jason Lester
$168,529
Erik Seidel
$162,381
Nick Schulman
$152,730
Alexander Kostritsyn
$152,730
Yan Chen
$143,400
Joseph Michael
$142,320
David “ODB” Baker
$142,197
Daniel Negreanu
$142,080
Joe Cassidy
$137,280
David Levi
$137,280
Cong Do
$137,280
Gabe Kaplan
$131,424
Abe Mosseri
$129,957
Lyle Berman
$129,957
Josh Arieh
$124,723
Mike Binger
$124,723
Gus Hansen
$123,895
John Hennigan
$120,994
Mark Gregorich
$117,216
Allen Bari
$113,030
Sebastian Ruthenberg
$108,503
Viktor Blom
$105,235
Tim Phan
$103,008
Greg Raymer
$103,008
Ray Dehkarghani
$99,590
David Chiu
$99,590
Ilya Bulychev
$98,330
Chris Reslock
$88,800
Mike Matusow
$88,800
Tony G
$83,630
Steve Billirakis
$72,914
John Kabbaj
$72,914
Here are a few more interesting tidbits about this event:
Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi has won the event twice, once in 2010 and the other time in 2012.
Both Barry Greenstein and Andy Bloch have cashed four times in this event. No player has cashed for just three times.
Freddy Deeb, John Hanson, Bruno Fitoussi, David Bach, Vladimir Schemelev, Matt Glantz, Phil Ivey, David Singer, David Oppenheim, Huck Seed, Dewey Tomko, Doyle Brunson, Daniel Alaei, Ralph Perry, Jeff Lisandro, Mike Wattel and Brett Richey have cashed twice each.
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on the felt. Selbst rapped the table and Katchalov fired out a continuation bet. Selbst came over the top with a check-raise and Katchalov called. The turn was the 
and Selbst kept up the aggression by dropping out a bet. Katchalov raised and Selbst wiggled in her seat a bit. She thought for a moment before choosing to call.
and Selbst checked over to Katchalov. He casually tossed one last bet in and Selbst came right over the top with a raise. Katchalov pursed his lips as if surprised by the bet. Eventually, however, he called.
for a rivered Broadway straight. Katchalov threw his hand into the muck and Selbst dragged in the pot.
and about 8,000 in the middle, John Racener (small blind) checked, Sergii Baranov (big blind) checked, and John Hennigan bet 5,000. Racener then check-raised to 18,000, forcing a quick fold from Baranov and a slow one from Hennigan.
