2015 WSOP – Week 5, Part II: Duhamel Wins the High Roller for One Drop; Indians Continue to Cash

The 5^th week of breathtaking poker action at the 2015 World Series of Poker climaxed yesterday with Jonathan Duhamel winning the Event #58: $111,111 High Roller for ONE DROP. Indian contingents as in Amit Ajwani, Apoorva Goel, Raghav Basal, Sharathchand Gunupati and Jasven Saigal grabbed sizeable cash prizes in different events. Meanwhile, 66 year old, Jacquelyn Scott of USA won the Ladies Championship bracelet of 2015 and Brandon Wittmeyer triumphed the 50/50 No-Limit Hold’em event sponsored by Draftkings.

Talking about Team India at 2015 WSOP Week 5, Amit Ajwani, Raghav Bansal and Sharathchand Gunupati made it to the money list of Event #57: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em. Amit (72nd) bagged $4,449, Raghav (102nd) bagged $2,516 and Sharathchand added $2,247 to his poker winnings.

Mukul Pahuja, the USA based player of Indian origin made an impressive 4th place finish in the Event #55: $1,500 Draftkings 50/50 No-Limit Hold’em bagging $56,245. In the same event wherein half of the field was to be paid cash prize, one of the tournament regulars of India, Apporva Goel cashed $1,000 finishing 411^th. The latest to join the WSOP money list is Jasven Saigal who made a valiant 82^nd place finish in the Event #59: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em bagging $4,654.

Event #58: $111,111 High Roller for ONE DROP

The biggest buy-in tournament on 2015 WSOP calendar met its champion as in Jonathan Duhamel who already carries an impressive poker resume with that 2010 WSOP Main Event bracelet. The events drew many notable pros from the international circuit as in Daniel Colman who won the $1,000,000 No Limit Hold’em – The Big One for One Drop in 2014 for a whopping $ 15,306,668, Phil Hellmuth who is on the hunt of his 15^th WSOP bracelet and Phil Ivey who made his maiden appearance in WSOP this year in this event. Phil Hellmuth couldn’t clinch the 15^th bracelet but place 6^th in the tournament taking home $696,821 which became his 113^th cash finish in WSOP, a world record.

Duhamel faced Bill Klein in the heads-up and notched the top place with a pair of Kings in the last hand.

Jonathan Duhamel:

Bill Klein:

Table:

Bill Klein donated his entire prize money, $2,465,522 to Charity of One Drop Foundation.

Event #57: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em

The field of 2,497 players has come down to the heads-up of Takahiro Nakai and Mel Wiener. The Japanese player Nakai (11,170,000) will start with a stack more than 10-times bigger than that of Wiener (1,315,000). 3 Indian players as in Amit Ajwani (72^nd, $4,449), Raghav Bansal (102^nd, $2,516) and Sharathchand Gunupati (166^th, $2,247) finished in the money in this event.

Event #56: $5,000 Turbo No-Limit Hold’em

Kevin MacPhee won his first WSOP gold bracelet topping a field of 454 players in this turbo event. The loud final table rail at the Amazon room of Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino cheered for Kevin when he dominated Igor Yaroshevskyy’s  with his  with another 4 on the table. This was Kevin’s 5^th cash this year and the first final-table finish for Yaroshevskyy.

Event #55: $1,500 Draftkings 50/50 No-Limit Hold’em

One of the unique events on 2015 WSOP calendar crowned Brandon Wittmeyer as the champion when he beat his fellow countryman Derek Gomez in the heads up. Brandon took home the top prize of $200,618 while Derek bagged $123,907 in the runner-up place. As promised, half of the field i.e. 562 players were paid with a minimum cash prize of $1,000. The Indian-origin player, Mukul Pahuja place 4^th in the tournament taking home $56,245.

In the final hand, Wittmeyer hit a bigger two-pairs on the river knocking out Gomez.

Brandon Wittmeyer:

Derek Gomez:

Table:

Event #54: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship

The Danish online pro, Alexander Petersen reached the first ever WSOP final table of his career and went to win the gold bracelet with the top prize little less than a million dollar. PokerStars pro Jason Mercier lost the final hand of the tournament to Petersen, thus falling short of what could have been his 4^th WSOP bracelet. Petersen hit an Ace high Flush on the Turn eliminating Mercier and grabbing the top prize of $927,655.

Event #53: $10,000/$1,000 Ladies No-Limit Hold’em Championship

The Ladies Championship event which started in 1977 came a long way in 2015 crowning Jacquelyn Scott as the champion. 66-year old Jacquelyn Scott won her first WSOP gold bracelet defeating Hope Williams in the heads-up. Scott took home the top prize of $153,876 while the runner-up Williams bagged $95,039 in this event wherein 81 players were paid out of 795 entries.  The most interesting fact and an encouraging move by the organizers was that the female players were given 90% discount on the actual buy-in amount of $10,000 to play in this event.

Event #52: $1,500 Dealers Choice

A day before the Ladies Championship event found its winner, the 2015 WSOP got its first female bracelet winner in the $1,500 Dealers Choice event. The screenwriter of the 2007 movie – “No Reservations”, Carol Fuchs took down this title beating Ilya Krupin of Russia for the top prize of $127,735. Krupin bagged his 4^th WSOP cash ($78,933) this season for the runner-up finish while the defending champion of the tournament, Robert Mizrachi place 3^rd for $51,236.

In the final hand:

Ilya Krupin:

Carol Fuchs:

Table: