Brent Hanks Wins Bracelet, Heads-up Down to 8, Negreanu Building in Event 5
After three final table appearances, Brent Hanks wins his first bracelet in Event #2, earning $517,725. Xuan Liu leads Event #4 and Daniel Negreanu makes it into the top 10 in Event #5.
WSOP numbers so far:
Events: 5/63
Prize pool: $5,738,920
Participants: 4,411
Event #2: Brent Hanks wins $1,500 No Limit Hold'em
Event #2 is done and dusted and Brent Hanks walked away with a $517,725 payday and his first shiny new bracelet. This was his third final table appearance at the WSOP, yet he always remained devoid of the gold until he was able to secure top prize last night.
Vanessa Selbst was looking to snag her second bracelet and was chip leader after eliminating Michael Kaufman in 7th place. She finished the tournament in 4th place with $161,345.
WSOP 2012 Event #2: $1,500 No Limit Hold'em
Final Rankings
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| Place | Name | Earnings | ||
| 1st |  Brent Hanks |
$517,725 | ||
| 2nd | Jacob Bazeley |
$322,294 | ||
| 3rd | Andrew Badecker |
$224,029 | ||
| 4th | Vanessa Selbst |
$161,345 | ||
| 5th | Ryan Schmidt |
$117,921 | ||
| 6th | Abdyl Konjuhi |
$87,231 | ||
| 7th | Michael Kaufman |
$65,377 | ||
| 8th |  JP Kelly |
$49,621 | ||
| 9th | Richard Park |
$38,106 | ||
| 10th | Kennii Nguyen |
$29,923 | ||
|
Players: 1 (2,101) | Prize Pool: $2,836,350
|
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Event #3: $3,000 No Limit Hold'em/Pot Limit Omaha Heads-up
64 players started Day 2 in this mixed heads-up event and only eight players remain. Among the survivors are notable players Jason Koon, David Benefield and Annette Obrestad.
Only three more matches stand between determining the champion of Event #3, with a $207,708 first place prize awaiting the winner.
WSOP 2012 Event #3: $3,000 No Limit Hold'em/Pot Limit Omaha Heads-up
Round of 8 Matchups |
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| Player 1 | Player 2 | ||
| Jason Koon |
 Annette Obrestad |
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| Simeon Naydenov |
David Benefield |
||
 Julian Powell |
Gregg Merkow |
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| Leif Force |
Andy Frankenberger |
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| Players: 8 (317) | Prize Pool: $870,870 | |||
Check out our exclusive interview with David Benefield as he discusses Event #3, school and his upcoming trip to Beijing:
Event #4: $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo
Just 23 of the initial 622 players are still in the running for the Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo event. Xuan Liu will lead the pack into Day 3 with 330,500 chips, with Chris Tryba close behind on 307,500 chips. Stay tuned tomorrow to see if Liu can hold her own and finish at the top.
WSOP 2012 Event #4: $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo
End of Day 2 Chip Counts |
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| Place | Name | Chips | ||
| 1st |  Xuan Liu |
330,500 | ||
| 2nd | Chris Tryba |
307,500 | ||
| 3rd | Cory Zeidman |
261,500 | ||
| 4th | Chris Bjorin |
220,500 | ||
| 5th | Brandon Shack-Harris |
178,500 | ||
| 6th | Linda Johnson |
175,000 | ||
| 7th | Sanjay Pandya |
165,500 | ||
| 8th | Frank Kassela |
159,000 | ||
| 9th | Owais Ahmed |
147,000 | ||
| 10th | Yarron Bendor |
126,000 | ||
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Players: 23 (622) | Prize Pool: $839,700 Average Chips: 121,696 | Blinds: 5,000/10,000/1,000 |
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Event #5: $1,500 Pot Limit Hold'em
The first Pot Limit Hold'em tournament kicked off at the Rio with a total of 639 participants. 77 players remained at the end of Day 1, but since they were less than one table away from the money, they played down to the money where only 71 remain. This is a new rule the WSOP added this year.
Philipp Salewski will start tomorrow as chip leader with 113,000 chips with Antonio Esfandiari trailing close behind. Daniel Negreanu also made it into the top 10 - let's see if he can keep it up in Day 2.
WSOP 2012 Event #5: $1,500 Pot Limit Hold'em
End of Day 1 Chip Counts |
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| Place | Name | Chips | ||
| 1st |  Philipp Salewski |
113,000 | ||
| 2nd | Antonio Esfandiari |
112,600 | ||
| 3rd | Bryan Pellegrino |
106,000 | ||
| 4th | Zach Jiganti |
102,500 | ||
| 5th | Jonathan Aguiar |
100,900 | ||
| 6th | Yashar Darian |
100,300 | ||
| 7th | Gnatenko Oleksander |
98,000 | ||
| 8th | Daniel Negreanu |
94,000 | ||
| 9th |  DID NOT REPORT |
76,700 | ||
| 10th | Jordan Smith |
74,800 | ||
|
Players: 71 (639) | Prize Pool: $862,650 Average Chips: 40,500 | Blinds: 600/1,200/0 |
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Upcoming Events
WSOP 2012: Upcoming Events
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| Event |
Buy-in & Game Type |
Date | |
| 6 | $5,000 No Limit Hold'em Mixed Max | May 31 | |
| 7 | $1,500 Seven Card Stud | May 31 | |
| 8 | $1,500 Limit Omaha Hi/Lo | June 1 | |
| 9 | $1,500 No Limit Hold'em Re-entry | June 2 | |
| 10 | $5,000 Seven Card Stud | June 3 | |
| 11 | $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha | June 4 | |
| 12 | $10,000 Heads-up No Limit Hold'em | June 5 | |
| 13 | $1,500 Limit Hold'em | June 5 | |
| 14 | $1,500 No Limit Hold'em Shootout | June 6 | |
| 15 | $5,000 Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo | June 6 | |
Medal rankings by country
To encourage some friendly fan competition in our 19 communities, we will compile a list of the nationalities that make "podium finishes" (1st, 2nd and 3rd place) in WSOP events. Can your country knock the USA off their long-time top spot?
| WSOP 2012 Medal Rankings Table | |||
| Country |  Gold |
 Silver |
 Bronze |
 USA |
2 | 2 | 2 |
 Canada |
- | - | - |
 UK |
- | - | - |
 Germany |
- | - | - |
 Italy |
- | - | - |
 France |
- | - | - |
 Denmark |
- | - | - |
 Russia |
- | - | - |
 Sweden |
- | - | - |
 Australia |
- | - | - |
 Ireland |
- | - | - |
