2007 WSOP Overview, June 18th �� Stucke Takes Gold; Hellmuth, Longson Near Marks
Dave Stucke took down the title in Monday's Event #27, $1,500 No Limit Hold 'Em finale on Monday, in one of the four events where action took place on the day. Phil Hellmuth, O'Neil Longson and Erik Seidel also earned headlines with their respective showings in the day's action.
In Event #27, Stucke came to the final table third in chips behind Seth Weinger and David Woo, who finished third and fifth, respectively. The event came down to a heads-up battle between Stucke and Young Cho, probably the most recognized player among a relatively unknown final nine; Cho was a previous third-place finisher in this year's World Poker Tour Gold Strike event, but topped that $257,000 cash with his performance here, worth $382,357. Stucke claimed still bigger money, taking home $603,069 when his pocket sevens held up over Cho's J-3.
As for Hellmuth, he battled toward a final table in Event #23, $3,000 No Limit Hold 'Em, where he extended his own career mark for WSOP cashes to 60 when that event's money bubble burst late Sunday night. Ten players remained in this event when action was called for the night; one more elimination is needed before the official final table is set. Hellmuth, though is one of the two shortest stacks still in play, well behind leader Dustin Holmes and a virtual three-way second-place tie between Beth Shak, Brett Richey and Perry Friedman. Should Hellmuth survive one more knockout, he'll tie T.J. Cloutier's all-time mark of 39 WSOP final tables.
Erik Seidel has also made it to the money a few times during the WSOP, or to be more exact, 46. Seidel notched that 46th cash during a hectic Day One in Event #30, $2,500 No Limit Hold 'Em Six-Handed. However, Seidel is well down the list of 42 survivors who return for Tuesday's Day Two action. Hoyt Corkins surged late to take the overnight lead here, ahead of Yakov Hirsch and Joe Tehan.
Razz action was on the docket as well, in Day Two of Event #29, the $1,500 buy-in tourney. 2005 WSOP Razz champ O'Neil Longson moved to the top early and was never headed as he comes to today's final with 385,000 chips, over three times as many as his nearest challenger, Denny Axel. Men Nguyen, Katja Thater and Paul 'Eskimo' Clark also qualified for this finale. If Longson wins, it would be his fourth WSOP title overall.
Two more events begin today. The noon start goes to Event #31, $5,000 Heads-Up No Limit Hold 'Em, while Event #32, $2,000 Seven Card Stud, begins at 5pm PDT.
