Hand #110: Dominik Nitsche opened to 100,000 before folding once more to a shove from Zachary Gruneberg in the blinds.
Hand #111: Thayer Rasmussen shipped all-in from the small blind and Bob Bounahra folded.
Hand #112: Gruneberg opened for 105,000 in the cutoff and won.
Hand #113: Rasmussen jammed it in from the cutoff. Dominik Nitsche peeked down at his cards and called.
Nitsche:
Rasmussen:
Both players had similar equities, and that stayed true after the flop gave Rasmussen a flush draw. The dealer placed the on the felt, leaving "THAY3R" down to his last card needing an ace, king, or heart that wasn't . The river gave Nitsche a boat, and Rasmussen shook hands with his opponents before exiting.
Hand #103: Bob Bounahra made it 85,000 and picked up the blinds and antes.
Hand #104: Bounahra made it 85,000 and picked up the blinds and antes.
Hand #105: Dave D'Alesandro made it 80,000 and picked up the blinds and antes.
Hand #106: Dominik Nitsche made it 80,000. Thayer Rasmussen pushed all-in and picked up the pot.
Hand #107: Nitsche made it 80,000, Bounahra called from the small blind and D'Alesandro pushed all-in from the big blind. Both players folded and D'Alesandro took it down.
Hand #108: D'Alesandro made it 100,000 from the small blind and took it down after Nitsche folded his big blind.
Hand #109: Nitsche made it 90,000 from the small blind and Zach Gruneberg gave up his big blind.
Hand #101: Dominik Nitsche raised to 80,000 in the cutoff and got one caller in Bob Bounahra in the big blind. Bounahra check-called 85,000 on the flop, and a turned. Bounahra checked again, and this time Nitsche saw his 160,000 bet check-raised to 415,000. Nitsche called, and both players checked the river.
Bounahra showed for top pair, but Nitsche shot that down with bullets: .
Hand #102: Bounahra raised to 90,000 in the small blind, and Dave D'Alesandro shoved from the big blind to put Bounahra at risk for his 800,000 or so stack. Bounahra instantly called.
Bounahra:
D'Alesandro:
D'Alesandro was dominated, and the flop didn't give immediate help. The dealer burned and turned the .
"God," yelled a frustrated Antonio Esfandiari from Bounahra's rail, clearly thinking it was a six. He calmed down when someone informed him Bounahra was still ahead. The river was a brick, and Bounahra doubled up.
Hand #84: Bob Bounahra won with a raise to 85,000 in the cutoff.
Hand #85: Bounahra opened to 90,000 under the gun and took the pot.
Hand #86: Dominik Nitsche opened in the cutoff before folding to a shove from Zachary Gruneberg, who continues to jam over Nitsche's raises.
Hand #87: Nitsche opened to 80,000 under the gun and won the pot.
Hand #88: Nitsche got a walk.
Hand #89: D'Alesandro raised on the button and took the pot.
Hand #90: D'Alesandro opened to 80,000 in the cutoff and Nitsche moved all in. Everyone else folded, and D'Alesandro called right away.
D'Alesandro:
Nitsche:
The door card was the , but the dealer revealed the behind it, giving Nitsche a flush draw. The turn was no help to him, though, and likewise for the river.
Hand #75: Thayer Rasmussen got a walk in the big blind.
Hand #76: Dave D'Alesandro raised to 85,000 and took down the blinds and antes.
Hand #77: Nitsche raised to 80,000 and Bob Bounahra made the call from the small blind before D'Alesandro pushed all-in from the big blind for close to 900,000. Both players folded.
Hand #78: Nitsche got a walk in the big blind.
Hand #79: Rasmussen open-shoved and took down the blinds and antes.
Hand #80: Nitsche shoved the button to take down the blinds and antes.
Hand #81: Nitsche raised to 80,000 and took down the blinds and antes.
Hand #82: Gruneberg raised to 80,000 and took down the blinds and antes.
According to PokerNews' latest WSOP Player of the Year update, Justin Bonomo is out to an early lead in the 2014 World Series of Poker Player of the Year standings. Bonomo reached his eighth career final WSOP final table last week and finally claimed his first WSOP bracelet, removing his name from the list of the best players without poker's most prestigious piece of hardware.
Bonomo is followed closely in the standings by Brandon Shack-Harris, a cash game player who virtually came out of nowhere to win a bracelet of his own. Shack-Harris won the largest pot-limit Omaha event in Event #3, and followed that up with a runner-up finish in the $10,000 Razz Championship event.
Sitting third in the POY standings through 20 events is George Danzer, who defeated Shack-Harris heads-up in the Razz Championship on Sunday. It was also the first bracelet for Danzer, wideley considered one of the top mixed-games minds in the game.
Rounding out the top five through the first two weeks of the series are Brock Parker and Jonathan Dimmig. Parker picked up his third career bracelet in Event #10, and Dimmig collected the first seven-figure score of the 2014 WSOP with his victory in the Millionaire Maker.
WSOP PLAYER OF THE YEAR TOP 10 (through 20 events)
Place
Player
Points
1
Justin Bonomo
399.00
2
Brandon Shack-Harris
389.00
3
George Danzer
372.60
4
John Brock Parker
349.50
5
Jonathan Dimmig
300.00
5
Vanessa Selbst
300.00
7
Paul Volpe
272.25
8
Tuan Le
270.00
9
Kyle Cartwright
251.50
10
Jeffrey Smith
230.00
With more than 40 events still to come at the WSOP in Las Vegas, plus several events taking place later this year in Australia, the Player of the Year race is still wide open.
Hand #68: Dave D'Alesandro limped in from the small blind, and Dominik Nitsche checked. D'Alesandro bet 40,000 on the flop and won the pot.
Hand #69: Nitsche raised from the small blind and took down the pot.
Hand #70: Thayer Rasmussen got a walk.
Hand #71: D'Alesandro opened to 85,000 under the gun, and Bob Bounahra called from the big blind. Bounahra led out 105,000 on the flop, and D'Alesandro folded.
Hand #72: Nitsche opened under the gun and won the pot.
Hand #73: Bounahra opened to 95,000 on the button, and the blinds folded.
Hand #74: Nitsche announced a raise from the small blind, and the second the words left his mouth, Zachary Gruneberg moved all in. Nitsche didn't even put the chips in the pot, tossing them instead to his neighbor as he mucked his hand.