Ryan Eriquezzo Wins Bracelet in National Championship at WSOP
Ryan Eriquezzo landed his first bracelet at the 2012 WSOP and bagged $416,051 in the National Championship which had a $10,000 buy-in requirement. This was an unexpected win, as the player had all but given up on playing poker professionally. He had intended the WSOPC Atlantic City Circuit 2011-2012 to be the last big tournament he played professionally. However, after winning the event, he earned his way to the $1 million free-roll to the WSOP National Championship where he played against a strong field of 157 and became the winner. According to him, some of the players he went up against were elite professionals.
Heads-Up Play
The final heads-up play was between Eriquezzo and Nikolas Stone, the winner of the Harrah’s WSOPC St Louis Championship. Of the seven players to be sent to the rails before them, four were eliminated by Stone. At the start of heads-up play the two players nearly had the same chip count. However, when more than 1,350 chips were added to the pot by Stone, Eriquezzo grabbed it and improved his stack. The turning point was in a hand where Stone’s A-7 did not best the Q-Q Eriquezzo had. A few hands later, the game came to an end with the latter taking home the top prize. In it, Stone started with around 800,000, with which he went all-in. Eriquezzo called and saw his opponent table a Q-J. However, Eriquezzo was in a better place than Stone, as he had K-J. When the flop brought a Q-T-4 and the turn, a 5, Stone was in a better place. This changed when a 9 landed on the river, giving his opponent a straight.
Musumeci Finishes in 8th Place
The first player to leave the table was Amanda Musumeci, who played a fierce game against Ashkan Razavi in Event 9 of this year’s WSOP. To read about how Musumeci was close to breaking the losing streak female players had been experiencing at the WSOP, click here. In the latest event, she faced-off with David Baker, who raised 28,000. Musumeci followed this with an all-in worth 217,000. While others folded, including Baker, Stone called Musumeci’s move. Stone’s pocket tens were no match for Musumeci’s pocket nines on a Q-6-2-7-10 board. For finishing eighth, she got $48,576.
Sam Stein was the next to leave when he too went all-in with 195,000. The move was called by Stone. His K-Q were no match for Stein’s J-10 on a board with 8-6-4-A-3. At this stage, Baker was poised to make his place as the first player to win two bracelets in this year’s WSOP. However, it did not come to pass when Baker’s all-in with K-J was called by Huy Nguyen with his pocket eights. Though Baker had a lot of outs here, on the flop, his chances seemed slim when the board showed Q-8-5. When a 3 made it to the turn, he had a flush draw, which did not come about on a river with a K.