Today in the WSOP 3-Bet we find Annette Obrestad and Xuan Liu falling short in their bracelet attempts, Leif Force’s impressive victory in the $3k HU HA and a downright bizarre Chad Batista tirade against Jason Mercier.
1) No Luck for Ladies: Liu, Obrestad Halted
Despite some incredible runs we’ll have to wait at least another day to see a female winner at the 2012 WSOP.
Both Annette Obrestad and Xuan Liu were thwarted in their respective attempts to become the first woman since Vanessa Selbst in 2008 to claim a bracelet in a non-ladies Event.
Obrestad couldn’t get past Jason Koon in her first match in the final 8 of the $3k HU NLHE/PLO tournament. She earned $28,409 for her efforts.
Meanwhile Canadian Xuan Liu steamrolled her way to the final table of the Seven-Card Stud-8 but ran out of steam just as they got down to the final eight players.
Liu held on for a while but finally succumbed to the rail in sixth place for $29,985.
Of course last night Vanessa Selbst finished in fourth place in the $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em for $161,345.
In the five events that have played to completion at the 2012 WSOP there have been female players in the final eight in three of them.
2) Leif Force Rampages Way to First WSOP Bracelet
Journeyman poker player/ultimate Frisbee player Leif Force beat skilled online grinder Jason Koon to win the $3k Heads-Up NLHE/PLO title for $207k and a shiny new bracelet.
The last time we interviewed Force he was nitting his way into 11th place in the 2006 WSOP Main Event for $1.1 million.
Since then he’s recorded seven WSOP cashes and finished second at WPT Biloxi for $315,790.
Today Force finally finished what he started over five years ago and claimed his first WSOP bracelet.
Andy Frankenberger, Julian Powell and George Lind were just a few of the experienced pros who fell to Force in his bid for the bracelet.
The runner-up finisher, Jason Koon, has a collection of final-table appearances on his poker resume but will have to wait another day to take down his first WSOP bracelet.
On the bright side he picked up $128,660 for finishing in second.
3) Chad Batista Challenges Jason Mercier to $20k Street Fight
Poker pro and Jason Mercier pal Brent Hanks failed to show up for his WSOP bracelet ceremony this morning, which was a slight setback for the media gathered to interview him.
Our disappointment was nothing compared to the seething post former WSOPC winner Chad “lilholdem” Batista left Hanks’ Facebook, however.
Batista, perhaps inebriated, wrote eight separate profanity-laden messages on Hanks’ wall calling out Jason Mercier, of all people.
Batista, who hails from Florida basically challenged Mercier to a street fight for $20k in the parking lot of the Rio with weapons. Ridiculous? Um, little bit.
The message has since been removed from Hanks’ Facebook.
We still haven’t heard what exactly Mercier did to raise the ire of Batista.
Perhaps Batista is a die-hard Boston Celtics fan and doesn’t appreciate Jason Mercier’s Miami Heat going up 2-0?
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