Today in the WSOP 3-Bet we take a look at the new Ante-Only tournament, Joey Weissman’s big score and Phil Hellmuth, Jason Mercier and Ben Lamb selling pieces in the BIG ONE.
Hit up the comments section with any suggestions for a future 3-Bet.
3) Players Ante Up for New Format Tournament
It’s not every day we see an entirely new event at the WSOP but today the first-ever Ante Only tournament debuted.
Event 49 $1,500 Ante-Only No-Limit Hold’em offered a new way to play with absolutely no blinds. In every hand action started with the player to the left of the button.
The game turned conventional early-tournament strategy on its ear with numerous multi-way pots.
The format already has a ton of fans including Daniel Negreanu, Eric Froehlich and Scott Seiver.
Interestingly Bryan Slick, who invented the Ante-Only variant for PokerStars, was on hand for the event and became one of the few players to play in a WSOP event they literally invented.
Perhaps the funniest incident on Day 1 of the event was when Phil Ivey sat down and asked the dealer where the blinds were.
One of the only complaints about the tournament was how shallow the structure was but that will likely be improved next year.
2) Weissman Wins $2.5k NLHE for $694k
U.S. pro Joey Weissman outlasted 1,607 players and then survived a nine-hour final table to win Event 46 $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em today.
The 24-year-old poker pro from Syosset, NY, was on cruise control for most of the day as the chip leader but nearly suffered a meltdown when he got heads-up against French player Jeremy Quehen.
Weissman and Quehen traded the chip lead back and forth several times before it appeared that Quehen had him on the ropes.
Despite being out-chipped nearly 10-2 at that point, Weissman fought back and secured his first WSOP bracelet and $694,609 in cash. Quehen settled for the $429,535 consolation prize.
The day began with 25 players chasing WSOP glory including Vanessa Selbst, Fabrizio Gonzalez and William Reynolds.
Unfortunately all those pros were snuffed out before the final table.
The final table featured a lively rail, especially for Brazilian Fernando Brito and Weissman, with plenty of cheering for both players.
1) Get a Piece of Hellmuth, Mercier, Lamb
It’s rare that big name poker pros publically offer pieces of themselves in major tournaments but most tournaments don’t have a $1 million buy-in.
Indeed the WSOP BIG ONE for ONE DROP has some of the most successful tournament players ever looking for a little financial support.
World-class poker pros Phil Hellmuth, Jason Mercier and Ben Lamb all took to Twitter today to sell of a few more pieces before buying into the BIG ONE tomorrow.
Both Mercier and Lamb were selling at 1.1 markup with only a smaller percentage of their buy-in up for grabs. You can get in for a minimum of $5,500 in Lamb’s case and $2,750 for Mercier.
Meanwhile Hellmuth didn’t mention what his markup was but he’s looking to sell 40% of his buy-in separated into $50k chunks.
Whatever happens it’s becoming more and more clear there will be a lot more people invested in the BIG ONE than just the 48 players actually playing in it.
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