After buying into close to 20 events thus far in the 2011 WSOP, Dwan has finally seen his first final table action. Dwan posted two very solid days of play in the $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship and returned for another long but ultimately successful Day 3 session. Late last night, the event hit its final table, and the last nine competitors continued on so long that the heads-up play was actually halted due to the new hard-stop rule.
The H.O.R.S.E. Championship saw some serious drama on Day 2, but Dwan was not involved. Instead, it was bystander Daniel Negreanu that called out native Las Vegan Michael Binger for angle shooting. Tournament director Robbie Thompson was called to the table, and it was determined that Binger had indeed underbet the limits. Binger exchanged a few less than civil words with Negreanu before folding the hand. Binger had started the day as chipleader, but the encounter with Negreanu left him visibly shaken. Ultimately he ended the event in 7th place.
During breaks in the H.O.R.S.E. Championship, Dwan also entered Event #39: $2500 Pot-Limit Hold’em/Omaha and Event #40: $5000 No-Limit Hold’em/Six Handed. He busted out of the PLH/PLO event on his first hand, then took a hard hit and bombed out of the NLHE event on a 20-minute break in the Championship. Still, durrrr’s manic multi-event strategy didn’t seem to affect his performance in Event #37.
While many durrrr fans (including frequent high stakes opponent John Juanda) were obviously hoping for a bracelet win in the H.O.R.S.E. Championship, the cards ultimately fell in someone else’s favor. He came to the final table at the middle of the pack and sent the first finalist – Max Pescatori – to the rail on a hand that even Dwan deemed “slightly lucky,” but it was all downhill from there. Dwan spent most of his time at the final table as the short stack, but still managed to eke out a 5th place finish good for $134,480 (his second highest career cash at the WSOP).
Dwan may be gone, but the show must go on. At this point, the H.O.R.S.E. Championship has reached the heads-up portion, but the event is on pause until later today. Vying for the title and the top payout of $609,130 are French pro Fabrice Soulier and Canadian pro Shawn Buchanan. With 6.29 million chips to Buchanan’s 910,000, Soulier will return from the imposed break with almost 90% of the ammunition.
Since it’s well known that Dwan has once again made millions of dollars in prop bets, all reliant on his ability to win a WSOP bracelet this year, it’s safe to assume that he’s not going to be satisfied with the three cashes he’s already earned at this year’s series. This weekend will offer up five more chances at a bracelet, with two especially durrrr-friendly events – the $1500 Limit Hold’em Shootout and the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship – kicking off this afternoon.
