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Running from 11th – 15th July, The $10,000 buy-in WPT Bellagio Cup had 353 entrants this year, with most of the poker pros that got busted in the WSOP Main Event moving their headquarters to the Bellagio for this grand tournament.
The organizers of the tournament took into consideration the many players at the WSOP, and extended late registration to two days into the tourney. Among the very late entries were Tom ‘durrrr’ Dwan, Daniel Negreanu, Chris Ferguson, Phil Ivey and the 'Poker Brat', Phil Hellmuth.
Hellmuth had once again organized himself a grand entrance (he was escorted by the gorgeus Royal Flush Girls), which, just like at the WSOP [3], did not improve his gameplay, as he got busted after about half an hour of action.
[4]
The 'Poker Brat' with the Royal Flush Girls
Phil Ivey started with only 20 big blinds, but this was fairly enough for him to finish the day among the chipleaders, thus enabling him to set a record of nine WPT final tables.
With a top prize of $875,000 up for grabs, the competition started getting tough as it drew closer and closer to the final table.
Following Zach Hyman’s elimination in seventh place, the final TV broadcast table looked like this:
John Caridad
Moritz Kranich
Justin “Boosted J” Smith
Robert Akery
Phil Ivey
Eric Afriat
The action got pretty intense when in came down to three players, and Moritz Kranich was battling Phil Ivey and Justin Smith, probably two of the most experienced players in the tournament.
Phil Ivey got eliminated in third place, taking home another $363,650 summer bonus. Kranich then fell short, losing an all-in against Smith, but on the final pre-flop all-in hand, Kranich got lucky with his KT against Smith’s JJ, thus winning the second largest cash in his career, following the $1.1 million he received for winning the PokerStars EPT Deauville Main Event in 2009.
The Royal Flush Girls look better without Phil Hellmuth