2010 WSOP Event #9 Recap – James Dempsey Takes First PL Holdem Bracelet of WSOP

Event #9 at the 2010 WSOP was the $1,500 Pot-Limit Holdem Event. Pot-Limit Holdem is considered by many a more skillful version of Holdem. This year, an increased field of 650 players came out to try their hand at this event and the bracelet.

Event #9 Winner - James Dempsey

Among those that entered the event were Lacey Jones, Gavin Griffin, Chris Ferguson, Joe Cada, Antonio Esfandiari, and J.J. Liu. James Dempsey and Scott Montgomery were the top two in chips entering Day 2. Day 2 saw the money bubble reached and the field thinned to the final table. J.J. Liu made the final table of this event, making her the first woman to take a shot at an open WSOP bracelet this year. Here are how the final nine players started final table action:

Seat 1: Armen Kara (220,000)
Seat 2: Gregg Wilkerson (230,000)
Seat 3: Mark Babekov (246,000)
Seat 4: JJ Liu (479,000)
Seat 5: Edward Brogdon (89,000)
Seat 6: Scott Haraden (224,000)
Seat 7: Steve Chanthabouasy (533,000)
Seat 8: Joseph Williams (385,000)
Seat 9: James Dempsey (528,000)

Greg Wilkerson was the first player eliminated from the final table. He was all-in with pocket aces on a flop of Qs-Js-9h and called by Steve Chanthabouasy with As-Qh. Wilkerson looked in good shape to double up until the 4s hit the turn and then the Ks hit the river to give Chanthabouasy the nut flush and send Gregg Wilkerson out to collect $14,715 for finishing 9th.

Edward Brogdon was the next player eliminated. He was all-in pre-flop with pocket nines and ran into the pocket kings of Chanthabouasy. The board failed to produce a nine and Brogdon was eliminated in 8th place, good for $19,120.

Joseph Williams was eliminated next. Steve Chanthabouasy moved all-in pre-flop with pocket sevens and Williams decided to race with Ah-10h. The board failed to produce anything higher than an eight and Williams hit the rail to collect $25,166.

James Dempsey three-bet pre-flop to 130,000 and Scott Haraden made the call. Both saw a flop of Qs-Jd-5d and Harden put his last 90,000 into the pot. Dempsey called and Harden showed 7d-6d for a flush draw. Dempsey held K-J and middle pair. The turn and river both missed Haraden, and he headed out to collect $45,393 for 5th place.

Steve Chanthabouasy eliminated his fourth player from this final table when Mark Babekov ran his Ac-9c into Chanthabouasy’s pocket kings. A king on the flop gave Chanthabouasy a set and the board paired on the turn to leave Babekov drawing dead. Mark Babekov finished in 4th and collected $62,232.

J.J. Liu made a great run at this bracelet, but ultimately finished in 3rd place. Her final hand saw her racing with pocket eights against the As-Ks of Dempsey. Dempsey flopped top pair and a flush draw to take the lead. He then caught aces-up on the turn and the river brought even more overkill as he rivered a flush. J.J. Liu finished in 3rd place and took home $86,512.

James Dempsey held a dominating chip lead into heads-up play. He led 2.1 Million to just 820,000 for Steve Chanthabouasy. Heads-up play continued for quite a while, but in the end, Dempsey would prevail. The final hand saw Chanthabouasy moved all-in with A-7 against the A-10 of Dempsey. Chanthabouasy flopped a straight draw, but the draw failed to complete. Steve Chanthabouasy finished runner-up in this event and took home $121,963 for 2nd place.

James Dempsey is the $1,500 Pot-Limit Holdem bracelet winner. He took home $197,470 and the first PL Holdem bracelet of the year. Congratulations.