BRACELET IN $3,000 HORSE
Phil Hellmuth might be the all-time leader in WSOP bracelets with 11, but recent years have seen a much-younger Phil Ivey quickly close the gap. Ivey picked up his eighth WSOP bracelet by taking down Event No. 37, $3,000 HORSE. The mixed-games format drew a loaded 478-entrant field, with Ivey finishing off double bracelet winner Bill Chen for the win and $329,840 in prize money. Ivey’s win was more remarkable in that he fought his way back from shortstack status with 16 players remaining.
 
KASSELA TAKES TWO
It’s been several years since a WSOP passed without at least one double bracelet winner, and this year’s series didn’t buck the trend. Las Vegas local Frank Kassela became the 2010 WSOP’s first double winner by capturing both Event No. 15, $10,000 7-stud/8, and Event No. 40, $2,500 razz. Kassela polished off the inimitable Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler for the title in the 7-stud/8, worth some $447,446, and followed that by topping Maxwell Troy and 363 others in the razz event a fortnight later. The second victory brought Kassela another $214,085, capping off a productive two weeks for Kassela at the Rio and bringing his career earnings well over $1.7 million.
HELLMUTH AGAIN MISSES 12TH, JELINEK LEADS BRIT PARADE
 
Phil Hellmuth’s ongoing attempts to add a record twelfth bracelet to his WSOP career-best haul found him at the final table in Event No. 41, $1,500 pot-limit Omaha/8, but honors here instead went to the UK’s Steve Jelinek, who collected $245,871 after finishing off John Gottlieb during heads-up play. Jelinek’s bracelet was the fifth of the year for British players, two better than that country’s all-time best WSOP performance, with over a dozen events still to be decided. CONFESSIONS OBTAINED IN GERMAN POKER HEIST Four of the five armed robbers arrested in connection with the March 6, 2010 hold-up of the PokerStars European Poker Tour Berlin stop confessed their guilt as the trial opened. All four of the robbers were aged either 20 or 21, according to wire-service reports, and while the 21-year-old faces a sentence of up to 15 years in prison, the three 20-year-olds may receive lighter sentences at the discretion of the court. One complicating factor working against the robbers is that only about two percent—roughly €4,000 of the €242,000 stolen—has been recovered, with the remainder still unaccounted for.
 
WOMEN IN POKER HALL OF FAME ANNOUNCES 2010 NOMINEES
The Women in Poker Hall of Fame has announced seven candidates for its 2010 class of inductees. The seven nominees up include Jennifer Harman, Annie Duke, Kathy Liebert, Nani Dollison, Betty Carey, J.J. Liu and Phyllis Caro. Two of the seven will be inducted in August, joining previous inductees Linda Johnson, Barbara Enright, Susie Isaacs, Marsha Waggoner, Jan Fisher, Cyndy Violette and June Field.
 
A SHORT-LIVED ENDURANCE RECORD FOR LAAK?
Last time out we reported on the new Guinness Book of World records mark for non-stop poker playing set by Phil “The Unabomber” Laak. Laak played 115 straight hours, but only weeks later word emerged of an Austrian group self-titled the “Glorious Seven” who attempted to best that mark in a continuously-running private game held at the Kufsteinerhof Hotel in Kufstein, Austria. Three of the seven—Stephan Reischl, Nuran Karasu, and Jens Tölle—exceeded Laak’s 115-hour mark, playing a reported 135 hours. However, despite taping of the event and a live web cam running for much of the stunt’s duration, no Guinness officials were present, making the group’s “official” Guinness mark claim an open question.