A Tale of Two Heads Up Losses
The 42nd Annual World Series of Poker 2011 is in progress at the Rio in Las Vegas since May 31. 16 bracelets have been won, but there is a long way to go. Usually it is the winners who grab the attention, but in two of the 16 completed events it was the losers of the heads up that made the news.
One of these events was the just completed 2-7 Draw Lowball Championship No Limit. Phil Hellmuth did not win his twelfth bracelet. Hellmuth, with 11 bracelets, has won more WSOP bracelets than anyone else. But his last bracelet was won in 2007, which seems like long long ago. He has been trying all sorts of stunts, including making grand entrances (see picture) with scantily clad models in tow, but has not even got a whiff of a bracelet. Hellmuth began to scent a bracelet win in the above mentioned event when he found himself heads up with John Juanda, especially since he had a 3-to-1 chip advantage and it was exactly on this day four years ago that he had won his last bracelet. It took three hours of sustained chipping away at Hellmuth’s stack. As his stack became smaller, Hellmuth became more and more frustrated. But after losing, he fortunately did not resort to the verbal theatrics that he is known for. This was Juanda’s fifth bracelet.
Only 13 women have won WSOP bracelets in open events. Only 1 woman has won a WSOP bracelet in a No Limit Hold’em event, and that was Annette Obrestad winning the WSOPE Main Event in London. No woman has won a No Limit Hold’em WSOP bracelet in Las Vegas. Poker babe Mario Ho was set to claim that honor when she clashed with Allen Bari in the $5,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em. But that was not to be. Actually she never had a chance. After her loss Maria said, “You visualize moments like these and all you want to do is win. It’s a disappointment and I feel bad for saying that, because I won a lot of money and I should be proud. But there is a point in every poker player’s career where you want that bracelet. It’s so tough to get here.” Maria was the last woman standing in the 2007 WSOP Main Event.
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