The 2017 World Series of Poker got underway this past week, and that’s where we’ll start our weekly roundup of poker headlines as a couple of players have already won big.
Zamani Claims WSOP Omaha Eight-Or-Better Event
Ben Zamani is well known in the world of poker as he was the Player of the Year in Season 15 of the World Poker Tour. However, the German-born Zamani, who lives in South Florida, won a World Series of Poker bracelet in June 2015 when he won a $1,500 No Limit Hold ‘Em event in Las Vegas. He’ll add another bracelet to his resume with a win in a recent $1,500 Omaha eight-or-better event to net another $238,620. Zamani beat out 904 other players for the win, taking out Jared Hemingway in heads-up play to finish the job. He’s now won over $4 million in live tournaments with many more millions being racked up in online play.
The win also earned Zamani 912 points in the race for Player of the Year as he continues to build his name as one of the very best poker players in the game. His total earnings have him 12th all-time in the state of Florida and 147th in the United States.
Mitchell Captures WSOP Little Grind Event
The World Series of Poker began giving out bracelets for online tournaments in 2015 and this year’s tournament had a $333 buy-in for a no limit “Little Grind” event. Staying with the “333” theme, there was a guaranteed prize pool of $333,333, but there was much more than that as 2,509 people signed up and by the end of it the prize pool was at $752,700. The winner ended up being a player by the handle of “ul_gg”, who is actually Joseph Mitchell from Eugene, Oregon. He topped a list of 333 players that finished in the money.
The final table consisted of nine players. Mitchell beat the likes of Bobby McLawhorn (“bcmclawh”), who is the top-rated player in Nevada according to WSOP.com, and he outlasted Mark Scacewater (“PLODonkey”) as well to claim the $122,314 prize.
There will be two more online tournaments in which players can earn World Series of Poker bracelets, with one on July 1 and another on July 7.
Poker Player Wins $2.7 Million In Perth
Finally, it is off to Perth, Australia, where a player had a great night at Crown Casino. The player won $2.7 million on the $15 Progressive Poker jackpot on Sunday morning at around 3am. It was the Royal Flush that won the big money as he/she got the 10/Jack/Queen/King/Ace hand that is so hard to get in poker.
This isn’t the first time that this has happened as a player named Nigel also won $2.7 million in September 2016 in a $10 Progressive Poker game. There is no name for this player at this point, likely for security reasons, but rest assured this player had a much better weekend than the player that reportedly lost $99,000. Those types of losses is what allows Crown Casino to pay out such big wins.