Ten top performers midway through the World Series of Poker

Notable pros Bertrand Grospellier and Eugene Katchalov win first bracelets

Eric Jamison / AP

Players compete in a $25,000 Heads-Up poker tournament during the World Series of Poker at the Rio hotel and casino in Las Vegas, Tuesday, May 31, 2011.

By Case Keefer (contact)

Tuesday, June 21, 2011 | 2:05 a.m.

The 2011 World Series of Poker hits its halfway mark this week.

The world’s largest tournament poker series already has handed out the majority of the 58 bracelets up for grabs this summer. But it’s still nearly a month until July 19 when the final table of nine players emerges in the $10,000 main event.

So far, the series has attracted 33,173 entrants for a prize pool of nearly $56 million — slight increases from this time last year.

“We are humbled once again by the incredible turnout from the players all over the world,” World Series of Poker Executive Director Ty Stewart said in a statement. “It has been a record-setting summer this far in 2011 and we are confident it will continue through the duration of the tournament.”

The WSOP has crowned 29 more champions since Jake Cody started the year off with a win in the $25,000 heads-up no-limit hold’em championship.

Below are 10 other players who have separated themselves from the pack this summer by becoming big winners at the Rio.

Photo by Leila Navidi
John Juanda

Even the most casual poker follower would notice Juanda’s name when glancing down the list of bracelet winners at the 2011 WSOP.

Juanda is the most famous player to win a championship in the first three weeks. Juanda won his fifth career bracelet — putting him in an elite class with only 19 other players — with a victory in the $10,000 2-7 draw lowball championship.

He won $367,170 and made another final table four days later. Those performances have landed Juanda in second in the WSOP Player of the Year race.
Photo by Justin M. Bowen
Phil Hellmuth

No, Hellmuth didn’t win his record 12th WSOP event this year. But at this pace, it would be no surprise if he pulls it off before the end of the summer.

Hellmuth played Juanda heads-up in the 2-7 draw lowball championship, but came up short and collected $226,907 for second. Hellmuth also finished as the runner-up in the $10,000 seven-card stud high-low early Tuesday morning.

His career earnings at the WSOP are now nearing $7 million.
/COURTESY OF WSOP
Sam Stein

Stein is the only man ahead of Juanda currently in WSOP Player of the Year points.

In addition to winning a pot-limit Omaha event for $420,802, Stein also finished third in the pot-limit hold’em championship and cashed in the no-limit hold’em shootout.

Stein is a familiar face on the poker tournament circuit, where he’s made nearly $3 million and came in second at last year’s North American Poker Tour event at the Venetian.

But Sunday’s win at the Rio marked his first major title.
/COURTESY OF WSOP
Allen Bari

The 26-year old Rutgers graduate won the biggest prize to date at this year’s WSOP when he took $874,116 for taking the title in the series’ fourth event, a $5,000 no-limit hold’em tournament.

Bari outlasted 864 other players in the event. He’s also compiled two other minimum cashes at the WSOP this year.

“I am not arrogant in terms of everything,” Bari said in the WSOP’s official release after his win. “Just poker, because — I’m really good at poker. I do not lie. I am just better than most people.”
/COURTESY OF WSOP
Bertrand "Elky" Grospellier

Before the 2011 WSOP began, the Las Vegas Sun labeled Grospellier as one of the top players in poker to have never won a bracelet.

Elky scratched his name off of that undesirable list a week ago by winning the $10,000 seven-card stud championship for $331,639.

According to Grospellier, it was the first time he had ever played seven-card stud in a live tournament. The Frenchman had risen to fame prior to his WSOP win by racking up $7.5 million in tournament earnings after turning in his career as a pro video-gamer for poker.
/COURTESY OF WSOP
Eugene Katchalov

Like Grospellier, many couldn’t believe a well known pro like Katchalov was without a WSOP title heading into the summer.

And like Grospellier, Katchalov won his first by besting a field in seven-card stud. Katcahlov won a $1,500 seven-card stud event for $122,909.

The two first-time bracelet winners share one final similarity in their feelings toward stud as a poker variation.

“It is not one of my best games,” Katchalov said. “But I do have experience at it because I play in a lot of mixed games.”
/COURTESY OF WSOP
Dan Idema

Idema navigated the toughest final table of the WSOP so far to win $378,642 in the limit hold’em championship, widely considered one of the five most prestigious events of the WSOP.

Idema rallied past mainstay pros Barry Greenstein, Justin Smith, Issac Haxton and Nick Schulman in the final nine.

Adding even more intrigue, the victory came a year to the day that Idema finished second in the event at the 2010 WSOP. The Vancouver, British Columbia, pro could barely comprehend the achievement.

“I would say it is a surreal experience,” Idema said. “It really hasn’t all sunk in yet.”
/COURTESY OF WSOP
John Monnette

The WSOP staged the largest eight-game mix tournament in poker history when event No. 23 attracted 489 players.

John Monnette, a 29-year old from Palmdale, Calif., emerged as the winner for $278,144. The veteran had 16 previous cashes at the WSOP, including a second-place finish to Phil Ivey in 2009, before breaking through for his first win.

The games included in the tournament were no-limit hold’em, pot-limit Omaha, 2-7 triple-draw lowball, limit hold’em, Omaha high-low, razz, seven-card stud and seven-card stud eight-or-better.
Photo by Sam Morris
Eric Buchman

Monnette beat Buchman heads-up for the eight-game mix bracelet.

Buchman rose to fame when he entered the 2009 main event final table second in chips. Although Buchman ultimately finished in fourth at the event, he’s been one of the WSOP’s standouts ever since.

He cashed four times at the 2010 WSOP, including winning a $2,000 limit hold’em tournament. Buchman has made the money twice in 2011, totaling more than $188,000 in winnings.
/COURTESY OF WSOP
Chris Viox

The 35-year old from Houston seized attention in the $1,500 seven-card stud high-low by knocking out arguably the two most famous poker television commentators of all time.

Viox beat Poker Hall of Famer and World Poker Tour analyst Mike Sexton heads-up for $200,459 in the tournament. He also ousted ESPN commentator Norman Chad in 12th.

Chad earned $10,676 in his second ever WSOP cash, while Sexton took home $123,925. Viox and Sexton, a seven-card stud specialist, were nearly dead even at the beginning of heads-up play.