Welcome to Day 1 of the $3,000 Limit Hold'em Event of the 2011 WSOP
Last week, the World Series of Poker hosted its first limit-hold'em tournament with the popular $1,500 buy-in event. That tournament drew an impressive 675 players and saw Harrison Wilder outlast the competition to take down his first gold bracelet and the accompanying $205,065 first-place prize. Today, the journey for the next limit-hold'em champion will begin with Event #14: $3,000 Limit Hold'em.
In years past, this event has ranged in buy-ins from $2,000 to $3,000, with the event boasting the cheaper price tag the past three years. Needless to say, with this year's tournament costing an extra $1,000, the prize pool ought to be juiced.
The tournament is expected to draw some of the biggest names in poker, and why shouldn't it given the prestige it has awarded past winners. Todd Witteles, Bill Chen, Daniel Negreanu, and Eric Buchman are some of the notables who've won this event in the past. In fact, Negreanu's last WSOP victory came when he defeated 479 players in this event back in 2008. That was good for $204,874 and his fourth gold bracelet. Meanwhile, former November Niner Buchman is the defending champ after outlasting 476 players last year to win $203,607 and his first bracelet; however, a title defense is in question as Buchman is currently going deep in the $10,000 Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better Championship.
Here is a look back at this event's history:
Former $2,000-$3,000 Limit Hold’em Champions
| Year | Event | Entrants | Winner | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Event #10 ($2,000) | 569 | Siagzar (Reza) Payvar | $303,610 |
| “ | Event #17 ($2,500) | 373 | Quinn Do | $265,975 |
| “ | Event #36 ($3,000) | 406 | Todd Witteles | $347,385 |
| 2006 | Event #23 ($3,000) | 341 | Ian Johns | $291,755 |
| “ | Event #7 ($3,000) | 415 | Bill Chen | $343,618 |
| 2007 | Event #34 ($3,000) | 296 | Alexander Borteh | $225,483 |
| “ | Event #43 ($2,000) | 472 | Safi Ahmad | $217,329 |
| 2008 | Event #20 ($2,000) | 479 | Daniel Negreanu | $204,863 |
| 2009 | Event #38 ($2,000) | 446 | Marc Naalden | $190,770 |
| 2010 | Event #18 ($2,000) | 476 | Eric Buchman | $203,607 |
| 2011 | Event #14 ($3,000) | ??? | ??? | ??? |
Who will be the next to claim the coveted $3,000 Limit-Hold'em title? It is going to take three days, but we'll eventually have our answer. In the meantime, be sure to join us at 5 PM PST as we kick things off and bring you all the latest and greatest limit action!