Yesterday I posted an article summarizing the best Team PokerStars performances in WSOP 2011 for pros based in Europe. A number of European pros had incredible success, winning bracelets and enjoying 6-figure cashes. Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier had the most success, cashing for $811,639, but he was followed closely by Maxim Lykov, who cashed for $662,248.
Today I would like to take a look at PokerStars Pros from North and South America. Yes ElkY stole the spotlight and had the best WSOP performance of Team PokerStars, but a number of North and South American pros enjoyed close to the same amount of success as the Frenchman.
Let’s start in the south and work our way up. A number of PokerStars Pros from Brazil cashed in this year’s WSOP, including Gualter Salles, Alexandre Gomes, and Andre Akkari. Akkari did the best of the bunch by a longshot, however, winning a bracelet in Event 43, a $1,500 No Limit Hold’em tournament. His 1st place finish netted him an incredible $675,117. He also took 45th in Event 17 for $4,771, bringing his total cashes to a total of $679,888. That’s a pretty good summer!
Moving up to Costa Rica brings us to Humbero Brenes, who cashed three times in this year’s WSOP. He made his one and only final table early in the series, taking 6th in Event 3 for $42,857. His other two cashes came in Events 18 and 39 for 293rd and 39th respectively. His total cashes in WSOP 2011 were $51,984.
Humbero Brenes sits at the final table of Event 3. Photo courtesy of PokerNews.
It comes as no surprise that the country to cash the most in WSOP 2011 was the USA. At least ten PokerStars Pros from the States made the money, with several of them cashing multiple times. In fact, three American PokerStars Pros cashed five times or more, which is incredible!
Victor Ramdin was one of these players, cashing an impressive 6 times throughout the series. He unfortunately only made one final table, however, placing 9th in Event 17, a $1,500 HORSE tournament. In total his cashes for the series were $51,608, and the lack of a huge cash was probably very disappointing to him.
Barry Greenstein was another American PokerStars Pro to cash a number of times, and he made a ton of money in the process. He made the money a total of five times and despite making only one final table, he cashed for $318,254! His final table came in Event 27 where he placed 3rd for $169,512. He took 15th place in the $50k Poker Players Championship, which earned him $108,503.
The highest cashing American PokerStars Pro was Jason Mercier. To say that Mercier had a phenomenal World Series of Poker would be an understatement. He made it to a final table three times this summer, winning a bracelet in Event 35 for $619,575. An impressive fact about his five cashes is that none of them came in No Limit Hold’em events! He cashed in No Limit 2-7 Lowball, Omaha Hi/Lo, Seven Card Stud, Pot Limit Omaha, and 2-7 Triple Draw. If his goal was to prove that he is a force to be reckoned with in all forms of poker, he passed the test with flying colors. His total WSOP 2011 cashes were $696,438.
Jason Mercier in a 2-7 Triple Draw WSOP event. Photo courtesy of PokerNews.
Andrew Brokos, who represents Team PokerStars Online, was the American PokerStars Pro to go the deepest in the Main Event this year. He placed 53rd for $160,036. It was actually the second consecutive year he went deep in the $10,000 No Limit Hold’em Championship. Last year he placed 87th for $79,806.
The last American PokerStars Pro I’d like to talk about is Chad Brown. He didn’t cash for 6-figures, but he did make a final table in Event 21. It was the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship, and he finished 6th for $57,917. He also placed 30th in Event 5 and 19th in Event 44, bringing his total WSOP cashes to $67,388.
None of the PokerStars Pros from Canada cashed for 6-figures this year. All eyes were on Jonathan Duhamel, the Main Event Champion from 2010. He made the money in just two events: 54th in Event 8 for $9,738 and 15th in Event 40 for $31,315. He cashed for a total of $41,053 between the two events, a far cry from last year’s jackpot.
People were also closely following Daniel Negreanu, arguably Canada’s biggest poker icon. It was a very frustrating WSOP for Negreanu. Prior to the Main Event he had only cashed in two tourneys: 59th in Event 13 for $4,998 and 20th in Event 40 for $24,942. He had a glimmer of hope for his summer when he went deep in the Main Event, but his run came to a halt in 211th place for $47,107. His total cashes were just $77,047 and he’ll hope for some better fortune looking ahead to WSOP Europe.
Well we’ve gone all the way north and ended up in Canada, so that concludes my summary of the PokerStars Pros in WSOP 2011. In total there were five bracelets and multiple millions won by Team PokerStars, and it’s safe to say that they are one of the most skilled poker teams in the industry today. Congratulations to everyone on Team PokerStars that made a profit in this year’s World Series of Poker!