Event 12 of this year’s WSOP featured the $1,500 No Limit Hold’em Triple Chance, a new tournament to the 2011 WSOP. While Triple Chance did make an appearance in 2010, the buy-in was $3,000 and participation was much lower. This year there were 1340 entrants which meant that the prize pool was $1,809,000 and first prize was $352,808.
What in the world is Triple Chance, you ask? It’s basically a tournament with two add-ons. You start with 1,500 chips and you can add another 1,500 anytime between the start of the tournament and the end of the third blind level. If you have not added on by the end of the third level, you automatically receive the chips.
Event 12 saw yet another first-time bracelet winner, this time David Diaz. A professional poker player the last five years, Diaz had previously final tabled one other event in the WSOP back in 2010. This WSOP win is by far the biggest cash of his career as he usually grinds ring games for his income.
Everyone enjoys a heart warming story, and Diaz’s win comes complete with one of those, too. He was actually born in Honduras, where his family was poor and life was a struggle every day. Finding nutritious food was very difficult, and education was completely out of the question.
Something his people also lacked was proper healthcare, a problem that was magnified when he was just four years old and diagnosed with cancer. As Honduras lacked the treatment facilities necessary for cancer, Diaz traveled to the St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital in Memphis. He stayed with his relatives and was eventually treated and cured.
As expected, several notable players made the money in this tournament including Sam Trickett (16th for $12,952), J.C. Tran (28th for 8,846), Andy Black (30th for $8,846), and Ted Forrest (80th for $4,178).
The most notable player at the final table was Bill Chen, a PokerStars pro. He ended up in 4th place for $100,200. Chen has two bracelets, both of them won in 2006. He is also known for co-authoring The Mathematics of Poker with Jerrod Ankenman.
Congratulations to everyone that cashed the event and congratulations to David Diaz for winning his first bracelet! Please see below for the final table payouts.
1 – David Diaz – $352,808
2 – Anders Meli – $218,183
3 – Andrea Dato – $138,044
4 – Bill Chen – $100,200
5 – Corey Hastings – $73,915
6 – Richard Trigg – $55,355
7 – Justin Sternberg – $42,059
8 – Nicholas Rampone – $32,381
9 – Matthew Henson – $25,253