SPORTS ROUNDUP: Darts and cards and running shoes
It was a battle royale between the 10-year veteran and the first-year newcomer. The world’s top darts player, Michael Van Gerwen from Holland, claimed a second World Series of Darts title in the space of a week after beating first-time competitor Daryl Gurney 8-6 in the final of the U.S. Darts Masters at the Tropicana. It was Van Gerwen’s 10th consecutive title win.
During a dominant performance, Van Gerwen won through to the final for the loss of just one leg, as he followed up July 14 first round whitewash of Chris White with an 8-1 quarter-final defeat of Dave Richardson and an 8-0 romp against Gerwyn Price.
Gurney took out 120 to keep his hopes of a maiden TV title alive but Van Gerwen took out 98 to complete a brilliant 12-darter as he secured the win back-to-back World Series triumphs.
“It’s so good to win the first U.S. Darts Masters in Las Vegas,” the world’s No. 1 said. “The whole event has been superb. “The fans, the players and the PDC have been brilliant. So, I can’t wait to get back next year.”
Van Gerwen began the day with an 8-1 victory over Canada’s Dave Richardson, with the World Champion averaging 95.70 and hitting two maximums.
The Dutchman was in an even more ruthless mood in the semi-finals, beating Gerwyn Price 8-0 in front of an enthusiastic crowd. Van Gerwen averaged more than 100 in his semi-final clash with the Welshman, who struggled to cope with the scoring power of the World Champion as he set up a decider with Daryl Gurney.
Gurney, making his first appearance in a World Series event, faced world No. 3 Peter Wright in the last eight, where he came through an 11th leg thriller to book his passage into the final. With the match seemingly going Anderson’s way, the Northern Irish ace produced a stunning run of seven straight legs to claim a spot in his first World Series final.
Despite Gurney’s best efforts, the world’s No. 1 proved too strong in the final, as he claimed a 10th World Series of Darts title.
“He was too good for me today but I’m getting much closer,” Gurney, 31, said. “This is where I want to be and I think I’ve done myself a lot of favors here.
“There are a lot of big events coming up and this will give me a lot of confidence. When I get to a final I really want to win, so I’m not happy to lose but I’ve played well.”
The World Series of Darts returns in August, with the world’s best players heading to New Zealand and Australia for tournaments in Auckland, Melbourne and Perth.
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48th Annual World Series of Poker
Meantime, over at the Rio early Tuesday morning (July 18), it was down to the final nine for the 48th Annual World Series of Poker held at the Rio. The event will run from through Saturday.
The 2017 World Series of Poker is now complete. Just 27 players remained in the WSOP main event and after overnight play televised live on PokerGO and ESPN2 the final nine players include one Las Vegas player, Ben Lamb, and two others who have been here previously in the past decade. They are each guaranteed at least $1,000,000 in prize money. The main event final table is all that remains of the massive field of 7,221 players from 83 different nations, who entered the iconic tournament seeking poker’s most coveted title, a top prize of $8,150,000 and the encrusted gold and diamond champion’s bracelet.
The three-day live finale will begin tomorrow (July 20) at the Rio. The final nine players represent four countries — Argentina, France, United Kingdom and the United States. The players will vie for the lion’s share of the main event’s $67,877,400 total prize pool in front of live television cameras in prime time on ESPN. The winner will receive a guaranteed first-place prize of $8,150,000, with the other eight players sharing another $18-plus million.
The final nine and their respective seat assignments and chip counts are as follows:
• Scott Blumstein from Brigantine, New Jersey – 97,250,000 – Seat 2 – Chip Leader — @SBlum2711 At 25, Scott is the youngest player remaining and has never cashed in the World Series of Poker heading into this event for his first time. His total winnings are $312,142, including a first-place finish in a $560 buy-in poker tournament last summer in Atlantic City where he won $199,854. He has guaranteed himself a lot more than that. He is a Temple University graduate with a degree in accounting.
• John Hesp from Bridlington, Great Britain, at 64, is the oldest player remaining — 85,700,000 – Seat 1 – 2nd in Chips. A grandfather of seven he has turned into a fan favorite in this tournament, with his colorful outfits, Panama hat and the jolly time he seems to be having at the table. also for his first WSOP tournament.
• Benjamin Pollak is a poker professional and part-time magician born in France, who now lives in London, England — 35,175,000 — Seat 4 — 3rd in Chips.
• Bryan Piccioli from San Diego, California, 28, is a full-time poker professional — 33,800,000 — Seat 8 – 4th in Chips.
• Daniel Ott, 25, from Altoona, Pennsylvania, and also playing in his first ever WSOP — 26,475,000 – Seat 9 – 5th in Chips.
• Damian Salas, 42 from, Argentina, is the first player from that country to make the WSOP final table — 22,175,000 – Seat 6 – 6th in Chips.
•Antoine Saout from France who now lives in London returns to the final table where he finished third in 2009 — 21,750,000 – Seat 3 – 7th in Chips.
• Jack Sinclair, 26, from London, England who has just $13,500 in live poker tournament winnings and made his first trip to Las Vegas this summer — 20,200,000 – Seat 8 – 8th in Chips.
• Ben Lamb returns for the third time to the final table. The former Tulsa, Oklahoma player now lives here in Las Vegas — 18,050,000 – Seat 7 – 9th in Chips.
Prize money for the remaining nine spots is as follows:
• 1st place: $8,150,000
• 2nd place: $4,700,000
• 3rd place: $3,500,000
• 4th place: $2,600,000
• 5th place: $2,000,000
• 6th place: $1,675,000
• 7th place: $1,425,000
• 8th place: $1,200,000
• 9th place: $1,000,000
When play resumes July 20, the players will pick up with one hour, seven minutes and one second remaining in Level 37. The antes will be 100,000 and blinds will stand at 400,000 and 800,000.
The WSOP main event final table television coverage will begin airing July 20 on ESPN2. Action is on a 30-minute delay to conform to gaming regulations. TV coverage is as follows:
• July 20 – 6 p.m. in Las Vegas (playing from nine players to six players) – ESPN2
• July 21 – 6 p.m. in Las Vegas (playing from six players to three players) – ESPN
• July 22 –6 p.m. in Las Vegas (playing from three players to a winner) — ESPN
It was a record-breaking summer overall, with a 48-year high of 120,995 entries throughout the 74-event gold bracelet schedule that awarded a record $231,010,874 in prize money. As the 48th running of poker’s longest annual event it set a whole new list of records and all-time high in attendance, prize money and places paid.: The 7,221-player main event was the largest start since 2010. During the 74 event poker festival that began May 31 and winds up July 20 it was a record-breaking year with shattered statistics over the seven weeks.
A staggering 120,995 entries participated this year (up 12.2 percent), marking the first time the event has ever attracted over 120,000 entries, keeping the WSOP far and away poker’s biggest annual live festival.
This WSOP established a host of new records as poker enthusiasts from 111 different nations traveled to Las Vegas to compete in the game’s grandest spectacle, and a record 16,814 players received prize money this year.
The WSOP remained the industry leader in terms of prize money awarded, with this year’s tally amounting to $231,010,874 — the most in series history.
The main event in 2017 had 7,221 entries, a 7.2 percent increase over last year, creating the largest prize pool of the 2017 WSOP at $67,877,700 and the largest first-place prize, which amounts to $8,150,000. The 2017 main event was the third-largest in the history of the series, only behind the 2010 and 2006 main events, which had 7,319 and 8,773 respectively.
“On behalf of the entire WSOP team, our heartfelt thank you to poker players from around the globe who showed up in droves to be part of the biggest World Series of Poker yet,” said World Series of Poker Executive Director Ty Stewart. “It was another terrific year of huge prize pools and memorable moments. We will catch our breath and then get to work on 2018 planning.” Next year’s excitement kicks off in October in Rozvadov in the Czech Republic with WSOP Europe.
For just the fifth time in its history, WSOP generated a total prize pool that topped the $200 million mark. In the 48-year history of the WSOP, the game’s most prestigious tournament series has now awarded over $2.5 billion — actually $2,732,754,201 in prize money. This year’s total prize pool increased 4.4 percent from last year’s $221,211,336.
It was another successful year in terms of raising money for charity as well. The two featured charity-linked tournaments, the Little One for ONE DROP (Event No. 74) and the ONE DROP High Roller (Event No. 6), plus the 1% for One Drop campaign, where players can donate 1 percent of their winnings to the cause which supports the WSOP’s official charity partner the ONE DROP organization (onedrop.org), created by Cirque du Soleil’s founder Guy LaLiberte, raised a combined $992,841. ONE DROP uses donations to directly implement water access projects, where an average of $100 can transform someone’s life forever.
The poker community via the World Series of Poker has donated more than $19,603,877 since the partnership began in 2012 — enough to directly impact the lives of more than 196,000 people.
Legions of amateur players competed alongside legendary poker pros, Hollywood A-listers and international sports figures to establish the new milestones. Among the notable non-poker playing names competing during this year’s WSOP included: most decorated Olympian of all-time Michael Phelps, Brazilian soccer star Neymar da Silva Santos Jr., actor and comedian Brad Garrett, actor and comedian Ray Romano, NFL defensive star and Super Bowl champion Richard Seymour, actress Jennifer Tilly, Stanley Cup champion Phil Kessel, German soccer player Max Kruse and actor James Woods. Of these players, Kruse was the only player to reach a final table. He finished in fourth place in the $1,500 2-7 Triple Draw event for $28,740.
The youngest player in this year’s WSOP Main Event was Alex Conklin, from Webster, New York, who played Day 1B on his 21st birthday. He reached the money and finished in 578th place for $22,449.The oldest player to participate in this year’s main event was 96-year-old William Wachter of Carmel, New York, who played in the third wave of Day 1 but was eliminated later the same night. This was the fifth consecutive year that Wachter was the oldest player in the field. Jack Ury, at the young age of 97, still holds the WSOP record as oldest participant.
The $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em World Championship commonly referred to as the WSOP main event paid out a record 1,084 places this year, the most places paid in the event’s history. The money was officially reached in Level 16 last Friday, (July 14 ) at 1:30 a.m.
Here’s the quick stats overview of the 2017 74 official gold bracelet events:
• Total Entries: 120,995,
• Total Prize Pool: $231,010,874
• Total Cashers: 16,81
• Main Event Entries: 7,221
• Main Event Prize Pool: $67,877,400
• Largest 1st Place Prize: $8,150,000 (Event #73)
• Average 1st Place Prize: $528,736
• Average Field Size: 1,635 entries per event (most all-time)
• Average Age: 41.42 (Male average: 41.26; Female average: 44.28)
• Male Participation: 94.6% (114,479 entries)
• Female Participation: 5.4% (6,516 entries)
• Number of Countries Represented:111
• Number of U.S. States Represented: 50 and District of Columbia
• Number of Multiple Gold Bracelet
•Winners: 2: David Bach (Events 11, 30) and Nipun Java (Events 10, 71)
• Most Entries by Country 1.) United States (94,087); 2.) Canada (4,951); 3.) United Kingdom (4,310); 4) France (1,546); 5.) Australia (1,223)
The new records established at the 2017 WSOP were:
• Most Entrants: 120,995
• Most Cashers: 16,814
• Largest Starting Flight in Main Event History: Event #73
• Flight C: 4,262 entries
• Largest non-Hold’em field size ever: Event #18, the $565 Pot-Limit Omaha tournament attracted 3,186 entries, making it the largest field ever sat to play poker outside of a Hold’em event in live poker history
• Largest Seniors Event in WSOP History: A record 5,389 players showed up for this year’s WSOP Seniors Championship, officially Event #31. That was an increase from the previous record of 4,499 in 2016.
• Largest Online WSOP Gold Bracelet Ever: A record 2,509 entered this year’s $333 WSOP.com Online “Little Grind” Bracelet Event.
• Largest Buy-In for an Online WSOP Gold Bracelet Ever: This year’s series featured the largest buy-in for a WSOP ONLINE Gold Bracelet event with Event #61: $3,333 No-Limit Hold’em ONLINE High Roller.
• Largest $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Field Size in Poker History: Event #62, the $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller event drew 205 entries, the most ever at this buy-in level in this form of poker.
• Most events with $1 million+ 1st Prize: 7 distinct events For the second consecutive year, seven different events awarded seven-figure prizes to the winners (Event #5, Event #6, Event #20, Event #47, Event #62, Event #67 and Event #73). Event #6 and #73 were the only two events to award multiple million dollar payouts (Event #6 (four players); Event #73 (nine players)
• Most cashes in a single WSOP year: John Racener cashed 17 times at this year’s summer series, a new WSOP record. He earned one gold bracelet, had four top 25 finishes and cashed in two of the three online bracelet events. Also cashing 17 times was Chris Ferguson. He tied Racener after cashing in the final event of the series. • All-time Cashes and Final Tables: 14-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth added to his record as the individual all-time leader in cashes (126) with his seven cashes in 2017. With one final table appearance this year, Hellmuth has now final tabled an incredible 54 of the 126 events he has cashed in. Of the 54 final table appearances, Hellmuth has either won or come runner-up in 24 of them. Hellmuth also leads the category for most 4-9th place finishes, with 34.100
• WSOP Cashes: Daniel Negreanu and Men Nguyen collected their 100th career WSOP cashes at this year’s series. Negreanu cashed 11 times to bring his total to 105 (4th all-time) and Nguyen cashed four times to bring his total to 101 cashes (8th all-time). These totals include Circuit, Europe and APAC cashes.
The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is the largest, richest and most prestigious gaming event in the world awarding millions of dollars in prize money and the prestigious gold bracelet, globally recognized as the sport’s top prize. Featuring a comprehensive slate of tournaments in every major poker variation, the WSOP is poker’s longest running tournament in the world, dating back to 1970. In 2017, the event attracted 120,995 entrants from 111 different countries tour Rio All Suites hotel and awarded over $231 million in prize money.
#3- And finally: the November Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Marathon & ½ Marathon has confirmed that the Goo Goo Dolls who played our Downtown LV Arena at the weekend (FILE- TOM DONOGHUE PHOTOS) will headline this year’s pre-race concert. The band will perform for more than 30,000 runners on Sunday, November 12 at 3:00 p.m., prior to the marathon and half marathon start.
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Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series
“The Goo Goo Dolls are one of the first bands that come to mind when thinking about the late 90s and we are thrilled to have them headline this year,” said Alex Bennett, vice president of events for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series. “The band will resonate with runners of all ages and will be a great way to get pumped up before that 13.1 or 26.2-mile journey down the Las Vegas Strip.”
The Goo Goo Dolls reached superstardom in 1997 when they released “Iris” for the motion picture “City of Angels.” The song topped the Billboard charts at No. 1 for four weeks and was nominated for a Grammy Award. Following the success of “Iris,” the band released triple-platinum album, “Dizzy Up the Girl,” which included “Iris” as well as, “Slide,” “Black Balloon,” “Broadway” and “Dizzy.” The Goo Goo Dolls have also released hits, “Here Is Gone,” “Sympathy” and “Big Machine” and have sold 12 million albums around the world.
The Goo Goo Dolls concert will highlight an electrifying weekend of rocking and running as participants span across all eight lanes of Las Vegas Boulevard, shutting down the Las Vegas Strip in extraordinary fashion. Runners of all levels are invited to light up the Las Vegas Strip at night, experiencing the famed boulevard from a unique point of view.
This year’s race weekend of Nov. 11-12 is one of the only private events to exclusively shut down the Las Vegas Strip at night. Race highlights include all the must-see Vegas sights such as the iconic “Welcome to Las Vegas” sign, the Fountains of Bellagio, and the finish line at the foot of the Mirage volcano.
Race weekend begins on Saturday night with the Brooks Rock ‘n’ Roll 5K presented by SLS Las Vegas, followed by Sunday evening hosting the marathon, half-marathon and 10K distances. Runners can choose to participate in the “Remix Challenge” and earn a bonus third medal by running in both the 5K on Saturday and any distance on Sunday.
Sunday begins with the Goo Goo Dolls performance at the Las Vegas Village, across from the Luxor. In addition to the headliner concert, live bands and DJs spanning all genres will play along the race courses entertaining and encouraging runners as they make their way to the finish line.
The marathon and half-marathon will take off at 4:30 p.m., on Las Vegas Boulevard next to Mandalay Bay. The 10K starts at 4 p.m. at an additional start line on Las Vegas Boulevard four miles north of the marathon and half-marathon start. All three distances finish at the same location, next to The Mirage Volcano on the Strip.
