2008 WSOP Day 12: Bell, Brooks win bracelets

Monday saw the poker pros score another win, with Duncan Bell taking down Event 13, and the amateurs rack wins up as well, with Eric Brooks winning Event 14.

Today action will resume with three more winners being declared as another event plays down to a final table and two more start up.

Event 13

The $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em was an event for whom the Bell tolls - Duncan Bell that is. The Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, resident took down the event on Monday after coming out on top of a 1,397-person playing field.

One of those players happened to be his friend Shawn Buchanan, who also made the final table on Monday but came out in fourth place instead.

Bell and Buchanan play together regularly in casinos and some home games around Vancouver, and they hope to play against each other for a gold bracelet at the WSOP. They came close in Event 13, but Bell ended up taking on Steve Merrifield heads-up instead.

On the final hand, Merrifield raised to $155,000 and Bell called. They saw a flop of 6♣ 8♠ 2♠, and Bell bet another $150,000.

Merrifield raised that to $500,000 and Bell moved all-in. He got a quick call from Merrifield, who then turned up T♦ T♣ to Bell's A♣ A♠.

The turn and the river brought 4♣ J♥, allowing Bell's pocket rockets to hold up and give him the bracelet win.

"[Winning this gold bracelet] means a lot to me," Bell said after his win. "Every poker player's dream is to win a bracelet. Some people have 11 of them. I will be happy with just one. But we will see what happens."

According to the daily WSOP report, this was one of the least-experienced final-table lineups in WSOP history. None of the nine finalists had ever played at a WSOP final table before, and four of the nine had never cashed in a WSOP event previously either.

Nicolas Levi had the highest prior finish among the group, with his 26th-place finish in the 2007 WSOP Europe championship. Unfortunately he was also the first one out of the final table.

Read more about how the event played out in the Live Tournament section or in Bell's interview.

Event 14

The $10,000 World Championship Seven-Card Stud event attracted 158 players, many of them among the world's top pros. However, it was amateur player Eric Brooks who bested them all for the win.

Eric Brooks wins the $10,000 World Championship Seven-Card Stud event.

The 48-year-old business owner from Bryn Mawr, Pa., has been playing poker since he was 11 and has played at the WSOP in previous years without cashing.

This year he chose to play in the $10,000 Seven-Card Stud event because it would draw a lot of pros and be a challenging event.

"You're certainly concerned about all the players that have been there before and have won bracelets but in the end, the reality is, there is an awful lot of luck involved," Brooks said after his win. "Somebody that doesn't play as well and doesn't make as good decisions can get lucky. It's part of the reason that poker is such an appealing game. Basically anybody can win at any time."

After his win Brooks also announced that he was donating 100% of his winnings to the Decision Education Foundation, an organization that he and Annie Duke serve on the board of directors for.

"It is an organization that I really believe in," Brooks said. "Essentially what we do is we take the science of decision making, which is something that's university level, college work, and [teach the basic principles to grades] K-12 around the country."

The organization provides a curriculum for schools that helps teach decision making in a formal setting like the classroom.

"It's the process of making a decision and then the application of how you use the decision-making skill," Brooks said. "Our goal is to help (young people) and possibly their parents as well understand the process of what the right answers are. We don't tell you what you should do; we help you make the structure and work through a rational process and discover for yourself what the right answer is."

Perhaps Brooks' win is an indicator that he made the right choice to head to Las Vegas for the 2008 WSOP.

The final-table results for the event were:

With a win under his belt, Brooks won't be testing his luck at any other events this year. He plans to head to Oregon now to celebrate his father's 85th birthday.

Event 15

The $1,000 Ladies No-Limit Hold'em World Championship will return to play its final table today with the following players:

Quite a few familiar names made it into the money in this event even though they didn't make the final table. They include Evelyn Ng, Linda Johnson, Van Nguyen, Amanda Leatherman, Kathy Liebert and Nancy Todd Tyner.

Final-table play begins at 2 p.m. PT.

Event 16

The $2,000 Omaha Hi-Lo Split Eight-or-Better event didn't quite make it down to a final table after play on Monday. Instead, the following 18 players will return to the felt today to play down to a winner:

Some of the pros who made the money yesterday include Max Pescatori, David Chiu, James Van Alstyne, Miami John Cernuto and Josh Arieh.

Play resumes today at 3 p.m.

Event 17

A third final table will play today. Event 17, $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout, was scheduled as a two-day event this year, meaning that a playing field of 1,000 players was whittled down to the top 10 on Monday.

The players returning today are:

Check out the action from Monday in the Live Tournament section and return at 2 p.m. to see how the final table plays out.

Event 18

Thirty-nine players return to the felt today in the $5,000 No-Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball with Rebuys event. This event drew a total of 85 entrants and will pay out to the top 14.

Leading the way into play today is Tom Dwan, and right on his heals at the top of the chip count is Mike Matusow.

Other notables who will play again today include Tom Schneider, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, Doyle Brunson, David Benyamine, Michael Binger, Phil Ivey, Jeffery Lisandro, Chad Brown, Michael Mizrachi, Erick Lindgren, Eli Elezra, Steve Sung, Carlos Mortensen, Howard Lederer, Barry Greenstein, Layne Flack and Tony G.

They get started again at 3 p.m. today.

Event 19 and Event 20

At noon, Event 19, $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha, will kick off the action for today. The other event getting its start today is Event 20, $2,000 Limit Hold'em, at 5 p.m.

PokerListings will continue to bring you the best live updates, photos, videos, interviews and more from the Rio to your computer screen. Stay tuned in the Live Tournaments section.

Related Articles:

• 2008 WSOP Day 11: Hands from the final tables
• 2008 WSOP Day 11: Amateurs prevail