The biggest poker stories of 2012 Part 3: The Achievements

Posted by Steve Ruddock on Nov 19, 2012 Posted in Poker News | No Comments »

Poker News BoyPart 1 of this series took a look at the forgettable moments in poker during the course of 2012; in Part 2 I examined the themes that dominated poker throughout the year; now the final installment of this series will cover the individual achievements that took place during 2012.

Phil Ivey makes five final tables in 12 days at the WSOP

The 2012 World Series of Poker was a bit sluggish right out of the gate, but suddenly, as if the poker world had called upon him to make some waves, Phil Ivey decided to go on an epic run that saw the “best player in the game” make five WSOP final tables in the span of 12 days!

Here is a glimpse at Ivey’s run: 2nd place in the $10k Pot Limit Holdem tournament losing to Andy Frankenberger, a 3rd place showing in the $5k Omaha 8 or better tournament, a 7th place finish in the $5k Seven-Card-Stud 8 or better event, and a 5th place finish in the $10k HORSE tournament, and his final appearance occurred in the $2,500 Mixed Holdem tournament.

Mike Mizrachi wins $50k Players Championship for the second time in three years

If you were to ask people to name the handful of poker players who have five seven-figure scores on their resume you’ll now have to include Mike Mizrachi. Mizrachi picked-up his third such cash at the WSOP by winning the $50k Poker players Championship for the second time in the past three years (his other seven-figure score at the WSOP came in the 2010 Main Event where he finished 5th).

Mizrachi is the first player to win the event multiple times, and has cemented his legacy as a tournament poker player with the accomplishment.

Check out this poker download (German website)

Greg Merson wins the 2012 WSOP Main Event

It’s not every day (or every year to be more specific) that the odds on favorite to win the WSOP Main Event when the final table gets underway actually wins, but that’s precisely what happened this year as Greg Merson really put on a clinic at the final table.

Merson’s win also secured him the 2012 WSOP Player of the Year award, edging out Phil Hellmuth for the honor. Hellmuth has now finished second in the POY race the past two years, and it was the third-time in his career he has been the WSOP POY bridesmaid.

Phil Hellmuth wins WSOP Europe Main Event and bracelets #12 and #13

It wasn’t all bad news for Hellmuth though. The Poker Brat did manage to win not one, but two, WSOP bracelets, including the prestigious WSOP Europe Main Event. Hellmuth’s tally is now three ahead of his nearest competitors, Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan, each of whom have 10 WSOP bracelets. The closest players with an actual shot of running-down Hellmuth are Erik Seidel and Phil Ivey who both hold eight WSOP bracelets.

The emergence of Dan Smith

Ok, enough with the WSOP stuff. The last entry on this list is Dan Smith’s emergence as a top-flight live tournament player. Smith is currently leading the GPI and Bluff Magazine Player of the Year races, and trails only Greg Merson in the Cardplayer Magazine POY race.

Smith won the $50k High-Roller event at the 2012 WSOP Europe, pocketing his second million-dollar score of the year; the first was when he won the $100k Super-High-Roller event at the Aussie Millions, Smith also triumphed in three (yes THREE) $5k NLHE events at the EPT Monte Carlo, as well collecting five WSOP cashes including a 3rd place finish in the $5k NLHE tournament.

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