2010 World Series of Poker

The 2010 World Series of Poker was the 41st annual World Series of Poker, held at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Paradise, Nevada, and ran from May 28 to July 17. There were 57 bracelet events, culminating in the $10,000 No Limit Hold'em Championship that began on July 5. The November Nine concept returned for the third year, with the Main Event finalists returning on November 6.
A notable change from 2009 was the revamping of the $50,000 buy-in tournament. From its inception in 2006 through 2009, it had been a H.O.R.S.E. event in which play rotated between Texas hold 'em, Omaha 8-or-better, Razz, stud, and stud 8-or-better, all played with a limit betting structure. In 2010, it became an "8-game" tournament, rotating between the five H.O.R.S.E. games followed by rounds of no-limit hold 'em, pot-limit Omaha, and limit 2–7 triple draw. Once the final table was reached, play switched exclusively to no-limit hold 'em. The tournament, now known as The Poker Player's Championship, was moved to the second spot on the WSOP schedule, preceded only by the restricted $500 Casino Employees No Limit Hold'em event. Thus, the 2010 WSOP open events started with The Poker Player's Championship and ended with the No Limit Hold'em Championship/Main Event. Several celebrities were in attendance, including Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, and Ray Romano.

Event schedule

Achievements

Robert and Michael Mizrachi's appearance at the final table of the $50,000 Player's Championship is only the third time in WSOP history that two siblings faced each other at the final table of a WSOP event. In 1995, Howard Lederer and Annie Duke made the final table in a pot-limit Hold'em event and in 2002, Ross and Barny Boatman made it to the final table in a pot-limit Omaha event.
While the event is called the "Ladies Championship," the WSOP cannot ban men from participating. In past years, a few men have played in the Ladies Championship, but in 2010 at least half a dozen and "some estimates on the floor are that the number of men who entered the event is in the double digits." WSOP Communications Director Seth Palansky called the men "scumbags" and declared, “The good news is at the World Series of Poker, we have the right to refuse service to anyone at any time at any point that we deem, as operators of the event.”
Robert and Michael Mizrachi were also part of another sibling milestone. They and their brothers Eric and Donny became the first set of four siblings ever to cash in the same Main Event. Eric finished in 718th place on Day 4, Donny finished in 345th place on Day 5 and Robert finished in 116th place on Day 6, while Michael made the final table and played for the title in November, when he finished fifth.
Breeze Zuckerman won the 2010 Last Woman Standing Cup in the Main Event, finishing 121st and cashing for $57,201.
Main Event

The $10,000 No Limit Texas Hold 'em Championship Main Event began on July 5 with the first of four starting days. Each of the participants at the 2010 WSOP Main Event received 30,000 in tournament chips for the $10,000 buy-in event. After reaching the final table of nine players on July 17, the final table was delayed until November 6.
The total number of entrants in the 2010 Main Event was 7,319 with a prize pool of $68,798,600 with the winner receiving $8,944,138 for first place. The payout "bubble" was reached during Day 4 at 747 players, each of whom earned a minimum of $19,263. The bubble finisher was Tim McDonald, a professional angler and recreational poker player from Lexington, Kentucky; he received the consolation prize of a guaranteed seat in the 2011 WSOP Main Event. Matt Affleck, with his 15th-place finish in this year’s championship combined with an 80th-place in 2009, outlasted 13,718 players in back-to-back years, which is the fourth-most in WSOP history.
The Main Event was a draw for many celebrities to play including:

Day 1A: Ray Romano, David Alan Grier, Sara Jean Underwood, Petter Northug, René Angélil, Irving Lorenzo
Day 1B: Orel Hershiser
Day 1C: Scott Ian, Shanna Moakler, Anthony Rapp, Sully Erna, Gabe Kaplan, Alexia Portal, Shane Warne
Day 1D: Bruce Buffer, Shannon Elizabeth, Emmitt Smith, Audley Harrison, Hank Azaria, Jason Alexander, Trishelle Cannatella, Sam Simon, Jeff Fenech

Of these celebrities, Northug, Fenech, and Buffer made the money.

Performance of past champions

Other notable high finishes

NB: This list is restricted to top 100 finishers with an existing Wikipedia entry.

Place	Name	Prize
14th	Hasan Habib	$500,165
17th	David Baker	$396,967
18th	Scott Clements	$396,967
22nd	William Thorson	$317,161
24th	Ronnie Bardah	$317,161
27th	Johnny Lodden	$317,161
28th	Bryn Kenney	$317,161
30th	Theo Jørgensen	$255,242
50th	Tony Dunst	$168,556
58th	David Benyamine	$138,285
78th	Jean-Robert Bellande	$94,942
86th	Juha Helppi	$79,806
100th	Christian Harder	$57,102

November Nine

Name

Number of chips

WSOP
Bracelets

WSOP
Cashes*

WSOP
Earnings*

Final Table

Place	Name	Prize
1st	Jonathan Duhamel	$8,944,310
2nd	John Racener	$5,545,955
3rd	Joseph Cheong	$4,130,049
4th	Filippo Candio	$3,092,545
5th	Michael Mizrachi	$2,332,992
6th	John Dolan	$1,772,959
7th	Jason Senti	$1,356,720
8th	Matthew Jarvis	$1,045,743
9th	Soi Nguyen	$811,823

Bracelet

American jewelry designer Steve Soffa was chosen by the World Series of Poker to design and manufacture the entire set of bracelets for the 2010 World Series of Poker.