Recapping Monday’s WSOP, with another bracelet winner awarded:

Yan Chen Lowball Winner

The $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball, Single Draw champion was Yan Chen, a cash game veteran defeated Mike Wattel heads-up to earn his first bracelet, along with $92,817. The full results and Nolan Dalla’s tournament report are online at wsop.com. Check out a brief documentary on Chen, which I believe appeared on Pokerati a while ago, here.

18 Left for Day 3 of 10k Stud 8

Day 2 of the $10,000 Seven Card Stud 8 or Better World Championship concluded with 18 players returning at 3:30 this afternoon, but only 16 will make the money. The current chip leader is Frank Kassela (515,000), followed by Sergey Altbregin (497,000) and Kirill Rabtsov (388,000). Other notables returning include John Juanda (368,000), Allen Kessler (316,000), Steve Zolotow (301,000) and Vladimir Schmelev (275,000). Here’s the full list of the remaining field.

Vance leads day 3 of $1,000 NL

Matt Vance (547,000) will lead the day 3 field of $1,000 No-Limit Holdem event with 56 players remaining. Other notables returning at 2:30 to maybe play down to a winner: Mats Gavatin (453,000), Carl Olson (325,000), Jared Hamby (217,000) and Ylon Schwartz (183,000). See the full list of chip counts here.

Teska Tops for Day 2 of $1,500 NL 6-max

The $1,500 No-Limit Holdem 6-Max event drew a field of 1,663 players, with the field making the money near the end of play. When the 146 players return at 2:30 this afternoon, Roger Teska (221,000) will start with the chip lead, with familiar names David Sands (117,800), JP Kelly (92,900), Mark Seif (70,300), and Bryan Micon (65,500). Event 16 chip counts here.

Tuesday’s Tournament

The only tournament starting today is at noon, the $5,000 No-Limit Holdem event should bring out a strong field of pros, both live and online. Last year’s event was won by Brian Lemke, cousin of Justin Shronk, for nearly $700,000. Follow all the action this afternoon at WSOP.com or PokerNews.

Bumping as a reminder of tonight’s tournament:

Tournament ID: 121607994
Title: Justin Shronk Memorial Tourney
Game: NLHE
Buy-In: $5+$5
Starts: Sunday, December 6 at 18:00 server time (6 p.m. EST, 3 p.m PST)
Password: Justin Shronk

Half of the buyin goes towards the Justin Shronk Memorial Fund at the Temple University School of Communications And Theater (SCT).

From the PokerRoad forum:

Dear PokerRoad Community,

As many of you know, my cousin Justin Shronk passed away unexpectedly in April of this year. He was a 2005 graduate of the School of Communications and Theater at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA, and was following his dream of a career in the media industry. He greatly enjoyed his work as producer of PokerRoad Radio. His experience there was made all the better by the opportunity to interact with you, members of the PokerRoad community.

After his passing, many of you had expressed interest in honoring Justin is some way, and so I wanted to share the news with you that a permanent, endowed scholarship fund has been created in Justin’s memory at the School of Communications and Theater. Endowed scholarships exist in perpetuity, and we are grateful to be able to pay tribute to Justin’s life and career in this way.

The Justin Shronk Scholarship will provide scholarship support for students majoring in Broadcasting, Telecommunications and Mass Media within the School of Communications and Theater, which was Justin’s major as a student. Students must have financial need, and we have asked that there be a preference for a student who has one parent who is deceased. As you might know, Justin’s father passed away while he was a student at Temple. It was a challenging time for him, and we wanted to recognize the difficulties that other students face in similar situations.

We have also asked that the recipient of the scholarship exemplify some of the same characteristics that Justin exhibited during his life—an absolute passion for everything media, a great wit and sense of humor, loyalty in his friendships, and someone who would take a job for less money to be able to do the work that he loved.

If you would be interested in making a contribution to be added to the endowment, you may do so by mailing a check to the attention of:

Ashley Lomery, Director of Development and Alumni Relations
School of Communications and Theater
Temple University
1938 Liacouras Walk, 2nd Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19122

You may also call Ashley to make a credit card gift by phone. Her number is 215.204.1384. Gifts can also be made online at: myowlspace.com/makeagift. At the drop down menu, please select: School of Communications and Theater, Other, then fill in Justin Shronk Memorial Scholarship.

Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact me directly by email at bslemke37@hotmail.com You may also contact Ashley Lomery at 215.204.1384 or ashley.lomery@temple.edu. All gifts to the Justin Shronk Scholarship Fund are fully tax-deductible, and a receipt for tax purposes will be sent to you by Temple University.

Every gift made to the endowment will increase the amount available to award to students, allowing them to follow their dreams as Justin did.

I, along with Justin’s mother Kim, sister Courtney, and all of his family and friends, greatly appreciate your consideration of making a gift to support this scholarship fund in his name. I also want to extend special thanks to Robert Gauss, member of the PokerRoad Community, for helping to launch this effort.

Brian Lemke

Recapping the late-night Wednesday action…

Michael T. Davis Goes ShronkDaddy on Seniors

Michael T. Davis became the second player to take down a WSOP bracelet this year wearing a PokerRoad t-shirt, winning the $1,000 Seniors NL Holdem World Championship. Davis, 58, from Dubuque, Iowa, had just sold his home inspection business last week, and was looking to move to a warmer location. The $437,358 and gold bracelet for his win will surely help with the moving expenses. Like Brian Lemke earlier this month, Justin Shronk was in the winner’s thoughts. From Nolan Dalla’s tournament report:

“Justin gave me this shirt,” Davis said afterward. “A lot of people miss Justin. He was very good for the poker community.”

Davis never held the chip lead until the first hand of heads-up, when he doubled through runner-up Scott Buller with pocket aces against Buller’s pocket nines. The final hand had Davis’ A-9 best Buller’s A-J when another 9 came on the turn.

Kabbaj Dominating Pot-Limit

John Kabbaj is the only player with a seven-figure chip stack, holding over 2.2m in chips with 14 players remaining in the $10,000 Pot-Limit Holdem World Championship which resumes at 1pm today. Here’s how the remaining players will be seated:

(Table 154)
Seat 2: JC Alvarado – 924000
Seat 3: Eric ‘basebaldy’ Baldwin – 713000
Seat 4: Davidi Kitai – 581000
Seat 5: Mohsin Charania – 224000
Seat 6: Jason Lester – 240000
Seat 7: Darryll Fish – 368000
Seat 8: Kirill Gerasimov – 550000

(Table 154)
Seat 1: Billy Kopp – 772000
Seat 2: Eugene Todd – 351000
Seat 3: Thomas Pettersson – 121000
Seat 5: John Kabbaj – 2226000
Seat 6: Isaac Haxton – 660000
Seat 7: Ken Lennaard – 467000
Seat 8: Michael Kamran – 261000

When the final table is reached, streaming will be available at bluffmagazine.com and wsop.pkr.com

Tenner Looking to be a Winner in Omaha-8

Play also resumes at 1pm in the $2,500 Omaha Hi/Lo 8 or Better event with 23 players remaining, with Mark Tenner leading the field at 285,000. John Monnette (237,000), C.K. Hua (225,000), Day 1 chip leader Josh Schlein (201,000) Frankie O’Dell (194,000), Mark Gregorich (108,000), Pat Poels (89,000) and Mike Matusow (63,000) are the notables looking to pass the Omaha-8 author.

Greenstein Leader in Mixed Holdem

Barry Greenstein (177,200) will lead the remaining 67 players in the $2,500 Mixed Holdem event when play resumes at 2pm. Notables also making a return on Thursday include: Hasan Habib (165,000), Daniel Negreanu (101,000), Amnon Filippi (98,000), Mimi Tran (65,300) and Gavin Griffin (46,600) with 54 players making the money.

Thursday’s tournament

Only one tournament this afternoon, the $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha 8 or Better event, won last year by Martin Klaser winning over $210,000 in a field of 720. The WSOP Staff Guide projects a field of 756 for this event, and expect less than 20% of the field when play concludes at the end of level 10.

Follow along at www.wsop.com for updates starting at noon PT, and Pokerati will have more stuff from around the poker community during the day.

Some updates from this afternoon’s activities, starting with a video on Brian Lemke’s bracelet victory in the $5,000 NL holdem event, dedicated to Justin Shronk:

Daily WSOP Bracelets: Brian Lemke from PokerListings.com

New Women’s World Champion

Lisa Hamilton made her first tournament a successful one, taking down the $1,000 Ladies NL Holdem World Championship for a final table that lasted less than four hours, collecting $195,390. Lori Bender was the runner-up good for $120,575.

The Spectacular Six in Omaha

The $10,000 Omaha 8 or Better World Championship is down to their final six players after the eliminations of Rich Zhu, Annie Duke and Tom Koral. Scott Clements is still the chip leader, with John Monnette, Daniel Alaei and Daniel Negreanu in hot pursuit.

Six-max Field Shrinking

Day 2 of the $2,500 NL Holdem 6-Max event is down to just 51 players as they’re playing to a final table tonight with Brian Meinders the current chip leader at 610,000. Other notables remaining include Rick Fuller (201,000), Brock Parker and Erick Lindgren (135,000 each), Bill Edler (118,000) and Howard Lederer (72,000).

Taking it to the Pot-Limit, One More Time

Yet another smaller field than last year began as 633 entrants started the $1,500 Pot-Limit Holdem event (down from 713). 161 players will remain when they return from their dinner break shortly. Jeremiah Vinsant is the reported chip leader at 58,000. Other notables with chips include Joe Sebok (44,000), Blake Cahail (27,000) and Kevin Song (25,000).

HORSE-ing Around

The $3,000 HORSE event drew a field of about 400, final numbers will be released later this evening. Unfortunately, no one’s broken out yet in the first couple of levels, so check out www.worldseriesofpoker.com later this evening or tomorrow morning’s update for further details.

Recapping the Monday overnight at the World Series of Poker:

Brian Lemke Goes ShronkDaddy on 5k Final Table

Brian Lemke, cousin of the late Justin Shronk of PokerRoad and PokerNews, came back from a 4 to 1 chip deficit against Fabian Quoss to take down the $5,000 NL Holdem event for his first WSOP cash, final table, and bracelet, picking up $692,690 in the process. Quoss collected $427,911 for the 2nd place finish. An emotional Lemke dedicated the win to Shronk, saying “He was with me the whole time – the entire time. I know he brought that queen for me.” (The final hand had Lemke holding A-8 to Quoss’ A-Q, the board ran out 9-10-J-Q-x). “I miss him and that bracelet is dedicated to him, my family, my grandma, and his mom”.

All the Ladies at the Final Table, Say Yeahhhhh!

The $1,000 Ladies NL Holdem World Championship has their final table which will be seated as follows, with the final table streamed at 2pm on ESPN360:

Seat 1: Mari Lou Morelli 320,000
Seat 2: Lisa Parsons 427,000
Seat 3: Dawn Thomas 212,000
Seat 4: Lisa Hamilton 527,000
Seat 5: Lisa Santy 196,000
Seat 6: Angel Pedroza 522,000
Seat 7: Lori Bender 643,000
Seat 8: Kimberly Cunningham 140,000
Seat 9: Kim Rios 197,000

Omaha 8, 17 Looking to be Great

Meanwhile, the $10,000 Omaha 8 or Better World Championship is down to its final 17 players, with John Monnette looking to get the bracelet that Phil Ivey had won from him in the $2,500 NL 2-7 Lowball event last week. Monnette is the dominant chip leader (1,141,000) with Ben Boyd in 2nd place (663,000). Eight bracelet winners make up the other half of the field, topped by Scott Clements (477,000),
Daniel Alaei (297,000) and Ville Wahlbeck (231,000). The other bracelet winners: Daniel Negreanu, Annie Duke, Toto Leonidas, Ted Lawson, and Alex Kravchenko. Play resumes this afternoon with the final table scheduled to air at around 2pm PT at www.bluffmagazine.com/live.

$2,500 6-max Going All Out on Day 2

2pm today also brings the return of 135 players for Day 2 of the $2,500 NL Holdem 6-max event, of which 108 will make the money. Brett “threatnasty” Switzer is the chip leader (183,000), with Brock Parker in 6th place trying to pick up a second bracelet this WSOP (138,900). Among the notables: Howard Lederer (93,900), Shaun Deeb (80,100), Neil Channing (59,000), and Erick Lindgren (31,600).

Two for Tuesday and Projections

It’s a return to double duty for the WSOP, with the 12pm tournament the $1,500 Pot-Limit Holdem event, which was won last year by David Singer in a field of 713, collecting over $210,000. The 5pm tournament is $3,000 HORSE, which was won last year by Jens Voertmann taking home almost $300,000 in a field of 414.

The WSOP Staff Guide projections for today’s events: $1,500 PL Holdem – 713 (take the under, with around 685). $3,000 HORSE is projected at 435 (take the under as well, I’ll guess 403).

More stuff during the day so check back to Pokerati frequently.

PokerRoad did an amazing tribute show to Justin Shronk, featuring Joe Sebok, Gavin Smith, Ali Nejad, Court Harrington, Scott Huff, and special guest BJ Nemeth.

If you knew Shronk, this is well worth the time. If you didn’t, it gives some insight into a life lost too early but a life well-lived and filled with friendship, respect, and love. Click here to listen to the heartfelt tribute.

On a personal note, thanks to the guys for putting together this show. Almost as difficult as feeling the loss of Shronk was hearing the heartbreak and sadness in your voices, but it is deeply appreciated.

Rest in peace, Shronk.

I know if Shronk were around, he wouldn’t be happy with all the ink he’s been getting … but he’s not, he’s left … so fuggit, sorry dude, you’re outta luck — here’s another tribute that beautifully explains why everyone who regularly dons a poker press badge is still so friggin’ bummed:

http://www.aimlesslychasing.com/?p=352

Here’s some other articles from media outlets that Justin Shronk previously worked for before joining Pokerroad:

Bluff magazine

Pokernews

Here’s a couple more Youtube clips with Shronk from the 2007 WSOP from the Pokernews article:

Another fine tribute — from Pauly … with links to other fine tributes, and a video of Shronk taking on a Vegemite prop-bet at the Aussie Millions:

Pauly, btw, has been in Argentina for the LAPT, where he’s been huffing paint and engaging in bar fights. True story — at least half of it.

For those of you who didn’t know Shronk — or perhaps even more so for those who did — Matt over at Life’s a Bluff has dug up a not-too-old “Random Questions” video out of the archives that really tells you a lot about our friend from PokerRoad … who all of us in the poker media will still be thinking about for quite a while as we go about our daily tasks:

http://pokerroad.com/blog/joe-sebok/posts/a-very-sad-day-justin-shronk-1981-2009

He’ll be missed by the poker community and so many others.

Justin Shronk is also disappointed in Tiffany Michelle’s decision to sign with UB, and he made no bones about his feelings in an open, thoughtful letter to her on the PokerRoad website. In his Pokerazzi column dated today, he notes that he wants the best for his friend but believes this sponsorship deal is not it, and he hopes she goes the way of Eric “Rizen” Lynch and detaches herself from the UB brand.

Shronk’s letter in full is reprinted here:

BACKGROUND: I worked with Tiffany Michelle as Multimedia Manager for PokerNews from February to October of ’07. Tiffany was our first on-camera hostess at the LAPC in February ’07 and we worked together everyday at the ’07 WSOP. I still consider her a good friend and respected colleague.

Tiff,

As is everyone that knows you, I’m really proud of what you did in the recent WSOP Main Event – and not just for placing 17th, someone does that every year. I took genuine joy in watching the poise with which you handled yourself every single day of the tournament. Maybe it was the lack of testosterone, or maybe it was your experience in front of cameras and crowds, but it’s not often you see a first-timer displaying more class than a lot of the players who’ve been there before.

That being said, as proud and happy as I’ve been for you, I’ve been equally disappointed with some of your choices – namely your association with Ultimate Bet. At this point, no one needs the details of the cheating scandal spelled out, and you probably know more about it than I do. This letter isn’t meant as an indictment of Ultimate Bet as a company – for that you can read the news releases or forums. Ultimate Bet is presumably now as clean as any other site, but it’s the past behavior of their owners that makes your decision such a terrible one. The current owners of Ultimate Bet are accused of dishonest and borderline criminal activity – and by representing the site you’re helping these same people make money.

More…