Quantcast
Online Poker
2011 World Series of Poker
Event #3 - Omaha Hi-Lo Split
8 or Better
2011 World Series of Poker Event #3 Results
2011 World Series of Poker        
Final Results        
Event # 3
Buy In: $1,500        
Date: June 1 - June 4, 2011
Game: Omaha Hi-Lo Split 8 or Better
Number of Entries: 925
Net Prize Pool: $1,248,750
First Place Prize: $262,283
Total Spots Paid Out: 90
Francesco Barbaro
Final Results:
Place
Name
Hometown
Prize
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
Francesco Barbaro
Kostas Kalathakis
Matthew Waxman
Bradley Helm
Michael Deveronica
Humberto Brenes
Cameron McKinley
Vladimir Shchemelev
Travis Pearson
Richard Monroe
James Lenaghan
Fabrizio Gonzalez
Daniel Smith
John Mccaffrey
Guillaume Rivet
Jimmy Fricke
Mallory Smith
Jacobo Fernandez
David Harper
Michael Simon
Scott Clements
Andreas Krause
Jaime Kaplan
Lex Veldhuis
Brian Swinford
Allen Cunningham
Men Nguyen
Miguel Proulx
Chau Giang
Ben Landowski
John Bunch
Erik Seidel
Eric Cloutier
Daniel Sindelar
James Dempsey
Barry Greenstein
Jessie Bryant
Matt Lefkowitz
Ben Yu
Ahmad Abghari
Dale Kunkel
James Bord
Mike Rahmn
Ralph Arpaio
Michael Pfeiffer
Michael Sweeney
Noah Bronstein
Joe Ford
Alexande Hilderbrand
Ted Woolridge
Tom McCormick
Patrick Gunn
Julie Schneider
Daniel Ratigan
Mary Jones
Troy Palmer
Howell Cheek
Mark Tenner
Ted Lawson
Dave Stann
Dario Alioto
Ray Henson
Gary Bolden
Clayton Newman
Bob Keegan
Bryan Micon
Ruben Vera
Josh Arieh
David Nowakowski
Gebrehiwet Goitom
Jim Pechac
Leo Fasen
John D'Agostino
Andy Seth
Robert Morbitzer
Dallas Wottlin
Robert Mougous
Steve Cowley
Ryan Himes
Christopher Amaral
Ron Ware
Alan Engel
Roland Israelashvili
Daniel Tossounian
Alan Bittikofer
David Clark
James Meehan
Jeff Shulman
Michael Jensen
Richard Sklar
Willow Springs, IL
Port Richey, FL
Parkland, FL
Scottsdale, AZ
Hollywood, FL
San Jose, Costa Rica
Vancouver, WA
St. Petersburg, RUS
Las Vegas, NV
Sedalia, CO
Mobile, AL
Montevideo, Uruguay
Folsom, CA
Atlantis, FL
Lorraine, Canada
Mahomet, IL
Aurora, CO
Bronx, NY
Boulder, CO
San Jose, CA
Las Vegas, NV
Heilbronn, Germany
Las Vegas, NV
Netherlands
Hoopeston, IL
Las Vegas, NV
Bell Gardens, CA
St Charles, Canada
Las Vegas, NV
Hartland, WI
Las Vegas, NV
Henderson, NV
Lafayette, LA
Omaha, NE
Brighton, UK
Rancho Pls Vrd, CA
Conway, AR
Carmel Valley, CA
Henderson, NV
La Crescenta, CA
Las Vegas, NV
Stanmore, UK
Bend, OR
Staten Island, NY
Westland, MI
Scranton, PA
Kirkland, WA
Eau Claire, WI
Marsta, Sweden
San Diego, CA
Fargo, ND
Los Angeles, CA
Scottsdale, AZ
Renton, WA
Henderson, NV
Boise, ID
Scottsdale, AZ
Henderson, NV
Henderson, NV
Los Angeles, CA
Palermo, Italy
Houston, TX
Las Vegas, NV
San Diego, CA
Agoura Hills, CA
Las Vegas, NV
Murrieta, CA
Alpharetta, GA
Voorhees, NJ
Dallas, TX
Phoenix, AZ
Beverly Hills, CA
Egg Hbr Twp, NJ
Las Vegas, NV
Olympia, WA
Sunnyvale, TX
Elma, WA
Richmond, VA
Surprise, AZ
Las Vegas, NV
Discovery Bay, CA
Las Vegas, NV
Forest Hills, NY
Brampton, CA
Dublin, CA
Carrollton, TX
Las Vegas, NV
Las Vegas, NV
Overland Park, KS
Las Vegas, NV
$262,283
$161,675
$104,770
$76,673
$56,943
$42,857
$32,654
$25,174
$19,617
$15,484
$15,484
$15,484
$12,450
$12,450
$12,450
$10,002
$10,002
$10,002
$8,191
$8,191
$8,191
$8,191
$8,191
$8,191
$8,191
$8,191
$8,191
$6,868
$6,868
$6,868
$6,868
$6,868
$6,868
$5,744
$5,744
$5,744
$5,744
$5,744
$5,744
$5,744
$5,744
$5,744
$5,744
$5,744
$5,744
$4,845
$4,845
$4,845
$4,845
$4,845
$4,845
$4,845
$4,845
$4,845
$4,095
$4,095
$4,095
$4,095
$4,095
$4,095
$4,095
$4,095
$4,095
$3,496
$3,496
$3,496
$3,496
$3,496
$3,496
$3,496
$3,496
$3,496
$3,096
$3,096
$3,096
$3,096
$3,096
$3,096
$3,096
$3,096
$3,096
$2,809
$2,809
$2,809
$2,809
$2,809
$2,809
$2,809
$2,809
$2,809
World Series of Poker (WSOP) Results
2011 World Series
of Poker
Official Results
Event #3 - Omaha
Hi-Lo Split 8 or Better
$1,500 Buy-in
June 1, 2011
Poker Stars
Would you like to promote your online poker or casino website?

Thousands of poker and casino players visit our site and you could promote your brand in front of all these players.

You can put your text link or banner advertisement on our reviews page. Go to our Poker Advertising section for more details.
Would you like to
earn some extra
money?
Choose which Poker
Affiliate Programs you
would like to join and earn
cash by promoting and
marketing online poker.
2011 World Series of Poker Event 3 Winner Francesco Barbaro
TOURNAMENT HEADLINES:

Cheech Barbaro Wins WSOP Gold Bracelet

Chicago Poker Pro Wins Omaha High-Low Split Event

Largest Live Omaha Tournament in History Packs the WSOP – 925 Entrants for Event #3

Omaha Field Up 28 Percent Over Same Tournament Held in 2010

Scott Clements Cashes Again – His 9th Cash in Last 16 WSOP Omaha Tournaments

WSOP Attendance Up Over Last Year

Four Gold Bracelets Won – 55 More to Go!


OVERVIEW

The largest live Omaha High-Low Split tournament in history concluded today with the play
and conclusion of the $1,500 buy-in Omaha High-Low Split Championship, held at the 2011
World Series of Poker.
The new poker champion is Cheech Barbaro, from Chicago, IL.  The former bartender
earned $252,283 in prize money.  Barbaro was also presented with the ultimate symbol of
achievement in the game of poker, the WSOP gold bracelet.  This marked his first WSOP
victory.

Barbaro is a 37-year-old poker pro.  He has been playing full-time for about two years.  
Barbaro's tournament initial breakthrough took place at the WSOP Circuit stop last
November, which took place at Hammond Horseshoe (in Indiana).  He won the HORSE
championship there.  Barbaro parlayed that first-time victory into an even bigger win here in
Las Vegas.  Remarkably, this was the first WSOP tournament Barbaro had ever entered.

This was the third event on this year’s WSOP SCHEDULE.  The tournament attracted 925
entries, which shattered the all-time record as the biggest live Omaha High-Low
tournament in history.  The previous mark was set in 2009, when 918 Omaha fanatics
jammed the Rio in search of victory.

Attendance for this tournament increased over the previous year, when there were 721
entries.  The 200-plus increase this year represents a 28-percent increase over 2010.
The total prize pool amounted to $1,248,750.  The top 90 finishers collected prize money,
the most players ever paid for a live Omaha Split tournament.

Two-time gold bracelet winner Scott Clements finished 21st.  He won his first WSOP title in
2006 in the $3,000 buy-in Omaha High-Low Split event.  Clements arguably holds the most
impressive Omaha tournament resume of any player over the past five years.  He’s won
one event, and finished 2nd, 3rd, 7th, 9th, 39th, 54th, and now 21st – in what amounts to
16 such tournaments over that span.

Remarkably, this was the first time in WSOP history that the first four gold bracelet
tournaments have been won by players who cashed for the first time.  Events 1-3 (and the
WSOP Circuit National Championship) were all won by players who had never previously
finished in-the-money in any WSOP tournament.
For a list of all players who cashed, in EVENT #3, please visit WSOP.COM.


THE CHAMPION – CHEECH BARBARO

The 2011 World Series of Poker $25,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em Heads-Up Champion is
Francesco Barbaro, from Chicago, IL.

Barbaro goes by the nickname “Cheech,” which is the Italian-shorted version of Francesco.

Barbaro is originally from Chicago, IL.  He is 37-years-old.

Barbaro mostly recently worked as a bartender, before taking up poker as a full-time
occupation.  He worked as a bartender for three years, because – as he explained – he
was broke.

Barbaro is divorced.  He has a 15-year-old daughter.  She lives in South Carolina.

Barbaro’s breakthrough victory in tournament poker took place at last year’s WSOP Circuit
series, held at the Hammond Horseshoe, located across the border from Chicago, in
Indiana.  Barbaro won the $350 buy-in HORSE tournament.  First prize paid $16,431.

The WSOP Circuit motto is, “First the Ring, Then the Bracelet.”  Winners received gold rings
for winning Circuit events.

Barbaro is one of only three players in history to win both a WSOP Circuit gold ring and a
WSOP gold bracelet within the same season.  The other two players are Chris Bell (2010)
and Chris Reslock (2007).

For his victory, Barbaro credited both his father (who taught him how to play) and his
daughter (for inspiration).

Barbaro was cheered to victory by several close friends, who live in the Chicago area.

Barbaro collected $262,283 for first place.  He was also awarded his first WSOP gold
bracelet.

According to official records, Barbaro now has 1 win, 1 final table appearance, and 1 in-the-
money finish at the WSOP.

Barbaro currently has $262,283 in WSOP winnings.  

Barbaro has never played in any official WSOP events prior to this occasion.  He did attend
the WSOP ten years ago, but limited his play to cash games.  This was the first WSOP
tournament Barbaro had ever entered.

Barbaro estimates that he has played in only about 12 or so tournaments in his lifetime up
to this point.

Barbaro is to be regarded as a pro poker player, since he plays poker full-time.

Barbaro insists his best poker game is Seven-Card Stud High-Low.  However, he admits he
thinks he may be pretty good at Omaha, as well.

Barbaro insists that he is not finished.  His goal is to play in more events and earn more
cashes and victories.


WINNER QUOTES

On bartending before playing poker for a living”  “I basically started working as a bartender
because I went broke.  That was an easy job for me to get, because my friend owned a
bar.”  

On how things went at the final table:  “I was card dead for about an hour and a half.  But
then I won several big hands in a including a hand where I crippled Matt Waxman.  From
there, I became ever more aggressive.”

On what he plans to do with his quarter-million in prize money:  “It’s going to put me in
some of the $10,000 buy-in tournaments.”

On what’s the best thing about becoming a WSOP champion:  “I am not into fame.  I do not
want to be famous.  I don’t care about people knowing who I am.  But the bracelet does
matter.  It’s everything.”

More in what winning a WSOP gold bracelet means:  “It’s a great sense of accomplishment.  
Going through 924 other players and winning is pretty awesome.”

On winning the first WSOP event he ever entered:  “I must say the win at the Horseshoe in
Indiana really helped me here.  I was not nervous.  I was actually more nervous before this
all started.  But once I sat down to play, I started feeling really comfortable.      



THE FINAL TABLE

The final table was made up of nine players.

The final table contained only one former gold bracelet winner – Humberto Brenes.  

The final table was comprised of players from the following nations – Costa Rica (1), Russia
(1), and the United States (7).

Final table participants ranged in age from 26 (youngest) to 64 (oldest).

The runner up was Kostas Kalathakis, from Port Richey, FL.  He is a 28-year-old
businessman who focuses on real estate and social media marketing.  He previously won a
Omaha High-Low tournament held at the Wynn Las Vegas.     

The third-place finisher was Matt Waxman, from Parkland, FL.  He now has $1.3 million in
tournament earnings.  His biggest win came at last season’s WSOP Circuit Main Event, held
at Harrah’s Atlantic City.

The fourth-place finisher was Bradley Helm, from Scottsdale, AZ.  He is a casino host at
Casino Arizona.  

The fifth-place finisher was Michael DeVeronica, from West Park, FL.  This marked his first
time to cash at the WSOP in Las Vegas.

The sixth-place finisher was popular Costa Rica poker pro Humberto Brenes, who is among
the all-time leaders in multiple WSOP categories.  This was Brenes’ 59th career cash, which
places him in sixth place on the all-time cashes list.  He is now one in-the-money finish
behind Erik Seidel.

The seventh-place finisher was Cam McKinley, from Vancouver, WA.

The eighth-place finisher was Vladimir Shchemelev, from Russia.  Last year, he set the mark
as the first player in history to make three final table appearances in $10,000 buy-in
events, and up.

The ninth-place finisher was Travis Pearson, from Las Vegas, NV.  This was his fifth time to
cash at the WSOP.

Final table play began at 6:40 pm on a Friday night.  Play concluded at about 1 am.  Hence,
the final table lasted about 6 hours, 20 minutes.


OTHER IN-THE-MONEY FINISHERS

Several former WSOP gold bracelet winners cashed in this event.

Two-time gold bracelet winner Scott Clements finished 21st.  He won his first WSOP title in
2006 in the $3,000 buy-in Omaha High-Low Split event.  Clements arguably holds the most
impressive Omaha resume of any player over the past five years.  He’s won one event, and
finished 2nd, 3rd, 7th, 9th, 39th, 54th, and now 21st – in what amounts to 16 such
tournaments over that span.

After exiting in 21st place, Clements was asked about his impressive Omaha record.  “I’m
never satisfied unless I win it,” he replied.

Five-time gold bracelet winner Allen Cunningham finished in 26th place.  He now has 44
WSOP cashes, which ranks 19th all-time.

Seven-time gold bracelet winner Men “the Master” Nguyen finished in 27th place.  He now
has 71 WSOP cashes, which ranks second all-time.  Nguyen is eight cashes behind the
leader, Phil Hellmuth – with 79.

Three-time gold bracelet winner Chau Giang finished 29th.  He now has 57 cashes, which
ranks in a tie with T.J. Cloutier for eighth-place all-time.

Eight-time gold bracelet winner Erik Seidel finished in 32nd place.  Seidel was schedule to
play in an exhibition rematch of his classic 1989 heads-up confrontation against Johnny
Chan which would have been televised.  But he had to miss the duel since he ran deep in
this tournament and could not play in both.  Seidel now has 61 WSOP cashes, which ranks
in a tie with Berry Johnston, for fourth place.

Three-time gold bracelet winner Barry Greenstein finished 36th.  This was his 48th career
cash, ranking 13th along with Mike Sexton.

James Bord, the defending WSOP Europe Main Event Champion (2010), from London took
42nd place.

Other former gold bracelet winners who cashed included – Mary Jones, Ted Lawson, Dario
Alioto, and “Minneapolis Jim” Meehan


ODDS AND ENDS

This was the biggest live Omaha High-Low Split tournament in history.  The previous record
was set in 2009, when there were 918 entrants for the same $1,500 level Omaha event.

Attendance for this tournament increased over the previous year, when there were 721
entries.  The 925-player field in 2011 represents a 28-percent increase over 2010.

An interesting stat:  Omaha High-Low has long been considered by many to be an older-
player’s game.  The average age of its devotees tend to be older than the younger No-Limit
Hold’em crowd.  For the first time, new WSOP statistics seem to prove this.  The average
age of entrants for this tournament was 42.6 years.  By contrast, the most recent No-Limit
Hold’em tournament had an average player age of 30 years.  That’s 12 years older, on
average.

The official WSOP gold bracelet ceremony takes place on the day following the winner’s
victory (or some hours later when the tournament end very late).  The ceremony takes
place inside The Pavilion, which is the expansive main tournament room host all noon starts
this year.  The ceremony begins at the conclusion of the first break of the noon
tournament.  The ceremony usually starts around 2:20 pm.  The national anthem of the
winner’s nation is played.  The entire presentation is open to public and media.  Video and
photography is permitted by both public and members of the media.

Barbaro’s gold bracelet ceremony is set to take place on Sunday, June 6th.  The U.S.
National Anthem will be played in honor of his victory.


EVENT HISTORY

Omaha High-Low Split has been included on the WSOP schedule every year since 1990.  
Omaha (High) was first played at the 1983 WSOP.  The game was phased out as player
interest declined, while Omaha High-Low Split gained popularity.  The last Omaha (High)
tournament was held in 2003.  All Omaha-related events between 1983 and 1989 were
either High-Only or Pot-Limit Omaha.  

The previous winners of this event were as follows:

Michael Chow (2010)
Thang T. Luu (2009)
Thang T. Luu (2008)
Alex Kravchenko (2007)
Jack Zwerner (2006)
Patrick Poels (2005)
Curtis Bibb (2004)
Frankie O'Dell (2003)
Mike Matusow (2002)
Scotty Nguyen (2001)
Howard Lederer (2000)
Mike Wattel (1999)
Paul Rowe (1998)
Deane Stonier (1997)
Men "the Master" Nguyen (1996)
Dr. Max Stern (1995)
J.C. Pearson (1994)
Erik Seidel (1993)
Eli Balas (1992)
Joe Becker (1991)
Monte Kous (1990)

The $1,500 buy-in event has traditionally been held early on WSOP schedule.  As Omaha
High-Low Split gained popularity, other buy-in events were added, including buy-in levels
from $2,000 up to $10,000.

This tournament had the distinction of being the only WSOP event of the modern era which
produced a back-to-back champion.  Thang Luu won his consecutive titles in 2008 and 2009.


TOURNAMENT PLAY

The $1,500 buy-in Omaha High-Low Split tournament attracted 925 entries.  The total prize
pool amounted to $1,248,750.  The top 90 finishers collected prize money.

The tournament officially began on Wednesday, June 2nd, at noon.  The tournament
officially ended on June 5th, at 1:00 am PST.


2011 WSOP STATISTICS

Through the conclusion of Event #3, the 2011 WSOP has attracted 2,003 combined total
entries.  $5,671,250 in prize money has been awarded to winners, so far.

This year, there are 59 gold bracelet events being held in Las Vegas.  This is an increase of
two events over last year’s number --57.

The average age of players in this event was 42.57 years.

There were 36 females who entered the first event.  This figure represents 3.9 percent of
the field.

Through the conclusion of this tournament, the nationality of gold bracelet winners has
been:
United States (3)
Great Britain (1)

Through the conclusion of this tournament, the national origin (birthplace) of winners has
been:
United States (3)
Great Britain (1)

Through the conclusion of this event, the home-states of winners has been:
Arkansas (1)
California (1)
Illinois (1)

Through the conclusion of this tournament, the breakdown of professional poker players to
semi-pros and amateurs who won gold bracelets is as follows:

Professional Players (1):  Jake Cody, Cheech Barbaro

Semi-Pros (1):  Sean R. Drake        

Amateurs (1):  Sam Barnhart


Note:  Various categories and statistics will be updated with each gold bracelet event as
they are completed.