# 2012 World Series of Poker

The 2012 World Series of Poker was the 43rd annual World Series of Poker (WSOP). It was held at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Paradise, Nevada, between May 27 and July 16, 2012, with the final table of the Main Event delayed until late October.
There were 61 bracelet events, culminating in the $10,000 No Limit Hold'em Main Event beginning on July 7. From 2008 through 2011, Main Event final tables were delayed until November. However, due to the 2012 U.S. presidential election, this year's final table was delayed until October 29, with heads-up play commencing the following day.
New tournament formats introduced in the 2012 WSOP included a re-entry tournament, an ante only tournament, a mixed max tournament (in which the number of players per table changes at set times during the tournament), and a four-handed tournament.

## Event schedule

| # | Event | Entrants | Winner | 1st Prize | Runner-up | Results |
| 1 | $500 Casino Employees No Limit Hold'em | 732 | Chiab Saechao (1/1) | $70,859 | Patricia Baker | Results |
| 2 | $1,500 No Limit Hold'em | 2,101 | Brent Hanks (1/1) | $517,725 | Jacob Bazeley | Results |
| 3 | $3,000 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em/Pot Limit Omaha | 317 | Leif Force (1/1) | $207,708 | Jason Koon | Results |
| 4 | $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Low 8 or Better | 622 | Cory Zeidman (1/1) | $201,559 | Chris Bjorin (0/2) | Results |
| 5 | $1,500 Pot Limit Hold'em | 639 | Nick Jivkov (1/1) | $189,818 | Bryan Pellegrino | Results |
| 6 | $5,000 No Limit Hold'em Mixed Max | 409 | Aubin Cazals (1/1) | $480,564 | Joseph Cheong | Results |
| 7 | $1,500 Seven Card Stud | 367 | Andy Bloch (1/1) | $126,363 | Barry Greenstein (0/3) | Results |
| 8 | $1,500 Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better | 967 | Herbert Tapscott (1/1) | $264,400 | Gavin Griffin (0/1) | Results |
| 9 | $1,500 No Limit Hold'em Re-entry | 3,404 | Ashkan Razavi (1/1) | $781,398 | Amanda Musumeci | Results |
| 10 | $5,000 Seven Card Stud | 145 | John Monnette (1/2) | $190,826 | Huu Vinh | Results |
| 11 | $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha | 970 | Vincent van der Fluit (1/1) | $265,211 | Charles Tonne | Results |
| 12 | $10,000 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em | 152 | Brian Hastings (1/1) | $371,498 | Jason Mo | Results |
| 13 | $1,500 Limit Hold'em | 730 | David Arsht (1/1) | $211,921 | Stephen Hung | Results |
| 14 | $1,500 No Limit Hold'em Shootout | 1,138 | Brandon Schaefer (1/1) | $311,174 | Jonathan Cohen | Results |
| 15 | $5,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Low Split-8 or Better | 212 | Adam Friedman (1/1) | $269,037 | Todd Brunson (0/1) | Results |
| 16 | $1,500 No Limit Hold'em Six Handed | 1,604 | Matt Matros (1/3) | $454,835 | Mark Radoja (0/1) | Results |
| 17 | $10,000 Pot Limit Hold'em | 179 | Andy Frankenberger (1/2) | $445,899 | Phil Ivey (0/8) | Results |
| 18 | $2,500 Seven Card Razz | 309 | Phil Hellmuth (1/12) | $182,793 | Don Zewin | Results |
| 19 | $1,500 No Limit Hold'em | 2,302 | Clifford Goldkind (1/1) | $559,514 | Kennii Nguyen | Results |
| 20 | $5,000 Limit Hold'em | 166 | Benjamin Scholl (1/1) | $206,760 | Andrew Prock | Results |
| 21 | $1,000 No Limit Hold'em | 2,799 | Michael Gathy (1/1) | $440,829 | Jamie Armstrong | Results |
| 22 | $2,500 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball (Limit) | 228 | Randy Ohel (1/1) | $145,247 | Benjamin Lazer | Results |
| 23 | $3,000 No Limit Hold'em Six Handed | 924 | Simon Charette (1/1) | $567,624 | Artem Metalidi | Results |
| 24 | $5,000 Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better | 256 | Joe Cassidy (1/1) | $294,777 | Scotty Nguyen (0/5) | Results |
| 25 | $1,500 Limit Hold'em Shootout | 366 | Brian Meinders (1/1) | $116,118 | Darin Thomas | Results |
| 26 | $3,000 Pot Limit Omaha | 589 | Austin Scott (1/1) | $361,797 | Brett Richey | Results |
| 27 | $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. | 889 | Ylon Schwartz (1/1) | $267,081 | David Chiu (0/4) | Results |
| 28 | $2,500 No Limit Hold'em Four Handed | 750 | Timothy Adams (1/1) | $392,476 | Brendon Rubie | Results |
| 29 | $1,000 Seniors No Limit Hold'em Championship | 4,128 | Allyn Jaffrey Shulman (1/1) | $603,713 | Dennis Phillips | Results |
| 30 | $1,500 2-7 Draw Lowball (No Limit) | 285 | Larry Wright (1/1) | $101,975 | Brandon Cantu (0/2) | Results |
| 31 | $1,500 No Limit Hold'em | 2,811 | Carter Phillips (1/2) | $664,130 | Joe Cada (0/1) | Results |
| 32 | $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. | 178 | David "Bakes" Baker (1/2) | $451,779 | John Monnette (1/2) | Results |
| 33 | $1,000 No Limit Hold'em | 2,795 | Max Steinberg (1/1) | $440,238 | Samuel Gerber | Results |
| 34 | $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha Six Handed | 419 | Naoya Kihara (1/1) | $512,029 | Chris DeMaci | Results |
| 35 | $2,500 Mixed Hold'em | 393 | Chris Tryba (1/1) | $210,107 | Erik Cajelais (0/1) | Results |
| 36 | $3,000 No Limit Hold'em Shootout | 587 | Craig McCorkell (1/1) | $368,593 | Jeremiah Fitzpatrick | Results |
| 37 | $2,500 Eight Game Mix | 477 | David "ODB" Baker (1/1) | $271,312 | Greg Mueller (0/2) | Results |
| 38 | $1,500 No Limit Hold'em | 2,534 | Dung Nguyen (1/1) | $607,200 | Theo Tran | Results |
| 39 | $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha | 293 | Jan-Peter Jachtmann (1/1) | $661,000 | Andrew Brown | Results |
| 40 | $2,500 Limit Hold'em Six Handed | 302 | Ronnie Bardah (1/1) | $182,088 | Marco Johnson | Results |
| 41 | $3,000 No Limit Hold'em | 1,394 | Greg Ostrander (1/1) | $742,072 | Jackie Glazier | Results |
| 42 | $2,500 Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi-Low 8 or Better | 393 | Oleksii Kovalchuk (1/2) | $228,014 | George Danzer | Results |
| 43 | $1,500 No Limit Hold'em | 2,770 | Henry Lu (1/1) | $654,380 | Neil Channing | Results |
| 44 | $1,000 No Limit Hold'em | 2,949 | Rocco Palumbo (1/1) | $464,464 | Nelson Robinson | Results |
| 45 | $50,000 Poker Players Championship | 108 | Michael Mizrachi (1/3) | $1,451,527 | Chris Klodnicki | Results |
| 46 | $2,500 No Limit Hold'em | 1,607 | Joey Weissman (1/1) | $694,609 | Jeremy Quehen | Results |
| 47 | $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better | 978 | Steven Loube (1/1) | $267,345 | Timothy Finne | Results |
| 48 | $3,000 Limit Hold'em | 247 | Kenny Hsiung (1/1) | $165,205 | Robert Hwang | Results |
| 49 | $1,500 Ante Only No Limit Hold'em | 939 | Greg Hobson (1/1) | $256,691 | Mike Sowers | Results |
| 50 | $5,000 No Limit Hold'em | 1,001 | Pete Vilandos (1/3) | $952,694 | Kyle Julius | Results |
| 51 | $1,000 Ladies No Limit Hold'em Championship | 936 | Yen Dang (1/1) | $170,587 | Debbie Pechac | Results |
| 52 | $2,500 10-Game Mix Six Handed | 421 | Vanessa Selbst (1/2) | $244,259 | Michael Saltzburg | Results |
| 53 | $1,500 No Limit Hold'em | 3,166 | Neil Willerson (1/1) | $737,248 | Vladimir Mefodichev | Results |
| 54 | $1,000 No Limit Hold'em | 3,221 | Will Jaffe (1/1) | $500,075 | Luis Campelo | Results |
| 55 | $1,000,000 The Big One for One Drop | 48 | Antonio Esfandiari (1/2) | $18,346,673 | Sam Trickett | Results |
| 56 | $1,500 No Limit Hold'em | 2,798 | Tomas Junek (1/1) | $661,022 | David Borg | Results |
| 57 | $10,000 No Limit Hold'em Six Handed | 474 | Greg Merson (1/1) | $1,136,197 | Keith Lehr (1/2) | Results |
| 58 | $3,000 Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better | 526 | Viacheslav Zhukov (1/2) | $330,277 | Roch Cousineau | Results |
| 59 | $1,000 No Limit Hold'em | 4,620 | Dominik Nitsche (1/1) | $654,797 | Jonathan Hilton | Results |
| 60 | $10,000 2-7 Draw Lowball (No Limit) | 101 | Nick Schulman (1/2) | $294,321 | Mike Wattel (0/1) | Results |
| 61 | $10,000 No Limit Hold'em Main Event | 6,598 | Greg Merson (2/2) | $8,531,853 | Jesse Sylvia | Results |

## Event 55: The Big One for One Drop

The 2012 WSOP also hosted an event with the largest buy-in in poker history, a $1 million tournament benefiting the One Drop Foundation. The WSOP waived its normal 10% rake of the entry fees, and 11.1% of each buy-in (precisely $111,111) went to the foundation. All 48 seats available for the event were filled, resulting in a first prize of $18.3 million, breaking the record of $12 million won by Jamie Gold at the 2006 WSOP. One Drop initially received US$5.44 million, including a 49th/personal $111,111 donation from Caesars Interactive Entertainment CEO Mitch Garber, who was ineligible to play because of his role with the company. Guy Laliberté, the founder of the One Drop Foundation, finished in fifth place; he donated his entire winnings of US$1,834,666 to the foundation, for a total donation of US$7.28 million from this single tournament game.

### Results

| Place | Name | Prize |
| 1st | Antonio Esfandiari (1/2) | $18,346,673 |
| 2nd | Sam Trickett | $10,112,001 |
| 3rd | David Einhorn | $4,352,000 |
| 4th | Phil Hellmuth (1/12) | $2,645,333 |
| 5th | Guy Laliberté | $1,834,666 |
| 6th | Brian Rast (0/2) | $1,621,333 |
| 7th | Bobby Baldwin (0/4) | $1,408,000 |
| 8th | Richard Yong | $1,237,333 |
| 9th | Mike Sexton (0/1) | $1,109,333 |

## Main Event

The $10,000 No Limit Hold'em Main Event began on July 7. In a change from previous years, which featured four starting days, there were only three starting days at this year's event. The players from days 1A and 1B then played on days 2A and 2B, which were held the same day in separate rooms, while the players from Day 1C played on Day 2C. After reaching the final table of nine players on July 16, the remainder of the tournament was delayed until October 29.
The Main Event attracted 6,598 entrants, creating a prize pool of $62,021,200. The top 666 finishers placed in the money, with the top nine players guaranteed at least $754,798. The winner earned $8,531,853.
Two women almost made the final table. Norwegian Elisabeth Hille finished at 11th place while Gaelle Baumann finished in tenth place. Her finish marked the best performance by a woman at the Main Event since Barbara Enright finished fifth in 1995 (Annie Duke finished tenth in 2000, but the total number of tournament entrants was lower).

### Performance of past champions

| Name | Championship Year(s) | Day of Elimination |
| Doyle Brunson | 1976, 1977 | 2C |
| Tom McEvoy | 1983 | 2C |
| Berry Johnston | 1986 | 1A |
| Johnny Chan* | 1987, 1988 | 4 (353rd place) |
| Phil Hellmuth | 1989 | 1A |
| Jim Bechtel | 1993 | 1A |
| Dan Harrington | 1995 | 3 |
| Huck Seed* | 1996 | 4 (527th place) |
| Scotty Nguyen | 1998 | 1B |
| Carlos Mortensen | 2001 | 1B |
| Robert Varkonyi | 2002 | 3 |
| Chris Moneymaker | 2003 | 1C |
| Greg Raymer | 2004 | 1B |
| Joe Hachem | 2005 | 1A |
| Jamie Gold | 2006 | 2C |
| Jerry Yang | 2007 | 3 |
| Peter Eastgate | 2008 | 3 |
| Joe Cada | 2009 | 2C |
| Jonathan Duhamel | 2010 | 1C |
| Pius Heinz | 2011 | 3 |
* Indicates a player who finished in the money

### Other notable high finishes

NB: This list is restricted to top 100 finishers with an existing Wikipedia entry.
| Place | Name | Prize |
| 20th | Paul Volpe | $294,601 |
| 23rd | Yuval Bronshtein | $294,601 |
| 56th | David ODB Baker | $128,384 |
| 69th | Jason Somerville | $106,056 |
| 73rd | Vanessa Selbst | $88,070 |
| 96th | Gavin Smith | $62,021 |

### November Nine

| Name | Number of chips (percentage of total) | WSOP Bracelets | WSOP Cashes* | WSOP Earnings* |
| Jesse Sylvia | 43,875,000 (22.2%) | 0 | 2 | $36,372 |
| Andras Koroknai | 29,375,000 (14.8%) | 0 | 2 | $39,371 |
| Greg Merson | 28,725,000 (14.5%) | 1 | 5 | $1,253,501 |
| Russell Thomas | 24,800,000 (12.5%) | 0 | 3 | $126,796 |
| Steven Gee | 16,860,000 (8.5%) | 1 | 4 | $480,822 |
| Michael Esposito | 16,260,000 (8.2%) | 0 | 3 | $27,311 |
| Robert Salaburu | 15,155,000 (7.7%) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jacob Balsiger | 13,115,000 (6.6%) | 0 | 1 | $3,531 |
| Jeremy Ausmus | 9,805,000 (5.0%) | 0 | 13 | $114,623 |
*Career statistics prior to the beginning of the 2012 Main Event.

### Final Table

| Place | Name | Prize |
| 1st | Greg Merson | $8,531,853 |
| 2nd | Jesse Sylvia | $5,295,149 |
| 3rd | Jacob Balsiger | $3,799,073 |
| 4th | Russell Thomas | $2,851,537 |
| 5th | Jeremy Ausmus | $2,155,313 |
| 6th | Andras Koroknai | $1,640,902 |
| 7th | Michael Esposito | $1,258,040 |
| 8th | Robert Salaburu | $971,360 |
| 9th | Steve Gee | $754,798 |

## Coverage

Televised coverage of the 2012 World Series of Poker could be found on ESPN. On Tuesday nights from July 3 through October 30, episodes of the WSOP would air on ESPN, with two one-hour episodes airing each week. The prior year, the WSOP Main Event was aired with near-live coverage on a brief delay, but that near-live coverage was done away with for the 2012 WSOP. In addition to the 2012 WSOP Main Event coverage on ESPN, the $1 million buy-in Big One for One Drop aired on a 15-minute delay on ESPN and ESPN3 on July 3 during a five-hour time slot. On July 31, an edited two-hour show of the Big One for One Drop aired. On August 7, the WSOP National Championship was on offer, then coverage of the WSOP Main Event started on August 14. The 2012 WSOP bracelet event broadcasts are archived in the on-demand section of PokerGO.com.
The final table of the 2012 WSOP Main Event aired on a 15-minute delay on Monday, October 29, on ESPN2 and ESPN3 and on Tuesday, October 30, on ESPN and ESPN3. Lon McEachern, Norman Chad, Antonio Esfandiari, and Kara Scott were the on-air talent and the event was produced by Poker PROductions, headed by Mori Eskandani. The 2012 WSOP Main Event broadcasts are archived in the on-demand section of PokerGO.com.
Live reporting coverage of the 2012 World Series of Poker was provided by PokerNews.com. PokerNews provided hand histories, chip counts, results, photographs, podcasts, videos, interviews, and more from the 2012 WSOP.