WSOP Round-Up: Chris Ferguson Continues to Shock As Players Championship Concludes

July 7th, 2017 | by Jason Reynolds

Another week of World Series of Poker (WSOP) action is in the books and it’s been another week of big winners and high drama at the felt.

Chris Ferguson continues to break records as the WSOP heads into its final straight. (Image: wsop.com)

The story that’s dominated this week’s WSOP headlines was the continued resurgence of Chris Ferguson. Despite being reviled by many members of the poker community for his role in the downfall of Full Tilt and the loss of millions in player funds, Ferguson has broken another record.

More WSOP Records Fall

After finishing 277^th in the $888 in the Crazy Eights No-Limit Hold’em 8-Handed event, Ferguson took the record for number of cashes in a single WSOP to 14. That record was soon equaled by John Racener, but it’s been all change in recent days as the record now stands at 16.

Ferguson was again the man helping to raise the bar along with Racener and Ryan Hughes. Cashing 16 times in a single WSOP is impressive on its own, but the fact three players have managed to improve the previous record by three cashes with a handful of events to go is even more remarkable.

While three players were proving that poker is about more than luck, Elior Sion showed that he was capable of mixing it up with the game’s finest in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship.

Sitting down with 99 of the most versatile poker pros in the game, Sion came through five days of action to pick up the most prestigious title in the game.

As expected, the final table was awash with talent. Daniel Negreanu, Isaac Haxton and Paul Volpe headlined the final table, but it was Sion who stole the show. After some clever moves and lucky flips, Sion came through a five-hour heads-up match with Johannes Becker holding all the chips, a WSOP bracelet and $1,395,767.

Langrock Wins As WSOP Main Event Looms Large

Across the Rio, in the shadows of the WSOP’s blue ribbon event, Sebastian Langrock was busy taking down the Event #64: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em/Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Handed Mix. Attracting another super-sized field, the two-game tournament saw a number of notable pros make it deep.

Among those falling just short of a bracelet was Chris Moorman, Shannon Shorr and runner-up, Ryan Laplante. Thanks to Langrock’s nut straight in the final showdown, Laplante was sent to the rail in second to collect his $165,983 consolation prize while the man from Germany picked up $268,555.

With another successful week in the books, everyone at the WSOP will now be looking towards the Main Event. The first of three starting days will kick off on July 8 before the action runs through until July 22 when a winner will be crowned live on ESPN.