Brian Lemke had the support of much of the poker community and media last night as he sat down at Event 15’s final table. Normally not so much fuss would be made over a player who came into the event with exactly zero WSOP cashes under his belt, however the reason he caught everyone’s attention was his t-shirt, which read Got Shronk. This shirt was being worn in honor of his cousin, Justin Shronk who was a loved member of the poker media who passed away just before the Series at the all to young age of 27. Lemke’s run and his post match interview were incredibly as he discussed how he dedicated his play in this event to his cousin who he loved and missed, making this surely one of the must read stories of the 2009 WSOP.

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2009 WSOP Event 14 commenced last night with an epic heads up battle made for the ages. This event pitted online poker sensation Brock Parker (also known as ‘t soprano’ at PokerStars where he has $1.5 million in cashes, or ‘Maria Nuccia’ where he’s won $325K at Ultimate Bet) against fan favorite Daniel Negreanu. In the end it was the internet pro on top, denying Negreanu his fifth WSOP bracelet while picking up his first and the $223,697 first place prize money which he can throw on his massive pile of career winnings.

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Keven Stammen, known also as Stammdogg, scored his first WSOP bracelet last night as he took down 2009 WSOP Event #13 – $2,500 buy-in No Limit Hold’em. Stammen, is a highly rated online poker pro. His win last night was his seventh WSOP cash, however at $506,786 it was considerably larger than his previous best result which was for $15,584 for a 15th place finish in a limit six max event last year. With this victory he’s now increased his career winnings to over $1.6 million which has him ranked in this years top 100 in both live and online poker.

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Ville Wahlbeck went through a field of 194 of poker’s best players in 2009 WSOP Event #12 – $10,000 buy-in Mixed Game Championship, to become the first Finnish WSOP bracelet winner as he collected the first place prize money of $492,375. This was no lucky finish for Wahlbeck as days earlier he finished 3rd place in another WSOP championship event.

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Anthony Harb is a 28-year old poker player from Michigan whose third cash in the World Series of Poker came in the form of a first place finish worth $569,254 and his first WSOP bracelet. This new jewelry adds more to his group of friends as Harb plays regularly with several solid pros including Justin Scott who won a bracelet in 2006.

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Coming into 2009 WSOP Event 10, many players might not have been familiar with Rami Boukai, but as a 26-year old poker player he had a fairly impressive resume under his belt which included a WSOP cash already this series, three cashes last series, and two cashes in 2007 and 2006. He also finished 25th in the EPT Monte Carlo Grand Final which scored him €42,100. While these accomplishments were not to shabby, to say the least, the biggest win of his career came on June 6 when he took down his first career bracelet which also scored him a $244,862 payday.

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57-year-old North Carolina resident Ken Aldridge can add WSOP bracelet holder to his career resume which previously included 29 years as a school teacher and the owner of a small car dealership. His victory came last night in 2009 WSOP Event #9, $1,500 buy-in 6-max NLHE where he defeated Carman Cavella heads-up.

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Phil Ivey actually smiled last night when he took down 2009 WSOP Event #8. However this likely didn’t have much to do with winning his sixth career bracelet or the measly $96K first place prize money. It likely had a lot more to do with the fact Ivey just collected somewhere between $3 million and $10 million in WSOP bracelet prop bet winnings.

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All nine players in last night’s 2009 WSOP Event #7 final table were making their first appearance at a WSOP final table. It was the final table’s starting chip leader, Travis Johnson a banker from California who was victorious claiming the $666K first place prize money and his first career WSOP bracelet.

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The NHL Awards show is coming to Las Vegas on June 18, and PokerStars has gotten their foot in the door to further build their relationship with the National Hockey League. On June 17th several big name NHL players will be playing a charity tournament in conjunction with the NHL awards. The event will be televised on ESPN2, ESPN Classic, TSN and the NHL Network. Players slated to appear include: Alex Ovechkin – Washington Capitals, Jeremy Roenick – San Jose Sharks, Kris Versteeg – Chicago Blackhawks, Roberto Luongo -Vancouver Canucks, Mike Richards – Philadelphia Flyers, Sheldon Souray -Edmonton Oilers, Steve Sullivan – Nashville Predators and hockey legends Pat LaFontaine, Cam Neely and Luc Robitaille

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