There are those who fall squarely into the “apologist” category when it comes to explaining the current state of the World Series of Poker. They will calmly explain to you why the Hellmuth’s and Brunson’s of the world can no longer dominate the WSOP events. Usually these explanations will involve talk about the internet and television expanding the WSOP audience, and with so many more players involved, it is impossible for anyone to dominate anymore. After this the way this year has gone, you can calmly to tell these folks to go jump in the lake (preferably wearing their little tin foil hats). This year’s WSOP has been dominated by a small group of players; most of them just haven’t been the guys you would expect.
The same faces seem to be showing up at the final tables, and more than a couple guys have made more than one trip to the winners circle. Jeff Lisandro has three bracelets to his name this year and Brock Parker has come out of nowhere to win a pair of bracelets. Of the big names, only Phil Ivey has managed to show up at the Rio. He has won his 6th and 7th bracelets this year. We can now add Greg (FBT) Mueller to the list of folks who have taken multiple bracelets away with them this June.
In the wee hours of the morning on June 29th, Greg overcame Marc Naalden to claim his second championship of the year. Naalden was also fighting for his second piece of WSOP jewelry of the summer, and started the heads-up encounter in a fairly deep hole. To his credit he managed to erase Mueller’s 4 to 1 chip lead, and take over as the dominant player. FBT would not be derailed, and after a little over two hours of one-on-one play, Greg Mueller claimed the Event 50 - $1,500 Limit Hold'em Shootout prize.
Congratulations to Greg Mueller on giving away a massive chip lead, but pulling it out in the end.
