Though no bracelets had been claimed as of Tuesday, Aug. 8, the ITH team can be proud of the 2006 WSOP accomplishments of many of its esteemed players. Over the past several weeks, numerous players connected to ITH collected cash finishes in many of the 45 total events encompassing the WSOP.

Six loyal ITHers, led by author and ITH creator Matthew Hilger, took home money in various WSOP events this year. Matthew did not waste any time in setting the bar high early on, building off WSOP momentum of the past couple of years by taking 14th place in Event 3 ($1,500 Pot-Limit Holdem) back in June. The cash in Event 3 was good for over 21K in winnings, and Matthew followed up his stellar early performance by collecting another pair of cashes in the following events: Event 11 ($1,500 Limit Holdem) and Event 40 ($1,000 No-Limit Holdem). All told, he won just shy of 28K during the 2006 WSOP festivities prior to the release of this article. Matthew truly ran the gamut – cashing in a limit, no-limit and pot-limit event during the 2006 WSOP! Though he had not realized his dream of reaching a WSOP final table prior to Event 44, his final 2006 WSOP event, Matthew provided the ITH family – who religiously followed his progress throughout – with many memorable moments. Thanks Matthew, and congratulations on another spectacular WSOP!

Fellow ITH employee chillin411 did the ITH family proud by cashing in his first ever live event: Event 33 (7-card Razz). chillin411, who also won a seat into the main event thanks to some exceptional online play, took 18th place in Event 33 for over 4.4K in winnings. The largest single cash claimed by an ITHer other than Matthew was brought home by jfletcher, who won over 7K by finishing 54th in Event 27 ($1,500 No-Limit Holdem). nardo11, a tough luck runner-up in both ITH League Freerolls earlier this year, displayed his skill by finishing 26th in Event 40 ($1,000 No-Limit Holdem). The other pair of ITHers to finish in the money at the 2006 WSOP were chrisjp and Spartan73. chrisjp took 44th place in Event 19 (Seniors $1,000 No-Limit Holdem), while Spartan73 finished 46th in Event 8 (Limit Omaha). Special kudos also go out to ciaran, icfishies and Primitive, who all managed to reach Day 2 of the ME, a feat in itself.

In addition to those immediate ITH family members, several players in contention for the inaugural Internet Player of the Year (IPOY) award posted outstanding showings in the 2006 WSOP. Using its unique objective scoring system – which has been used as a tracking tool for the top online tournaments since January 1, 2006 – ITH will proudly present the crown for 2006 IPOY at the conclusion of the calendar year.

Since the 2006 WSOP began, ITH has seen one dozen IPOY hopefuls over as many events cash in this year’s WSOP. The tone was set early on during Event 3 ($1,500 Pot-Limit Holdem) when Eric “Rizen” Lynch – IPOY No. 4 – flirted with a WSOP bracelet before eventually taking third place for over 104K in prize winnings. The huge finish was the ultimate highlight in what has been a wildly successful 2006 for the Olathe, Kan. native, who boasts eight final tables and 35 cashes on the year in many of the premier tournaments played online. 

Following Lynch’s huge score in Event 3, other IPOY hopefuls racked up a number of cashes over the next several weeks. A particularly magical moment took place in Event 27, when seven IPOY challengers finished in the top 111 of the $1,500 No-Limit Holdem event. Even more impressive was the final table representation at Event 27, which saw Chris “MarvinGarden” Birchby and Jordan “iMsoLucky0” Morgan competing with eight others for a WSOP bracelet. Though neither would ultimately win the grand prize, Birchby finished fourth and Morgan finished seventh, which was good for combined winnings of over 232K. Birchby’s 145K score in Event 27 stood as the single largest cash for any ITH IPOY hopeful at this year’s WSOP until Lynch finished 24th in the ME for a cash prize of nearly 495K!

Final table appearances were also made at this year’s WSOP by Jason “TheMasterJ33” Dewitt (sixth: $2,000 No-Limit Holdem Shootout for over 38K) and Bryan “Micon” Micon (ninth: $2,000 No-Limit Holdem for just shy of 75K). For a complete list of IPOY cashes at the 2006 WSOP, please visit the IPOY forum.

Special thanks and congratulations go out to those fine players who did both themselves and ITH proud at this year’s WSOP. Quite a precedent has been set for the coming years, which are sure to provide even more WSOP thrills and excitement for the entire ITH community!