Recapping the Thursday night action as we start week two of the WSOP with a pair of bracelet events starting this afternoon.
Hellmuth in Contention for Bracelet #12
Day 3 of the $1,500 No-Limit Holdem event has 25 players remaining when play resumes at 2:30pm this afternoon. The current chip leader is Saar Wilf with 1,207,000 followed by 2009 Casino Employees winner Andrew Cohen with 1,025,000. But the name that most will be following today is Phil Hellmuth, 5th with 567,000 in chips, going for his 12th WSOP bracelet. If he made the final table, would a decision be made to stop and hold the final table on Saturday in front of ESPN cameras?
Gelencser Tops in Lowball
Hungarian Peter Gelenscer bested Raphael Zimmerman in heads-up play to take down the $2,500 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball bracelet along with $180,730. Zimmerman pockets $111,686 for the runner-up finish, while Don McNamara finished third for $73,803. Full results and Nolan Dalla\’s tournament report can be found at wsop.com.
Play Pauses Prior to Payouts in Pot-Limit
After much discussion, tournament directors decided to halt play with 65 players remaining, two players short of the money in the $1,500 Pot-Limit holdem event. James Dempsey ended the day as the leader with 205,900 in chips. Original November Niner Scott Montgomery is in 2nd with 193,300. Notables in contention: JJ Liu (123,900), Joe Serock (70,400), Melissa Hayden (64,800), and Christian Harder (45,200). Team Pokerati\’s Tom Schneider is also hanging around with 20,100 in chips. The full list of chip counts is available over at wsop.com.
Mizrachi and Schmelev 1-2 in Stud
The $10,000 Seven Card Stud World Championship concluded play after eight levels with the top two finishers in the $50,000 Players\’ Championship, Michael Mizrachi (191,900) and Vladimir Schmelev (180,000) 1st and 2nd in chips with 85 players remaining. Plenty of notables are remaining, the full list is at wsop.com. Just 16 will make the money when play resumes at 3:00 this afternoon.
Friday\’s Festivities
The third $1,500 No-Limit Holdem event of the WSOP gets underway at 12 noon today with another 2000+ player field expected. For comparison purposes, Mike Eise is the defending champion of this event, besting a field of 2,638 for $639,331.
At 5pm is the $1,500 Limit Holdem event, won last year by Tomas Alenius in a field of 643.