WSOP Day 24: Tsang Leads Record-Breaking $25K PLO; Monster Stack Kicks Off

June 21, 2019

The Rio Convention Center is about to get very busy once again on Day 24 of the World Series of Poker as the Monster Stack, which attracted 6,260 entrants last year, is amongst the two events to kick off.

The $1,500 Bounty event is the only tournament scheduled to award a bracelet today with 23 players remaining. Damjan Radanov enters today in the lead, closely followed by two-time bracelet winner Asi Moshe.

Meanwhile, the $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship enters its third of four days with Anson Tsang (lead photo) in the lead.

The Ladies Event is another event to keep your eyes on as it attracted a big field of 968 entrants with Katie Lindsay, 888poker Ambassador Ana Marquez, and Women's poker advocate Daiva Byrne all bagging big stacks into Day 2.

Here's what's on tap today, in the daily What to Watch For on PokerNews, sponsored by 888poker.

Event #44: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Bounty

It took just two days of play for the field of 1,807 unique players to be down to a final day field of 23 in this event which awards players a $500 bounty for each elimination.

Damjan Radanov enters today's action at noon with blinds at 20,000/40,000 with a big blind ante of 40,000 in the chip lead with 4,625,000 in chips.

The bigger story could be whether Asi Moshe can add a third bracelet to his collection as he is just behind Radanov with 4,530,000 in chips.

Behind this duo is Timothy Stephens (3,220,000), followed by (retired) triple crown winner Harrison Gimbel (2,985,000) and Andrew Hills (2,580,000).

Seat Draw Day 3 Event #44: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Bounty

The players are guaranteed $7,900 at this stage. Making the final table of nine nets a minimum of $20,115, the winner takes home $253,933.

Event #45: $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller

A new attendance record in this event was set after late registration closed early on yesterday's Day 2 with a total of 278 entrants creating a $6,602,500 prize pool. This crushes last year's record of 230 and a $5,462,500 prize pool when 2018 WSOP player of the year Shaun Deeb won the event for the third of his four bracelets and the $1,402,683 first-place prize.

The field is down to just 39 players for today's penultimate day starting at 2 p.m. local time. Players will compete in 90-minute blind levels starting at 15,000/30,000 until there are just six players remaining.

While Deeb will be unable to add a bracelet in this event after hitting the rail on Day 2, there are plenty of other big names still in contention as could be expected in an event with a $25,000 buy-in.

Anson Tsang leads the pack in the hunt for his second bracelet entering today's action with 4,775,000 in chips. His lead was so large at one point that prop bets were being made on him not making the final table with more than forty players remaining.

Tsang doesn't have a lock on a final table appearance for a chance at the $1,618,417 top prize with many experienced players on his tail. James Chen is the closest behind him with 4,140,000 in chips. While Chen may not have a bracelet yet to his name, he does have nearly $2.8 million in live tournament earnings.

Also entering the penultimate day with big stacks are bracelet winner Alex Epstein (2,450,000), Firas Sadou (2,430,000), and four-time bracelet winner Robert Mizrachi (2,245,000). Other multiple bracelet winners seeking to add another are eight-time bracelet winner Erik Seidel (1,535,000), and three-time bracelet winners Paul Volpe (905,000) and Justin Bonomo (815,000).

The 39 remaining players are guaranteed $37,365. Making the final table of eight rewards $150,483.

Event #47: $1,000/$10,000 Ladies No-Limit Hold'em Championship

For the first time ever, no men entered the Ladies Championship. The tournament attracted a huge turnout of 968 entrants to generate a $871,200 prize pool with the winner walking away with a bracelet and a $167,308 top prize. This crushed last year's turnout of 696 entrants when Jessica Dawley won the event for $130,230.

While Dawley didn't make it through the Day 1 field, last year's runner-up Jill Pike was among the 261 players to find a bag to today's action starting a noon PDT.

Jennifer Lopez (251,900) (not to be confused with the American actress, singer, dancer, and producer also known as "J.Lo.") enters today's action with the chip lead. She's closely followed by Katie Lindsey (245,600) and Diane Cooley (229,100).

Women's poker ambassador Daiva Byrne, who runs the popular Fantastic Ladies in Poker (FLIP) Facebook group, is also in good shape entering the second day with 169,000 in chips.

Other notable players advancing to Day 2 include 888poker's Ana Marquez (146,000), Allyn Shulman (128,400), Kathy Liebert (80,700), Maria Lampropulos (70,400), Kelly Minkin (56,400), Gaelle Baumann (53,700), and Kristy Arnett (42,900).

Event #48: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em

This four-day event attracted 996 players to create a $2,241,000 prize pool. This was one of the few events not to surpass last year's turnout when Timur Margolin finished on top of a field of 1,248 players to win his first bracelet and the $507,724 top prize.

An even 200 players will return for today's Day 2 at 1 p.m. PDT in hopes to position themselves for the final two days where they will compete for a bracelet and a $427,399 top prize.

Baitai Li enters Day 2 with a sizeable chip lead after filling up his bag yesterday with 354,800 in chips. Li's closest opponents are two-time bracelet winners Barny Boatman (263,100) and Mark Radoja (248,000), followed by Antal Mezei (246,400) and Sebastian Percysmith (245,000).

Today will feature ten blind levels of an hour each starting at 800/1,600 and a big blind ante of 1,600.

Event #49: $10,000 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw Championship

This tournament has thus far attracted 96 entrants - 13 shy of last year's field of 109 when Nicholas Seiken won the event for $287,987. The final field size and the total prize pool will not be released until later today with late registration remaining open until cards are in the air for today's Day at 2 p.m. PDT.

Exactly one-third of the opening field will join those that late register with 32 players bagging chips on Day 1. Former WSOP bracelet winner Johannes Becker bagged a solid chip lead and will bring 526,500 in chips into Day 2. Also bagging top five stacks were three-time bracelet winner Benny Glaser (396,500), Luke Schwartz (321,500), Mark Gregorich (275,000), and bracelet winner Daniel Ospina (258,500).

Among the many other big names who survived Day 1 are bracelet winners Rep Porter (216,500), Calvin Anderson (208,000), Brian Hastings (191,000), Hanh Tran (172,000), $1,500 2-7 champion Robert Campbell (161,000), Marco Johnson (157,500), Brian Yoon (152,000), David "ODB" Baker (132,500), Mike Matusow (97,000), David Bach (66,000), and Jeremy Ausmus (20,000).

Event #50: Monster Stack - $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em

The Rio is about to be full again, thanks to the first of two opening days in this popular event kicking off today at 10 a.m. Last year, this event attracted a massive field of 6,260 entrants when Tommy Nguyen won the bracelet and the $1,037,451 top prize.

Both of the opening flights will feature 11 blind levels of an hour each. Players start with a "monster stack" of 50,000 with an opening blind level of 100/100. Late registration is open during each opening flight until the conclusion of Level 10. Unlike some of the other multiple opening flight events, this event does not allow reentries.

Players bagging chips during each of the opening flights will combine into a single field on June 23 before battling it out until a winner is scheduled to be crowned on June 26.

Event #51: $2,500 Mixed Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better, Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better

This event will bring out the split-pot enthusiasts as the game will switch throughout the tournament between limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better and Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better.

This event attracted 402 entrants last year with David Brookshire coming out on top for his first bracelet and the $214,291 top prize.

Today kicks off at 3 p.m. PDT with players starting with 15,000 in chips and bagging after ten blind levels of an hour each. Blinds start at 100/200 with limits at 200/400 and a 300 big blind ante when Stud 8 is in play.

Surviving players will compete for two more days until someone claims the coveted WSOP bracelet.

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