WSOP What to Watch For: July 12, 2017
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Excitement was in the air as players from the first two Day 1 flights in the Main Event returned to the Rio to battle it out in Day 2A and 2B flights. When play got underway, 2,959 players in total were back in action with only about 1,100 making it through for Thursday’s Day 3. Wednesday’s Day 2C brings back a massive 4,262 players, with play kicking off at noon.
During Tuesday’s action, the two flights remained separate. Leading the field from 2A was Lawrence Bayley with 618,000 chips and Mickey Craft in 2B with 608,100. Other notables remaining from 2A/B are Marvin Rettenmaier (359,100), Charlie Carrel (343,000), 2016 November Niner Kenny Hallaert (331,800), Cherish Andrews (330,700), Melanie Weisner (319,400), Mike Matusow (228,200), Chris Vitch (221,200), Scott Seiver (195,600), 2005 Main Event champion Joe Hachem (134,700), and 2004 Main Event champion Greg Raymer (106,400). Reigning champion Qui Nguyen, however, did not make it through Day 2.
The Day 2C field of returnees will combine with those remaining from Tuesday into one big pool for Thursday’s third day of play. Leading the beginning 2C field is France’s Jerome Brion with 247,900 chips. Brion has more than $194,000 in tournament winnings, his biggest a seventh-place finish in an EPT-Barcelona €1,100 event for $98,169.
Other notables who will be in action on Day 3 include: Nick Maimone (213,000), Andre Akkari (189,900), Jason Koon (166,600), Brandon Shack-Harris (160,000), Aditya Agarwal (150,900), Ryan Hughes (147,300), 2017 WSOP Player of the year front-runner John Monnette (123,800), Brian Rast (126,900), Phil Hellmuth (87,400, and Daniel Negreanu (26,000).
With a total of 7,221 players, this year’s Main Event became the third-largest in history (only topped in 2006 and 2010) and the prize pool is almost $68 million. First place is guaranteed $8,150,000, and the total places paid is 1,084 with a min cash of $15,000.
Play is scheduled to reach the final table on Day 7 (Monday, July 17). Days 8-10 will then resume and be played on July 20-22 to reach a winner – all played out live in front of ESPN’s cameras. Wednesday’s be live on PokerGo beginning at 12:30 p.m. and then live on ESPN from 5-7 p.m. Here is a look at the payouts for the final table:
• 1st – $8,150,000
• 2nd – $4,700,000
• 3rd – $3,500,000
• 4th – $2,600,000
• 5th – $2,000,000
• 6th – $1,675,000
• 7th – $1,425,000
• 8th – $1,200,000
• 9th – $1,000,000
PokerNews is your stop for all the Main Event action from around the Rio. Don’t miss a hand – click here to follow along.
Event #74A: The Little One for One Drop - $1,000 +111 No-Limit Hold'em
For all those who may not have the bankroll or have already been eliminated from the Main Event, this tournament offers one last chance at a bracelet. It also offers some chance to donate to a nice cause with $111 of each buy-in going toward the One Drop Foundation, which provides fresh water services to third-world countries.
There are three starting flights for this event – Tuesday (1A), Wednesday (1B), and Thursday (1C). All those remaining will restart on on Friday for Day 2. This event allowed for unlimited re-entries through the end of registration in each flight, which was after six one-hour levels.
After the first day of play, Ken Aldridge led the 117 survivors with 199,000 chips. Following him were Lawrence Engerman with 183,400 and Mark Jun with 181,200.
Other notables remaining include Other notables returning to day 2 include recent bracelet winner Tom Koral (22,200) Adam Owen (92,800), Joe Elpayaa (75,600), Ray Henson (58,500), and Brian Hastings (16,800).
Sweden’s Michael Tureniec ($3.9 million in lifetime tournament winnings) took home last year’s title for a cool $525,520. PokerNews has every all the little action until a champion is crowned – click here to follow all the live updates.
