WSOP Day 10: Bonomo Looking for $10K Heads-Up Title, Negreanu Advances

June 08, 2018

Sean Chaffin Contributor

The Justin Bonomo Show continues on Friday as he looks for yet another title and yet another nice payday in Event #16: $10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship. Bonomo has already had some dominating performances in 2018, and that trend has continued so far over the last couple of days in Event #16.

In other action, Daniel Negreanu made it to Day 2 in Event #18: $10,000 Dealer's Choice 6-Handed . Negreanu tweeted on Thursday he is back for the remainder of the summer after taking a few days off to watch the Las Vegas Golden Knights. Unfortunately for those in Vegas, the team's dream first season came to an end on Thursday night with the Washington Capitals winning the Stanley Cup.

Now that the NHL season is officially over, it is officially...
— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker)

The final six players return for Day 4 of Event #13 on Friday with Benjamin Moon (2,760,000) in the lead followed by Colin Robinson (2,660,000), Nhathanh Nguyen (1,403,000), Romain Lewis (1,295,000), Steven Snyder (1,065,000), and Bohdan Slyvinskyi (590,000).

A win would be huge for Moon, who hails from San Diego, California and has only $13,400 in live tournament winnings.

Play resumes on Friday at 1 p.m. and PokerNews will have all the live updates.

Event #15: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E.

After two days of play, 24 players return on Friday to play to a champion in the $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. event. Damjan Radanov, who also led after Day 1, retained his lead on Day 2 with 518,000 chips. Hailing from Memphis, Tennessee, Radanov has more than $533,000 in live tournament winnings and a WSOP Circuit ring. This would be his first bracelet if he can close it out.

Other top stacks include Michael Berger (439,000) and Tim Frazin (416,000). Other players remaining include three-time bracelet winner Brian Hastings (265,000), Scott Clements (198,000), and Ismael Bojang (275,000).

A total of 731 jumped into this event to create a prize pool of $986,850. The horse race resumes at 12 noon and PokerNews has you covered with continuing coverage today. Don't miss a hand.

Event #16: $10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship

The $10K Heads-Up Championship has made it to the final day and as noted Justin Bonomo is right in the mix. Just four players are left, with Bonomo set to face Dutchman Martijn Gerrits in the semifinals. In the other semifinal, Spanish online grinder Juan "Malakastyle" Pardo Dominguez will take on British heads-up specialist Jason McConnon.

Bonomo has been destroying the tables in 2018 and capped it recently with a win at the $300,000 Super High Roller Bowl for $5 million. He followed that victory up immediately with wins in $25,000 Aria High Rollers on May 31 and June 3 for another $660,000. Bonomo has lifetime live tournament winnings of more than $32.6 million and will be looking for his second bracelet.

This event attracted 114 players for a prize pool of $571,600 with the winner due to take home $185,965. The runner-up will score $114,933 with third- and fourth-place finishers each earning $73,179.

PokerNews will be there for each of the last heads-up matches today. The Gerrits-Bonomo match will kicks things off at 12 noon, with McConnon-Pardo Dominguez set for 1:30 p.m. Click here to follow.

PokerGO will also be streaming this one live today — click here to watch.

Event #17: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed

This short-handed event got underway on Thursday with 264 rounders participating. Bart Lybaert currently leads the field with 181,000 chips, followed by Thomas Muehloecker (145,300), Alexandro Tricarico (143,900), Victor Figueroa (127,200), Chris Aiello (122,000), and Matt Silva (116,500).

Other notables still in the field include bracelet-winners Mark Radoja (91,700), Adrian Mateos (79,000), Barry Greenstein (43,300), and Jeff Madsen (36,300) as well as 2014 WSOP Main Event winner Martin Jacobson (70,000).

A total of 1,663 players bought in on Day 1 for a $2,245,050 prize pool from which the winner will earn $378,743.

Day 2 resumes on Friday at 12 noon. Check back with PokerNews for continuing coverage.

Event #18: $10,000 Dealer's Choice 6-Handed

The higher buy-in version of this popular event began Thursday and brought in 103 entries and a prize pool of $968,200. That may increase on Friday as registration is open until Day 2 officially begins.

Bracelet winners Bryce Yockey (328,500) and Adam Friedman (316,700) held the top spots in the counts after one day of play. Also among the field who advanced were Chris Vitch (240,000), Dylan Linde (224,700), Marco Johnson (204,700), Ray Dehkharghani (148,500), and Daniel Negreanu (125,500).

Players will be have to be on their toes with so many games in play. Day 2 begins at 2 p.m. PokerNews will have every hand and game — click here to follow.

Event #6: GIANT - $365 No-Limit Hold'em

The Giant offers a chance at a bracelet for a small investment. The event features five consecutive starting Day 1 flights — June 1, 8, 15, 22, and 29 — all beginning at 7 p.m. and with unlimited re-entries. Players will start with 25,000 chips with 20-minute levels on Day 1 and 40-minute on Days 2 and 3, which will be played on June 30 and July 1.

Players will play into the money each flight, and the remaining prize money gets carried over to Day 2. Players can forfeit their stack if they choose to re-enter another flight. Once players bag chips, however, they can no longer play in other starting flights.

After the first flight last Friday, it was Justin Sternberg leading with 1,215,000 chips. Danny Nguyen was the only other player with over one million, bagging 1,120,000.

This event attracted a massive field in 2017 with Dieter Dechant topping 10,015 entries for $291,240. The prize pool reached a total of more than $3 million. It was a nice summer for Dechant, having already finished third in the $1,000 Seniors Championship for $281,691 when he won The Giant.

As noted, play for the second GIANT flight will start at 7 p.m. tonight, with PokerNews on hand for live updates as always.

Event #19: $565 Pot-Limit Omaha

It will be PLO madness in the Rio on Friday when this bargain-priced event kicks off. The event features two starting flights at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. and features unlimited re-entries for the first eight levels. There will be 30-minute levels on Day 1 and then one-hour levels on Days 2 and 3. Payouts will begin on Day 1.

Tyler Smith, of Biloxi, Mississippi won his first bracelet in this event in 2017 and the $244,344 top prize. Last year, there were 3,186 entries and a $1.6 million-plus prize pool. Look for plenty of big-betting excitement, all reported by the PokerNews live reporting team.

Another big blind ante event begins today, this time at a higher price point than the $1,500 Event #13. This is a new tournament at the series with WSOP organizers adding a wrinkle into the game that has proven popular in recent months.

Levels are one hour and players begin with 25,000 chips. Late registration continues until the beginning of Day 2 in this three-day event. Play starts at 3 p.m. today, and PokerNews will, of course, be there covering this one as well.

Sean Chaffin is a freelance writer in Crandall, Texas. His work appears in numerous websites and publications. Follow him on Twitter @PokerTraditions. He is also the host of the True Gambling Stories podcast, available on iTunes, Google Play, TuneIn Radio, Spotify, Stitcher, PokerNews.com, HoldemRadio.com, and TrueGamblingStories.com.

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