WSOP Day 26: Ferguson Looks for No. 7; Lamb, Mizrachi Advance in $10K PLO
With a fourth day of action added, Chris Ferguson will be looking for his seventh bracelet on Sunday in the $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em with only six players remaining.
The Monster Stack moves into its second starting flight with Kenny Hallaert, Calvin Anderson, Daniel Strelitz, Bart Lybaert, and Annette Obrestad among those bagging chips after the first flight.
In the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Handed Championship, Ryan Hughes leads those returning for Day 2 with Ben Lamb, Michael Mizrachi, and Stephen Chidwick also still alive in an event that allows registration until the beginning for Day 2 on Sunday.
Event #11: PLO GIANT - $365 Pot-Limit Omaha
This will be the fourth Sunday in this multi-flight event with Day 1 starting flights spread out over June 3, 10, 17, 24, and July 1.
| Starting Day | Chip Leader | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1a | Pedro Arroyos | United States | 1,757,000 |
| 1b | Randy Holland | United States | 1,450,000 |
| 1c | Tim Andrew | United States | 1,375,000 |
The field last week on June 17 attracted 492 entries for a total of $147,600 that went into the prize pool. Only 23 of those advanced to Day 2 on July 2.
The event allows for unlimited re-entry and payouts start on Day 1. Players begin with 25,000 chips, and blind levels are 20 minutes on Day 1 and 40 minutes on Days 2 and 3. The flight gets started at 7 p.m. Get your fix by following the live updates here.
Event #43: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em
| Players remaining | 6/1,071 |
| Prize guaranteed | $87,189 |
A fourth day of play has been added to this event with only six players returning to the Rio on Sunday. Chris Ferguson leads the final table with 5,680,000 chips. The 2017 WSOP Player of the Year will be gunning for his seventh bracelet with a sizable chip advantage. The remaining five players are Timur Margolin (3,520,000), Ismael Bojang (2,610,000), Michael Marder (1,765,000), Dylan Linde (1,330,000), and Ryan Laplante (700,000).
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chris Ferguson | United States | 5,680,000 | 95 |
| 2 | Michael Marder | United States | 1,765,000 | 29 |
| 3 | Timur Margolin | Israel | 3,520,000 | 59 |
| 4 | Dylan Linde | United States | 1,330,000 | 22 |
| 5 | Ryan Laplante | United States | 700,000 | 12 |
| 6 | Ismael Bojang | Germany | 2,360,000 | 39 |
Margolin came close to winning this event in 2015, finishing runner-up to Matthew O'Donnell for $341,338. Can he battle back and this time earn his first bracelet? PokerNews has you covered when play resumes at noon. Click here for all the live updates.
| Position | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $507,274 | ||
| 2 | $313,444 | ||
| 3 | $223,564 | ||
| 4 | $161,371 | ||
| 5 | $117,894 | ||
| 6 | $87,189 | ||
| 7 | Jeff Hakim | Lebanon | $65,284 |
| 8 | Andre Haneberg | Germany | $49,498 |
| 9 | Josh Bergman | United States | $38,009 |
Event #46 $2,500 Mixed Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better/Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better
| Players remaining | 15/402 |
| Prize guaranteed | $7,074 |
After two days of Hi/Lo, just 15 players return to the Rio for Day 3. Ian Shaw is chip leader with 575,000, followed by Tyler Groth (540,000), Daniel Ospina (530,000), Brendan Taylor (488,000), and William Shelton (458,000). Groth has some experience in winning Omaha-related titles. He won the $1,000 PLO event last summer for his first bracelet and is hoping to add to that collection in this event.
Others still remaining and hoping for the final table include Cyndy Violette, Brendan Taylor, Eric Rodawig, and Hani Awad. The remaining 15 are all guaranteed a payout of at least $7,074, but hoping for a first-place score of $214,291. The event attracted a total of 402 entries for a prize pool of $904,500.
The tournament resumes on Sunday at 2 p.m., and PokerNews will have all the split-pot updates. Click here to follow along.
| Room | Table | Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon | 1 | 1 | Jeffrey Mitseff | United States | 115,000 |
| Amazon | 1 | 2 | Cyndy Violette | United States | 223,000 |
| Amazon | 1 | 3 | Tyler Groth | United States | 540,000 |
| Amazon | 1 | 4 | David Brookshire | United States | 297,000 |
| Amazon | 1 | 5 | Daniel Ospina | Colombia | 530,000 |
| Amazon | 1 | 6 | Eric Rodawig | United States | 301,000 |
| Amazon | 1 | 7 | Paul-François Tedeschi | France | 361,000 |
| Amazon | 1 | 8 | Eddie Blumenthal | United States | 272,000 |
| Amazon | 2 | 1 | Ian Shaw | Mexico | 575,000 |
| Amazon | 2 | 2 | Delmiro Toledo | United States | 139,000 |
| Amazon | 2 | 3 | Brendan Taylor | United States | 488,000 |
| Amazon | 2 | 4 | Hani Awad | United States | 117,000 |
| Amazon | 2 | 5 | Levon Torosyan | United States | 320,000 |
| Amazon | 2 | 7 | William Shelton | United States | 458,000 |
| Amazon | 2 | 8 | Carl Restifo | United States | 294,000 |
Event #48: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em MONSTER STACK
Sunday brings the second and final starting flight in this event that features plenty of chips (15,000) for a bracelet quest, and many will be hoping to grow that stack into an even bigger monster.
After the first starting flight, only 723 made it through to Day 2 after 2,246 entries. James Karamanis bagged 163,600 in chips to lead the field in this flight. Just behind him are Jon Turner (156,500), Jerome Tan (153,300), Colin McHugh (149,400), Marc MacDonnell (148,200), Shyam Srinivasan (146,000), Kazuhiko Yotsushika (135,300), and Francesco Zollo (132,000).
Some other big names who advanced include Kenny Hallaert (124,600), Almedin Imsirovic (119,200), Calvin Anderson (116,600), Daniel Strelitz (90,600), Bart Lybaert (77,400), and Annette Obrestad (68,500).
Last year, Brian Yoon won this event for his third bracelet and $1,094,349 – topping a field of 6,716 entries. As the second flight gets underway at 11 a.m., PokerNews will have all the big hands. Click here to track the action with the live updates team.
Event #49: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Handed Championship
| Players remaining | 175/439 |
After Day 1 of big buy-in PLO, only 175 remain out of a record turnout of 439 runners. That number could increase even more with registration allowed until the beginning of Day 2.
After 10 levels of play, Ryan Hughes leads the pack with 475,400 chips, followed by Veselin Karakitukov (350,800) and Ben Lamb (314,100). Others returning include Michael Kamran (290,000), Michael Mizrachi (275,100), Stephen Chidwick (245,300), six-time bracelet winner Layne Flack (206,400), Mike Leah (194,200), and John Monnette (57,500).
The PLO resumes at 2 p.m., and PokerNews will have all the pot betting poker. Click here to follow the live updates team.
Event #50: $1,500 Razz
Plenty of lowballers will be out looking for a nice score and that perfect wheel. This event features 7,500 starting chips and levels of 60 minutes. Late registration is available for eight levels.
Chicago native and Notre Dame graduate Jason Gola took down this event in 2017 for $132,957 and his first bracelet. The event attracted 419 entries and a $565,650 prize pool. Check back with PokerNews for all the hands when this event gets underway at 3 p.m.
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.
