WSOP Day 9: Racener, Deeb at Final Tables, Hellmuth Advances in H.O.R.S.E.
In a busy day at the WSOP, two big names will be playing at final tables on Thursday and hoping to bring home a bracelet. John Racener will seek his second bracelet at the Event #7: COLOSSUS - $565 No-Limit Hold'em final table while Shaun Deeb will be looking for his third in the Event #14: $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw finale.
Elsewhere, 16 players return in Event #16: $10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship with Justin Bonomo among those still in the hunt. Some big news in the event was the Round 1 elimination of John Smith by Kane Kalas. Smith had finished runner-up the last two years in the event. Phil Hellmuth also advanced to the second day of play in Event #15: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E..
Event #7: COLOSSUS - $565 No-Limit Hold'em
At the wrap of Day 2, it was Las Vegas native Sang Liu leading the field in the Colossus with a massive stack of 18,205,000 chips, followed by Scott Margereson (13,855,000), Joel Wurtzel (9,375,000), Gunther Dumsky (6,535,000), and Song Choe (5,835).
As mentioned, John Racener is also among the final table of nine returning with 3,540,000 as he will be adding to his more than $8 million in WSOP winnings. The winner will take home a cool $1 million first prize.
Play resumes on Thursday at 2 p.m. and PokerNews will have all your live updates. Don't miss a hand — click here to follow along. Poker Central will be also streaming the final table live on Twitch. Click here to watch.
Event #13: Big Blind Antes $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em
This new event got underway on Wednesday with Dutch Boyd currently in the top spot with 748,000 chips. The rounder from Missouri is looking for his fourth bracelet.
Other top stacks include Stefan Vidojkovic (744,000), Steven Snyder (497,000), Tony Ruberto (488,000), and Mark Barrett (485,000).
Other notables moving on to Thursday include Daniel Strelitz (220,000), Romain Lewis (420,000) and Justin Young (396,000). Shaun Deeb also bagged 194,000 chips after multi-tabling the $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw.
Only 29 players return for Day 3 and the winner will take home $315,346. Play resumes on Thursday at noon and PokerNews will have all the updates.
Event #14: $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw
With only three players remaining, Daniel Ospina leads the final three players with 1,144,000 chips heading into today's final day. The Colombian finished second in this event to Christian Pham in 2015, and is looking for that first bracelet.
This event attracted 260 entries for a $351,000 prize pool. The winner will take home $87,678 and the bracelet.
Ospina has more than double of the others remaining — Shaun Deeb (477,000) and Timothy Mcdermott (429,500) — and is hoping he can close out the show on Thursday. As noted, if Deeb can battle back and win, it would be his third bracelet. Mcdermott has only four career WSOP cashes and this will be his biggest WSOP cash.
The final three will start back at 2 p.m. today and PokerNews will be there. Click here for the updates from the live reporting team.
Event #15: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E.
A total of 731 players jumped into this one yesterday and created a prize pool of $986,850. The lead horse after Day 1 is Damjan Radanov with 98,600. From Memphis, Tennessee, Radanov is looking for his first bracelet. Others in the top five include Walter Treccarichi (77,800), Manelic Minaya (72,300), Thomas Chung (64,700), and Connor Berkowitz (63,800).
Other notables returning for Day 2 include Brandon Shack-Harris, Brian Hastings, Scott Clements, Barry Greenstein, and Phil Hellmuth. The horse race resumes at 12 noon and PokerNews has you covered with all the live updates. Don't miss a hand.
Event #16: $10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship
Day 1 of this popular event opened with a bang. John Smith, the 2016 and 2017 runner-up in this event, was sent to the rail in the first round by Kane Kalas. The 71-year-old Smith spoke to PokerNews yesterday about his big runs over the last few years and his success in this event.
Kalas also spoke with PokerNews reporter [Removed:139] after the matchup and his accomplishment.
Kalas finished among 16 players remaining. Others returning for Day 2 include Justin Bonomo, Scott Seiver, Brandon Steven, Galen Hall, and Niall Farrell.
After three rounds of play, players return to action on Thursday at 12 noon. PokerNews will be there from start to finish as usual. Click here to follow along with the team. The PokerGO app will also be streaming from this event today. Check it out here.
Event #17: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed
This short-handed event at a lower price-tier should pack in plenty of players on Thursday. Players start with 7,500 chips and the event features 60-minute levels. Anthony Marquez, of Ventura, Calif., took home the bracelet in 2017 along with the top prize of $393,273. The event attracted 1,748 entries and a $2.4 million prize pool.
The first hands will be dealt at 11 a.m. and PokerNews will have all your live updates.
Event #18: $10,000 Dealer's Choice 6-Handed
The higher buy-in version of this popular event kicks off on Thursday with plenty of prominent pros expected to turn out with hopes of being the master of the dealer's choice universe.
Last summer in this event, John Racener raced his way to his first WSOP bracelet and $273,962. The event brought in 102 players for a prize pool of $930,600.
Players must know plenty of games and will have the option to pick one of the following:
- No-Limit Hold'em
- Pot-Limit Hold'em
- Limit Hold'em
- Pot-Limit Omaha (High)
- Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo Eight-or-Better
- Limit Omaha (High)
- Limit Omaha Hi-Lo Eight-or-Better
- Big "O"
- Razz
- Seven-Card Stud
- Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo Split Eight-or-Better
- Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo Split Regular (no qualifier)
- No-Limit Five-Card Draw (High)
- No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw
- 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw
- A-5 Lowball Triple Draw
- Badugi
- Badeucy
- Badacey
- Pot-Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw
The event begins at 3 p.m. with 60-minute levels and players will start with 50,000 chips. PokerNews will have all your live updates whether the game is Badugi, Big O, or just plain old no-limit hold'em.
