WSOP Day 39: Tan Leads $1,500 NLHE; Hellmuth, Ivey Back for Main Day 3
It's another big weekend of poker. Today the $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em MAIN EVENT begins Day 3 where all of the starting flights will finally combine with Phil Ivey and Phil Hellmuth among those returning.
Elsewhere Longsheng Tan leads Day 3 of Event #66: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em, while in Event #67: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Bounty, Robert Oxenberg returns for Day 2 as chip leader. Meanwhile Event #68: The Little One for One Drop - $1,000 +111 No-Limit Hold'em will kick off the first of three flights beginning on Saturday.
Event #65: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em MAIN EVENT - World Championship
After three starting flights, two Day 2s, and second-best ever field of 7,874 players entering, a total of 2,786 players return for a combined Day 3 on Saturday.
From yesterday's Day 2c, 1,655 players will advance from the flight led by Ignacio Sanchez with 627,200 chips, which gives him the overall chip lead when play resumes today.
Yesterday Sanchez was followed by Eric Sfez (551,900), Victor Choupeaux (521,000), and Collen Yamagishi (504,300) at night's end.
Several big names are also moved on to Day 3 yesterday, including Phil Ivey (434,200), Samuel Touil (405,500), Ludovic Geilich (333,900), Ivan Luca (339,900), Jan Eric Schwippert (338,600), Cliff Josephy (285,400), and Phil Hellmuth (162,700).
With 1,182 players making the money, the bubble may well be arriving late tonight, so be sure to stay with PokerNews all day and night starting at 11 a.m. to follow all the live updates.
Event #66: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em
Just 26 runners remain in this event with Longsheng Tan returning as chip leader with 993,000. Tan has over $468,000 in live tournament winnings and looking for his first bracelet.
Rounding out the current top five are Heng Zhang (938,000), Stephen Bierman (744,000), Stephen Bierman (744,000), Trey Brabham (603,000), and Michael Wasserman (594,000).
Other coming back for Day 3 include Day 1 chip leader John Pannucci (512,000), Rex Clinkscales (420,000), and Timur Margolin (513,000).
Play resumes on Friday at 2 p.m. and PokerNews will bring you all the action as the event gets closer to a champion. Click here to follow along.
Event #67: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Bounty
The bounty hunting got underway on Friday with this PLO event attracting 833 players. After a fast-paced day only 125 of them will return to the Rio for Day 2 on Saturday. The winner takes home $141,161 and a coveted gold bracelet.
Leading the way is Robert Oxenberg with 210,200, followed closely by Georgios Karavokyris (207,000), Haibo Chu (190,800), Christopher Doan (181,200), and William Gibbons (163,100). Oxenberg has right at $100,000 in live tournament winnings and looking for the biggest win of his career and first bracelet.
Others making Day 2 include Igor Sharaskin (132,600), Jameson Painter (94,000), Aaron Mermelstein (76,200), John Holley (60,900), David Williams, (60,400) Nipun Java (36,100), Jeff Gross (28,600), Robert Mizrachi (23,600), and Benny Glaser (12,600).
The PLO resumes at 2 p.m. and PokerNews will have all the big hands and bustouts. Click here to check it out.
Event #68: The Little One for One Drop - $1,000 +111 No-Limit Hold'em
This popular event offers poker players a chance to enjoy a big field event while also giving to the One Drop Foundation charity. The organization offers fresh water service to third world countries.
The event features three starting flights on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. Players begin with 5,000 starting chips and can earn an extra 5,000 for a $111 donation. Levels last 60 minutes, and late registration is available for eight levels.
Play gets started at 11 a.m. today, and PokerNews will be there from start to finish with updates, chip counts, photos, and more.
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.
