WSOP Day 17: Can Dario Sammartino Parlay a Massive Lead Into His First Bracelet?

June 14, 2019

Yesterday's Day 16 witnessed two more WSOP bracelets awarded. The biggest news of the day was that Michael Mizrachi won Event #27: $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better for $142,801 and his fifth bracelet. Stephen Song also won a bracelet yesterday in Event #28: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em. While this was just a first one for Song, the top prize of $341,854 was a bit bigger than what Mizrachi banked.

The big news of the today's Day 17 is whether Italy's Dario Sammartino can parlay a massive chip lead in Event #29: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship into winning his first WSOP bracelet.

In addition to seven events continuing action today, two new events begin including one of the most prestigious events on the schedule in Event #35: $10,000 Dealer's Choice Championship.

Here's what's on tap today, in the daily What to Watch For on PokerNews, sponsored by 888poker.

Event #26: $2,620 No-Limit Hold'em Marathon

As expected, the Marathon has been ticking along at a slow and steady pace. There is finally an end in sight after four long days of play with the original field of 1,083 entrants down to a more manageable field of 16 players.

The plan today is to play down to a final table of six players with the action beginning at 1 p.m. PDT. Blinds will start at 20,000/40,000 with a big blind ante of 40,000 and increase every 100 minutes. The final six will come back to battle it out for the $477,401 top prize at noon PDT on June 15 with a live stream beginning an hour later at 1 p.m. PDT at CBS All Access in the United States, Canada, and Australia and at PokerGO in the rest of the world.

Russia's high roller Roman Korenev will begin the day with a chip leading stack of 3,125,000 in chips with two players from China close on his tail in Yicheng Xu (3,045,000) and Dong Sheng Peng (2,930,000). Right behind this trio is Day 4 chip leader Matt Russell (2,850,000) and Vladimir Revniaga (2,795,000).

Preston Lee (640,000) and Daniel Park (300,000) have both won bracelets in the past but they have their work cut out to snag their second coming into Day 5 with short stacks.

Event #26: $2,620 No-Limit Hold'em Marathon Day 5 Seat Draw

Event #29: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship

All eyes are on this big event wrapping up today with the final seven kicking off the action at noon PDT. The final table will be simultaneously live at PokerGO and CBS All Access.

Italy's Dario Sammartino is hoping this is his day to claim his first WSOP bracelet entering the action with half the chips in play with a stack of 5,030,000 in chips.

Craig Chait (1,630,000) is Sammartino's closest competitor with Scott Clements (1,355,000) the only other player bringing in a seven-figure stack into the final table. Clements has already had a WSOP to remember with by winning a bracelet this festival for his third overall.

Just short of a million are two-time bracelet winner Greg Mueller and one-time winner Daniel Ospina with both players starting the day with a stack of 985,000 in chips. Mikhail Semin (215,000) and Matthew Gonzales (130,000) complete the final table as the short stacks.

Phil Galfond was the last player to exit, his 8th place netted gim $41, 625.

Event #29: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship Final Table Seat Draw

Event #29: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship Final Table Payout

Event #30: $1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha

This event kicked off two days ago with 1,526 entrants. Today is scheduled to be the final day starting at noon PDT with the remaining 58 players battling it out for the bracelet and the $236,673 top prize. It is possible, depending on the pace of play, that the tournament director decides to add a fourth day to this event.

Seven players enter today's action with a seven-figure stack with blinds at 8,000/16,000 and increasing every hour. Gary Bolden is the leader of the pack with a stack of 1,700,000 followed by Gregory Donatelli (1,500,000), Anton Morgenstern (1,350,000), Erik Wilcke (1,332,000), Ryan Goindoo (1,211,000), Luis Zedan (1,208,000), and Dan Martin (1,000,000).

David Halpern is the only former WSOP champ remaining in the field and will start the day with an above average stack of 639,000.

Event #31: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed

The penultimate day of this event kicks off at 2 p.m. PDT with blinds at 10,000/20,000 with a big blind ante of 20,000. Just 20 players remain out of the original field of 754 entrants. The action will end with just six players remaining who will return on June 15 with a mission to win the bracelet and the $414,766 top prize.

Upeshka De Silva, with a chip leading stack of 1,965,000, is in a good position to continue his streak of winning a bracelet every other year. De Silva's first bracelet came in 2015 when he won the $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em for $424,577. Two years ago, he won his second bracelet in the $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout for $229,923 and now he is in the hunt for his third.

Although De Silva has the chip lead, winning this event is by no means a sure thing with many others hungry to claim the bracelet for themselves. Others with seven-figure stacks entering today's action include Nicholas Howard (1,700,000), Thomas Cazayous (1,690,000), Wojtek Barzantny (1,300,000), and Veerab Zakarian (1,100,000).

Also still in the hunt are former bracelet winners Angel Guillen (670,000) and Kyle Cartwright (490,000).

Event #31: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed Day 3 Seat Draw

Event #32: $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold'em Championship

Yesterday's Day 1 of the Seniors event attracted a massive field of 5,916 or just three entrants shy of last year's field of 5,919. What makes this event unique is that players must be at least 50 years of age to enter.

Today will feature ten hour-long blind levels starting at 11 a.m. PDT with Adilson Moraes (379,200), Albert Halfon (361,700), and Ravinder Bedi (321,700) on top of the leaderboard with stacks above 300,000. Former bracelet winner Yu Due (266,800) and three-time bracelet winner David "The Dragon" Pham (247,700) also come into Day 2 with healthy stacks.

Even the smaller stacks will have plenty of opportunities to build a big stack with the opening blinds on Day 2 being still low at 800/1,600.

Event #33: $1,500 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw

This event began the first of its three days yesterday and is the biggest in its history since being changed from a $2,500 to a $1,500 buy-in in 2014. The previous record of 388 entrants set in 2015 when three-time bracelet winner Benny Glaser shipped the event for $136,215 was shattered with 467 entrants joining the action to create a $630,450 prize pool.

A big story could be developing in this event as Glaser is in the hunt for a second bracelet in this event after bagging the Day 1 chip lead with a stack of 79,500 in chips. Not too far behind Glaser are Jared Bleznick (75,700), Jeffrey Shea (72,900), Penh Lo (72,600), and Robert Campbell (72,000).

The 139 remaining players will start their battle today at 2 p.m. PDT and play ten blind levels of an hour each.

Event #34: $1,000 Double Stack No-Limit Hold'em

This four-day event makes its return after a huge success last year in its inaugural showing when Robert Peacock finished on top of a field of 5,700 entrants to win his first gold bracelet along with a paycheck of $644,244.

Today's first of two opening flights begins at 10 a.m. PDT with the second opening flight beginning tomorrow at the same time. As the event name suggests, players start with double the normal starting stack with 40,000 in chips and the opening blinds starting at just 100/100.

The field will likely be massive in this event with players allowed to reenter one time during each of the opening flights until late registration closes after Level 10. Players will bag chips until Day 2 and beyond with a winner scheduled to be crowned on Wednesday, June 19.

Event #35: $10,000 Dealer's Choice Championship

This four-day event will be a true test of poker among some of the top poker players in the game. The player on the button will choose the game and can be any of the following.

Players start off with a stack of 60,000 in chips with blinds increasing every hour on the opening day. Players can also skip today as late registration doesn't close until the start of tomorrow's Day 2 when blinds increase to 90 minutes in length.

Adam Friedman won this event last year for his second overall bracelet after he outlasted a field of 111 players. The $293,275 top prize was Friedman's biggest tournament haul who enters today's action with nearly $2.6 million in lifetime earnings.

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