2021 WSOP Day 28: Stars Turn Out For $25K PLO High Roller; Deeb Flying High

Matthew Pitt
Senior Editor
3 min read
Shaun Deeb

The 28th day of the 2021 World Series of Poker (WSOP) was extremely busy with four players getting their hands on coveted gold WSOP bracelets, and two other events concluding their respective Day 1s.

Brian Rast secured his fifth bracelet by taking down Event #51: $3,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em while poker veteran Farzad Bonyadi became a four-time bracelet winner with victory in Event #49: $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship.

Darrin Wright was victorious in Event #50: $600 No-Limit Hold’em/Pot-Limit Omaha with poker philanthropist Gershon Distenfeld winning Event #48: $1,500 Shootout No-Limit Hold’em for $204,063 and donating his entire winnings to charity.

Elsewhere, Day 1a of the $1,000 Seniors event drew in a bumper crowd, and a whole host of stars turned out in force for the $25,000 PLO High Roller.

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Kurtzman Leads Stacked $25K PLO High Roller

Eric Kurtzman
Eric Kurtzman

Event #53: $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller kicked off on October 27 and saw 170 players buy in. Some 107 of those made it through to Day 2 and the overnight chip counts reads like a who’s who of the poker world. The overall attendance should increase because late registration remains open for the first two levels of Day 2.

Eric Kurtzman (773,500) finished Day 1 with a substantial chip lead. Seven of the top ten are former bracelet winners – they have 13 bracelets between them – including Joseph Cheong (592,000), Yuval Bronshtein (580,000), Shaun Deeb (566,500), and Chance Kornuth (547,000).

Dozens of other household names also progressed to Day 2, including Paul Volpe (331,000), $10,000 PLO Championship winner Tommy Le (237,500), Daniel Negreanu (213,000), and five-time WSOP champion Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi (201,000).

Day 2 commences at 2:00 p.m. on October 28 and ten levels are on the agenda. As always, PokerNews’ live reporting team will be with you every step of the way.

Event #53: $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller Top 10 Chip Counts

PlacePlayerCountryChips
1Eric KurtzmanUnited States773,500
2Joseph CheongUnited States592,000
3Yuval BronshteinIsrael580,000
4Shaun DeebUnited States566,500
5Chance KornuthUnited States547,000
6Martin DamDenmark530,500
7Dylan WeismanUnited States506,500
8Michael BatellUnited States500,000
9Sam SoverelUnited States491,000
10Simon LofbergSweden487,500

"Miami" John Cernuto Bag Big on Day 1a of Event #52: $1,000 Seniors Championship

John Cernuto
John Cernuto

The Seniors Championship is always a well-attended event on the WSOP schedule and the 2021 edition was no different. Some 2,432 over 50s bought into Event #52: $1,000 Seniors Championship, but the tournament ended prematurely for all but 486 of those entrants.

George Bronstein (585,000) was the chip leader when the dust settled, he was the only player to cram more than half a million chips into his overnight chip bag. "Miami" John Cernuto enjoyed himself at the felt and finished with a 355,500 stack, enough for fourth place at the restart. Cernuto is a three-time bracelet winner, although his last piece of poker jewelry was acquired in 2002. Cernuto won a $470 Omaha Hi-Lo tournament at Aria last week so is in good form.

Others to look out for in the PokerNews updates on Day 2 include high-stakes regular Giuseppe Iadisernia (330,500), poker legend Jack McClelland (175,000), women’s Hall of Fame member JJ Lui (170,000), David Pham (139,500), and four-time champion Eli Elezra (112,500).

Day 1b shuffles up and deals at the early time of 10:00 a.m. on October 28 and should see another couple of thousand poker veterans enter the fray.

Event #52: $1,000 Seniors Championship End of Day 1a Top 10 Chip Counts

PlacePlayerCountryChips
1George BronsteinUnited States585,000
2Tim KilldayUnited States433,000
3John ThorntonUnited States373,000
4John CernutoUnited States355,500
5David SlaughterUnited States351,500
6Edward ZiddUnited States346,000
7Angela JordisonUnited States341,000
8Joseph BeasyUnited States334,000
9Antonin TeisseireFrance331,000
10Giuseppe IadiserniaVenezuela330,500
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Matthew Pitt
Senior Editor

Matthew Pitt hails from Leeds, West Yorkshire, in the United Kingdom, and has worked in the poker industry since 2008, and worked for PokerNews since 2010. In September 2010, he became the editor of PokerNews. Matthew stepped away from live reporting duties in 2015, and now concentrates on his role of Senior Editor for the PokerNews.

In this Series

1 2021 WSOP Day 1: Series Underway With Star-Studded $25k H.O.R.S.E.2 2021 WSOP Day 2: Hellmuth In The Hunt For 16th Bracelet3 2021 WSOP Day 3: Drinan On Course For His Second Bracelet4 2021 WSOP Day 4: Cornell In Pole Position For First Bracelet5 2021 WSOP Day 5: Negreanu, Matusow, Seidel, and Hellmuth Advance in the $10K LO8 Championship6 2021 WSOP Day 6: Phil Hellmuth Chasing 16th Bracelet Deep in the $10K LO8 Championship7 2021 WSOP Day 7: Hellmuth Four Players Away From Bracelet #168 2021 WSOP Day 8: Deeb Looking For Bracelet #59 2021 WSOP Day 9: FiveThirtyEight's Nate Silver Headlines $10K Limit Final Table; Racener Leads10 2021 WSOP Day 10: Brian Yoon Hunting for Fourth Bracelet11 2021 WSOP Day 11: Hellmuth In The Hunt Again; Reaches Another Final Table12 2021 WSOP Day 12: Negreanu Hunting for Seventh Bracelet13 2021 WSOP Day 13: Five Left in Milly Maker; Marle Cordeiro Among Last 17 in Ladies Event14 2021 WSOP Day 14: Vanessa Kade Racks Up Fifth Cash of the Series15 2021 WSOP Day 15: Zinno On Course For Fourth Bracelet16 2021 WSOP Day 16: Kornuth Reaches Back-to-Back $10K Short Deck Finals17 2021 WSOP Day 17: Phil Hellmuth Hunting for 16th Bracelet with 10 Remaining in $1,500 NL 2-7 Lowball18 2021 WSOP Day 18: Elezra in the Mix For His Fifth Bracelet19 2021 WSOP Day 19: David “Bakes” Baker Hunting for Third Bracelet at $1,500 Triple Draw Final Table20 2021 WSOP Day 20: Friedman After a Three-Peat as Negreanu and Hellmuth Advance to Final 10 in $10K Dealer's Choice21 2021 WSOP Day 21: Addamo Flying High In Yet Another High Roller22 2021 WSOP Day 22: Arieh Positions Himself For Bracelet #323 2021 WSOP Day 23: Gerhart, Johnson, and Shack-Harris Seeking Third Bracelets with Five Remaining in $10K H.O.R.S.E.24 2021 WSOP Day 24: JC Tran Flying High in the $10K PLO25 2021 WSOP Day 25: Elezra and Matusow Hunting for Fifth Bracelets in the $10K PLO Championship26 2021 WSOP Day 26: Soverel Leads the Charge in the NL 2-7 Single Draw Championship27 2021 WSOP Day 27: Glaser Leads Final 8 $10K NL 2-7 Championship as Negreanu Alive Hunting for Seventh Bracelet28 2021 WSOP Day 28: Stars Turn Out For $25K PLO High Roller; Deeb Flying High29 2021 WSOP Day 29: Lamb Registers Late In $25K PLO and Bags Lead30 2021 WSOP Day 30: Ka Kwan Lau On Course For $25K PLO Bracelet31 2021 WSOP Day 31: Kolev Leads the $10K 6-Handed NLHE Championship32 WSOP 2021 Day 32: Yockey Bags $50k Poker Players Championship Day 1 Chip Lead33 2021 WSOP Day 33: Volpe and Cates Lead Final 35 of the $50K Poker Players Championship34 2021 WSOP Day 34: Ryan Leng Leads Final 10 in the $50K PPC35 2021 WSOP Day 35: Eli Elezra Leads Final 5 in the $50K Poker Players Championship36 2021 WSOP Day 36: Main Event Underway, Brunson Up to Old Tricks37 2021 WSOP Day 37: Three Bracelet-Winners Crowned as Main Event Continues38 2021 WSOP Day 38: Aleksandr Shevlyakov Bags Overall Chip Lead on Day 1c of the Main Event39 2021 WSOP Day 39: Main Event Breaks Through 4,500 Entrants; Ajayi Tops Counts40 2021 WSOP Day 40: Joe Hachem Back in Form on Day 1e of the Main Event41 2021 WSOP Day 41: Rameez Shahid Leads Main Event as Phil Hellmuth Makes Grand Entrance42 2021 WSOP Day 42: Main Event Whittled to 2,362 Players43 2021 WSOP Day 43: Jessica Cai Leads After Main Event Bubble Bursts44 2021 WSOP Day 44: Ramon Colillas Bags Day 4 Chip Lead in WSOP Main Event45 2021 WSOP Day 45: Aldemir Claims Main Event Chip Lead After Day 546 2021 WSOP Day 46: Park Leads the Final 36 in the Main Event47 2021 WSOP Day 47: Yuval Bronshtein Leads Final Four in $10K Stud Hi-Lo Championship in Hunt for Third Bracelet48 2021 WSOP Day 48: Lisandro Leads Hellmuth After $10,000 Razz Championship Day 149 2021 WSOP Day 49: Hellmuth Hunting for Bracelet #17 as Dzivielevski Leads Final 14 in $10K Razz Championship50 2021 WSOP Day 50: Benny Glaser Hunting for 4th Bracelet with Heads-Up Lead in $10K Razz Championship51 2021 WSOP Day 51: Glaser, Schemion, Cowen and Wheeler Pick Up Bracelets; Mateos Chip Leads in $250K SHR52 2021 WSOP Day 52: Jason Koon Leads $50K High Roller53 2021 WSOP Day 53: Holz In Front In The $100K High Roller54 2021 WSOP Day 54: Michael Addamo Leads Final Five in $100K High Roller

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