2012 World Series of Poker

Event 18: $2,500 Seven Card Razz
Day: 3
Event Info

2012 World Series of Poker

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
ax4xax2xjx4x10x
Prize
$182,793
Event Info
Buy-in
$2,500
Prize Pool
$702,975
Entries
309
Level Info
Level
28
Limits
50,000 / 100,000
Ante
10,000

Event 18: $2,500 Seven Card Razz

Day 3 Started

Hellmuth is Hunting for Number 12

Can Hellmuth finally win a non-hold'em event?
Can Hellmuth finally win a non-hold'em event?

Brandon Cantu (two WSOP bracelets) and Brendan Taylor (one WSOP bracelet) are atop our chip counts entering Day 3 of Event 18: $2,500 Seven Card Razz, but everyone's eyes are on Phil Hellmuth, who's lurking right behind them.

Two days ago, Hellmuth finished 15th in Event 15: $5,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Low Split 8-or-Better, and rather than go back to the Aria to drink the finest whisky, he hopped into Event 18 along with 309 other hopefuls. Now, only 17 players separate Hellmuth from his record-breaking twelfth bracelet.

Keep in mind, he's never won a non-hold'em event at the WSOP.

Neither of Cantu's two bracelets came in stud variants either, but the way he's running, anything is possible. Going into Level 17 on Day 2, Cantu had 4,000 chips. At the time, that was one small bet or four antes. An hour and a half later, he had well over 100,000, and two hours later, when the day concluded, he was the chip leader. Let's see of Cantu can keep the run going on Day 3.

Cantu, Hellmuth, and Taylor aren't the only bracelet winners left in the field however. Chris Viox (1), Michael Chow (1), Team PokerStars Pro Barry Greenstein (3), Scott Fischman (2), and Scott Clements (2) all have at least one bracelet.

For story lines from this and every event today from the Rio, check out today's "What to Watch For."

The cards will be in the air in the next few minutes, so keep it locked to PokerNews.com for all of your up-to-the-minute updates from this and every event at the 2012 World Series of Poker.

Tags: Brandon CantuBrendan TaylorPhil Hellmuth

Level: 19

Limits: 6,000/12,000

Ante: 1,500

Scott Clements Eliminated in 18th Place ($5,904)

Level 19 : 6,000/12,000, 1,500 ante
Scott Clements (Day 2) - eliminated in 18th place.
Scott Clements (Day 2) - eliminated in 18th place.

Scott Clements was our shortest stack entering the day, and after the first hand of play, he's out.

Scott Fischman: {6-}{3-} / {4-}
Scott Clements: {a-}{2-} / {3-}

Clements started with the best hand possible in Razz, but he was dealt the following cards: {j-}{j-}{a-}, and then another {2-} face down. After every street was dealt, he said the following, "That's not good."

Fischman was dealt {2-}{3-}{q-} and than an {8-} facedown on seventh, which was good enough for the knockout.

Tags: Scott ClementsScott Fischman

Anderson Addicted to Squeezing?

Chris Viox completed with a {4-} up, Calvin Anderson raised with a {7-} up, and the action folded back to Viox who called.

Viox was dealt a {2-} on fourth street, Anderson a {7-}, and all the money went in.

Viox{a-}{8-} / {4-}{2-}
Anderson{6-}{3-} / {7-}{5-}

Viox was dealt a {10-}, {9-}, and another {a-}, while Anderson received a {6-} and {3-}. On seventh, Anderson squeezed his card, and announced that it had no sides. No sides means that it's an ace, deuce, or tre, because those cards only have symbols in the corner and the center of the card. If it was another tre, Anderson would've been eliminated, but it was a deuce, giving him the best hand and the double up.

"That's the first time I've ever squeezed a card," Anderson said after the hand.

"Now you're addicted," Phil Hellmuth returned, grinning.

Player Chips Progress
Chris Viox us
Chris Viox
170,000 -19,000
Calvin Anderson us
Calvin Anderson
WSOP 4X Winner
50,000 22,000

Tags: Calvin AndersonChris VioxPhil Hellmuth

Misteff Takes Some from O'Brien

Brandon Cantu completed with his {3-} only to have Jeff Misteff, who was showing an {a-}, put in a raise. Dan O'Brien came along with a {2-} while Cantu opted to get out of the way. O'Brien proceeded to check-call a bet on the turn, but then check-folded to a bet on fifth street. At that point Misteff showed {3-}{5-} for a made 7-6 low.

O'Brien (x-x) / {2-}{5-}{7-}
Misteff: {3-}{5-} / {A-}{6-}{7-}

Player Chips Progress
Jeff Misteff
Jeff Misteff
167,000 12,000
Dan O'Brien us
Dan O'Brien
34,000 -16,500

Tags: Jeff MisteffDan O'Brien

Chris "Fox" Wallace Eliminated in 17th Place ($5,904)

Chris Wallace - eliminated.
Chris Wallace - eliminated.

Chris "Fox" Wallace: {x-}{x-} / {8-}{9-}{7-}
Phil Hellmuth: {x-}{x-} / {a-}{8-}{7-}

When we reached the table, Wallace and Hellmuth were heads up on fifth street, and after a series of bets and raises, Wallace was all in.

Wallace: {4-}{2-}
Hellmuth: {7-}{5-}

Both players bricked on sixth - Wallace was dealt a {10-}, which didn't improve his hand, and Hellmuth paired his {8-}. On seventh street, as a courtesy, Hellmuth flipped his down card face up. Unfortunately for Wallace, it was a {3-}, giving Hellmuth an eighty-seven low, and the best hand.

Wallace's down card was a {j-}, and he was eliminated from the tournament. Congratulations to Fox, who is the author of a daily blog about the WSOP and other happenings in poker. A 17th-place finish at the WSOP and $5,904 is nothing to scoff at.

Player Chips Progress
Phil Hellmuth us
Phil Hellmuth
WSOP Main Event Champion
WSOP 17X Winner
Poker Hall of Famer
325,000 37,500
Chris Wallace us
Chris Wallace
WSOP 1X Winner
Busted

Tags: Chris WallacePhil Hellmuth

Two Table Redraw

Level 19 : 6,000/12,000, 1,500 ante

Table 447

SeatPlayerChips
1Phil Hellmuth355,000
2Barry Greenstein175,000
3Brendan Taylor212,000
4Calvin Anderson45,000
5Jared Bleznick90,000
6Michael Chow75,000
7Chris Viox101,000
8Gerald Ringe69,000

Table 448

SeatPlayerChips
1Jeff Mervis62,000
2Scott Abrams143,000
3Jeff Misteff136,000
4Dan O’Brien61,000
5Brandon Cantu300,000
6David Rosenau120,000
7Scott Fischman160,000
8Don Zewin213,000

Updated Chip Counts

Player Chips Progress
Phil Hellmuth us
Phil Hellmuth
WSOP Main Event Champion
WSOP 17X Winner
Poker Hall of Famer
355,000 30,000
Brandon Cantu us
Brandon Cantu
WSOP 2X Winner
300,000 1,500
Don Zewin us
Don Zewin
213,000 97,500
Brendan Taylor us
Brendan Taylor
WSOP 1X Winner
212,000 -76,500
Barry Greenstein us
Barry Greenstein
175,000 80,500
Scott Fischman
Scott Fischman
160,000 80,000
Scott Abrams us
Scott Abrams
WSOP 1X Winner
143,000 50,000
Jeff Misteff
Jeff Misteff
136,000 -31,000
David Rosenau
David Rosenau
120,000 -29,000
Chris Viox us
Chris Viox
101,000 -69,000
Jared Bleznick us
Jared Bleznick
90,000 -1,500
Michael Chow us
Michael Chow
WSOP 1X Winner
75,000 -108,000
Gerald Ringe gb
Gerald Ringe
WSOP 1X Winner
69,000 14,500
Jeff Mervis
Jeff Mervis
62,000 -49,500
Dan O'Brien us
Dan O'Brien
61,000 27,000
Calvin Anderson us
Calvin Anderson
WSOP 4X Winner
45,000 -5,000

Taylor Takes a Bite Out of the Pi Master

After the {K-} brought it in, Chris Viox just called with his {3-}. Brendan Taylor then completed, the bring-in folded and Viox came along for the ride. Viox proceeded to check-call a bet on the turn before calling Taylor's bet on fifth. The latter continued to bet on sixth and seventh, with Viox calling both streets.

Taylor: (x-x) / {4-}{8-}{2-}{J-} / (x) ({7-}{6-}{5-})
Viox: (x){2-} / {3-}{8-}{Q-}{A-} / (Ax}

Taylor's 7-6-5-4-2 was good enough to take down the pot and leave Viox with just a stack of 48,000.

Player Chips Progress
Brendan Taylor us
Brendan Taylor
WSOP 1X Winner
260,000 48,000
Chris Viox us
Chris Viox
53,000 -48,000

Tags: Brendan TaylorChris Viox