Event 18: $2,500 Seven Card Razz Day 1 | 2012 World Series of Poker

Event 18: $2,500 Seven Card Razz

Day 1 Completed

06-09-2012 03:20 UTC-6

Vedes Leads Day 1; Greenstein, Hellmuth & Tehan in Hot Pursuit

Chad Holloway

Level 7 : 400/800, 100 ante

On Friday, 309 players turned up for the 2012 World Series of Poker Event #18 $2,500 Seven Card Razz and created a prize pool of $702,975. After eight levels of play, approximately136 players remained with Tommy Vedes and his stack of 44,600 best positioned to make a run at the $182,793 first-place prize.

The numbers were down a bit from last year’s field of 363 players, but the field was no less brilliant, though it was short one man. You see, last year Rep Porter emerged victorious to capture his second gold bracelet and the $210,615 first-place prize, but due to some scheduling conflicts, namely his daughter’s ballet recital, Porter opted to forgo a possible title defense. Talk about a man who has his priorities straight.

Porter’s absence meant there would be a new Razz champion, though a few players were looking to capture a razz bracelet for a second time. Jeff Lisandro, Barry Greenstein, Frank Kassela, Linda Johnson, and Ted Forrest have all won razz events in the past at the WSOP, and all were in action on Day 1. Unfortunately, Kassela was essentially blinded off as he was busy competing in Event #16 $1,500 NLHE Six-Handed (he finished in 15th place for $17,323) while Lisandro never seemed to get anything going. They were both eliminated late in the evening. Greenstein, Johnson, and Forrest have moved on to Day 2.

Unfortunately not everyone was so lucky. Dozens of players hit the rail on Day 1 such as Daniel Negreanu, Dan Shak, Richard Ashby, Annie Duke, Jason Mercier, Chris Tryba, Chris Bjorin, Huck Seed, Nacho Barbero and Phil Ivey.
Of course where some failed to survive, other thrived. Jared Bleznick (13,600), Greg Raymer (18,300), Berry Johnston (21,400), Ted Forrest (25,600), Phil Hellmuth (31,500), Joe Tehan (39,500), Tom McEvoy (39,700) and Kami Chisholm (43,500) were among the players who punched their tickets to Day 2.

Notable End of Day 1 Chip Counts

Player	Chips
Tommy Vedes	44600
Kami Chisholm	43500
Bryan Micon	41500
Tom McEvoy	39700
Joe Tehan	39500
Larry Wright	34700
Firsau Vasili	34200
Phil Hellmuth	31500
Allen Bari	26900
Ted Forrest	25600

Who will be the next to add their name to the list of Razz Champions?

$2,500 Seven Card Razz Champions

Year	Player	Entrants	Prize
2012	???	309	$182,793
2011	Rep Porter	363	$210,615
2010	Frank Kassela	365	$214,085
2009	Jeff Lisandro	315	$188,390
2008*	Barry Greenstein	453	$157,643
2007*	Katja Thater	341	$132,653
2006*	James Richberg	409	$139,576
2005*	O’Neil Longson	291	$125,690

*Featured $1,500 buy-in.

Day 2 is set to kick off at 2 PM PST, so join us then as we’ll bring you all the latest hands, eliminations and action from Event 18: $2,500 Seven Card Razz.

Tags: Tommy Vedes

06-09-2012 03:15 UTC-6

Notable End of Day 1 Chip Counts

Chad Holloway

Player	Chips	Progress
Tommy Vedes	44,600	29,600
Kami Chisholm	43,500	3,500
Bryan Micon	41,500	20,500
Tom McEvoy	39,700	4,700
Joe Tehan	39,500	9,500
Bill Chen	36,500	500
Larry Wright	34,700
Firsau Vasili	34,200
Phil Hellmuth	31,500	24,000
Allen Bari	26,900	17,900
Ted Forrest	25,600	18,100
Brett Richey	23,600	14,600
Yarron Bendor	21,600	-4,400
Berry Johnston	21,400	14,400
Barry Greenstein	20,900	13,400
Kevin Calenzo	18,400
Jennifer Harman	18,400	8,400
Greg Raymer	18,300	10,800
Dan O'Brien	18,100	4,100
Andy Bloch	17,500	2,500
David Singer	15,800	-2,200
Scott Clements	15,800	1,800
Ylon Schwartz	15,300	-4,700
Jared Bleznick	13,600	600
Linda Johnson	12,900	5,400

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06-09-2012 03:03 UTC-6

Bag & Tag

Chad Holloway

Level 7 : 400/800, 100 ante

Players are now bagging their chips. We're out to get counts, so stay tuned for those and a full recap of the Day 1 action.

06-09-2012 03:02 UTC-6

A Wheel Ends Stern's Night

Chad Holloway

After committing much of his stack drawing to a wheel on seventh and missing, Max Stern was left with just 1,000. Not long after he got it in on the turn and was in big trouble.

Stern: {6-} {4-} / {7-} {7-} {3-} {8-} / {Q-}
Opponent: {3-} {5-} / {2-} {A-} {6-} {4-} / {K-}

Stern wished his opponents good luck and made his exit just shy of Day 2.

Player	Chips	Progress
Max Stern	Busted

Tags: Max Stern

06-09-2012 02:46 UTC-6

Seed Planted

Chad Holloway

We didn't catch the action, but we do know that 1996 World Series of Poker Main Event champ Huck Seed was eliminated after his 9-8-5-4-A failed to overcome his opponent's 8-5-4-3-2.

Meanwhile, Dario Alioto has also been eliminated from the tournament.

Player	Chips	Progress
Dario Alioto	Busted
Huck Seed	Busted

Tags: Huck Seed

06-09-2012 02:36 UTC-6

Hortin Gone

Chad Holloway

DylanHortin Dylan Hortin Fought in razz but busted getting it in hu 345 v 345, made a 75 on 6th v his 3456xx and he hits 2 on 7th, 1500 tomorrow June 09 2012

Player	Chips	Progress
Dylan Hortin	Busted

Tags: Dylan Hortin

06-09-2012 02:35 UTC-6

Lisandro Denied

Chad Holloway

We didn't catch the hand, but we do know that Jeff Lisandro has been eliminated from the tournament. Lisandro won this event back in 2009 enroute to becoming the World Series of Poker Player of the Year, but a second title in four years is not in the cards. That means Barry Greenstein is the only former champ remaining in the field, though he is somewhat short at the moment.