Beylin Leads After Day 1; Negreanu, Kornuth and Mizrachi Among Big Stacks in the $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller
One of the highlights of the 2018 World Series of Poker, Event #42: $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Handed High Roller, has wrapped up the first day with 101 players out of a 192-entry strong field bagging up after ten levels of one hour each. Some of the biggest names on the international poker circuit took a shot at glory at the Rio All-Suites Hotel & Casino and it was Konstantin Beylin that ended on top of the counts with a stack of 617,500.
Beylin is no stranger to the WSOP, with seven cashes and three further cashes at WSOP Circuit events for just over $100k in prize money, His biggest payday was on this very event one year ago where he finished in 24th place and received $42,393 for his efforts.
Veselin Karakitukov is familiar with running deep in this event as well. At the 2016 WSOP, Karakitukov ended up in 5th place for a career-best score of $252,909. The Bulgarian bagged up the second-biggest stack with 549,500. Karakitukov's rise to the top of the leaderboard began very early when he was involved in a three-way all in with Ryan D'Angelo and Jason Mercier. Karakitukov had flopped top set against the nut straight of his two opponents, and the river paired the board to ensure the triple up for the Bulgarian.
The $25,000 price tag brought out some of the very best in the world, and plenty of notables made it through to Day 2. Following Beylin and Karakitukov was poker superstar Daniel Negreanu (532,000), Aaron Katz (525,000), George Wolff (504,500), David Len Ashby (498,500) and Scotsman Fraser MacIntyre (482,000). Negreanu was among those to bust on the first attempt, re-enter and successfully run up a big stack in the last level of the night.
Chance Kornuth (473,500), Robert Mizrachi (453,000), 2017 fourth place finisher Artem Babakhanyan (436,000), Chris "BigHuni" Hunichen (374,000), Scotty Nguyen (347,500), Jason Koon (325,000), Brian Rast (312,500), Paul Volpe (258,500), defending champion James Calderaro (234,500) and PLO serial crusher Tommy Le (230,000) all bagged solid stacks as well.
Among those to bust throughout the ten levels on Day 1 were Iraj Parvizi, Ben Lamb, Yuki Ko, Jonathan Abdellatif, Bryn Kenney, Esther Taylor, Farid Jattin, Keith Lehr, Jesper Hougaard, Jussi Nevanlinna, Jan-Peter Jachtmann, Michael Mizrachi, Richard Gryko and Anthony Zinno. Parvizi ran his second bullet up to more than half a million in chips before ending up on the rail not even an hour later on a table that featured Wolff, Jacob Kalb and Eric Berger.
Two dozen players re-entered and that number is guaranteed to grow, as the registration remains open for another two levels on Day 2. Michael Mizrachi is among those expected to take another shot at the coveted gold bracelet after coming fresh off winning an unprecedented third title in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship. Mizrachi was ousted by Dominykas Karmazinas when he got it in with aces and a straight draw on a ten-high flop, Karmazinas had two pair and ended up with a full house after the turn and river came running sevens.
Day 2 will recommence at 2 p.m. local time with level 11 and blinds of 1,500/3,000, the prize pool information will be released once the registration has closed at the start of level 13. Make sure to tune back in to find out who will remain in contention for the $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller title.
Day 2 Seat Draw
| Room | Table | Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon | 427 | 1 | Martin Kozlov | Australia | 112,000 | 37 |
| Amazon | 427 | 2 | Eric Berger | United States | 394,500 | 132 |
| Amazon | 427 | 4 | Omar Zazay | United States | 360,500 | 120 |
| Amazon | 427 | 5 | Kilian Loeffler | United States | 229,000 | 76 |
| Amazon | 427 | 7 | Christopher Meyers | United States | 159,500 | 53 |
| Amazon | 427 | 8 | Fraser MacIntyre | United Kingdom | 482,000 | 161 |
| Amazon | 428 | 1 | Kory Kilpatrick | United States | 128,000 | 43 |
| Amazon | 428 | 2 | Scotty Nguyen | United States | 347,500 | 116 |
| Amazon | 428 | 3 | David Benyamine | United States | 139,500 | 47 |
| Amazon | 428 | 4 | Mandy Calara | United States | 132,500 | 44 |
| Amazon | 428 | 5 | James Calderaro | United States | 234,500 | 78 |
| Amazon | 428 | 6 | Xuedong Li | China | 311,000 | 104 |
| Amazon | 428 | 7 | Brian Alioa | United States | 194,000 | 65 |
| Amazon | 429 | 1 | Aaron Katz | United States | 525,000 | 175 |
| Amazon | 429 | 2 | Joshua Ladines | United States | 90,000 | 30 |
| Amazon | 429 | 3 | Edward Han | United States | 453,500 | 151 |
| Amazon | 429 | 4 | Jarred Graham | Australia | 217,500 | 73 |
| Amazon | 429 | 5 | Sam Soverel | United States | 145,000 | 48 |
| Amazon | 429 | 6 | Brant Hale | United States | 265,000 | 88 |
| Amazon | 429 | 7 | David Prociak | United States | 252,500 | 84 |
| Amazon | 430 | 1 | Daniel Negreanu | Canada | 532,000 | 177 |
| Amazon | 430 | 3 | Robert Mizrachi | United States | 453,000 | 151 |
| Amazon | 430 | 4 | Gavin Cochrane | United Kingdom | 180,000 | 60 |
| Amazon | 430 | 5 | Sylvain Loosli | France | 51,000 | 17 |
| Amazon | 430 | 6 | Andjelko Andrejevic | United States | 42,500 | 14 |
| Amazon | 430 | 7 | Craig Varnell | United States | 479,500 | 160 |
| Amazon | 430 | 8 | Brian Rast | United States | 317,500 | 106 |
| Amazon | 431 | 2 | John Riordan | United States | 416,000 | 139 |
| Amazon | 431 | 3 | Jason Mercier | United States | 78,500 | 26 |
| Amazon | 431 | 4 | Veselin Karakitukov | Bulgaria | 549,500 | 183 |
| Amazon | 431 | 5 | Philip Ward | United Kingdom | 256,500 | 86 |
| Amazon | 431 | 6 | Nicholas Petitti | United States | 80,500 | 27 |
| Amazon | 431 | 7 | Max Kruse | Germany | 145,000 | 48 |
| Amazon | 435 | 1 | Toan Trinh | United States | 81,500 | 27 |
| Amazon | 435 | 2 | Naman Madan | India | 272,500 | 91 |
| Amazon | 435 | 3 | Jesse Chinni | United States | 240,000 | 80 |
| Amazon | 435 | 5 | David Wang | Australia | 266,000 | 89 |
| Amazon | 435 | 6 | Chance Kornuth | United States | 473,500 | 158 |
| Amazon | 435 | 7 | Aleksandr Gofman | Russia | 74,000 | 25 |
| Amazon | 435 | 8 | Jonathan Depa | United States | 143,500 | 48 |
| Amazon | 436 | 1 | Jeffrey Palarino | United States | 216,000 | 72 |
| Amazon | 436 | 2 | Bryce Yockey | United States | 43,000 | 14 |
| Amazon | 436 | 3 | Mark Davidoff | United States | 142,500 | 48 |
| Amazon | 436 | 4 | Justin Bonomo | United States | 87,500 | 29 |
| Amazon | 436 | 6 | James Park | United Kingdom | 201,000 | 67 |
| Amazon | 436 | 7 | Artem Babakhanyan | Russia | 436,000 | 145 |
| Amazon | 436 | 8 | Kyle Bowker | United States | 246,500 | 82 |
| Amazon | 437 | 1 | Andrew Ige | United States | 158,500 | 53 |
| Amazon | 437 | 2 | Tobias Ziegler | Germany | 103,000 | 34 |
| Amazon | 437 | 3 | Yuta Sakamaki | Japan | 295,000 | 98 |
| Amazon | 437 | 5 | Richard Tuhrim | United States | 105,000 | 35 |
| Amazon | 437 | 6 | Mike Gorodinsky | United States | 234,000 | 78 |
| Amazon | 437 | 7 | Hokyiu Lee | Hong Kong | 179,500 | 60 |
| Amazon | 437 | 8 | Noah Schwartz | United States | 114,500 | 38 |
| Amazon | 438 | 1 | George Wolff | United States | 504,500 | 168 |
| Amazon | 438 | 2 | Michael Kamran | United States | 102,000 | 34 |
| Amazon | 438 | 3 | Tom Hu | United States | 270,000 | 90 |
| Amazon | 438 | 4 | Christopher Santora | United States | 212,000 | 71 |
| Amazon | 438 | 5 | Luis Velador | United States | 386,500 | 129 |
| Amazon | 438 | 6 | Dominykas Karmazinas | Lithuania | 303,000 | 101 |
| Amazon | 438 | 8 | Ben Yu | United States | 84,000 | 28 |
| Amazon | 439 | 1 | Konstantin Beylin | United States | 617,500 | 206 |
| Amazon | 439 | 2 | Tommy Le | United States | 230,000 | 77 |
| Amazon | 439 | 3 | Yevgeniy Timoshenko | United States | 113,000 | 38 |
| Amazon | 439 | 5 | Joao Simao | Brazil | 204,000 | 68 |
| Amazon | 439 | 6 | Eddie Ochana | United States | 300,500 | 100 |
| Amazon | 439 | 7 | Ognjen Sekularac | Serbia | 337,500 | 113 |
| Amazon | 443 | 1 | Christian Harder | United States | 207,000 | 69 |
| Amazon | 443 | 2 | Scott Eskenazi | United States | 268,000 | 89 |
| Amazon | 443 | 3 | Peter Hernandez | United States | 187,000 | 62 |
| Amazon | 443 | 4 | JC Tran | United States | 230,000 | 77 |
| Amazon | 443 | 5 | Tom Marchese | United States | 80,000 | 27 |
| Amazon | 443 | 7 | Andriy Lyubovetskiy | Ukraine | 103,000 | 34 |
| Amazon | 443 | 8 | Daniel Merrilees | United Kingdom | 145,000 | 48 |
| Amazon | 444 | 1 | Phil Galfond | United States | 288,500 | 96 |
| Amazon | 444 | 3 | Frank Parisi | United States | 243,500 | 81 |
| Amazon | 444 | 4 | Chase Steely | United States | 145,000 | 48 |
| Amazon | 444 | 5 | Christopher Frank | Germany | 206,000 | 69 |
| Amazon | 444 | 6 | Josh Arieh | United States | 154,000 | 51 |
| Amazon | 444 | 8 | Tom Midena | United States | 183,500 | 61 |
| Amazon | 445 | 1 | Mike Leah | Canada | 133,000 | 44 |
| Amazon | 445 | 2 | Sean Winter | United States | 247,500 | 83 |
| Amazon | 445 | 3 | Jason Koon | United States | 325,000 | 108 |
| Amazon | 445 | 5 | Sam Stein | United States | 305,500 | 102 |
| Amazon | 445 | 6 | Xinyan Zhou | United States | 113,000 | 38 |
| Amazon | 445 | 7 | Tong Li | China | 142,500 | 48 |
| Amazon | 445 | 8 | Ralph Perry | United States | 71,500 | 24 |
| Amazon | 446 | 1 | Adam Owen | United Kingdom | 440,000 | 147 |
| Amazon | 446 | 3 | Connor Drinan | United States | 142,000 | 47 |
| Amazon | 446 | 4 | David Len Ashby | United States | 498,500 | 166 |
| Amazon | 446 | 5 | Jake Schindler | United States | 117,000 | 39 |
| Amazon | 446 | 6 | John Beauprez | United States | 66,000 | 22 |
| Amazon | 446 | 7 | Cary Katz | United States | 99,500 | 33 |
| Amazon | 447 | 1 | Chris Hunichen | United States | 374,000 | 125 |
| Amazon | 447 | 2 | Paul Volpe | United States | 258,500 | 86 |
| Amazon | 447 | 3 | Grazvydas Kontautas | Lithuania | 332,000 | 111 |
| Amazon | 447 | 4 | Jacob Kalb | United States | 439,500 | 147 |
| Amazon | 447 | 5 | Michael Song | United States | 83,000 | 28 |
| Amazon | 447 | 6 | Majid Yahyaei | United States | 97,000 | 32 |
| Amazon | 447 | 7 | Bogdan Capitan | Romania | 496,000 | 165 |
| Amazon | 447 | 8 | Ben Tollerene | United States | 295,500 | 99 |
, Ognjen Sekularac bet, Artem Babakhanyan moved all-in for 188,100, and Sekularac called to put Babakhanyan at risk.
which further improved Babakhanyan's hand by giving him Broadway, so he took the pot for a huge double-up.
and Kruk checked. Leah bet 6,000, Kruk check-raised to 29,000, Leah shoved, and Kruk called to put himself at risk.
on the turn was no help to either player but the 
river filled Kruk's wrap, giving him Broadway to take the pot for the double-up.
, Mizrachi instantly moved all in and Karmazinas called in a heartbeat.
turn, Mizrachi improved to a straight, yet the 
on the river gave Karmazinas a full house. Mizrachi was eliminated on his first bullet and will surely be back in action soon again, as the tournament features a single re-entry option.
, Peter Hernandez checked from the small blind and Anthony Zinno bet 3,000 from the button. Hernandez called.
and Hernandez checked. Zinno bet 11,500, Hernandez check-raised to 38,000, and Zinno called.
was on the table when we arrived. Defending champion James Calderaro bet 7,000 from under the gun and William Huntress called from the hijack.
and Calderaro checked. Huntress bet 12,000 and Calderaro called. 
and his set of fours was good enough to win the pot.
fell on the turn and Varnell checked. Tollerene bet 15,000 and Varnell called.
for kings up and a busted flush draw, while Wang had the 
when we got to the table. Sean Winter, one of the recent late entries, had checked from the big blind and Ben Tollerene bet from the button. Winter check-raised pot to 59,850, Tollerene jammed, and Winter called to put himself at risk.