Event #42: $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Handed High Roller
Day 2 Completed
2018 World Series of Poker
Event #42: $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Handed High Roller
Day: 2
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2018 World Series of Poker
Buy-in
$25,000
Prize Pool
$5,462,500
Entries
230
Level
31
Blinds
150,000 / 300,000
Ante
0
Ben Yu Leads Remaining 35 Players After Day 2 of $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha
Level 20
: 12,000/24,000, 0 ante
After a nearly 14-hour day, which included just shy of three hours of hand-for-hand play that spanned almost 50 hands, Day 2 of Event #42: $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Handed High Roller is in the books. The bubble burst on the final hand of the night, leaving the remaining 35 players in the money when they return on Day 3.
Leading the way is Ben Yu with 3,695,000. Holding just 200,000 at the dinner break with 50 players remaining, Yu chipped up a bit before scoring two eliminations to up his stack to about 2,000,000. Just 38 players remained at that point, and hand-for-hand play was instituted at that time per the request of most of the players along with some slow action at some of the tables. Yu was among several big stacks who took full advantage of the prolonged bubble and hand-for-hand play, chipping up at will.
Rounding out the top five stacks are Jason Koon (2,540,000), Ryan Tosoc (2,220,000), Shaun Deeb (2,120,000) and Scotty Nguyen (2,010,000).
Registration remained open until two levels into Day 2 action, and that accounted for 38 more entries into the event on Day 2. The aforementioned Tosoc was one of them, and other Day 2 entries that are still in the mix include Erik Seidel (725,000) and Sam Soverel (380,000). In total, there were 181 unique players and 49 re-entries into the event.
Others who will be returning on Day 3 include Jason Mercier (1,905,000), Robert Mizrachi (1,005,000), defending champion James Calderaro (705,000), Mike Leah (660,000), recent bracelet winner Craig Varnell (625,000) and Paul Volpe (370,000).
Speaking of Varnell, he soared to the chip lead just as registration was closing when he eliminated Daniel Negreanu, who began the day third in chips. Others who failed to make the money include Anthony Zinno, Jens Kyllonen, JC Tran, Scott Seiver, Chris Ferguson and Michael Mizrachi.
The plan for Day 3 is for the field to play another 10 levels, which should get them to the final table. The action is expected to kick off furiously right off the bat, as several players have been left extremely short stacked by the prolonged bubble phase. When three tables remain, the action will be live streamed on PokerGO.
As always, the PokerNews live reporting team will be on hand to provide live updates on all of the action. Play resumes at 2 p.m. on Friday, June 22, so be sure to tune in as the quest to crown the next PLO High Roller champion continues.
Day 3 Seat Assignments
| Room | Table | Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon | 429 | 1 | Jeffrey Palarino | United States | 310,000 | 10 |
| Amazon | 429 | 2 | Christopher Santora | United States | 90,000 | 3 |
| Amazon | 429 | 3 | Chase Steely | United States | 145,000 | 5 |
| Amazon | 429 | 4 | Sam Soverel | United States | 380,000 | 13 |
| Amazon | 429 | 5 | Mike Leah | Canada | 660,000 | 22 |
| Amazon | 429 | 7 | Jarred Graham | Australia | 300,000 | 10 |
| Amazon | 429 | 8 | Grazvydas Kontautas | Lithuania | 405,000 | 14 |
| Amazon | 430 | 1 | Ben Yu | United States | 3,695,000 | 123 |
| Amazon | 430 | 2 | Christopher Frank | Germany | 565,000 | 19 |
| Amazon | 430 | 3 | Bogdan Capitan | Romania | 510,000 | 17 |
| Amazon | 430 | 4 | Martin Kozlov | Australia | 375,000 | 13 |
| Amazon | 430 | 5 | Tom Marchese | United States | 440,000 | 15 |
| Amazon | 430 | 7 | Jason Mercier | United States | 1,905,000 | 64 |
| Amazon | 430 | 8 | Dominykas Karmazinas | Lithuania | 120,000 | 4 |
| Amazon | 431 | 1 | Jason Koon | United States | 2,540,000 | 85 |
| Amazon | 431 | 2 | Shaun Deeb | United States | 2,120,000 | 71 |
| Amazon | 431 | 3 | Craig Varnell | United States | 625,000 | 21 |
| Amazon | 431 | 4 | David Benyamine | France | 425,000 | 14 |
| Amazon | 431 | 5 | George Wolff | United States | 535,000 | 18 |
| Amazon | 431 | 7 | Omar Zazay | United States | 415,000 | 14 |
| Amazon | 431 | 8 | Jacob Kalb | United States | 440,000 | 15 |
| Amazon | 439 | 1 | Scotty Nguyen | United States | 2,010,000 | 67 |
| Amazon | 439 | 2 | Robert Mizrachi | United States | 1,005,000 | 34 |
| Amazon | 439 | 3 | Len Ashby | United States | 130,000 | 4 |
| Amazon | 439 | 4 | Adam Owen | United Kingdom | 85,000 | 3 |
| Amazon | 439 | 5 | Erik Seidel | United States | 725,000 | 24 |
| Amazon | 439 | 6 | Luis Velador | Mexico | 1,045,000 | 35 |
| Amazon | 439 | 8 | Paul Volpe | United States | 370,000 | 12 |
| Amazon | 447 | 1 | Jonathan Depa | United States | 1,180,000 | 39 |
| Amazon | 447 | 2 | James Calderaro | United States | 705,000 | 24 |
| Amazon | 447 | 3 | Ryan Tosoc | United States | 2,220,000 | 74 |
| Amazon | 447 | 5 | Veselin Karakitukov | Bulgaria | 205,000 | 7 |
| Amazon | 447 | 6 | Michael Song | United States | 135,000 | 5 |
| Amazon | 447 | 7 | Konstantin Beylin | United States | 900,000 | 30 |
| Amazon | 447 | 8 | David Prociak | United States | 1,020,000 | 34 |
End-of-Day Chip Counts (full)
Level 20
: 12,000/24,000, 0 ante
A recap of today's action is to follow along with the seat assignments for the remaining 35 hopefuls will be published shortly, Day 3 will recommence at 2 p.m. local time.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
3,695,000 | 245,000 |
|
2,540,000 | -260,000 |
|
2,220,000 | 520,000 |
|
2,120,000 | -80,000 |
|
2,010,000 | -40,000 |
|
1,905,000 | 285,000 |
|
1,180,000 | 100,000 |
|
1,045,000 | -280,000 |
|
1,020,000 | 236,000 |
|
1,005,000 | 215,000 |
|
900,000 | -200,000 |
|
725,000 | -25,000 |
|
705,000 | 65,000 |
|
660,000 | |
|
625,000 | -275,000 |
|
565,000 | 50,000 |
|
535,000 | -25,000 |
|
510,000 | 190,000 |
|
440,000 | 50,000 |
|
440,000 | -22,000 |
|
425,000 | -385,000 |
|
415,000 | -255,000 |
|
405,000 | -60,000 |
|
380,000 | -70,000 |
|
375,000 | -25,000 |
Bouloutsos Bubbles; Day 2 Complete
Level 20
: 12,000/24,000, 0 ante
Jason Koon raised to 58,000 from the hijack, Erik Seidel called from the button and Konstantinos Bouloutsos reraised all in for 59,000 total from the big blind.
Koon and Seidel called, then they checked to the turn of a 
board where Seidel isolated with a pot-sized bet.
Seidel showed 
for a queen-high straight, while Bouloutsos showed 
for top two pair with outs to the same straight.
The river was the 
, no help to Bouloutsos, ending his tournament on the money bubble. Meanwhile, Seidel is up to 725,000.
The players are now bagging and tagging for the night.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted |
Wolff Takes From Velador
Level 20
: 12,000/24,000, 0 ante
The stack of George Wolff has taken a toll during the extensive bubble period and the hands he played, he had to give up and essentially lost half of his chips.
Luis Velador just raised to 50,000 on the cutoff and Wolff called from the big blind. On the 
flop both players checked and Wolff check-called a bet of 60,000 on the 
turn. The 
river was checked and Wolff showed 
as the winning hand.
The player that chipped up the most on the hand-for-hand mode has been Ben Yu, who stormed to the top of the leaderboard without too much resistance.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
3,450,000 | 90,000 |
|
|
1,325,000 | -275,000 |
|
|
560,000 | -130,000 |
One For Leah
Level 20
: 12,000/24,000, 0 ante
Jason Koon raised to 84,000 from middle position, Mike Leah called from the hijack and Jason Mercier called from the big blind.
They checked to the river of a 
board where Leah bet 60,000. Only Mercier called.
Leah tabled 
for the nut flush, Mercier mucked and Leah won the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,800,000 | -30,000 |
|
|
1,620,000 | -50,000 |
|
|
660,000 | 156,000 |
Steely Quadruples Up
Level 20
: 12,000/24,000, 0 ante
Down to his last 49,000, Chase Steely moved all in from early position.
"How much is it?" James Calderaro asked and Steely replied "1.2 million." Calderaro called, as did Craig Varnell and Tom Marchese in the big blind. All three remaining players checked down the board of 
. Steely was first to show and turned over the 
.
Calderaro showed the , Varnell flashed 
and Marchese could not burst the bubble with his 
either. Quadruple up for Steely!
Calderaro dropped back to a below-average stack after giving up a big pot without showdown to Ryan Tosoc previously.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,700,000 | 275,000 |
|
|
900,000 | 295,000 |
|
|
640,000 | -760,000 |
|
|
462,000 | -298,000 |
|
208,000 | 143,000 |
Bowker Eliminated by Koon; 36 Players Remain
Level 20
: 12,000/24,000, 0 ante
Jason Koon raised from under the gun and Kyle Bowker called all in from the hijack for 35,000.
Koon showed 
, while Bowker held 
.
The board came down 
, giving Koon a set of fours to eliminate Bowker in 37th place.
The tournament is now officially on the money bubble after about 40 hands of hand-for-hand play.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,830,000 | 280,000 |
|
Busted |
Deeb Takes From Velador
Level 20
: 12,000/24,000, 0 ante
Shaun Deeb raised on the button and Luis Velador came along from the big blind. On the flop, Velador checked and called a bet worth 55,000 by Deeb before the on the turn was checked through. On the 
river, Velador bet 80,000 and Deeb quickly called.
"Two pair," Velador announced and Deeb replied "no good," then motioned for his opponent to turn over his cards.
Velador showed the 
for fives and deuces first, and Deeb asked "what crap did you call me with?" before Velador also revealed the 
. Deeb held 
for a flush and claimed the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,200,000 | 330,000 |
|
|
1,600,000 | -260,000 |
Chip Counts From Table 447
Level 20
: 12,000/24,000, 0 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,050,000 | 300,000 |
|
|
465,000 | -125,000 |
|
|
400,000 | -140,000 |
|
|
390,000 | -180,000 |
|
385,000 | -85,000 |
|
|
320,000 | 25,000 |
|
195,000 | -80,000 |
|
160,000 | -38,000 |