2018 World Series of Poker

Event #75: $1,500 The Closer No-Limit Hold'em (30 minute levels) - $1 Million Guarantee
Day: 1c
Event Info

2018 World Series of Poker

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
1010
Prize
$612,886
Event Info
Buy-in
$1,500
Entries
3,120
Level Info
Level
39
Blinds
300,000 / 600,000
Ante
100,000

Event #75: $1,500 The Closer No-Limit Hold'em (30 minute levels) - $1 Million Guarantee

Day 1c Completed

Deeb and Hennigan Keep Chasing POY, Kessler Tops Day 1c

Level 18 : 2,500/5,000, 500 ante
Allen Kessler
Allen Kessler

The tables in the Pavilion room have already been folded and removed but the Brasilia room has seen one final buzz this summer as the 2018 World Series of Poker is about to wrap up. It will be in big style with the stellar $1 million event coming up next, but the closing ceremony for the low- and mid-stakes is also providing a fascinating finish to the seven-week festival as the inaugural $1,500 The Closer attracted an overwhelming 3,120 entries.

Over half of those came on Day 1c, filling Brasilia and even the Purple section of Amazon room as the final flight brought a total of 1,671 starting stacks to the table. Many of the players fired multiple shells with unlimited reentries allowed. The total prize pool surpassed $4.2 million and the champion is guaranteed to walk away with a huge chunk of money.

There's little doubt that many players have treated the tournament as their final chance to rescue a summer full of bricks, but this surely doesn't apply for Shaun Deeb and John Hennigan who have both had excellent summer campaigns. They're neck-and-neck in the Player of the Year race and neither of them seems to be willing to give up.

Deeb and Hennigan will both be back for Day 2 as they bagged advancing stacks. Just hours after winning his second bracelet of the summer, Deeb returned to the felt and secured his 16th cash. He finished with 106,000 and rushed away to join Tony Miles' rail in the heads-up of the Main Event.

"Johnny World" will have a slight advantage tomorrow as he bagged 149,000. A new member of the Poker Hall of Fame, Hennigan continues showing his prowess. While he's mostly crushing the mixed games, having won five bracelets in those, he seems to be comfortable in the vanilla discipline as well.

John Hennigan
John Hennigan
Shaun Deeb
Shaun Deeb

Deeb's and Hennigan's respective runs have been the storylines of this year's series, but there's one player who stole some of Deeb's attention yesterday. While Deeb was taking down the $10K NLH 6-Max Championship, a Twitter exchange brew between Allen Kessler and Cliff Josephy about their appearance on the same table in a $3K H.O.R.S.E. event.

Both Kessler and Josephy took to the felt in The Closer today and Kessler finished much happier. Not only did he find a bag, but he also filled it with the largest amount among all 181 survivors. Kessler managed to climb to 576,000 to secure the third place overall. As he told PokerNews after bagging, his biggest surge came after the last break. He had about 150,000 when he called three barrels with king-jack, having flopped a jack and turned king. Then he knocked out an opponent with aces over queens and a couple more pots saw him rise all the way to the top.

Kessler is yet to win a bracelet but the final day will welcome tons of players who have already triumphed at the WSOP. Some of those emerged from Day 1c as the likes of Joe Cada, Rep Porter, Mohsin Charania, Chris Moorman, Brandon Shack-Harris, Loni Harwood, and others will be in action again.

But the most decorated player of all-time, 15-time champion Phil Hellmuth won't be coming back for Day 2. Hellmuth fell just short of cashing. He returned from the last break to just 6,500 at 2,000/4,000/500 and posted a small blind. The action got folded to him and Hellmuth limp-called with queen-four suited only to see the player in the big blind peel aces. Hellmuth couldn't deliver a bad beat and departed about 15 places away from the money.

While Hellmuth won't be in the field, there are dozens of star players still chasing the title so make sure to come back to PokerNews Sunday, July 15 at 12 p.m. local time to see how the final day unfolds.

Tags: Allen KesslerCliff JosephyJoe CadaJohn HenniganLoni HarwoodMohsin CharaniaPhil HellmuthShaun Deeb

End-of-Day Chip Counts (full)

Level 18 : 2,500/5,000, 500 ante
Player Chips Progress
Allen Kessler us
Allen Kessler
576,000 -14,000
Jonathan Tamayo us
Jonathan Tamayo
514,000
Bob Shao us
Bob Shao
508,000 -12,000
Evan Schwartz us
Evan Schwartz
370,000 370,000
Gianluca Speranza it
Gianluca Speranza
363,000 143,000
Rep Porter us
Rep Porter
WSOP 3X Winner
359,000 189,000
Andrew Brokos us
Andrew Brokos
336,000 136,000
Aditya Agarwal in
Aditya Agarwal
332,000 102,000
Will Givens us
Will Givens
WSOP 1X Winner
302,000 -68,000
Jonathan Abdellatif be
Jonathan Abdellatif
246,000 -4,000
Martin Finger de
Martin Finger
WSOP 1X Winner
237,000 226,800
Bryan Piccioli us
Bryan Piccioli
WSOP 2X Winner
196,000 -134,000
Tobias Ziegler de
Tobias Ziegler
192,000 79,000
Jonas Lauck de
Jonas Lauck
WSOP 2X Winner
188,000 163,300
Farhintaj Bonyadi us
Farhintaj Bonyadi
WSOP 1X Winner
188,000 45,000
Joe Cada us
Joe Cada
WSOP Main Event Champion
WSOP 4X Winner
183,000 23,000
Niall Farrell gb
Niall Farrell
WSOP 1X Winner
183,000 63,000
Loni Harwood us
Loni Harwood
WSOP 2X Winner
172,000 172,000
Terry Schumacher be
Terry Schumacher
168,000 8,000
Mohsin Charania us
Mohsin Charania
WSOP 1X Winner
157,000 157,000
John Hennigan us
John Hennigan
WSOP 6X Winner
Poker Hall of Famer
149,000 36,000
Brandon Shack-Harris us
Brandon Shack-Harris
WSOP 2X Winner
140,000 126,500
Chris Moorman gb
Chris Moorman
WSOP 1X Winner
139,000 101,000
Ben Keeline us
Ben Keeline
137,000 79,000
Nacho Barbero ar
Nacho Barbero
WSOP 1X Winner
128,000 95,000

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Cada Fires Three Shells

Level 18 : 2,500/5,000, 500 ante

From under the gun, Joe Cada triple barrelled the board of {K-Clubs}{Q-Diamonds}{J-Diamonds}{K-Diamonds}{6-Spades}. His opponent in the hijack called 12,000 on the flop and 22,000 on the turn. Then he contemplated a decision for his tournament life, having around 40,000 behind. Cada had him covered by 30,000 or so and he eventually took down the pot without showing as his rival folded.

Player Chips Progress
Joe Cada us
Joe Cada
WSOP Main Event Champion
WSOP 4X Winner
160,000 -18,500

Tags: Joe Cada

Kessler Cruising

Level 18 : 2,500/5,000, 500 ante
Allen Kessler earlier this summer
Allen Kessler earlier this summer

Steve Foutty got his stack in for about 80,000 preflop against Allen Kessler, the current apparent chip leader.

Steve Foutty: {10-Hearts}{8-Clubs}
Allen Kessler: {A-Hearts}{J-Hearts}

Kessler had the advantage and Foutty needed help from the deck to survive. The board ran out {K-Diamonds}{3-Diamonds}{2-Hearts}{K-Spades}{9-Clubs} and Kessler took the pot to send Foutty to the payout desk.

Player Chips Progress
Allen Kessler us
Allen Kessler
590,000 105,000
Steve Foutty us
Steve Foutty
Busted

Tags: Allen Kessler

Dawley Downed by Ferguson

Level 18 : 2,500/5,000, 500 ante
Jessica Dawley
Jessica Dawley

Chris Ferguson raised from the cutoff and Jessica Dawley called for the 18,500 she had in front of her from the small blind.

Jessica Dawley: {A-Diamonds}{10-Hearts}
Chris Ferguson: {A-Hearts}{8-Spades}

The board ran out {2-Hearts}{k-Hearts}{3-Diamonds}{8-Clubs}{6-Spades} for Ferguson to hit an eight on the turn to eliminate Dawley, the 2018 WSOP Ladies Event Champion.

Player Chips Progress
Chris Ferguson us
Chris Ferguson
WSOP 6X Winner
117,500 61,500
Jessica Dawley us
Jessica Dawley
WSOP 1X Winner
Busted

Tags: Chris FergusonJessica Dawley

Agarwal Dusts One

Level 18 : 2,500/5,000, 500 ante

Aditya Agarwal was in the small blind, acting after the player on the button moved all in for just over 100,000. Agarwal had him covered by a few big blinds and reshoved. He found himself ahead with {A-Clubs}{8-Spades} against {A-Spades}{7-Clubs} and the board of {5-Diamonds}{10-Diamonds}{6-Diamonds}{3-Clubs}{K-Clubs} locked it for him.

Player Chips Progress
Aditya Agarwal in
Aditya Agarwal
230,000 205,000

Tags: Aditya Agarwal

Elezra Out

Level 18 : 2,500/5,000, 500 ante
Eli Elezra earlier this summer
Eli Elezra earlier this summer

According to the table, Eli Elezra got his stack in on a board of {K-Spades}{4-Spades}{3-Diamonds}{Q-Spades} against a single opponent who had him covered. Elezra showed {10-Spades}{9-Spades} but found himself drawing dead against his opponent's {A-Spades}{J-Spades}. The river was irrelevant and Elezra made his exit.

Player Chips Progress
Eli Elezra il
Eli Elezra
WSOP 5X Winner
Poker Hall of Famer
Busted

Tags: Eli Elezra