Event #81: $1,500 50th Annual Bracelet Winners Only No-Limit Hold'em
Day 1 Completed
2019 World Series of Poker
Event #81: $1,500 50th Annual Bracelet Winners Only No-Limit Hold'em
Day: 1
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2019 World Series of Poker
Buy-in
$1,500
Prize Pool
$277,500
Entries
185
Level
26
Blinds
40,000 / 80,000
Ante
80,000
Nikita Luther Storms Through Day 1 of Bracelet Winners Event
Level 10
: 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
The opening day of the $1,500 Bracelet Winners Only No-Limit Hold'em Event drew a field of 143 players. With the tournament dedicated to those who have already been decorated at the World Series of Poker, the lineup was guaranteed to feature some of the sharpest players across decades and game varieties.
Among those who entered the contest were about two dozen female players, and one of them took the spotlight as Nikita Luther dominated the first day, presenting herself with a fiercely aggressive approach. Luther finished the day with an outstanding 538,500, leading the 51 survivors into the next stage.
Luther wasn't scared to put her chips in the middle. She was seen jamming on her opponents left and right, and it looked to be a race between her, Michael Gagliano (354,000) and Yuval Bronshtein (277,000) for the pole position.
But Luther seized the outright lead when she prevailed in a gigantic preflop confrontation which saw her six-bet shove with kings and hold against ace-king. Luther was able to add a further 60 big blinds to her stack thereafter, mainly thanks to dragging a hefty pot in a hand against Scott Bohlman.
Gagliano arrived early and he quickly extended his stack, staying near the top of the chip counts for the rest of the day. Chris Ferguson opted for a different strategy, hopping into the tournament only for the final stretch of today's play. Still, Ferguson was able to spin his stack up to 224,500.
Along with Ferguson, another former Main Event champion thrived on Day 1; Joe Cada, who had a tough start to the tournament, but it's the strong finish that counts. Cada proved that he's still one of the best no-limit players in the world. He vaulted to 195,000, mostly thanks to a successful bluff-catch with ace-high in an inflated pot against Perry Friedman.
Day 2 starts on Thursday, July 11, at 2 p.m. local time and the late registration remains open until then. It is likely that the field will be increased by some last-minute entrants, with the 50,000-starting stack worth 20 big blinds as the play resumes at 1,000/2,500/2,500.
PokerNews will be again on the ground to provide live updates from the encounters of the decorated field, so come back then for the coverage.
Seat Draw Day 2 Event #81: $1,500 50th Annual Bracelet Winners Only No-Limit Hold'em
Level 10
: 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
| Room | Table | Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon | 412 | 1 | Giuseppe Pantaleo | Germany | 22,000 | 9 |
| Amazon | 412 | 2 | William Kakon | Marocco | 105,000 | 42 |
| Amazon | 412 | 5 | Thom Werthmann | United States | 103,500 | 41 |
| Amazon | 412 | 6 | Philip Tom | United States | 117,500 | 47 |
| Amazon | 412 | 7 | Nikita Luther | India | 538,500 | 215 |
| Amazon | 412 | 8 | Robert Slezak | United States | 101,000 | 40 |
| Amazon | 413 | 2 | Chris Ferguson | United States | 224,500 | 90 |
| Amazon | 413 | 5 | Tyler Groth | United States | 82,000 | 33 |
| Amazon | 413 | 6 | Kevin Gerhart | United States | 165,500 | 66 |
| Amazon | 413 | 7 | Yuval Bronshtein | Israel | 277,000 | 111 |
| Amazon | 413 | 8 | Anson Tsang | Hong Kong | 103,500 | 41 |
| Amazon | 413 | 9 | Joseph Di Rosa | Venezuela | 170,000 | 68 |
| Amazon | 414 | 1 | Sean Getzwiller | United States | 94,000 | 38 |
| Amazon | 414 | 2 | Blair Hinkle | United States | 259,000 | 104 |
| Amazon | 414 | 3 | Ben Ponzio | United States | 224,000 | 90 |
| Amazon | 414 | 4 | Thomas Cazayous | France | 128,000 | 51 |
| Amazon | 414 | 8 | Smith Sirisakorn | United States | 190,000 | 76 |
| Amazon | 414 | 9 | Marcel Vonk | Netherlands | 118,500 | 47 |
| Amazon | 420 | 2 | Christopher Vitch | United States | 121,500 | 49 |
| Amazon | 420 | 3 | James Mackey | United States | 220,000 | 88 |
| Amazon | 420 | 5 | Michael Gagliano | United States | 354,000 | 142 |
| Amazon | 420 | 6 | Courtney Kennedy | United States | 67,500 | 27 |
| Amazon | 420 | 9 | Martin Finger | Austria | 84,500 | 34 |
| Amazon | 421 | 1 | Humberto Brenes | Costa Rica | 112,000 | 45 |
| Amazon | 421 | 3 | Christian Pham | Vietnam | 141,000 | 56 |
| Amazon | 421 | 6 | Jiyoung Kim | South Korea | 72,500 | 29 |
| Amazon | 421 | 8 | Andreas Klatt | Germany | 76,500 | 31 |
| Amazon | 421 | 9 | Ray Foley | United States | 87,000 | 35 |
| Amazon | 422 | 1 | Kirk Caldwell | Canada | 161,500 | 65 |
| Amazon | 422 | 3 | Jeremy Wien | United States | 144,500 | 58 |
| Amazon | 422 | 4 | Liv Boeree | United Kingdom | 61,500 | 25 |
| Amazon | 422 | 5 | Haixia Zhang | United States | 264,500 | 106 |
| Amazon | 422 | 7 | Loni Harwood | United States | 153,500 | 61 |
| Amazon | 428 | 3 | Michael Gathy | Belgium | 36,000 | 14 |
| Amazon | 428 | 4 | Shankar Pillai | United States | 242,000 | 97 |
| Amazon | 428 | 5 | Joshua Tieman | United States | 183,000 | 73 |
| Amazon | 428 | 7 | Joe Cada | United States | 195,000 | 78 |
| Amazon | 428 | 8 | Martin Kabrhel | Czech Republic | 77,500 | 31 |
| Amazon | 428 | 9 | Fred Berger | United States | 204,500 | 82 |
| Amazon | 429 | 1 | Brian Wilson | United States | 69,500 | 28 |
| Amazon | 429 | 2 | Scott Bohlman | United States | 177,500 | 71 |
| Amazon | 429 | 3 | Steve Gross | United States | 92,000 | 37 |
| Amazon | 429 | 6 | Michael Cordell | United States | 113,500 | 45 |
| Amazon | 429 | 8 | Alexander Ziskin | United States | 67,000 | 27 |
| Amazon | 429 | 9 | Anatolii Zyrin | Russia | 136,000 | 54 |
| Amazon | 430 | 1 | Tommy Nguyen | Canada | 131,000 | 52 |
| Amazon | 430 | 2 | Perry Friedman | United States | 31,000 | 12 |
| Amazon | 430 | 3 | Ylon Schwartz | United States | 48,600 | 19 |
| Amazon | 430 | 6 | Tony Ma | United States | 26,000 | 10 |
| Amazon | 430 | 8 | Brett Apter | United States | 49,000 | 20 |
| Amazon | 430 | 9 | Angel Guillen | Mexico | 157,500 | 63 |
End-of-Day Chip Counts (full)
Level 10
: 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
538,500 | 36,500 |
|
354,000 | 79,000 |
|
277,000 | -28,000 |
|
264,500 | 264,500 |
|
259,000 | 106,000 |
|
242,000 | 74,000 |
|
224,500 | 130,500 |
|
224,000 | 118,000 |
|
220,000 | 127,000 |
|
204,500 | 204,500 |
|
195,000 | 5,000 |
|
190,000 | 190,000 |
|
183,000 | 111,000 |
|
177,500 | 73,000 |
|
170,000 | 62,500 |
|
165,500 | 165,500 |
|
161,500 | 161,500 |
|
157,500 | -12,500 |
|
153,500 | 6,500 |
|
144,500 | 77,500 |
|
141,000 | -12,500 |
|
136,000 | 41,000 |
|
131,000 | |
|
128,000 | 128,000 |
|
121,500 | 73,500 |
Last Four Hands
Level 10
: 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
Players on the seven remaining tables will play four more hands tonight before bagging their advancing stacks.
Cada Picks Off Friedman
Level 10
: 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
With around 70,000 in the pot and the 
on the table, Perry Friedman bet 25,000 from the small blind and Joe Cada tanked in the cutoff. Friedman invested about a half of his remaining chips in the river-bet and Cada eventually tossed in calling chips.
Friedman let Cada know that he was defeated and it looked as if he wanted to muck his hand. Then he realized that he would like to see Cada turn over the best hand, so he flipped the 
for air.
Cada showed 
for ace-high, raking in a sizeable pot to vault to about 190,000.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
190,000 | 140,000 |
|
25,300 | -53,700 |
Guillen Doubles in a Flip
Level 10
: 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
Following a limp from early position, Liv Boeree made it 8,000 in the hijack. Angel Guillen reraised to 27,000 on Boeree's left and the action stopped at Scott Bohlman who took some time to figure out his move. He eventually announced he was all in, and it got folded to Guillen who immediately called off for his 78,500.
Bohlman tabled 
and he needed a high board against Guillen's 
. However, the dealer didn't cooperate as the 
missed Bohlman's Big Slick.
"Nice hand," Bohlman said while shipping Guillen the chips.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
170,000 | 92,000 |
|
|
104,500 | -80,500 |
Luther's Climb Continues
Level 10
: 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
Scott Bohlman raised to 4,500 under the gun, Liv Boeree flatted in the cutoff, the small blind overcalled and Nikita Luther squeezed to 28,000 from the big blind. Bohlman called and the other two players folded.
Luther fired a continuation-bet of 18,000 on 
and Bohlman called.
The hit the turn and Luther slowed down, checking. Bohlman cut out a bet of 35,000 and Luther called.
They quickly tapped the felt when the 
appeared on the river, and Luther tabled 
for the top two. Bohlman couldn't beat that and Luther eclipsed the 500,000-mark.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
502,000 | 107,000 |
|
|
185,000 | -65,000 |
Harwood Gets Nice Value
Level 10
: 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
Benny Glaser opened to 4,500 from the hijack and Loni Harwood three-bet to 13,000 on his left. Glaser matched the price.
The flop fell 
and Glaser let Harwood fire 10,000. He called.
Both players checked the turn and the 
completed the board.
Glaser checked one more time and Harwood bet 27,000. Glaser tried to get some reads from Harwood's face and then he decided to call. Harwood showed 
for two pair and Glaser mucked his hand.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
147,000 | 97,000 |
|
100,000 | -50,000 |
Bohlman Folds to Second Barrel
Level 10
: 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
Scott Bohlman made it 5,000 in the cutoff and Benny Glaser three-bet to 16,500 on his left.
Bohlman called and the flop came down 
. Bohlman checked, Glaser fired 13,500 and Bohlman called.
The appeared on the turn and Bohlman checked again. Glaser sized his second barrel at 26,000 and Bohlman took his time to process his options. He figured out it was time to release his hand and Glaser took down the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
250,000 | 125,000 |
|
|
150,000 | 77,000 |