Nakanishi Has Big Chip Lead Among Short Deck Final Five
Only five players remain in Event #60: $10,000 Short Deck No-Limit Hold’em. Shota Nakanishi leads the remaining bracelet hopefuls in this only Short Deck event of the summer here at the World Series of Poker at Bally’s and Paris Las Vegas.
Nakanishi (2,562,000) is a Short Deck specialist out of Japan who has played many hours of the variant online. He was also in this same event at last year's WSOP. He has already surpassed last year's result and looks to turn his chip lead into his maiden gold bracelet.
Final Day Seat Assignments
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Antes |
| 1 | Sean Winter | United States | 553,000 | 69 |
| 2 | Stephen Chidwick | United Kingdom | 1,423,000 | 178 |
| 3 | Brian Rast | United States | 855,000 | 107 |
| 4 | Ben Lamb | United States | 1,207,000 | 151 |
| 5 | Shota Nakanishi | Japan | 2,562,000 | 320 |
Action was fast and wild in the early parts of Day 2. The day started with 49 entries; eliminations came quickly at the beginning of the day. Some early casualties included Phil Ivey, Chance Kornuth, Daniel Zack, David Williams, and Sam Soverel.
Players blew right past the bubble, only going to hand-for-hand play for a few hands. It was Michael Watson who left just shy of the money when he ran his ace-king into the pocket kings of Sean Winter.
One player that was happy to find a cash, albeit not as deep a run as he would have liked, was Daniel Negreanu. He placed 15th after his combo draw ran into the flopped trips of Nakanishi. He was in good spirits all night and showed off some Korean and Japanese language skills to the delight of his tablemates who spoke the languages.
Once play reached the final table, Robert Wilke was the first to bow out. He flopped top and bottom two pair against the pair and straight draw of Stephen Chidwick. Chidwick made running trips on the turn and river to send Wilke home.
The final elimination of the night was of Bristol, Tennesse native Scott Smile. A home game lover, Smile wore that namesake smile all night and enjoyed his deep run in the event. Family and friends were following along with his run. In addition to his poker playing, Smile mentioned that he's involved with music production and his son is in the band "The Buddz."
Final Table Results and Remaining Payouts
| Place | Winner | Country | Prize (in USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | $277,212 | ||
| 2nd | $171,331 | ||
| 3rd | $121,718 | ||
| 4th | $88,168 | ||
| 5th | $65,143 | ||
| 6th | Scott Smile | United States | $49,113 |
| 7th | Robert Wilke | Germany | $37,800 |
The final five will return tomorrow to play down to a winner. Action will resume at 1 p.m. local time in Bally’s Event Center.
Tune in right here at PokerNews to get your fix of short deck action as we close out this event and crown a new champion.
. Chidwick continued with a bet of 50,000. Smile moved all in fairly quickly and Chidwick immediately called. 
turn and 
river sealed the deal and ended Smile's run.
. Action checked all the way to Ben Lamb on the button who bet 30,000. Scott Smile called two seats to his left, and Rast called in between the two. 
hit the river and action checked to Lamb once again. He checked back. Smile showed 
for the straight, both Lamb and Rast mucked. 
and Lamb checked one final time. Nakanishi had a large third bullet in the chamber. He fired 1,060,000 into the game-changing pot. Lamb went into the tank. 
and Scott Smile led out with a bet of 35,000. Stephen Chidwick called and Robert Wilke ripped all in for 434,000 on the button. Smile laid his hand down and Chidwick asked for a count before making the call.
on the turn gave Chidwick a wealth of outs. It was the 
on the river for trip queens that gave Chidwick the best hand and Wilke was eliminated in seventh place.
and Sion doubled up with a pair of aces. 
was spread out and Stephen Chidwick held 
for the made straight and the winner.
, no help to the all-in Leiva. Nakanishi scooped the pot and Leiva hit the payout window.
