Event #1: $500 Casino Employees
Day 2 Started
2023 World Series of Poker
Event #1: $500 Casino Employees
Day: 2
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 2
2023 World Series of Poker
Buy-in
$500
Prize Pool
$426,300
Entries
1,015
Level
33
Blinds
150,000 / 300,000
Ante
300,000
Entries
89
Players Left
1
Day 2 Seat Draw
| Casino | Table | Seat | Player | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Horseshoe | 669 | 1 | Sandra Faabeng | United States | 499,000 | 50 |
| Horseshoe | 669 | 2 | Steven Guilford | United States | 322,000 | 32 |
| Horseshoe | 669 | 3 | Adam Rodriguez | United States | 470,000 | 47 |
| Horseshoe | 669 | 4 | Michael Carr | United States | 226,000 | 23 |
| Horseshoe | 669 | 5 | Joshua Honegger | United States | 529,000 | 53 |
| Horseshoe | 669 | 6 | Peter Thai | United States | 391,000 | 39 |
| Horseshoe | 669 | 7 | Zaen Qatan | United States | 773,000 | 77 |
| Horseshoe | 669 | 8 | Lisa Eckstein | United States | 775,000 | 78 |
| Horseshoe | 669 | 9 | Kevin Kivela | United States | 136,000 | 0 |
| Horseshoe | 670 | 1 | Joshua Vallejo | United States | 296,000 | 30 |
| Horseshoe | 670 | 2 | Jeffrey Gabriel | United States | 71,000 | 7 |
| Horseshoe | 670 | 3 | Hugo Flores | United States | 134,000 | 13 |
| Horseshoe | 670 | 4 | James Sheehan | United States | 134,000 | 13 |
| Horseshoe | 670 | 5 | James Urbanic | United States | 618,000 | 62 |
| Horseshoe | 670 | 6 | Duc Lai | United States | 111,000 | 11 |
| Horseshoe | 670 | 7 | Steven Perkins | United Kingdom | 302,000 | 30 |
| Horseshoe | 670 | 8 | Hyun Shin | United States | 261,000 | 26 |
| Horseshoe | 670 | 9 | Adam Alleman | United States | 312,000 | 31 |
| Horseshoe | 671 | 1 | Markell Anderson | United States | 125,000 | 13 |
| Horseshoe | 671 | 2 | Phillip Quintin | United States | 128,000 | 13 |
| Horseshoe | 671 | 3 | Brian Page | United States | 483,000 | 48 |
| Horseshoe | 671 | 4 | Ryan Welch | United States | 436,000 | 44 |
| Horseshoe | 671 | 5 | Andrew Dennis | United States | 162,000 | 16 |
| Horseshoe | 671 | 6 | Shahzane Ali | United States | 229,000 | 23 |
| Horseshoe | 671 | 7 | Kyle Gale | United States | 278,000 | 28 |
| Horseshoe | 671 | 8 | Christopher Taticzek | United States | 246,000 | 25 |
| Horseshoe | 671 | 9 | Sean Balfour | Canada | 274,000 | 27 |
| Horseshoe | 672 | 1 | Pasquale Priolo | United States | 340,000 | 0 |
| Horseshoe | 672 | 2 | Mark Kawamoto | United States | 355,000 | 36 |
| Horseshoe | 672 | 3 | Kurt Haiss | United States | 369,000 | 37 |
| Horseshoe | 672 | 4 | Loren Adam | United States | 131,000 | 13 |
| Horseshoe | 672 | 5 | Paul Blanchette | United States | 72,000 | 7 |
| Horseshoe | 672 | 6 | Carlton Fitzgerald | United States | 437,000 | 44 |
| Horseshoe | 672 | 7 | Brett Janiga | United States | 219,000 | 22 |
| Horseshoe | 672 | 8 | Shengfan Li | United States | 324,000 | 32 |
| Horseshoe | 672 | 9 | Ethan Siemiesz | United States | 247,000 | 25 |
| Horseshoe | 673 | 1 | Connor Manion | United States | 195,000 | 20 |
| Horseshoe | 673 | 2 | Zachary Black | United States | 228,000 | 23 |
| Horseshoe | 673 | 3 | Matthew Lukwinski | United States | 262,000 | 26 |
| Horseshoe | 673 | 4 | Benson Tam | United States | 889,000 | 89 |
| Horseshoe | 673 | 5 | Mario Romera | Venezuela | 215,000 | 22 |
| Horseshoe | 673 | 6 | Kevin Gattes | Mariamoth, DE | 195,000 | 0 |
| Horseshoe | 673 | 7 | Kenneth Weinstein | United States | 347,000 | 35 |
| Horseshoe | 673 | 8 | Mark Strodl | United States | 205,000 | 21 |
| Horseshoe | 673 | 9 | David Eaton | United States | 185,000 | 19 |
| Horseshoe | 675 | 1 | Alexander Griffin | United States | 398,000 | 40 |
| Horseshoe | 675 | 2 | Jose Zaragoza | United States | 307,000 | 31 |
| Horseshoe | 675 | 3 | Jesse Knight | United States | 212,000 | 21 |
| Horseshoe | 675 | 4 | Peter Mungo | United States | 271,000 | 27 |
| Horseshoe | 675 | 5 | Stephen Combs | United States | 212,000 | 21 |
| Horseshoe | 675 | 6 | Randall Blair | United States | 342,000 | 34 |
| Horseshoe | 675 | 7 | Herbie Teope | United States | 40,000 | 4 |
| Horseshoe | 675 | 8 | Jason Pupillo | United States | 131,000 | 13 |
| Horseshoe | 675 | 9 | Warren Ray | United States | 79,000 | 8 |
| Horseshoe | 676 | 1 | Zackary Taylor | United States | 295,000 | 30 |
| Horseshoe | 676 | 2 | Chad Holloway | United States | 211,000 | 21 |
| Horseshoe | 676 | 3 | Max Grenader | United States | 82,000 | 8 |
| Horseshoe | 676 | 4 | Eric Zavodnik | United States | 338,000 | 34 |
| Horseshoe | 676 | 5 | Jacob Norman | United States | 127,000 | 13 |
| Horseshoe | 676 | 6 | Lonnie Caldwell | United States | 299,000 | 30 |
| Horseshoe | 676 | 7 | Michael Mcfadden | United States | 437,000 | 44 |
| Horseshoe | 676 | 8 | John Vournas | United States | 613,000 | 61 |
| Horseshoe | 676 | 9 | Jonathan Libiran | United States | 146,000 | 15 |
| Horseshoe | 677 | 1 | Daniel Mosher | United States | 156,000 | 16 |
| Horseshoe | 677 | 2 | Anne Walby | United States | 128,000 | 13 |
| Horseshoe | 677 | 3 | James Davidson | United States | 244,000 | 24 |
| Horseshoe | 677 | 4 | Joe Pavan | United States | 254,000 | 25 |
| Horseshoe | 677 | 5 | Justin Carter | United States | 399,000 | 40 |
| Horseshoe | 677 | 6 | Michael Gibbs | United States | 341,000 | 34 |
| Horseshoe | 677 | 7 | Christopher Allison | United States | 279,000 | 28 |
| Horseshoe | 677 | 8 | Wade Warren | United States | 477,000 | 48 |
| Horseshoe | 677 | 9 | Michael Senter | United States | 222,000 | 22 |
| Horseshoe | 678 | 1 | Burcu Dagli | United States | 583,000 | 58 |
| Horseshoe | 678 | 2 | Eric Stamey | United States | 238,000 | 24 |
| Horseshoe | 678 | 3 | Gregorios Lamprinos | United States | 93,000 | 9 |
| Horseshoe | 678 | 4 | Zhichao Liang | United States | 123,000 | 12 |
| Horseshoe | 678 | 5 | Kris Hooper | United States | 226,000 | 23 |
| Horseshoe | 678 | 6 | Jason Palafox | United States | 44,000 | 4 |
| Horseshoe | 678 | 7 | Guitong He | United States | 242,000 | 24 |
| Horseshoe | 678 | 8 | Dustin Merrill | United States | 163,000 | 16 |
| Horseshoe | 678 | 9 | Jon Nakatani | United States | 235,000 | 24 |
| Horseshoe | 679 | 1 | Eugene Lang | United States | 193,000 | 19 |
| Horseshoe | 679 | 2 | Joshua Brodsky | United States | 527,000 | 53 |
| Horseshoe | 679 | 3 | Jesse Fullen | United States | 861,000 | 86 |
| Horseshoe | 679 | 4 | Jeffrey Cross | United States | 79,000 | 8 |
| Horseshoe | 679 | 5 | Cameron Drucker | United States | 284,000 | 28 |
| Horseshoe | 679 | 7 | Keith Mccormack | United States | 292,000 | 29 |
| Horseshoe | 679 | 8 | Hon Kim | United States | 56,000 | 6 |
| Horseshoe | 679 | 9 | Bruce Jiang | United States | 328,000 | 33 |
Tam Leads the Field into Day 2 of the WSOP Casino Employees Event
Welcome to Day 2 of Event #1: $500 Casino Employees Event at the 2023 World Series of Poker. Cards go in the air for the finale of the opening event of the WSOP at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.
A total of 1,015 entries turned out to kick off the 2023 WSOP and Benson Tam is the chip leader after 17 levels of play. Tam will lead a group of 89 players into today's finale. The field generated a prize pool of $426,300 with a top prize of $75,535 and a gold bracelet for today's winner.
Trailing behind Tam is PokerNews Community Manager Jesse Fullen and Lisa Eckstein. Zaen Qatan and James Urbanic rounded out the top five bags from Day 1.
Top 10 Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Benson Tam | United States | 889,000 | 89 |
| 2 | Jesse Fullen | United States | 861,000 | 86 |
| 3 | Lisa Eckstein | United States | 775,000 | 78 |
| 4 | Zaen Qatan | United States | 773,000 | 77 |
| 5 | James Urbanic | United States | 618,000 | 62 |
| 6 | John Vournas | United States | 613,000 | 61 |
| 7 | Burcu Dagli | United States | 583,000 | 58 |
| 8 | Joshua Honegger | United States | 529,000 | 53 |
| 9 | Joshua Brodsky | United States | 527,000 | 53 |
| 10 | Sandra Faabeng | United States | 499,000 | 50 |
Players return today at 10:00 a.m. Vegas time in Level 18 with blinds at 5,000/10,000 with a 10,000 ante. Play will continue on Day 2 until a winner is declared.
Be sure to keep it with the PokerNews team for live updates from the floor of the 2023 WSOP at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.
Level: 18
Blinds: 5,000/10,000
Ante: 10,000
Shuffle Up And Deal!
Level 18
: 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante
Cards are in the air for Day 2 of Event #1: $500 Casino Employees Event at the 2023 World Series of Poker!
Update Your Chip Counts with the MyStack App
Level 18
: Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante
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Kim Finds an Early Double
Level 18
: Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante
Hon Kim shoved his last 56,000 from middle position on the first hand of Day 2. Action folded to Jesse Fullen in the big blind who called and the cards were turned on their backs.
Hon Kim: K♠J♠
Jesse Fullen: K♣10♣
The board ran out K♥4♦9♠5♣Q♠, all safe for Kim who more than doubled up early on Day 2.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
805,000 | -56,000 |
|
137,000 | 81,000 |
Kawamoto Wins at Showdown
Level 18
: Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante
Action folded to Ethan Siemiesz on the button who raised 22,000. The small blind folded before Mark Kawamoto called from the big blind to see a 5♣3♦4♠.
Kawamoto led into Siemiesz with a bet of 15,000 and got called to see a 9♠ on the turn. Action checked through to a Q♥ river and both players checked again.
Kawamoto turned up the 7♦3♠ for bottom pair which was good versus the A♠8♣ of Siemiesz.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
397,000 | 42,000 |
|
|
210,000 | -37,000 |
Dagli Sends Ray to the Rail
Level 18
: Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante
Warren Ray shoved a stack of red T-5,000 chips from early position and Burcu Dagli was the one to look him up.
Warren Ray: A♣10♠
Burcu Dagli: A♠Q♦
The board ran out 6♥Q♠A♦3♥9♦ and Dagli flopped aces and queens to eliminate Ray from the tournament.
Also among the early eliminations were Darren Merrill and Jason Palafox.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
720,000 | 137,000 |
|
|
Busted | |
|
|
Busted | |
|
|
Busted |
Vallejo Wins a Flip
Level 18
: Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante
Hugo Flores was all-in and at risk against Joshua Vallejo.
Hugo Flores: A♦K♣
Joshua Vallejo: 7♥7♠
The board ran out J♣6♥2♦4♥J♦ leaving Flores unable to make a pair and grasping at his backpack.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
455,000 | 159,000 |
|
|
Busted |