Andrew “AJ” Kelsall Leads Final 11 of $1,500 Dealers Choice
A day that started with 135 players was whittled down to just 11 after ten hours of play, with 2021 runner-up Andrew Kelsall leading the pack in Event #5: $1,500 Dealer’s Choice with 1,950,000 chips. Clayton Mozdzen brings the second-most chips into Friday with 1,555,000, while James Johnson rounds out the Day 2 chip leader podium with 1,465,000.
"I gotta run good tomorrow. I always run good until this stage," said Kelsall as he was bagging his chips.
Kelsall fell just one spot short of the title two years ago when he lost heads-up to champion Jaswinder Lally, who was one of several notables to make the money Thursday but not make it to the end of the day, as he bowed out in 31st place.
Kelsall and his 10 remaining challengers will be playing for a top prize of $131,879 and the prestigious WSOP gold bracelet.
Event #5: $1,500 Dealer's Choice Day 3 Seat Draw
| Table | Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feature 1 | 1 | James Johnson | United States | 1,465,000 |
| Feature 1 | 2 | Andrew Brown | United States | 465,000 |
| Feature 1 | 3 | Nick Kost | United States | 905,000 |
| Feature 1 | 4 | Andrew Kelsall | United States | 1,950,000 |
| Feature 1 | 5 | David Levi | United States | 645,000 |
| Feature 1 | 6 | Nick Pupillo | United States | 1,105,000 |
| Feature 2 | 1 | Clayton Mozdzen | Canada | 1,555,000 |
| Feature 2 | 3 | John Racener | United States | 565,000 |
| Feature 2 | 4 | Chad Eveslage | United States | 1,095,000 |
| Feature 2 | 5 | Gregory Kelley | United States | 695,000 |
| Feature 2 | 6 | Ryan Roeder | United States | 960,000 |
The Day’s Action
Kelsall built his stack steadily throughout the day before really solidifying his lead late in the day, including one of the final eliminations when he sent Paresh Doshi to the rail after winning a flip in No-Limit Hold ‘em.
Phil Hellmuth made a deep run and appeared poised to set up for a Day 3 run towards bracelet number 17, but he fell in 21st place. Other bracelet winners to fall just short of Day 3 were Nacho Barbero in 14th place and Dominick Sarle in 19th place.
With such a stacked field with bracelet winners throughout, plenty of notables saw their days end shy of the money including Daniel Negreanu, Benny Glaser, Brian Rast, and Carol Fuchs to name just a few.
When the players come back Friday at 1 p.m. to the Horseshoe Events Center, they’ll begin with Level 26 with 80,000 chip big bets in the limit games. Play will continue until a champion is crowned.
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