Ali Eslami opened to 125,000 from middle position and David Funkhouser defended his big blind.
Funkhouser drew two while Eslami took one. When checked to, Eslami bet 235,000 and Funkhouser did not take long before he put in the call.
Eslami revealed 8x7x6x4x3x which was good to drag another pot as he has continued to build momentum after being short not long ago. On the other hand, the stack of Funkhouser has been on a yo-yo for the last hour.
Owais Ahmed raised to 200,000 from middle position and Michel Leibgorin made it 600,000 to go on the button, effectively putting his opponent all in.
Ahmed quickly folded, and the next hand was dealt. During that hand, David Funkhouser raised to 100,000 in the hijack and Leibgorin put in another reraise, this time to 325,000.
It had the same effect as Funkhouser swiftly forfeited his cards and Leibgorin chipped up further.
David "ODB" Baker moved all-in for 515,000 from the hijack. In the small blind, Tzu Peng Wang confirmed the count before he decided to rejam for slightly more.
Peng stood pat while Baker announced that he would take one.
David "ODB" Baker: 8x5x4x3x/Xx
Tzu Peng Wang: 10x7x5x4x2x
Baker received his final card face down and looked up to the banners in the Horseshoe Event Center for some inspiration
"Jerry Yang, I need you to come through here," pleaded Baker as he asked the 2007 Main Event champion for some good luck.
Unfortunately for Baker, he peeled the A♦ and was eliminated in seventh place.
The 68 players who returned to the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas for Day 2 of Event #63: $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw were all in the money, but at the end of the day only six were still in contention for the top prize of $123,314 and the 2024 World Series of Poker bracelet.
Leading the survivors of the 453-strong field is France’s Michel Leibgorin, who bagged up 3,995,000, good for 67 big blinds at the start of Day 3. Leibgorin is a true veteran of the game, with his first recorded tournament cash coming in 1995 and having racked up nearly $2,000,000 in live earnings since then, although a bracelet yet eludes him.
Although most of his earnings have come on his home continent of Europe, Leibgorin frequently travels to the WSOP, resulting in two final tables during his career. Much of Leibgorin’s lead came from a huge pot where he doubled up with a pat eight against a pat ten, awarding him nearly 100 big blinds at the final two tables.
Final Table Seating and Chip Counts
Seat
Player
Country
Chip Count
Day 3 Big Blinds
1
Owais Ahmed
United States
410,000
7
2
Tzu Peng Wang
Taiwan
1,515,000
25
3
David Funkhouser
United States
1,645,000
27
4
Michel Leibgorin
France
3,995,000
67
5
Ali Eslami
United States
1,485,000
25
6
7
Charles Tucker
United States
2,325,000
39
Leibgorin is followed in the rankings by Charles Tucker, who ended Day 2 with a stack of 2,325,000. Completing the top three is David Funkhouser with 1,645,000 chips, while Tzu Peng Wang (1,515,000) and Ali Eslami (1,485,000) are not far behind. Also making it through to Day 3 is start-of-day chip leader Owais Ahmed, albeit with a short stack of 410,000 chips.
Owais Ahmed
Day 2 Action
After a prolonged Day 1 left several players short-stacked after it played down to the money, the pace of bust-outs was nearly unmatched in the opening stages of Day 2. Within a couple of hours, more than half the field was gone, and among the early players heading to the payout desk were the likes of $25K Fantasy picks Ryan Leng, Justin Saliba, Calvin Anderson, and Brian Yoon.
Brad RubenRyan Depaulo, Dario Alioto, Jen Harman, and Bin Weng all made a pay jump or two, but their journeys ended short of the final three tables. Andy Hwang and Australia’s Robert Campbell were eliminated simultaneously and the 20 remaining players were divided across three tables.
That is where, among others, recent Mixed Triple Draw bracelet winner Patrick Moulder, WSOP mixed-game regular Robert Wells, and no-limit hold ‘em high roller Chance Kornuth exited the field. Bracelet winners Alex Epstein and Patrick Leonard then said their goodbyes at the final two tables before Michael Dreese was the final person to depart before the final eight converged onto one table.
Michael Dreese
Once the players had moved to one of the feature tables, former chipleader Antonio Seremet booked a quick exit to form the official final table of seven players. David "ODB" Baker’s hunt for a fourth bracelet ended in seventh place when his eight-draw did not hit against Wang’s ten-low, and not much later the remaining six players bagged up for the night.
They will return Thursday, June 27, at 1 p.m. local time to decide who will take home the biggest part of the $604,755 prize pool and the bracelet, although they are all guaranteed at least $19,087 for their efforts.
Final Table Payouts/Results
Place
Player
Prize
1
$123,314
2
$81,412
3
$54,868
4
$37,764
5
$26,555
6
$19,087
7
David "ODB" Baker
$14,033
When the players return, they restart in Level 26 with blinds of 30,000/60,000 and a 90,000 big blind ante. The levels will remain 60 minutes throughout the tournament, with 15-minute breaks after every two. The day will finish when a winner is crowned.
Will Lebgorin crown his decades-long career with a WSOP bracelet? Tune back to PokerNews tomorrow to find out as the $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw reaches its thrilling conclusion.
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