Event #66: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship (8-Handed) Day 1 | 2024 World Series of Poker

06-26-2024 21:13 UTC-8

Once Prominent Poker Star Justin "BoostedJ" Smith Returns to WSOP After Nine-Year Absence

Jon Sofen

Level 8 : Blinds 800/1,600, 1,600 ante

Justin "BoostedJ" Smith was a young hotshot in the poker world back in the late 2000s, both online and live. At age 21, he was an up-and-coming star in the game with a bright future in poker.

Smith's stay among the game's elite was short-lived, and he'd been gone from the World Series of Poker (WSOP) for nine years. But on Wednesday, the now 36-year-old returned to the summer series to compete in Event #66: $10:000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship (8-Handed), where he told PokerNews what he's been up to in recent years.

Read the Full Interview Here

Tags: Justin Smith

06-26-2024 21:19 UTC-8

More Level 8 Counts

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Josh Noy

Level 8 : Blinds 800/1,600, 1,600 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Eric Wasserson	288,000 138,000	138,000

Bruno Fitoussi	272,000 18,000	18,000
Ren Lin	223,000 108,000	108,000

Maxx Coleman	184,000 134,000	134,000

Josh Arieh	164,000 69,000	69,000
Kyle Knecht	158,000 79,500	79,500
Allan Le	148,000 63,000	63,000

Kosei Ichinose	114,000 19,000	19,000
Brandon Schaefer	114,000 24,000	24,000

Felipe Ramos	112,000 112,000	112,000
Esther Taylor	92,000 42,000	42,000

Mike Holtz	57,000 57,000	57,000

Maksim Pisarenko	56,000 56,000	56,000

Danny Tang	55,000 55,000	55,000

Jared Bleznick	52,000 28,000	28,000

Santhosh Suvarna	46,000 19,000	19,000

Erik Seidel	44,000 44,000	44,000

Nick Schulman	36,000 44,000	44,000

Benny Glaser	23,500 26,500	26,500

06-26-2024 21:22 UTC-8

Barriocanal Forces Out O'Hara

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Christian Zetzsche

Level 8 : Blinds 800/1,600, 1,600 ante

Ian O'Hara checked the A♥9♦2♣7♦ turn and then called a bet worth 11,000 by Daniel Barriocanal. He checked the 8♠ river once more and Barriocanal pulled the trigger with a pot-sized bet of 38,000. O'Hara was covered by that and reluctantly folded.

Player	Chips	Progress
Daniel Barriocanal	290,000
Ian O'Hara	32,000

Tags: Daniel Barriocanal Ian O'Hara

06-26-2024 21:29 UTC-8

Kalas Doubles Through Yotsushika

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Christian Zetzsche

Level 8 : Blinds 800/1,600, 1,600 ante

Three ways to the J♦6♣5♣Q♦ turn, the action checked to a player in middle position and he bet 9,500. Kazuhiko Yotsushika called on the button for Kane Kalas to then check-raise the pot for 41,400 total. The third player in the hand tank-folded and Yotsushika then jammed to see Kalas quickly call all-in.

Kane Kalas: J♠J♣7♦4♣ All in
Kazuhiko Yotsushika: A♠K♥10♦2♦

Kalas was ahead with the top set, flush draw and open-ender while Yotsushika had a wrap and diamond draw. The river was the 4♠ and Kalas doubled for 55,900.

Player	Chips	Progress
Kane Kalas	150,000
Kazuhiko Yotsushika	140,000 90,000	90,000

Tags: Kane Kalas Kazuhiko Yotsushika

06-26-2024 21:31 UTC-8

Young Folds to Ponakovs

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Josh Noy

Level 8 : Blinds 800/1,600, 1,600 ante

Justin Young limped in early position and Aleksejs Ponakovs checked his big blind option.

Both players checked through the Q♠4♦6♣ flop and the dealer revealed the 3♦ turn.

Ponakovs began to count out a bet and that was enough to produce an instant fold from Young.

Player	Chips	Progress
Aleksejs Ponakovs	248,000 3,000	3,000

Justin Young	35,200 17,800	17,800

Tags: Aleksejs Ponakovs Justin Young

06-26-2024 21:34 UTC-8

Updated Counts From Level 8

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Christian Zetzsche

Level 8 : Blinds 800/1,600, 1,600 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Shawn Stroke	290,000 100,000	100,000
Joni Jouhkimainen	230,000 155,000	155,000

Ronald Keijzer	140,000 120,000	120,000

Corey Hochman	130,000 54,000	54,000
Eran Carmi	130,000 35,000	35,000
Ali Abdalla	125,000 25,000	25,000
Kevin Allen	95,000 20,000	20,000
Esther Taylor	80,000 12,000	12,000

Josh Reichard	75,000
Leonid Yanovski	65,000 50,000	50,000
Samuel Ju	60,000
Paul Volpe	60,000 42,000	42,000

Alex Epstein	60,000

Samuel Albeck	50,000 90,000	90,000

06-26-2024 21:42 UTC-8

Mizrachi Joins the Biggest Stacks

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Christian Zetzsche

Level 8 : Blinds 800/1,600, 1,600 ante

On a flop of Q♣8♣6♥, Michael Mizrachi bet 10,000 when checked to and then did so again on the 4♠ turn for 22,000. His opponent bet the Q♥ river for 47,000 and Mizrachi instantly called.

"Eights," the other player declared and Mizrachi instantly replied "no good" as he exposed the K♣K♠Q♠4♦ for queens full of fours.

In the meanwhile, Viktor Blom is no longer on the same table and has been eliminated.