Still in the previous level, John Monnette raised to 13,000 in the hijack before he was put all-in by Ryan Hoenig in the cutoff. It folded back to Monnette, who tanked for a while before calling off his stack of 99,000.
Monnette drew one card, and Hoenig immediately stood pat.
John Monnette: 8x7x3x2x
Ryan Hoenig: Jx9x8x5x3x
Monnette's final card was another 8x, and he swiftly left the tournament area.
Ray Henson opened to 16,000 from middle position, Jacob Ikuma three-bet to 50,000 from the cutoff, Oliver Vereschagin called from the button and Henson called. Henson and Ikuma each drew one while Vereschagin stood pat.
All three players checked after the draw. Vereschagin had stood pat with a ten-seven but Henson had drawn into a ninety-seven with 9x7x4x3x2x to win the hand.
Han Liu opened to 40,000 from the cutoff and Frank Kassela shoved for 155,000 from the small blind. Liu called with a covering stack to put Kassela at risk and both players drew one.
Frank Kassela: 8x6x5x3x
Han Liu: 10x7x5x2x
Kassela had the better draw but he made a pair after catching an 8x while Liu drew a Jx to send Kassela to the rail and claim the last of his chips.
Ken Aldridge opened to 15,000 from the hijack and was called by Brian Yoon in the cutoff and Jonathan Borenstein in the big blind. Borenstein drew two, Aldridge stood pat and Yoon took one.
After the draw Borenstein checked and Aldridge shoved for 59,000. Yoon called while Borenstein folded.
Aldridge had stood pat with 8x7x6x5x2x but Yoon had made 8x5x4x3x2x for eight-perfect to send Aldridge to the rail and become the first player to pass one million chips.
Brian Yoon made it 13,000 to go in the hijack. It folded to Phil Hellmuth in the small blind, who moved his stack of 101,000 in the middle. Yoon asked for a count, after which he decided to call.
Hellmuth stood pat, Yoon drew one card, and the holdings were revealed.
Phil Hellmuth: 10x8x7x6x2x
Brian Yoon: 9x6x4♥3x
"Two-sider," said Yoon as he looked at his new card. "Heart," he claimed, which meant he could only have drawn the 5♥. He turned it over, officially eliminating Hellmuth from the tournament.
Hellmuth let out some expletives as he headed to the exit; "Fucking nine-six," were the last words heard from the 17-time bracelet winner.
Adam Owen raised his button to 16,000, which Lawrence Brandt called in the big blind. Brandt threw one card before Owen exchanged two.
After the draw, Brandt checked over to Owen, who went into the tank for a bit. Eventually, he announced his all-in, garnering a quick fold from his opponent.
The final 78 players from a field of 532 entries are set to return at 1:00 p.m. to the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas today for Day 2 of Event #12: $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw here at the 2025 World Series of Poker. The 78 returnees are all guaranteed at least a min-cash of $3,045 while the winner will receive the top prize of $138,080 and a WSOP Gold Bracelet.
Han Liu finished the day with the chip lead after bagging 711,000, worth just under 120 big blinds going into Day 2. Liu is most closely followed by five-time bracelet winner Brian Yoon who finished the night with 588,000 after making a great call for his tournament life against Ryan Hoenig on the stone bubble yesterday.
Top Ten Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Han Liu
United States
711,000
119
2
Brian Yoon
United States
588,000
98
3
Adam Owen
United Kingdom
453,000
76
4
Joshua Adcock
United States
439,000
73
5
Ray Henson
United States
424,000
71
6
Oliver Vereschagin
United States
394,000
66
7
Tomas Szwarcberg
Mexico
363,000
61
8
Iman Alsaden
United States
340,000
57
9
Zhun Wang
China
314,000
52
10
Christopher Leslie
United States
309,000
52
Huck Seed
Several big names remain in contention for the bracelet, including Huck Seed (285,000), Barry Greenstein (212,000), Brad Ruben (187,000), Frank Kassela (161,000) and John Monnette (81,000).
Remaining Payouts
Place
Prize
Place
Prize
1
$138,080
12-14
$7,146
2
$90,569
15-20
$5,823
3
$60,738
21-27
$4,875
4
$41,654
28-34
$4,198
5
$29,228
35-41
$3,721
6
$20,994
42-48
$3,397
7
$15,446
49-55
$3,197
8-9
$11,646
56-78
$3,045
10-11
$9,006
The plan for today is to play as many 60-minute levels as needed until just five players remain. Stay tuned to PokerNews as we bring you all the action from the moment cards are in the air until a winner is crowned on the final day taking place tomorrow, June 3.
