Adam Friedman Poised For Another Run After Day 1 of Event #18: $10,000 Dealers Choice Championship
Stud Games: 1,000 Ante, 1,000 Bring-In, 3,000 Completion 3,000-6,000 Limits
No-Limit & Pot-Limit: 1,500/2,500 Ante, 1,000-1,500 Blinds
Ever since the $10,000 Dealers Choice Championship debuted on the World Series of Poker (WSOP) schedule a decade ago, Adam Friedman has made this event his own personal playground.
From 2018-2021, Friedman did the seemingly impossible: defeat a field of some of the best players in the world not once, not twice, but three years in a row. He was the first player in WSOP history to win the same event three consecutive times. It was an unprecedented display of poker mastery.
So it comes as no surprise that Friedman enjoyed a fruitful day on the felt today on Day 1 of Event #8, bagging up 258,000 and finishing second on the leaderboard among the 62 players who will return tomorrow at 1 p.m. local time. Friedman saved his best for last, holding three kings in the hole for a full house in a Stud hand against Xixiang Luo. “The GOAT bags the chip lead,” Friedman declared after the hand, and while he didn’t quite make it atop the leaderboard, he’ll be the one everyone is watching tomorrow.
Day 1 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Bets | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ryan Hoenig | United States | 298,500 | 37 | |
| 2 | Adam Friedman | United States | 258,000 | 32 | |
| 3 | Daniel Negreanu | Canada | 255,000 | 32 | |
| 4 | Scott Seiver | United States | 245,000 | 31 | |
| 5 | David "Bakes" Baker | United States | 229,500 | 29 | |
| 6 | George Alexander | United States | 205,000 | 26 | |
| 7 | Dzmitry Urbanovich | Poland | 198,500 | 25 | |
| 8 | Jason Kluska | United States | 195,500 | 24 | |
| 9 | Brandon Cantu | United States | 180,500 | 23 | |
| 10 | David "ODB" Baker | United States | 180,000 | 23 |
Ryan Hoenig beat out Friedman for the distinction of being the overnight chip leader, finishing the day with 298,500. Daniel Negreanu experienced a roller coaster of emotions today: from being denied a bracelet heads-up in the Omaha Hi-Lo Championship earlier in the day, to finishing in third place in this event with 255,000. Scott Seiver (245,000) and David “Bakes” Baker (229,500 round out the top five.
A plethora of poker nobility managed to survive the day, including George Alexander (205,000), David “ODB” Baker (180,000), Dylan Smith (168,500), Phil Hui (165,000), and Matt Glantz (150,000). Further down the leaderboard are Mike Matusow (119,500), Alex Livingston (118,000), Brian Rast (107,000), Gus Hansen (105,000), Mike Gorodinsky (82,000), Dan Zack (78,000), Viktor Blom (73,500), and Brad Ruben (52,000).
A total of 122 players joined the field over the course of the day. Among those who had their tournament end were defending champion Robert Mizrachi, Erick Lindgren, Anthony Zinno, Todd Brunson, and Jen Harman.
Late registration remains open for the first level of Day 2, so the field can potentially surpass last year’s total of 141 with a host of new arrivals. The action picks up on Level 11 with limits of 4,000-8,000 and No-Limit blinds of 1,000-2,000. Levels 11-15 tomorrow will be 60 minutes before they are extended to 90 minutes for the duration of the tournament beginning on Level 16.
PokerNews will be back tomorrow as this star-studded field battles for mixed-game supremacy in one of the most prestigious events on the WSOP calendar.