George Alexander Leads Final 16 in $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship
A record-setting Event #30: $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship saw an additional 44 entries join on Day 2 to bring the total to 233 — surpassing last year's record of 186 and generating a massive prize pool of $2,166,900.
By the time the last card was dealt, George Alexander had snuck into the lead of the remaining 16 players by ending with 1,835,000. Just behind him is high-stakes legend Dan Smith, who bagged up 1,775,000 despite having over two million at one point thanks to winning a massive pot off of Alex Foxen late in the day. Rounding out the top three is none other than "Kid Poker" himself — Daniel Negreanu, who finds himself making another deep run after finishing with 1,620,000.
End of Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Day 3 Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | George Alexander | United States | 1,835,000 | 92 |
| 2 | Dan Smith | United States | 1,775,000 | 89 |
| 3 | Daniel Negreanu | Canada | 1,620,000 | 81 |
| 4 | Nick Schulman | United States | 1,195,000 | 60 |
| 5 | Greg Mueller | Canada | 1,070,000 | 54 |
| 6 | Stuart Rutter | United Kingdom | 975,000 | 49 |
| 7 | Oscar Johansson | Sweden | 925,000 | 46 |
| 8 | Chad Eveslage | United States | 795,000 | 40 |
| 9 | James Chen | Taiwan | 760,000 | 38 |
| 10 | Brian Rast | United States | 540,000 | 27 |
Alexander is no stranger to deep runs, having made several WSOP final tables before finally winning his first gold bracelet last year in the $10,000 Razz Championship. Alexander enjoyed a late-night surge, particularly after scoring a double knockout against Danny Wong and Robert Wells and now finds himself best-positioned to take down the bracelet and $497,356 first-place prize.
Remaining Payouts
| Place | Prize | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $497,356 | 8-9 | $45,883 |
| 2 | $336,421 | 10-11 | $35,012 |
| 3 | $231,321 | 12-14 | $27,214 |
| 4 | $161,721 | 15-16 | $21,555 |
| 5 | $114,989 | ||
| 6 | $83,179 | ||
| 7 | $61,231 |
Day 2 Highlights
It was an action-packed start inside the Horseshoe Events Center as many players max-late-registered with a short stack in hopes of running it up or busting out quickly.
While most of the late-comers fell in the latter category, Ben Yu managed to masterfully navigate his way to a bag worth 420,000 as the only player who entered and bagged on Day 2.
Among those who joined late and fell short include Steve Zolotow, Jason Mercier, Michael Moncek, John Monnette, and Phil Ivey.
The money bubble arrived shortly after dinner break and it only took a handful of hands for Wil Wilkinson to find himself all in against Dario Alioto and Smith. Unfortunately for Wilkinson, Smith drew to an eight and Wilkinson was eliminated on the stone bubble.
The post-bubble frenzy saw several notables secure a min-cash of $20,528, including Adam Owen, Frank Kassela, James Obst, Philip Sternheimer, and Phil Hellmuth — who stood pat with a queen after getting all in pre-draw against Foxen — and was eliminated when Foxen drew to a nine.
The pace of eliminations slowed considerably after the three-table redraw. Foxen found himself on the rail in 20th place ($21,555) shortly after Smith doubled through him and, following a couple more KOs spaced out over a couple levels, old-school legend and 1996 Main Event Champion Huck Seed bowed out in 17th ($21,555) as the last elimination of the night after running into Nick Schulman's pat nine.
The remaining 16 players will return on Tuesday, June 10, at 1 p.m. and play down to a winner. Play will resume on Level 19, which features 10,000/20,000 blinds with a 30,000 big-blind ante. Levels will continue to last 90 minutes each, and players will be sent on break after each level.
The end is in sight, but there is still a lot of work to be done for any player wanting to become the latest $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Champion. Be sure to stick with PokerNews as we continue to bring you all the action until just one player is left standing with the gold!