Event #30: $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship
Day 2 Completed
2025 World Series of Poker
Event #30: $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship
Day: 2
Event Info
2025 World Series of Poker
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 2
Buy-in
$10,000
Prize Pool
$2,166,900
Entries
233
Level
31
Blinds
150,000 / 300,000
Ante
450,000
Entries
123
Players Left
16
Players Left 1 / 233
Filter
Level 18
: Blinds 8,000/16,000, 24,000 ante
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!
Level 18
: Blinds 8,000/16,000, 24,000 ante
| Table | Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FT1 | 1 | Dan Smith | United States | 1,775,000 | 89 |
| FT1 | 3 | George Alexander | United States | 1,835,000 | 92 |
| FT1 | 4 | Ben Yu | United States | 420,000 | 21 |
| FT1 | 6 | Ben Diebold | United States | 195,000 | 10 |
| FT1 | 7 | Chad Eveslage | United States | 795,000 | 40 |
| FT2 | 1 | Oscar Johansson | Sweden | 925,000 | 46 |
| FT2 | 2 | James Chen | Taiwan | 760,000 | 38 |
| FT2 | 3 | Greg Mueller | Canada | 1,070,000 | 54 |
| FT2 | 4 | Bariscan Betil | United States | 245,000 | 12 |
| FT2 | 5 | Daniel Negreanu | Canada | 1,620,000 | 81 |
| FT2 | 7 | Elior Sion | United Kingdom | 375,000 | 19 |
| FT3 | 1 | Brian Rast | United States | 540,000 | 27 |
| FT3 | 3 | Ali Eslami | United States | 520,000 | 26 |
| FT3 | 4 | Stuart Rutter | United Kingdom | 975,000 | 49 |
| FT3 | 6 | Nick Schulman | United States | 1,195,000 | 60 |
| FT3 | 7 | Darren Elias | United States | 520,000 | 26 |
Level 18
: Blinds 8,000/16,000, 24,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
1,835,000
841,000
|
841,000 |
|
||
|
1,775,000
425,000
|
425,000 |
|
||
|
1,620,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
|
||
|
1,195,000
95,000
|
95,000 |
|
||
|
1,070,000
186,000
|
186,000 |
|
||
|
975,000
345,000
|
345,000 |
|
925,000
75,000
|
75,000 |
|
795,000
90,000
|
90,000 |
|
||
|
760,000
160,000
|
160,000 |
|
|
||
|
540,000
20,000
|
20,000 |
|
|
||
|
520,000
130,000
|
130,000 |
|
||
|
520,000
100,000
|
100,000 |
|
|
||
|
420,000
130,000
|
130,000 |
|
|
||
|
375,000
25,000
|
25,000 |
|
||
|
245,000
75,000
|
75,000 |
|
195,000
305,000
|
305,000 |
|
|
||
Level 18
: Blinds 8,000/16,000, 24,000 ante
Level 18 has ended and the remaining 16 players are now bagging and tagging.
Play will resume on Tuesday, June 10 at 1 p.m. for Day 3.
Stay tuned for a recap of Day 2.
Level 18
: Blinds 8,000/16,000, 24,000 ante
On the last hand of the night, Nick Schulman raised to 32,000 in the cutoff and Darren Elias called on the button. Brian Rast then three-bet to 130,000 in the small blind and only Elias called.
Rast stood pat and Elias took one. Rast then moved all in for 210,000 and Elias snap-folded.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,100,000
100,000
|
100,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
650,000
300,000
|
300,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
520,000
180,000
|
180,000 |
|
|
||
Level 18
: Blinds 8,000/16,000, 24,000 ante
Elior Sion raised to 185,000 from the hijack, leaving himself just a few thousand behind, and Oscar Johansson called in the cutoff.
Both players drew one and Sion bet the rest of his chips. Johansson called and Sion tabled Jx8x7x6x4x.
It was good against Johansson's 9x7x3x2x2x and Sion doubled up.
"Good value bet," Negreanu said from across the table.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,000,000
300,000
|
300,000 |
|
|
400,000
20,000
|
20,000 |
|
|
||
Level 18
: Blinds 8,000/16,000, 24,000 ante
Oscar Johansson raised to 35,000 in the hijack and James Chen moved all in for 279,000 in the cutoff. Bariscan Betil then reshoved in the small blind and Johansson got out of the way.
Chen stood pat with Jx8x7x6x3x, while Betil took one and turned over 7x6x5x2x. Betil peeled his last card but ended up with an Ax as Chen doubled up again.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,300,000
350,000
|
350,000 |
|
|
600,000
260,000
|
260,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
320,000
290,000
|
290,000 |
Level 18
: Blinds 8,000/16,000, 24,000 ante
James Chen shoved for his last 153,000 from the cutoff and was called by Bariscan Betil in the small blind to be put at risk.
Betil stood pat and Chen drew one.
James Chen: 9x6x4x2x
Bariscan Betil: Jx9x8x6x3x
Chen squeezed his draw and turned over a Jx — leaving him best with a jack-nine-six for the double up.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
610,000
204,000
|
204,000 |
|
|
340,000
145,000
|
145,000 |
|
|
||
Level 18
: Blinds 8,000/16,000, 24,000 ante
Action folded to Huck Seed who limped in from the small blind. Nick Schulman then raised to 50,000 in the big blind and Seed moved all in for 429,000. Schulman called and they both stood pat.
Schulman turned over 9x7x6x5x3x. "I keep running into these big hands in the blinds," Seed lamented as he tossed a 10-7 into the muck and headed to the rail in 17th place.
"Really, Nick? You're going to do your buddy like that? Wake up with a pat nine?" Greg Mueller yelled over from another table.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,200,000
226,000
|
226,000 |
|
|
||
|
Busted | |
|
||
