Three-way on a flop of 7♦7♣4♠, Daniel Negreanu on the button bet, Max Hoffman check-raised from the hijack and made Kyle Ray in the cutoff check-fold while Negreanu called.
Hoffman bet the 8♥ turn and was called again, but checked the 7♠ river. Negreanu didn't wait to raise.
Hoffman called, but lost to Negreanu's full house with Q♠Q♥.
With a bloated pot, the board was showing 4♥6♠6♥, and Nick Schulman and Benjamin Underwood had gone to war betting and capped out on the flop. Schulman put his remaining 3,000 in when the 5♦ came on the turn and was instantly called.
Nick Schulman: 10♣10♠
Benjamin Underwood: 7x7x
A nasty 8♦ came on the river and gave Underwood a straight to send Schulman to the rails.
Despite impressive results both online and live, Viktor Blom is still chasing his first World Series of Poker bracelet. Will 2025 finally be the year he gets it?
The Swedish player came close at the start of the series with two final table appearances, but the bracelet remains just out of reach for now. Event #41: $10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship could be another opportunity, and so far, Blom seized this opportunity as he ended Day 1 as the chip leader out.
Out of a field of 91 entries, his stack kept growing throughout the day to reach 372,000. He is closely followed by Canada’s Benjamin Underwood (361,000), while Joe McKeehen, who won this event back in 2017, is third in chips with 319,000.
Event #41: $10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship Day 1 Top 10 Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
1
Viktor Blom
Sweden
372,000
2
Benjamin Underwood
Canada
361,000
3
Joe McKeehen
United States
319,000
4
Justin Smith
United States
246,000
5
Daniel Negreanu
Canada
241,000
6
Anthony Zinno
United States
240,000
7
Dzmitry Urbanovich
Poland
212,000
8
David Lieberman
United States
191,000
9
Corel Theuma
United States
190,000
10
Peter De Best
United States
181,000
Joe McKeehen
Defending champion John Racener was absent on Day 1, but other experienced players were in the mix, including Daniel Negreanu (241,000), Anthony Zinno (240,000), Dzmitry Urbanovich (212,000), and 2019 champion Juha Helppi (163,000).
Erick Lindgren (116,000) and Ryan Bambrick (106,000) also made it through to Day 2, along with Pedro Neves (93,000), who had already qualified for Day 2 of the $1,500 Monster Stack and remains in contention for a back-to-back win.
Tom McCormick (57,000) and Jeremy Ausmus (56,000) bagged close to a starting stack, as did Florian Pesce (51,000), who endured “a tough last two hours.” Among the chip leaders after Level 8, Pesce lost “several small pots,” dropping from 230,000 to 51,000 by the end of the day.
The 43 remaining players will be joined on Day 2 by new entrants, as late registration remains open for one 60-minute level after play resumes at 1 p.m. local time here at the Horseshoe and Paris, Las Vegas. A total of eight new levels are scheduled to be played on Day 2 as the field moves closer to the final table.
Be sure to stay tuned to PokerNews as its live reporting team continues to provide coverage of Event #41: $10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship through to its conclusion.
