In a limped pot, five players saw the flop come down 7♣K♦4♦. Ben Yu was first to act in the small blind and bet 120,000 with just 70,000 behind. Matthew Woodward called from early position, but Arthur Morris raised to 600,000 from the cutoff. Yu called for the last of his chips, and after a few moments, Woodward shoved to put Morris all in. Morris called and the cards were turned ove with Yu and Morris at risk.
Ben Yu: A♦10♥8♦4♥3♥
Arthur Morris: K♣K♠Q♦3♠3♣
Matthew Woodward: A♥9♣9♦7♥2♠
Yu had a flush draw, Woodward a low draw, and Morris had the current nuts with a set of kings. The rest of the board ran out 10♦8♣ to give Yu a flush and Woodward an eight-seven low, meaning they chopped the main pot. Morris and Woodward chopped the side pot.
The second day of Event #44: $10,000 Big O Championship at the 2025 World Series of Poker has wrapped up, with 26 players set to return and battle tomorrow for the $784,353 top prize and the coveted WSOP bracelet, inside the Horseshoe and Paris, Las Vegas.
An additional 79 entries were added before late registration closed, bringing the field size to a total of 402 and generating a prize pool of $3,738,600. After ten 60-minute levels, Veerachai Vongxaiburana soared to the top of the counts with a stack of 2,350,000, and is the only player to cross the two-million-chip mark.
A large majority of Vongxaiburana's chips came towards the end of the day when he flopped a straight against James Chen and Nathaniel Wiesner. Vongxaiburana managed to get three streets of value from Chen in the hand, who apparently had turned a set of tens. After this pot, Vongxaiburana remained at the top of the counts until play concluded.
Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Veerachai Vongxaiburana
United States
2,330,000
93
2
Phil Hui
United States
1,970,000
79
3
Viktor Blom
Sweden
1,570,000
63
4
Matthew Woodward
United States
1,535,000
61
5
Justin Liberto
United States
1,450,000
58
6
Tomasz Gluszko
Poland
1,330,000
53
7
Calvin Anderson
United States
1,110,000
44
8
Erik Seidel
United States
1,100,000
44
9
Dylan Wilkerson
United States
985,000
39
10
Brian Battistone
United States
980,000
39
Entering Day 3's proceedings second in the chip counts is Phil Hui with 1,970,000, while poker legend Viktor Blom rounds out the podium position with a stack of 1,570,000. Just yesterday, Blom finished second in Event #41: $10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship for $188,295, after which he immediately hopped in this event and ran up a stack. Now, sitting third in the counts, the Swedish player has put himself in another promising position to give himself a chance at winning his first WSOP bracelet.
Viktor Blom
Once registration closed after the second level of the day, the payouts were confirmed with the top 61 players making the money and a min-cash worth $20,049. Four levels later, hand-for-hand play began as the next player out would be the last to leave empty-handed. In the end, Joseph Genova became the bubble boy after being forced all in from the big blind and was drawing dead on the turn to George Alexander’s Broadway straight.
After the bubble burst, eliminations came fast. Among those who cashed but won’t be returning for Day 3 is six-time bracelet winner Brad Ruben, who lost a three-way all-in where Sam Soverel made a flush. Also hitting the rail were Patrick Leonard, Allen Kessler, Alex Livingston, and 1989 Main Event champ Phil Hellmuth, who was stacked by Dylan Weisman’s quads.
David Williams
Still in contention for the title and returning tomorrow are five-time bracelet winner Calvin Anderson (1,110,000), Poker Hall of Famer Erik Seidel (1,100,000), Sean Troha (655,000), 2004 Main Event runner-up David Williams (620,000), and Nick Shulman (615,000), who’s chasing his second bracelet of the series after winning Event #30: $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Single Draw Championship just a few days ago.
Remaining Payouts
Place
Prize
1
$784,353
2
$522,878
3
$360,711
4
$253,276
5
$181,069
6
$131,841
7
$97,806
8
$73,950
9
$57,008
10–11
$44,825
12–15
$35,963
16–23
$29,454
24–26
$24,635
The penultimate day of this four-day affair kicks off at 1 p.m. local time on Monday, June 16, with players returning to blinds of 10,000/25,000 and a big blind ante of 25,000. Levels will remain 60 minutes long, and everyone coming back has secured at least $24,635 for their efforts. All eyes will be on the $784,353 top prize and the coveted gold bracelet that awaits the winner.
Be sure to tune back in to PokerNews tomorrow for all the latest updates, chip counts, eliminations, and drama direct from the tournament floor.
