Event #51: $25,000 High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha Day 1 | 2025 World Series of Poker

06-17-2025 12:24 UTC-8

Benyamine Surrenders on River

Nick Vazquez

Level 2 : Blinds 300/600, 600 ante

David Benyamine raised to 1,200. This minimum raise invited Robert Emmerson to call from the cutoff, Fabian Riebau-Schmithals to call on the button, Esther Taylor to call in the small blind and Isaac Kempton to call from the big blind.

The flop was 9♣7♥2♠ and Taylor checked. Kempton decided to lead out for 3,000. Only Benyamine and Riebau-Schmithals called.

The turn brought the J♣, and now Kempton checked. Benyamine checked as well, but Riebau-Schmithals fired out 12,000. Kempton folded, and Benyamine called.

The river was the 5♥ and Benyamine checked it over again. Riebau-Schmithals bet 25,000 this time, and Benyamine folded rather quickly. Riebau-Schmithals has chipped up fairly nicely here early on, while Benyamine has lost a chunk of his starting stack.

Player	Chips	Progress
Fabian Riebau-Schmithals	186,000 22,000	22,000
Isaac Kempton	160,000 17,600	17,600
Robert Emmerson	160,000 13,000	13,000
Esther Taylor	145,000

David Benyamine	85,000 65,000	65,000

Tags: David Benyamine Esther Taylor Fabian Riebau-Schmithals Isaac Kempton Robert Emmerson

06-17-2025 12:26 UTC-8

Level Two Entries

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Tim Baker

Level 2 : Blinds 300/600, 600 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Noah Schwartz	150,000 150,000	150,000

Aaron Pahlawani	150,000 150,000	150,000
Maxi Lehmanski	150,000 150,000	150,000
Lou Garza	150,000 150,000	150,000

Artem Maksimov	150,000 150,000	150,000
Tong Li	150,000 150,000	150,000

Cesar Garcia	150,000 150,000	150,000

Lawrence Chang	150,000 150,000	150,000
Andjelko Andrejevic	150,000 150,000	150,000

Sean Rafael	150,000 150,000	150,000
Tom-Aksel Bedell	150,000 150,000	150,000
Andriy Lyubovetskiy	150,000 150,000	150,000

Pedro Bromfman	150,000 150,000	150,000

Nacho Barbero	150,000 150,000	150,000

Scott Eskenazi	150,000 150,000	150,000

Jeremy Druckman	150,000 150,000	150,000
Vadim Zakharyan	150,000 150,000	150,000
Colby Covington	150,000 150,000	150,000
Sean Winter	150,000 150,000	150,000
Greg Levine	150,000 150,000	150,000
Petko Tsakov	150,000 150,000	150,000
Aditya Sadhu	150,000 150,000	150,000
Roberto Sagra	150,000 150,000	150,000
Yang Wang	150,000 150,000	150,000
Noel Rodriguez	150,000

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06-17-2025 12:36 UTC-8

Covington Wins Crowded Pot

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Erick Torres

Level 2 : Blinds 300/600, 600 ante

Colby Covington began the hand with a raise to 2,500 from early position and was called in the next seat over by Ayaz Mahmood. Jeremy Ausmus called from the button and Brian Breck called from the big blind.

Breck and Covington checked the 9♥3♥3♠ flop. Mahmood fired 5,000, which led to a fold from Ausmus. Breck called before Covington opted to raise to 18,000. Mahmood called, and Breck folded.

The 2♣ turn saw Covington fire 28,000, and Mahmood fold to award the pot to Covington.

Player	Chips	Progress
Brian Breck	217,000 44,000	44,000
Colby Covington	175,000 25,000	25,000
Jeremy Ausmus	128,000 27,000	27,000

Ayaz Mahmood	115,000 35,000	35,000

Tags: Ayaz Mahmood Brian Breck Colby Covington Jeremy Ausmus

06-17-2025 12:43 UTC-8

Fun Fact of the Day

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Kasey Taormino

Level 2 : Blinds 300/600, 600 ante

https://twitter.com/WSOP/status/1935073975731896732

06-17-2025 12:45 UTC-8

Chang Triples Up; Bromfman Busts

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Tim Baker

Level 2 : Blinds 300/600, 600 ante

Arriving at table to see a flop of Q♥3♦6♥ was already out and three players were all-in.

Lawrence Chang: A♦K♣K♦Q♠ All in
Pedro Bromfman: J♣J♥9♥9♦ All in
Eelis Parssinen: A♠A♥5♥2♠

Eelis Parssinen had aces and a flush draw, against Pedro Bromfman's smaller draw, and Lawrence Chang's pair of kings. The 10♠ turn offered up a few more outs for Bromfman and Chang. The Q♣ river improved Chang to trip queens to triple up, while Parssinen won the side pot against Bromfman, eliminating him from the tournament.

Player	Chips	Progress
Eelis Parssinen	245,000 95,000	95,000

Lawrence Chang	145,000 5,000	5,000
Pedro Bromfman	Busted

Tags: Eelis Paerssinen Lawrence Chang Pedro Bromfman

06-17-2025 12:51 UTC-8

A Few More to Enter the Field

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Tim Baker

Level 2 : Blinds 300/600, 600 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Jordan Glazer	150,000 150,000	150,000
Ilya Nikiforov	150,000 150,000	150,000
Jonathan Azoulay	150,000 150,000	150,000
Evgeni Tourevski	150,000 150,000	150,000
Jesse Lonis	150,000 150,000	150,000

Terry Woodruff	150,000 150,000	150,000
Alexander Petersen	150,000 150,000	150,000

Luis Calvo	150,000 150,000	150,000

Yuriy Boyko	150,000 150,000	150,000
Anthony Zinno	150,000 150,000	150,000

Bernd Gleissner	150,000 150,000	150,000

Iaroslav Boiko	150,000
Pedro Bromfman	150,000 150,000	150,000

Thomas Zanot	150,000
Tomer Daniel	150,000 150,000	150,000
Joshua Ladines	150,000
Veselin Karakitukov	150,000 150,000	150,000
Bruno Furth	150,000 150,000	150,000

Frank Brannan	150,000 150,000	150,000

06-17-2025 12:56 UTC-8

Doug Polk Kills Tony Stand-Up Comedy; Michael Kaplan’s Final Stu Ungar Story | PokerNews Podcast #898

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Chad Holloway

Level 2 : Blinds 300/600, 600 ante

In the 898th episode of the PokerNews Podcast, Chad Holloway, Kyna Englandn and Mike Holtz are back at Level 9 Studio to offer their thoughts on Doug Polk's recent appearance on Kill Tony, the popular Austin-based stand-up comedy program. How did Doug do in front of Tony Hinchcliffe and company? Let's just say you might be surprised.

Mike, who made a recent appearance in Daniel Negreanu's vlog, then sounds off on the cancelled WSOP Online bracelet event, the crew discusses the recently-announced changes to the WSOP Circuit, Chad goes to the world's largest casino collectibles show, and Matt Savage offers his thoughts as a special guest speaker.

Other topics include bracelet wins by Nick Schulman, Jason Koon, and John Racener, highlights from recent Charity Series of Poker (CSOP) events, and an exclusive interview with famed poker author Michael Kaplan, who recently released a new book, Advantage Players. The veteran scribe shares several poker stories, including Phil Ivey and Kelly Sun's baccarat edge sorting, the legendary Billy Baxter, and what it was like working with Stu Ungar in what was one of the final, if not THE final, interviews before he passed in 1998.

Learn about all those stories and more in the latest episode of the PokerNews Podcast!

A new PokerNews Podcast will drop twice a week during the 2025 WSOP every Thursday and Sunday at 8a PT / 11a ET / 4p UK time. Remember to subscribe to our YouTube channel so you do not miss an episode!

Click here to listen to the new PN Podcast!

06-17-2025 12:57 UTC-8

Chop it Up

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Erick Torres

Level 2 : Blinds 300/600, 600 ante

Ap Garza began the hand with a raise to 2,000 from under the gun. Sean Rafael came along with a call from early position, Thomas Taylor called from the hijack, Stephen Hubbard came along from the small blind, and Ryan Weiss called from the big blind.

A round of checks from the entire table greeted the Q♥3♥8♠ flop to bring a free turn.

The 9♦ peeled off, and the table checked to Rafael, who slid out 4,100. Taylor called before Mustafov chose to raise to 30,000. Hubbard, Reiss, and Garza folded. Rafael jammed, and Taylor folded. Mustafov called off and was at risk.

Rafael showed A♠K♠J♠10♥ for a turned straight, and Mustafov showed Q♣J♥J♦10♣ for the same straight.

The 8♣ river did not change anything as both players chopped the pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Lou Garza	248,000 98,000	98,000

Stephen Hubbard	214,000 24,000	24,000
Ryan Riess	129,000 41,000	41,000

Sean Rafael	126,000 24,000	24,000
Robert Cowen	95,500 54,500	54,500

Fahredin Mustafov	57,000 93,000	93,000

Tags: Ap Garza Ryan Weiss Sean Rafael Stephen Hubbard Thomas Taylor

06-17-2025 12:58 UTC-8

Lonis Gives Speech, Raises River

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Nick Vazquez

Level 2 : Blinds 300/600, 600 ante

Jesse Lonis raised in early position to 2,100. Only Vasil Medarov made the call from the small blind.

The flop came A♥8♣7♠ and Medarov checked to Lonis, who bet 3,400. Medarov called.

The turn went check-check on the A♣, and the river was the 5♠. Medarov then led out for 3,500.

"What kind of bet is that?", Lonis asked. He proceeded to tell a story about how someone said the same thing to him in another event, raised on the river, and showed a bluff. Lonis reenacted the first part of that story, raising to 15,200. When Medarov folded, Lonis showed that he wasn't bluffing, as he revealed 5♣5♥ for a rivered full house.