Stud Games: 10,000 Ante, 20,000 Bring-In, 50,000 Completion 50,000-100,000 Limits
No-Limit & Pot-Limit: 25,000/35,000 Ante, 10,000-25,000 Blinds
A late night surge vaulted Benny Glaser into a commanding chip lead after Day 2 of Event #8: $1,500 Dealers Choice here at the 2025 World Series of Poker. The five-time bracelet winner was leading at the three-table redraw, then almost doubled his stack in the last ninety minutes of play.
A total of 597 hopefuls entered the event with just 124 returning for today’s action at the Horseshoe Event Center. However, just 90 of these made the money and were guaranteed a minimum cash of $3,015.
Over the course of ten hours of play, the Event Center transitioned from a frenzied affair to an intimate and intense endeavor as the number of tables shrunk until it was just this event battling it out at three tables.
By night’s end, just 14 players punched their ticket to Sunday’s Day 3 when a champion will be crowned and a bracelet awarded, along with the first-place prize of $150,246.
In second place with less than half of Glaser’s chips is Justin Liberto. He was the chip leader for some of the day until he lost several hands and entered the three-table redraw with less than four big bets. However, he was able to retain control on his way to a bag of 1,480,000.
Rounding out the podium in third place is Canada’s Jonathan Krela with 1,305,000.
End of Day 2 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Benny Glaser | United Kingdom | 3,050,000 |
| 2 | Justin Liberto | United States | 1,480,000 |
| 3 | Jonathan Krela | Canada | 1,305,000 |
| 4 | Stephen O'Dwyer (CA) | United States | 1,245,000 |
| 5 | Scott Jacewiczokelly | United States | 1,240,000 |
| 6 | Matthew Schreiber | United States | 1,155,000 |
| 7 | Timothy Knauf | United States | 1,000,000 |
| 8 | Adam Greenlee | United States | 870,000 |
| 9 | Scott Bohlman | United States | 815,000 |
| 10 | Andrew Park | United States | 725,000 |
| 11 | Laurent Manderlier | Belgium | 700,000 |
| 12 | Daniel Zack | United States | 660,000 |
| 13 | Eric Baldwin | United States | 400,000 |
| 14 | Adam Owen | United Kingdom | 270,000 |
A number of notable names marched on to Day 2 but were unable to find their way into the money. Some of these include Poker Hall of Famers Phil Hellmuth and Huck Seed, James Obst, Amnon Filippi, Dario Sammartino, Nick Guagenti, and actor James Woods.
Hand-for-hand lasted just one hand when Christopher Vitch eliminated Dennis Kim. James Van Alstyne also busted to Stephen O'Dwyer (CA) at the same time on a different table to secure the remaining 90 players a payout.
Several well-known names advanced into the money but will not be in contention for the bracelet tomorrow. Among these were Dzmitry Urbanovich (83rd - $3,015), Jon Turner (74th - $3,015), Matt Vengrin (67th - $3,015), Yuval Bronshtein (62nd - $3,015), Mike Leah (48th - $3,274), Dylan Smith (45th - $3,495), Brad Ruben (32nd - $4,363), Andres Korn (30th - $4,363), Christopher Vitch (21st - $6,116), Allan Le (20th - $6,116), and Nathan Gamble (19th - $6,116).
Remaining Payouts
| Place | Prize |
|---|---|
| 1 | $150,246 |
| 2 | $100,137 |
| 3 | $66,755 |
| 4 | $45,511 |
| 5 | $31,747 |
| 6 | $22,673 |
| 8-9 | $12,436 |
| 10-11 | $9,563 |
| 12-14 | $7,546 |
Play resumes Sunday, June 1 at 1 p.m. local time in the Horseshoe Event Center. The action will commence in Level 26 with big bet game blinds at 15,000/30,000 and limits at 60,000/120,000 with an average stack of 1,066,000. Play will continue in 60-minute levels until a winner is decided.
Stay tuned to PokerNews as we provide coverage through to the end of this event and all events here at the 2025 World Series of Poker.
