Laurent Manderlier and Eric Baldwin went to the turn on a board of 7♣K♥5♥3♠ when Manderlier bet from the small blind. Baldwin then raised in the hijack and Manderlier called all in.
Manderlier had A♦6♠4♣3♦ for a straight, while Baldwin showed A♠K♠8♥2♥ for top pair. The river was the 2♠ and Manderlier also made a wheel to scoop the pot and double up.
At the same table, Justin Liberto had been taking down most small pots and had climbed back up past 1,000,000. "Back where you started," Stephen O'Dwyer told him.
"I had 1.8," Liberto replied.
"You had 1.8? That's right, you were chip leader before that big Razz hand," O'Dwyer added, referring to the massive four-way pot that happened earlier today.
"I won that pot," Manderlier added, pointing to his much-smaller stack.
Adam Owen limped under the gun, Andrew Park limped the small blind, Benny Glaser potted to 100,000 from the big blind, Adam Owen called all-in for 29,000 and Park called.
On the Q♥J♥3♦ flop, Park check-called a bet of 80,000.
The J♠ turn checked through to the 9♣ river which saw Park check-call a bet of 220,000.
Adam Owen: J♣10♣8♠7♣3♣
Benny Glaser: A♥A♣9♠9♥2♠
Andrew Park: A♦Q♦10♥7♦5♥
Owen had the better full house to triple as Glaser claimed the side pot.
The next hand, Andrew Park opened the button to 65,000, Benny Glaser called in the small blind, and Adam Owen called in the big blind.
On the K♦10♠2♦ flop, Glaser led for 110,000, Owen called all-in for 24,000, and Park folded.
Adam Owen: K♠Q♣9♣8♠7♦
Benny Glaser: A♣J♠5♠2♥2♣
Glaser had a set and Owen had a gutter. The 7♥ gave him more outs before the J♥ river gave Owen the straight to win.
Dan Zack raised on the button and Matthew Schreiber called in the big blind.
Both players drew one and checked after the first draw. Schreiber then turned over a jack-low. "It's triple draw," Zack reminded him.
"This is like the third time today I've played the wrong game," Schreiber said. He then drew two and Zack one, then folded to a bet from Zack.
A few hands later, Adam Greenlee raised in the cutoff, Schreiber reraised on the button, and Greenlee called.
"What's the right move?" Schreiber asked Zack.
"Draw two after you turn your hand over," Zack joked. Schreiber and Greenlee drew one each and checked. Greenlee then stood pat and Schreiber took one.
Schreiber bet and Greenlee called. Both players stood pat and Schreiber bet again. "Against a normal person I would fold," Greenlee said.
"I don't know how to take that," Schreiber replied. Greenlee eventually called and Schreiber showed 8x6x4x3x2x. Greenlee mucked a 9-7 and Schreiber took the pot.
"Let's do a 14-way chop," Schreiber then called out to the rest of the field.
"Who gets the bracelet?" another player asked.
"We'll give him the bracelet," Schreiber replied, pointing out Stephen O'Dwyer.
"I'm going to write a book on 2-7 Razz," O'Dwyer added.
"He's the 2-7 goat. He didn't miss a bet for three hours," Schreiber said.
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.
Justin Liberto
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.
Phil Hellmuth
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).
Mike Leah
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.
