button in SafariTobias Leknes Second in Chips After Day 1 of the $1,500 Dealers Choice
This tournament was not for you if you only play Texas Hold'em because Event #20: $1,500 Dealers Choice allowed players to choose from 20, yes 20, different poker variants. Some 656 players decided this was the event where they would capture a 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet. That dream ended for all but 132 of them.
Anyone who follows online poker will likely recognize the player who finished second on Day 1. Norway's Tobias Leknes, better known to some as "Senkel92," is a mixed game crusher. He is yet to win a bracelet, but it is a matter of when, not if, that happens. The Norwegian bagged up 324,000 chips at day's end and is now well-positioned to make yet another deep run in a mixed game tournament.
Mexican veteran Luis Velador (366,000) was the only player with more chips than Leknes. Velador won his first bracelet at the 2008 WSOP, doing so in the $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em event. He won his second two years later in a $2,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em/Omaha mixed event. Will this be the tournament where Velador completes a hat trick?
Event #20: $1,500 Dealers Choice Day 1 Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jose Velador | Mexico | 366,000 |
| 2 | Tobias Leknes | Norway | 324,000 |
| 3 | Christopher McHugh | United States | 310,500 |
| 4 | Kelvin Zhao | 273,000 | |
| 5 | Allan Le | United States | 265,000 |
| 6 | Robert Klein | United States | 264,500 |
| 7 | Danny Chang | United States | 242,500 |
| 8 | Dario Sammartino | Italy | 236,000 |
| 9 | Walter Chambers | United States | 234,500 |
| 10 | John Hardie | United States | 232,000 |
Dozens of mixed-game aficionados made it through to Day 2 with varying stack sizes. Allan Le (265,000), Dario Sammartino (236,000), Ryan Hughes (207,500), Jeff Madsen (202,500), and Maxx Coleman (193,000) all progressed with a top 20 stack.
Lower down the counts, you find Nathan Gamble (165,000), Nick Schulman (165,000), and Josh Arieh (159,500), while the likes of Michael Mizrachi (107,000), Greg Mueller (97,500), Ari Engel (80,000), and Eli Elezra (58,500) have a little more work to do if they're to come out on top in this evemt.
Day 2 is scheduled to start at 1:00 p.m. local time on June 4 and will continue until another 10 levels are in the bag. Join PokerNews then for all of the mixed game action you can handle.