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Jake Schwartz in Pursuit of Elusive First Bracelet After Day 2 of Event #27: $10,000 Dealers Choice Championship
Stud Games: 10,000 Ante, 10,000 Bring-In, 30,000 Completion, 30,000-60,000 Limits
Pot-Limit & No-Limit: 15,000/25,000 Ante, 10,000-15,000 Blinds
Jake Schwartz has been one of the steadiest performers at the World Series of Poker over the last decade. The one glaring omission from his resume, however, is a gold bracelet, and Schwartz put himself in a position to change that on Day 2 of Event #27: $10,000 Dealers Choice Championship.
Schwartz took the chip lead with 1,890,000 as 11 players will return tomorrow at 1 p.m. local time to battle for mixed-game supremacy and WSOP gold. Schwartz has more than 150 cashes, 10 final tables, and four top-three finishes in his WSOP career, including in this event in 2021, but is still looking for his maiden victory.
Day 2 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds | Big Bets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jake Schwartz | United States | 1,890,000 | 95 | 24 |
| 2 | Chad Eveslage | United States | 1,445,000 | 72 | 18 |
| 3 | Tomasz Gluszko | Poland | 1,305,000 | 65 | 16 |
| 4 | Lawrence Brandt | United States | 1,015,000 | 51 | 13 |
| 5 | Bryce Yockey | United States | 750,000 | 38 | 9 |
| 6 | Jeremy Ausmus | United States | 685,000 | 34 | 9 |
| 7 | Owais Ahmed | United States | 605,000 | 30 | 8 |
| 8 | Ryan Miller | United States | 595,000 | 30 | 7 |
| 9 | Koji Fujimoto | Japan | 590,000 | 30 | 7 |
| 10 | Nick Schulman | United States | 555,000 | 28 | 7 |
| 11 | Duane Fontenot | United States | 345,000 | 17 | 4 |
Behind him is someone who’s no stranger to WSOP glory. Chad Eveslage won this event in 2023, part of an incredible double in Dealers Choice events after also taking down the $1,500 version that same year. The four-time bracelet winner is in second place with 1,445,000 as he chases another victory in this tournament. Tomasz Gluszko (1,305,000), Lawrence Brandt (1,015,000), and Bryce Yockey (750,000) round out the top five.
Jeremy Ausmus only arrived at the WSOP a few days ago after returning from a vacation in Japan, but the six-time bracelet winner already has one final table run so far this year, finishing fourth in the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship. He’ll go into Day 3 with 685,000 and in pursuit of a victory that would solidify his Hall of Fame credentials.
The rest of the final table lineup includes Owais Ahmed (605,000), Ryan Miller (595,000), Koji Fujimoto (590,000), Hall of Famer Nick Schulman (555,000), and Duane Fontenot (345,000).
Day 2 began with 66 surviving players from Day 1 being joined by 28 new entries, creating a total field of 163 and a prize pool of $1,515,900.
Among those to fall short of the money were Brian Rast, Alex Livingston, Phil Hellmuth, Viktor Blom, Josh Arieh, and John Hennigan. Chris Brewer and Jesse Lonis began the day atop the leaderboard, but neither could replicate that success today and headed off without a payday.
Only the top 25 players would make the money. With 26 players remaining, Schulman made a set of fours with a low to scoop Tyler Meservy and bust him on the bubble. Ausmus busted Masafumi Iijima on the same hand at another table, and Meservy and Iijima split a min-cash.
Scott Seiver (24th) and Benny Glaser (23rd) were the first to head to the payout desk, followed by Marco Johnson (20th) and Dario Sammartino (19th). Defending champion Ryan Hoenig made a valiant effort at a repeat, but his run eventually came to an end when he got in his last chips drawing to a six in Badacey against Eveslage. Eveslage ended up with a pair of aces, while Hoenig drew a pair of eights and was sent to the rail in 17th place.
Three simultaneous all ins brought the field down to the last two tables. First, Ofir Mor ran into Gluszko’s aces, while Andrew Kelsall made a 7-6, but Schwartz turned over a wheel to score the knockout. Brandt then made a straight with a low to scoop a pot of Pot-Limit Omaha 8 or Better and bust Brian Tate in 12th place. The remaining 11 players played for nearly 90 minutes more, deep into the night inside the Paris Las Vegas ballroom, without another bustout.
The 11 finalists have already locked up $28,922 for making it this far, with a spot at the six-handed final table worth $58,460. The champion will take home $371,664 and the WSOP gold bracelet.
Remaining Payouts
| Place | Prize | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $371,664 | 6 | $58,460 |
| 2 | $241,152 | 7 | $44,592 |
| 3 | $161,292 | 8-9 | $35,253 |
| 4 | $111,305 | 10-11 | $28,922 |
| 5 | $79,331 |
The action on Day 3 picks up on Level 21 with limits of 40,000/80,000 and No-Limit blinds of 10,000/20,000. Levels will be extended to 90 minutes at the start of play tomorrow and continue at that duration until a champion is crowned.
PokerNews will be following all the action from the final day tomorrow, so be sure to tune in for all the updates until a new mixed-game master is crowned.