button in SafariCalvin Anderson Leads Final Eight in $10k Razz Championship
High Card: 10,000
Completion: 30,000
Limits: 30,000-60,000
A surge of Day 2 registrants saw 37 players join the field, bringing the total number of entries in Event #48: $10,000 Razz Championship to 155 — solidly surprassing last year's 134. After ten additional hour-long levels of razzling and dazzling inside the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, just eight players were able to bag up for Day 3.
Leading the way is five-time bracelet winner Calvin Anderson with 1,885,000. Anderson, who also ended Day 1 with the chip lead, finds himself in familiar territory, having already won this event in 2018.
Nipping at his heels is one-time bracelet winner Eric Rodawig with 1,865,000, and rounding out the top three is former German Soccer pro and poker enthusiast Max Kruse (1,505,000), who also holds a bracelet from a WSOPE Hold'em event in 2022.
Final Table Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Bets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Calvin Anderson | United States | 1,885,000 | 24 |
| 2 | Eric Rodawig | United States | 1,865,000 | 23 |
| 3 | Max Kruse | Germany | 1,505,000 | 19 |
| 4 | Philip Sternheimer | United Kingdom | 1,380,000 | 17 |
| 5 | Tobias Leknes | Norway | 1,125,000 | 14 |
| 6 | Yuval Bronshtein | Israel | 625,000 | 8 |
| 7 | Todd Dakake | United States | 590,000 | 7 |
| 8 | Shane Littlefield | United States | 325,000 | 4 |
Day 2 Action
Very few of the last-minute participants were able to run up a stack, with Dan Cates, David "ODB" Baker, Maxx Coleman, Esther Taylor, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Ivey, Greg Mueller, Nick Schulman, Ryutaro Suzuki, and Michael Mizrachi (to name a few), all busting before they could reach the money.
By dinner break, only 29 of the 91 players who took a seat for Day 2 were remaining. With the money bubble looming, several players dwindled down to just a handful of big bets or less.
Hand-for-hand play was announced two spots off of the money, which resulted in an extended bubble period and many double-ups. Matt Grapenthien was the first to score a double, while Frank Kassela soft-bubbled shortly thereafter.
Ben Yu and Chris Hunichen were ante'd down to less than a big bet each, but both players managed to avoid elimination, much to the chagrin of the other players.
Ryan Miller fell down to a short stack, but also managed to doubled up. Shortly after, Miller and Alexis Cruz were both all in and at risk against Anderson, who was able to score the double knockout to end the bubble period. Because both eliminated players were at the same table, Miller was awarded a min-cash for having a covering stack, leaving Cruz as the bubble boy.
It took less than 30 minutes for six players to be eliminated following the bubble, with Matthew Beinner, Chris Hunichen, Noah Bronstein, Ben Yu, Jon Turner, and Tomasz Gluszko all settling for a min-cash.
The final two tables saw Kruse jump out to a solid lead after taking down a large three-way pot with six perfect, while a pair of poker legends, Yuri Dzivielevski (16th) and Eli Elezra (15th), found themselves on the rail not long after.
Benny Glaser was poised to make his second final table appearance of the series, but a bad beat ended his run in 11th place after getting all in as a favorite only to have Eric Rodawig catch up on seventh.
The final table bubble contained a bit of drama, with some players arguing that hand-for-hand play should be implemented due to perceived stalling. Yueqi Zhu and Ray Fishman were by far the shortest stacks, but Zhu managed to double up a few times and outlast Fishman, who was eliminated after getting all in and failing to improve against Tobias Leknes.
Todd Dakake held less than a big bet at the unofficial table of nine, but he managed to quadruple up in one hand, followed by more than doubling up a bit later to spin his stack from 35,000 to 590,000 by the end of play. Instead, the final elimination of the night fell on Zhu after he was forced all in by the ante and then failed to make the best hand against Leknes and Kruse.
Everyone remaining has already secured a payout of at least $36,395 from the $1,441,500 prize pool, but players are sure to be gunning for the $357,026 and coveted gold bracelet awaiting the champion.
Remaining Payouts
| Place | Prize |
|---|---|
| 1 | $357,026 |
| 2 | $237,851 |
| 3 | $162,551 |
| 4 | $114,032 |
| 5 | $82,171 |
| 6 | $60,868 |
| 7 | $46,385 |
| 8 | $36,395 |
Players will return tomorrow at 1 p.m. local time and play down to a winner. Action will resume on level 21, which features 40,000/80,000 betting limits.
For all the latest updates, be sure to stay tuned to PokerNews right up until the next Razz champion has been crowned.