button in SafariFarhad Jamasi Rolls Up Huge Lead in $1,500 Pick Your PLO
Riding a rush that amused him and almost everyone around him, Farhad Jamasi will sleep on the lead of Event #91: $1,500 Pick Your PLO with eyes on the $196,431 first-place prize from a prize pool of $1,137,667
By the time the last double board bomb pot was dealt at the Horseshoe and Paris, Las Vegas, only 10 players remained from the 104 who started the day, and Jamasi had almost a third of the chips in play.
Jamasi, who made the final table at the Seniors Championship in 2019, has made a deep run in a PLO event before, finishing 12th place in the $25,000 High Roller in 2021.
End of Day 2 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Farhad Jamasi | United States | 7,005,000 | 140 |
| 2 | Sergio Benso | Italy | 3,665,000 | 73 |
| 3 | Steven Liu | United States | 2,620,000 | 52 |
| 4 | Justin Liberto | United States | 2,455,000 | 49 |
| 5 | Jon Turner | United States | 2,020,000 | 40 |
| 6 | Joshua Stewart | United Kingdom | 1,280,000 | 26 |
| 7 | Brevin Andreadis | United States | 790,000 | 16 |
| 8 | Zachary Fischer | United States | 650,000 | 13 |
| 9 | Michael Lenz | United States | 460,000 | 9 |
| 10 | Maxx Coleman | United States | 390,000 | 8 |
Sporting the darkest of shades in a room already lacking in illumination, Jamasi was blindly running over foes all day. One of his highlights was a knockout of John Racener in which Jamasi said he didn't realize what game was being played when he put in some 600,000 chips with a curious holding.
Jamasi was responsible for four of the six knockouts from the final two tables, as he ran roughshod over the field.
Despite Jamasi's chip lead, there is still plenty of poker to be played. Justin Liberto, who won a gold bracelet in the similarly structured $1,500 Mixed Omaha event earlier in the series, is lurking fourth in chips.
Liberto was on a rollercoaster earlier in the day, but maintained a stack among the chip leaders throughout the latter half of play, despitelosing a 3,590,000-chip pot to Sergio Benso, who needed only two cards in the five-card PLO double board hand to do it.
Maxx Coleman, who has the smallest stack left in the field, is the only other player remaining who has won a gold bracelet.
Remaining Payouts
| Place | Prize |
|---|---|
| 1 | $196,431 |
| 2 | $130,904 |
| 3 | $90,762 |
| 4 | $64,007 |
| 5 | $45,925 |
| 6 | $33,536 |
| 7 | $24,931 |
| 8 | $18,874 |
| 9 | $14,557 |
| 10 | $11,441 |
In this inaugural event that has proved to be a fun affair, a hectic Day 2 started off with a bang, as half the returning field was sent packing by the first break.
That's 52 players busted in two hours of play, one gone every two minutes and 18 seconds.
Hall of Famer Eli Elezra (28th place) and Mike Matusow (30th) were among notable players who lasted well into the day. Multiple bracelet winners Bryce Yockey and Robert Mizrachi were caught up in that early tidal wave of exits.
Even when the action slowed as the battle to get to the top of the payout chart intensified, there were still wild swings and plenty of drama. The pick-your-Omaha-poison element added texture to the game, with players often laughing at the double board "five-card bingo" that became a popular favorite. At one point, with seven tables left, six of them were being dealt the five-card, double-board variation of the game.
Action on Day 3 will begin at 1 p.m. in Paris Green, with play starting on Level 26, featuring blinds of 30,000/60,000 and a big blind ante of 60,000. With four players having 15 big blinds or less, there should be early fireworks before a champion is crowned at the end of the day.
Stay tuned to PokerNews for live updates on the exciting bracelet chase from this and all WSOP events.