Daniel Negreanu Leads Final 15 in H.O.R.S.E. Championship
Day 2 of the Event #30: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship has come to a conclusion with just 15 players remaining and six-time WSOP bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu in great shape to make a run at his third final table of series.
Friday begin with 57 players eyeing a spot in the money-paying final 23 before eventually making a run at reaching the final table where a $383,208 first-prize would await for whoever could top this extremely talented and skilled field. The player in best shape at day's start was Jason Mercier who bagged the overnight chip lead in pursuit of going back-to-back after winning this event exactly a year ago for his fifth WSOP bracelet.
Straight away there was a flurry of eliminations as the likes of John Racener, Michael Mizrachi, Adam Friedman, Maria Ho, Eric Wasserson, Ben Yu, David "ODB" Baker, Phil Hellmuth, Howard Lederer, Benny Glaser, Mike Sexton, and 2015 Champion Andrew Barber were all casualties before the money was reached. Unfortunately for Owais Ahmed, he would become the tournament's bubble boy when David Bach rivered him in an Omaha Hi-Lo hand to put the remaining 23 players into the money.
From there the likes of Stephen Chidwick (21st), Craig Chait (19th), Esther Taylor (18th), and Tom McCormick (17th) all hit the rail before the final two table re-draw where it would jolt the speed of the tournament to a slow pace as the remaining players all began jockeying for a place at the final table while simultaneously laddering up the payouts. Brandon Shack-Harris would be eliminated in 16th when his trip sevens were undone by Phillip Wallace's trip eights in Stud Hi-Lo as 15 players would bag-and-tag for the night.
| Table | Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Andrew Brown | United States | 282,000 |
| 1 | 2 | Yuebin Guo | United States | 513,000 |
| 1 | 3 | Mark Gregorich | United States | 137,000 |
| 1 | 4 | David Bach | United States | 572,000 |
| 1 | 5 | Richard Chase | United States | 647,000 |
| 1 | 6 | --empty-- | -- | -- |
| 1 | 7 | Phillip Wallace | United States | 226,000 |
| 1 | 8 | Jason Mercier | United States | 541,000 |
| 2 | 1 | Scott Bohlman | United States | 756,000 |
| 2 | 1 | Mack Lee | United States | 319,000 |
| 2 | 1 | Daniel Negreanu | Canada | 1,213,000 |
| 2 | 1 | Anthony Zinno | United States | 283,000 |
| 2 | 1 | Eric Rodawig | United States | 334,000 |
| 2 | 1 | Jerry Wong | United States | 457,000 |
| 2 | 1 | Brian Rast | United States | 553,000 |
| 2 | 1 | Don Zewin | United States | 704,000 |
Leading the final 15 players into Day 3 is six-time WSOP bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu who bagged an impressive 1,213,000 in chips to have over 450,000 more then his nearest rival. Negreanu rode a heat wave of cards that began just before dinner break and then on return which saw him become the first person to enter the seven-figure club. Negreanu did drop back into the pack during the last level of play, but a late surge saw him end the day as chip leader and primed for his third final table of the series and potentially a finish better then the 2nd and 3rd he has already collected.
On Negreanu's heels are Scott Bohlman (756,000), Don Zewin (704,000), Richard Chase (647,000), and Brian Rast (553,000). However, what might be just as impressive as Negreanu's three day 3s, is the fact that defending champion and Day 1 chip leader Jason Mercier is still alive and sitting with an impressive 541,000. Although Mercier is having a relatively quiet WSOP compared to his normal lofty standards, a back-to-back victory here in this H.O.R.S.E. Championship may just be one of the greatest WSOP achievements in the modern era. Plenty of talented and savvy poker veterans still remain, and come Day 3, it truly is still anyone's tournament to win.
The PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be back on Saturday at 2 p.m. (PDT) to provide continuous live updates of the Event #30: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship as we play down until the next World Series of Poker bracelet winner is crowned!