At the start of Day 2 of Event #46: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better, 151 players took their seats, but just 21 bagged chips at the conclusion of play. Leading the way is WSOP Circuit regular Millard Hale with 640,000 chips, and nipping at his heels is Kevin Saul with 613,000. Miguel Use is close behind with 598,000, and John O'Shea (459,000) and three-time bracelet winner Barry Greenstein (359,000) round out the top five stacks.
Greenstein started the day short-stacked but won a crucial pot in a three-way all-in to propel him into the chip lead. All the chips went in on the flop, and Greenstein rivered a straight to stack bracelet winner Viatcheslav Ortynskiy and double through the third player, Gregory Warner. Saul began to seriously chip up about halfway through Day 2 and remained one of the largest stacks in play throughout the second half of the day. Hale had about the chip average at the beginning of the day and won a key pot on the bubble, which occurred at Level 12, to eliminate Fabrice Soulier putting his stack above the 100,000-chip mark, and he chipped up steadily from that point onward in hot pursuit of WSOP gold and the top prize of $223,339.
Some of the more well-known players who were eliminated over the course of Day 2 include Ben Yu, Calvin Anderson, Kyle Bowker, Jeff Gross, Brock Parker, and Mohsin Charania.
When the final 21 players return on Sunday, play will begin at Level 21 with 6,000/12,000 blinds and the remainder of the field will play until the champion emerges.
Be sure to check back here for all the updates for Event #46: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better and throughout the 2017 World Series of Poker.
Gregory Warner raised to 5,500 from under the gun, Pilar Tucker was next to act and called, and Barry Greenstein three-bet to 25,600 from the hijack. Viatcheslav Ortynskiy called from the big blind, Warner called, as well, and Tucker went into the tank briefly before folding.
The flop came , and Ortynskiy potted for 39,300. Warner called, Greenstein shoved, and both Ortynskiy and Warner got all their chips in, as well.
Greenstein:
Ortynskiy:
Warner:
Warner and Ortynskiy both had the nut-low draw, and Greenstein had the lead for the high half with his aces. The turn brought the , giving Greenstein the lead for the low, as well, and the river meant Greenstein scooped the pot with a nine-high straight and six-five low to double through Warner and stack Otrynskiy.
For at least five straight hands, Eduardo Lezcano sat with just a single T-100 chip. Finally, the big blind reached him and he was all-in. Calvin Anderson raised to isolate and everyone else got out of the way.
Lezcano:
Anderson:
The board ran out and Lezcano didn't get enough help to stay alive.
With a substantial pot already brewing and the board reading , Fabrice Soulier got his stack in the middle against Millard Hale, who had him covered by a wide margin.
Soulier:
Hale:
Soulier had the best of it by miles with trip fours and a wheel wrap, but the on the turn gave Hale the nut boat and left Soulier with only one out to scoop the entire pot and drawing to a low for half. The river wasn't the low card Soulier was looking for and Hale took the whole pot to send Soulier to the rail.
Because both gentlemen busted on the same hand, they share the 125th place prize and split a min-cash of $2,249.
Michael Gross opened to 2,500 from the cutoff and got called by chip leader Marcos Fernandez out of the big blind. The flop came and both players checked to see the fall on the turn.
Fernandez took the lead, betting 7,600, and Gross called. The completed the board and Fernandez bet 11,300. Gross called and mucked when Fernandez tabled for a wheel and a six-low.
Play resumes this afternoon with Day 2 action just 26 spots from the money in Event #46: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better. When cards hit the felt at 2 p.m. local time inside the Miranda room at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, 151 players will take a seat, looking to survive another 10 hour-long levels.
Spain’s Marcos Fernandez leads the charge with a huge stack of 251,000. None of his competition is even remotely close with Miguel Use the next best, sitting with 160,500. John O’Shea (127,000), Michael Henrich (97,500), and Rafael Lebron (95,300) round out the top five.
Notables still in the mix include two-time bracelet winner Scott Clements (84,000), James Chen (83,500), Calvin Anderson (79,200), Barny Boatman (54,000), John Monnette (47,400), and Ben Yu (46,300).
Anyone making the money today will be guaranteed at least a min-cash valued at $2,249, but that is only pennies in comparison to what the field is really after: a WSOP gold bracelet. And maybe, the $223,339 top prize that comes with it.
Stay tuned to PokerNews as we bring you live coverage of the event all day long.