Event #42: $1,500 Extended Play No-Limit Hold’em
The $478,102 first prize and a WSOP gold bracelet has gone to German player Adrian Apmann in the inaugural $1,500 Extended Play No-Limit Hold’em event.
“It’s unbelievable to be standing here right now,” said 25 year old Apmann. “I had two deep runs and cashes earlier this year, but to get this far and win it, I really do not think I have realized it yet.”
For Medical Center Director Yehoram Houri it was his second deep run of the series, and his largest ever cash at $295,727.
British poker legend, and founding member of the Hendon Mob, Barny Boatman, finished third, unable to secure his second WSOP bracelet but with a prize that took his WSOP winnings to $1.2 million.
Event #44: $50,000 THE POKER PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP
The premier professional event of the WSOP is now down to the last six players. David “ODB” Baker leads the field, closely followed by Mike Gorodinsky who has already recorded a second and third place finish this year.
In third place on the leaderboard is Jean-Robert Bellande whose performance in the event will silence many of his detractors, with Chris Klodnicki dogging his heels in fourth. Klodnicki has over $5 million in WSOP earnings, but has yet to boast a gold bracelet.
Ben Sulsky and Dan Kelly make up the rest of the table. Ben Sulsky is still a WSOP novice with only two cashes to his name. He is better known for his phenomenal cash game skills which he exercises online under the moniker Sauce123.
Dan Kelly already has two WSOP bracelets, and would very much like to join the growing number of players who have three. His best performance so far this year has been a third place finish in Event #27: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship.
Event #45: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em
The final two players in event #45 could not bring the game to a conclusion, and so the tournament will run into a fourth day, as Upeshka Desilva and Dara O’Kearney outlasted 1,653 other players to join the heads up battle for a bracelet.
Desilva will begin the day as the 5 to 1 chip favorite for the $424,577 first prize. Second place money is $262,502 so both players will be making their largest ever WSOP cashes.
Jason Koon made the final nine, but could go no further, and Barry Hutter busted out in 12th.
Event #46: $3,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 6-Handed
Another event to stray into an extra day is the $3,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 6-Handed event as the final four players swapped the chip lead several times, but nobody managed to develop a sustainable chip lead.
Nipun Java, Andreas Freund, Vasili Firsau and Numit Agrawal ended the day with healthy stacks, but all are competing at peak intensity to win their first WSOP bracelet.
Daniel Idema could not sustain his dream of a fourth bracelet, and busted out of the event in sixth place.
The final four will all earn over $100,000 in prize money, but first place is well worth fighting for—the winner takes home $437,575.
Event #47: $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em
Another big story is brewing in the $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em event as Day 2 ended with Phil Hellmuth in seventh place on the leaderboard and just 41 players remaining from the 1,244 starters.
The possibility that the Poker Brat could be within spitting distance of a record 15th bracelet has journalists salivating with anticipation. This event will already guarantee him his 112th WSOP cash.
Ahead of him in the field is chip leader Timur Margolin, with the threatening figure of one time bracelet winner Andre Akkari in third.
Barry Schulman boasts two bracelets, and he is sat a few places behind Hellmuth in 12th position. Closer on his heels is Nam Le who has 40 WSOP cashes to his name, and Jeff Gross who has 20.
The first prize for which they are all competing is worth $551,941 and everyone left in the event knows that Hellmuth is the only player who truly has no interest in the money—glory and bragging rights are his holy guiding light.
Event #48: $1,500 Seven Card Stud
Event #48 is going to produce a bracelet winner tomorrow, as the final eight players reassemble for Day 3.
Eli Elezra has the chip lead, and the experience to make his third WSOP victory a serious possibility. However five-time bracelet winner Allen Cunningham is well placed in fourth position to make a challenge, and short stacked Matt Grapenthien has the final table experience—and a previous bracelet—to make Elezra’s grip on the bracelet less than certain.
Event #49: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better
The $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better got under way with 815 players, of whom 162 will return to play on Day 2.
Scott Clements, George Danzer, John Monnette and Erik Seidel all finished the day with good sized stacks. Clements is one of only four players to start the day with over 100,000 chips. He is in fourth place behind chip leader, Bryce Yockey.
The prize pool they are all fighting for is $1,100,250, with the winner’s check coming to $231,102.
Event #50: $10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship
Brian Hastings tweeted that he got up too late to register for this event, after sleeping till 1pm. His absence will be welcomed by the other players, who can look around the tables and see more than enough tough competition.
Only 117 players entered, but the leaderboard shows that its quality not quantity that counts. Sorel Mizzi, is in third, with Anthony Zinno and Yegor Tsurikov in front of him.
Daniel Negreanu, Brian Rast, Huck Seed, Eric Wasserson, and Justin Bonomo are all among the 74 players going through to Day 2.
