There will be a tremendous amount of action around the Rio today as the 2013 World Series of Poker has five events in play, with two that will crown a champion tonight.
Event #12 – $1500 Pot Limit Hold’em – Day Two
62 players returned on Thursday for Day Two play in Event #12, but only 54 of them would walk out of the Rio with something to show for their efforts. That early action would take out such notables as Jeremy Ausmus, Griffin Benger and Melanie Weisner and, after the money bubble popped, the defending champion of the tournament, Nick Jivkov, also found himself on the rail but with the minimum cash in his pocket.
It would only take about four hours for the field to cut itself in half from the 54 cashers to the final three tables. Eric Crain, who had made the final table of Event #8 this year already, began to assert himself at this point, seemingly never losing a hand. Meanwhile, such players as Jason Mercier (27th), Sunny Chattha (16th), Jonathan Roy (15th) and Pim de Goede (11th) would take the long walk from the Amazon Room.
With one player left to set the official final table, it was Crain who would do the honors. Battling against the start of day chip leader Robert Corcione, Crain would take an A-Q to battle against Corcione’s pocket tens. A Queen on the flop was all that was necessary for Crain to take the lead in the hand and, once the turn and river failed to bring a saving ten, Corcione was out in tenth place and Crain would take a nice lead into today’s final table.
1. Eric Crain, 620,000
2. Allen Cunningham, 452,000
3. Jaspal Brar, 382,000
4. Timothy Reilly, 282,000
5. Lev Rofman, 200,000
6. Anthony Harb, 178,000
7. Kenneth Shelton, 160,000
8. Nicolas Halvorson, 110,000
9. Jean-Nicolas Fortin, 47,000
The lurking Cunningham might be a challenge for Crain, but there are plenty of other challengers at this table for Crain. For whoever makes it as the “last man standing,” the WSOP bracelet and a $166,136 payday await them.
Event #13 – $5000 Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo – Day Two
There is quite a bit more to be done in Event #13 before a champion is determined as the remainder of the field was barely able to get into the money before the “ten level rule” was instituted early this morning.
130 players came back yesterday and making it to the money (the top 24 finishers would cash) seemed to be a long shot as well. Matt Woodward held a slim lead over Yuval Bronshtein as the cards hit the air and the casualty list began to grow.
Long before the money bubble was a thought, such players as Jeff Madsen, Brandon Cantu, Scotty Nguyen, David Sklansky, Ali Eslami, Norm Chad, Artie Cobb and Phil Hellmuth were already considering their next tournament to enter. Woodward was staying in decent shape, but Mike Leah and Bronshtein passed him to take over the lead in the tournament.
The money bubble wasn’t even in sight when the players went to a dinner break either. It wasn’t until well after midnight that, with the elimination of Naseem Salem by the 2011 champion of this tournament Eric Rodawig, the money bubble popped. Only four more players were eliminated – Sam Feinberg, Tom Schneider, Eugene Katchalov and Francis Mariani – before WSOP officials halted play at the conclusion of the tenth level of Day Two play.
1. Yuval Bronshtein, 433,000
2. Eric Rodawig, 323,000
3. David “Bakes” Baker, 226,000
4. Gavin Smith, 204,500
5. Matthew Ashton, 177,500
6. Ryan Miller, 176,000
7. Richard Chiovari, 160,000
8. Mike Matusow, 156,000
9. Will Thompson, 155,000
10. Joe Tehan, 145,000
Among the bottom ten on the ladder are Leah, Marco Johnson, Eli Elezra, Tony Cousineau and Brian Hastings, who all have some work to do to get in the bracelet hunt. It will be another long day of play for the 20 men remaining, but the WSOP bracelet and $266,503 will be a deserving reward for whoever makes it that far.
Event #14 – $1500 No Limit Hold’em – Day One
Event #14 on the 2013 WSOP schedule looked to be primed for a huge field and it didn’t disappoint. After late registration ended Thursday afternoon, 1819 players had gathered on the felt at the Rio, but only 204 would make it to the end of the night to bag their chips.
Mark Wahba will lead the survivors from Day One to the tables today, but he faces some significant challenges down the leaderboard including 2010 WSOP Player of the Year Frank Kassela.
1. Mark Wahba, 152,000
2. Grant Curnow, 138,300
3. Christopher Hunichen, 133,600
4. Owen Crowe, 130,000
5. Zal Irani, 122,000
6. Frank Kassela, 121,800
7. Damien Lhommeau, 117,700
8. Alan Keating, 115,400
9. Christopher Rauscher, 98,500
10. Mario Sanchez, 97,400
On down the leaderboard, Simon Charette, Joe Serock and Nick Schulman can be found, while Kevin Iacofano, Adam Geyer and Brett Jungblut have work to do on their short stacks to just make the money.
With four eliminations today, the final 200 players will take home at least a $2774 payday for their time. With the championship table set for tomorrow, it will be a long Day Two for the contenders but the dream of the WSOP bracelet and the $454,424 that will go with it will make it worth sticking around for.
Starting Today – Event #15 – $1500 H.O.R.S.E. and Event #16 – $10,000 Heads Up No Limit Hold’em
Two events that should be highly popular will take the stage today at the WSOP. The $1500 H.O.R.S.E. event should draw in some of the best mixed game players in the poker world for action while the $10,000 Heads Up NLHE event (capped at 512 players) should bring in those specialists for an exciting day of play. Because of their facets of play, expect a horde of professionals to come out for these events, especially the H.O.R.S.E. tournament.
