WSOP Bracelet
Who will win one of the most coveted bracelet event titles of them all, the $50,000 Poker Players Championship title?

The latest day of poker action has concluded at the home of the World Series of Poker, the Rio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. With two more bracelets won, there was also a pivotal day at the felt in the prestigious Poker Players Championship as Ryan Leng ended the third day on top of the leaderboard.

Leng Leads from Arieh and Cates as 10 Remain in PPC Bracelet Hunt

The third day of action in the $50,000-entry Poker Players Championship saw the remaining 35 players play down to just 10 who will return tomorrow to battle for the WSOP bracelet they all want to win and $954,020 up top.

Leader of the pack with one day to close it out is Ryan Leng, who totalled 4.5 million chips by the close of play, but Leng will not have it easy with some of the best players in the world hot on his heels. Josh Arieh is closing to taking the lead from Leng, with both men having won gold already this Autumn at the Rio. Arieh has over 3 million chips, and both he and Daniel ‘Jungleman’ Cates (2.3 million) will harbor hopes of overtaking Leng before they reach the line.

Elsewhere, a rollercoaster day for Daniel Negreanu ended with ‘Kid Poker’ surviving a brutal bad beat with Chris Brewer’s pocket eights getting there against the Canadian’s pocket aces when all the chips were in the middle pre-flop. Negreanu got through the money bubble and eventually ran his stack up to 700,000 by close of play.

Others could not make it, and all of Adam Friedman, Alex Livingston, and Chris Vitch busted outside the money despite starting the day in the top 20% of the field. Others found the same fate, with Anthony Zinno, the current WSOP Player of the Year, busted before the money too, but some superstars of the game survived to fight another day. Eli Elezra (1,880,000) continued his great form this series, while Nick Schulman (1,280,000) and Day 2 chip leader Paul Volpe (900,000) will have designs on one of the most coveted bracelets of them all, and of course, getting their name on the Chip Reese Trophy.

WSOP 2021 Event #60 $50,000 Poker Players Championship Final 10 Chipcounts:

  1. Ryan Leng – 4,500,000
  2. Josh Arieh – 3,025,000
  3. Dan Cates – 2,310,000
  4. Chris Brewer – 2,025,000
  5. Eli Elezra – 1,880,000
  6. Matt Glantz – 1,575,000
  7. Nick Schulman – 1,280,000
  8. Paul Volpe – 900,000
  9. Daniel Negreanu – 780,000
  10. Mike Wattel – 670,000

Jean-Luc Adam Wins Super Seniors For First Bracelet

The $1,000-entry Super Seniors event reached a conclusion with Frenchman Jean-Luc Adam earning his first-ever WSOP bracelet and the top prize of $255,623. With nine making the final table, Adam led from the start of that finale as overnight leader David Slaughter bust in 10th place for $18,837.

Out in ninth place, just a few minutes after the final table began, was Gary Pagel, who earned $23,762 when his shove with 4s4h ran into Eugene Solomon’s Ah9h. An ace on the flop doomed Pagel and he was followed from the room just a few minutes later by Reginald Powell. Powell cashed for $30,269 when his AhKc couldn’t come back against Alex Katsman’s JsJc, as the board gave the latter a flush on AsQs5sKsQc.

Girish Apte departed in seventh place for $38,932 when his AdJc ran into Bill Stabler’s AhKh, with a queen-high board no help at all. Not long afterwards, Joseph Richards joined him, as his 7d7s couldn’t get anywhere against the eventual winner Adam, whose QcQh held to send Richards home with $50,559.

Katsman went in fifth for $66,284 after his pocket eights couldn’t hold against Solomon’s Ah9h, a flush on the river condemning Katsman to the exit door. He only lasted a couple of hands less than Bill Stabler, who won $87,722 when his shove with Ac3c ran into Adam’s Ah7h and lost to a flush on the turn.

Three-handed, Scott Sukstorf was short and his laddering ended when his shove when short with Ah8s ran into Adam’s KcKh. A nine-high board sent Sukstorf home and gave Adam the lead into heads-up, with the Frenchman having 24 million to S0lomon’s 13 million. It was soon all over, Solomon moving all-in on a board showing Jh7c5s4s with Th9h and Adam calling with Js7h. Solomon’s bluff still had a chance to catch an eight for a straight, but the Ac river gave his opponent the well-earned title of WSOP champion.

WSOP 2021 Event #58 $1,000 Super Seniors Event Final Table Results:

  1. Jean-Luc Adam – $255,623
  2. Eugene Solomon – $157,986
  3. Scott Sukstorf – $117,181
  4. Bill Stabler – $87,722
  5. Alex Katsman – $66,284
  6. Joseph Richards – $50,559
  7. Girish Apte – $38,932
  8. Reginald Powell – $30,269
  9. Gary Pagel – $23,762

Tag Team Crowns Winners

In Event #59, the $1,000-entry Tag Team event, Mike Ruter and Samy Dighlawi won through after an intense three-hour heads-up battle saw the pip Tomer Wolf and David Landell to the crown and $113,366 top prize.

Another team to star on the final day were Amanda Botfeld and her father David, who reached third place for a score of $49,512. In an emotional post on social media before the final, the younger of the pair thanked the elder statesman of the duo for their support and guidance.

WSOP 2021 Event #59 $1,000 Tag Team Event Final Table Results:

  1. Mike Ruter & Samy Dighlawi – $113,366
  2. Tomer Wolf & David Landell – $70,074
  3. Amanda Botfeld & David Botfeld – $49,512
  4. Michael Newman & Robert Ormont – $35,542
  5. Alfie Adam & Vidur Sethi – $25,928
  6. Benjamin Miner & Dmitriy Uskach – $19,226
  7. Holly Babbitt & Michael Babbitt – $14,494
  8. Zachary Erdwurm & Steven Jones – $11,114
  9. Scott Johnston & Bob Fisher – $8,670

$600 Deepstack Down To 40

In Event #61, the $600-entry Deepstack, Perry Ernest proved strongest as he survived a busy Day 2 with the chip lead, holding 10.5 million by the time chis went into bags at the end of the night. With Sai Ruston (7,150,000) and Marc Rangel (6,800,000) in closest pursuit, the total field of 3,916 entrants is now down to just 40 payers, with only Barry Shulman (2,425,000) and Mark Seif (950,000) having won WSOP gold before.

Players to bust on the day included Brandon Sheils, Philippe Souki, Philip Tom, and Kenny Hsiung, as well as Brett Apter and Day 1 chip leader Robert Hankins.

WSOP 2021 Event #61 $600 Deepstack Championship Top 10 Chipcounts:

  1. Perry Ernest – 10,500,000
  2. Sami Ruston – 7,150,000
  3. Marc Rangel – 6,800,000
  4. Richard Dixon – 6,430,000
  5. Edgardo Rosario – 5,859,000
  6. Jean Francois Alexandre – 5,480,000
  7. Nicolas De Bari – 5,100,000
  8. Ronald Slucker – 5,030,000
  9. Fernando Viana Da Costa – 5,000,000
  10. Rubin Chappell – 4,400,000

Just 13 Left In $1,5000 PLO 8

In Event #62, the $1,500-entry PLO8 tournament, Matthew Kaplan topped the leaderboard with 3.1 million chips on a day where everything changed for the former chip leader. Day 1 ended with Japanese player Tsugunari Toma sitting on one of the biggest leads anyone has built during this World Series of Poker. Toma, however, crashed and burned as Kaplan went in the opposite direction, barely lasting half the day as others such as Kevin Gerhart (2.9 million) and Dustin Dirksen (2.4 million) both thrived.

Others to make the top 10 chip counts included Sterling Lopez (1,350,000) and Michael Trivett (730,000), with Gerhart the only remaining bracelet winner of the 13 players who are left, with British player Richie Allen still hanging onto a chance of debut gold with 515,000 chips at the next big blind of 50,000.

WSOP 2021 Event #62 $1,500 PLO Hi-Lo 8 or Better Top 10 Chipcounts:

  1. Matthew Kaplan – 3,145,000
  2. Kevin Gerhart – 2,900,000
  3. Dustin Dirksen – 2,400,000
  4. Roman Hrabec – 1,800,000
  5. Sterling Lopez – 1,350,000
  6. Dylan Wilkerson – 1,240,000
  7. Tamon Nakamura – 1,145,000
  8. Alexandr Orlov – 1,015,000
  9. Bryant Bustamante – 805,000
  10. Michael Trivett – 730,000

Players Turn Out For Salute To Warriors

The opening day of the $500-entry Salute to Warriors event saw a great turnout, with 1,738 entrants reduced to just 169 players by the end of Day 1. Chip leader when the day closed was Andrew Moon, who was the only player to bag over a million chips with 1,274,000. He was followed in the chip counts by Taylor Pollard (866,000) and John Song (711,000), who along with Nicholas Verderamo (653,000), were the only three who amounted over half the impressive Moon’s dominant stack.

With $40 from each player’s entry going towards the United Services Organization, a huge prize pool of $712,580 and a top prize of $102,465 means that plenty of money was raised for a great cause with big-name players such as Shuan Deeb donating along the way, although unfortunately for Deeb fans, the WSOP Player of the Year chaser didn’t make the Day 2 chip counts.

WSOP 2021 Event #63 $500 Salute to Warriors Top 10 Chipcounts:

  1. Andrew Moon – 1,274,000
  2. Taylor Pollard – 866,000
  3. John Song – 711,000
  4. Nicholas Verderamo – 653,000
  5. Senthuran Vijayaratnam – 629,000
  6. Terry Wheeler – 617,000
  7. Kyle Besaw – 584,000
  8. Alan Percal – 580,000
  9. Marty Zabib – 557,000
  10. Arnaldo Gordon – 536,000

Niklas Astedt Bags Big Stack In $5K NLHE/PLO Mix

In the final event on the schedule, David Prociak (2,405,000) leads from Niklas Astedt (1,345,000) and Joni Jouhkimainen (1,215,000) in the $5,000-entry Event #64.

With NLHE and PLO on the menu, other big names to bag top 10 chipcounts included Tommy Le (1,050,000), Uri Reichenstein (1,010,000) and Shar Levi (945,000), with players like Jason Somerville (690,000), Stefan Schillhabel (445,000) and Dan Smith (310,000) all still in with a chance of glory.

WSOP 2021 Event #64 $5,000 NLHE/PLO Eight-Handed Top 10 Chipcounts:

  1. David Prociak – 2,405,000
  2. Niklas Astedt – 1,345,000
  3. Joni Jouhkimainen – 1,215,000
  4. Greg Dyer – 1,175,000
  5. Tommy Le – 1,050,000
  6. Oliver Bosch – 1,020,000
  7. Uri Reichenstein – 1,010,000
  8. Shahar Levi – 945,000
  9. Barak Wisbrod – 865,000
  10. Corey Zedo – 785,000