Jim Bechtel won his second career bracelet on Tuesday, taking down the $10,000 No Limit Deuce to Seven event. (WSOP photo)

Twenty-six years ago Jim Bechtel carved his name into poker history by winning the 1993 World Series of Poker Main Event. On Tuesday, the 67-year-old farmer earned the second bracelet of his career by winning the $10,000 No Limit Deuce to Seven event. His win was one of two bracelets awarded on Tuesday as nine events were in action.

Jim Bechtel Wins $10,000 No Limit 2-7 For First Bracelet Since 1993

Jim Bechtel would have you believe he lives the simple life of a farmer in Gilbert, Arizona. The 1993 WSOP Main Event champ comes out to Las Vegas every summer and dabbles in some tournaments. On Tuesday, he proved that he’s still got the chops to hang with some of the game’s best players by winning the $10,000 Deuce to Seven bracelet for $253,817.

This is Bechtel’s second career WSOP win and at 26 years between wins, marks the longest gap between wins for any player in WSOP history. Bechtel said that having the win come in Deuce to Seven is special as he believes its one of the toughest games to compete at.

“It’s much more complicated than a lot of the other games where the math comes in so much,” Bechtel said. “This game, it’s the read of the player. It’s so difficult to make a hand; you rarely make a hand. Most hands, somebody’s bluffing, or somebody’s calling a bluff. That’s what makes it the greatest poker game.”

Bechtel beat out a final table that included former #1-ranked PocketFiver Paul Volpe, Darren Elias, Prahlad Friedman, and Jean-Robert Bellande before defeating Vincent Musso heads-up.

Volpe’s seventh place finish marks the fifth time in the last nine years that Volpe has cashed in the event. He won it in 2014 and has finished 14th (2018), 8th (2013, 2017) and 7th (2019).

Final Table Payouts

  1. Jim Bechtel – $253,817
  2. Vincent Musso – $156,872
  3. Darren Elias – $109,738
  4. Prahlad Friedman – $78,157
  5. Jean-Robert Bellande – $56,693
  6. Pedro Bromfman – $41,897
  7. Paul Volpe – $31,556

Millionaire Maker – $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em (Event #19)

Six players went to sleep on Tuesday with the dream of winning $1.34 million in the $1,500 Millionaire Maker still very much alive. Japan’s Kazuki Ikeuchi finished with 60,750,000 and the chip lead. Right behind him is Cory Albertson with 57,475,000.

There is a significant gap between Ikeuchi and Alberston and the rest of the field. None of the other four have more than 28,000,000.

Some of the 28 players who busted on Tuesday included three former #1-ranked PocketFivers. Calvin Anderson finished 20th for $47,820, Joao Simao finished 16th for $59,833, and Steven van Zadelhoff ended up 11th for $95,720.

Team 888poker ambassador Ana Marquez bubbled the final table in 10th place for $95,720 and WSOP Circuit regular Josh Reichard finished ninth for $122,375.

The final table resumes at Noon PT.

Final Table Chip Counts

  1. Kazuki Ikeuchi – 60,750,000
  2. Cory Albertson – 57,475,000
  3. Lokesh Garg – 28,800,000
  4. Joshua Thibodaux – 26,975,000
  5. John Gorsuch – 23,450,000
  6. Vincas Tamasauskas – 22,600,000

Jorden Fox Wins $1,000 Double Stack

The extra day of play in the $1,000 Double Stack didn’t bother Jorden Fox one bit. The 32-year-old poker pro from California took the chip lead into the final day and outlasted the 10 other players to win the first bracelet of his career. The win, along with the $420,693 score comes at a good time for Fox.

“It’s the most amazing thing,” Fox said. “I’m about to have a baby next month. I was only here to play three tournaments and this was the third one. I took 27th in the Main Event last year, which I thought was the best run ever, but this one was amazing. The field was really good and big, and the turbo structure was fantastic.”

Runner-up Jayachandra Gangaiah banked $259,834 for outlasting everybody but Fox.

Music producer Scott Vener ended up seventh for $61,480.

This was a new event on the WSOP schedule and attracted 3,253 players to generate a $2,927,700 prize pool.

Final Table Payouts

  1. Jorden Fox – $420,693
  2. Jayachandra Gangaiah – $259,834
  3. Jeffrey Smith – $191,789
  4. Simon Legat – $142,648
  5. Marco Aurelio – $106,917
  6. Ryan Teves – $80,760
  7. Scott Vener – $61,480
  8. Andrew Glauberg – $47,173
  9. Christopher Andler – $36,484

Only Two Remain in $1,500 Eight Game Mix

Day 3 of the $1,500 Eight Game Mix was expected to play down to a champion on Tuesday, but Rami Boukai and John Evans had other ideas. After Chris Klodnicki was eliminated in third place, the players had the option of playing one more level but Evans decided to take a night of rest and the pair will return to the felt on Wednesday to play to a winner.

Boukai, who won a bracelet in 2009, holds a nearly 3-1 chip lead over Evans.

The day started with 28 players still chasing down the bracelet. Alex Livingston, who started the day with the chip lead, busted in ninth. Some of the notables who were eliminated on Tuesday included Matt Glantz, Chris Bjorin, and Klodnicki.

Allen Kessler finished fifth for $34,329.

Action picks up at 2 PM PT.

Heads-Up Chip Counts

  1. Rami Boukai – 4,585,000
  2. John Evans – 1,545,000

Corey Wright Leads Final 12 in $600 PLO Deepstack

The addition of Deepstack tournaments to the WSOP schedule has proven to be a popular one. From a starting field of 2,577, just 12 remain in the $600 Pot Limit Omaha Deepstack event with Corey Wright holding on to a substantial chip lead heading into the final day.

Wright bagged up 16,025,000 while his next closest competition, Florian Fuchs, ended with 12,800,000. No other player has crossed the 10,000,000 barrier. Tom Franklin sits third with 9,150,000.

Martin Kozlov, Zachary Gruneberg, Upeshka De Silva, Chris Moorman, Cliff Josephy, and Brandon Shack-Harris were just some of the notables eliminated on Day 2.

The final 12 players will play down to a champion beginning at Noon PT.

Final 12 Chip Counts

  1. Corey Wright – 16,025,000
  2. Florian Fuchs – 12,800,000
  3. Tom Franklin – 9,150,000
  4. Andrew Donabedian – 7,450,000
  5. Alexandru Ivan – 5,575,000
  6. Eric Sain – 4,950,000
  7. Alexander Condon – 4,300,000
  8. Cheli Lin – 4,025,000
  9. Mihai Niste – 3,750,000
  10. Robert Valden – 3,500,000
  11. Todd Dreyer – 3,050,000
  12. Michael Bartov – 2,900,000

New Jersey’s David Coleman Leads Marathon

David Coleman, the #4-ranked American online poker player, is taking some time away from the virtual felt to hopefully complete his first marathon. Coleman, from New Jersey, finished Day 2 of the $2,620 Marathon event with 651,200 and the chip lead. He’s one of 188 players who have moved onto Day 3 of the six-day event.

Morten Mortensen sits second with 524,500 and TK Miles is third with 483,200.

Registration closed early on Tuesday and the final numbers represent a significant drop in field size over 2018. Last year 1,637 players entered the event, but only 1,083 players entered this year for a 34% drop in attendance.

Action resumes at 1 PM PT and players will play six 100-minute levels before bagging.

Top 10 Chip Counts

  1. David Coleman – 651,200
  2. Morten Mortensen – 524,500
  3. TK Miles – 483,400
  4. Ioannis Angelou – 399,900
  5. Joseph Liberta – 386,300
  6. Ian Matakis – 379,400
  7. Tuan Phan – 346,000
  8. Stoyan Obreshkov – 340,000
  9. Mladen Nincevic – 325,500
  10. Christopher Ma – 318,700

Grinder Tops Day 2 of $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8

Michael Mizrachi finished Day 2 of the $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo with 643,000 and there are just 21 other players standing between him and his fifth career bracelet. Mizrachi went from 27,600 to 643,000 through 10 levels of play.

Robert Gray is the player closest to Mizrachi. Gray finished with 510,000. Right behind him is Jason Daly with 485,000. Anna Wroblewski, Jon Turner, and Yuval Bronshtein are all still alive in this tournament.

Some of the notables who were eliminated on Tuesday included Chris Ferguson, Dan Idema, Men Nguyen, Rich Zhu, Steve Zolotow, and Barbara Enright.

Top 10 Chip Counts

  1. Michael Mizrachi – 643,000
  2. Robert Gray – 510,000
  3. Jason Daly – 485,000
  4. Michael Sopko – 391,000
  5. Cory Chaput – 374,000
  6. Elias Hourani – 329,000
  7. Joseph Santagata – 202,000
  8. Jose Paz-Gutierrez – 194,000
  9. Anna Wroblewski – 189,000
  10. Jon Turner – 172,000

$1,000 No Limit Hold’em Draws 2,477; Dan Zack in Top 10

Germany’s Giuseppe Pantaleo stands alone atop the chip counts after Day 1 of the $1,000 No Limit Hold’em event, but he has 345 other players trying to chase him down. Those players were the only ones of the 2,477 who entered on Tuesday that managed to end up with chips through 10 levels of play.

Dan Zack, who has made it clear he is chasing down WSOP Player of the Year, managed to finish with 372,500 for the eighth best stack. Other notables still in include Ryan Laplante, Marvin Rettenmaier, Maria Konnikova, Shaun Deeb, Brian Yoon, and Phil Hellmuth.

Day 2 begins at Noon PT.

Top 10 Chip Counts

  1. Giuseppe Pantaleo – 498,000
  2. Steven McNally – 442,500
  3. Yang Zhang – 418,500
  4. Michael Farrow – 418,500
  5. Quan Zhou – 400,000
  6. Iaron Lightbourne – 398,000
  7. Wayne Blodwell – 373,000
  8. Dan Zack – 372,500
  9. Jacob Naumann – 370,500
  10. Paul Paris – 370,000

Daniel Ospina Leads Star Studded $10K HORSE Event

One of the most highly-anticipated $10,000 buy-in events on the calendar every year, the $10,000 HORSE event draws out most of the game’s best players. Tuesday was no exception as John Hennigan, Phil Ivey, David ‘ODB’ Baker, Daniel Negreanu, Robert Mizrachi, Paul Volpe, Brian Rast, and Nick Schulman were all part of the 161 players who entered on Tuesday.

Colombia’s Daniel Ospina finished on top of the Day 1 chip count with 255,000 from a 60,000 starting stack. Randy Ohel sits second with 253,000 while Brian Hasting bagged up 250,500 to sit third.

Phil Ivey finished with 50,000 chips.

Registration remains open until the start of Day 2 at 2 PM PT.

Top 10 Chip Counts

  1. Daniel Ospina – 255,000
  2. Randy Ohel – 253,000
  3. Brian Hastings – 250,500
  4. Scott Clements – 244,500
  5. John Hennigan – 235,500
  6. Eric Kurtzman – 217,000
  7. Marco Johnson – 211,000
  8. David ‘ODB’ Baker – 211,000
  9. Andrey Zaichenko – 203,000
  10. Philip Sternheimer – 199,000

Player of the Year Update: Dan Zack on Top

Nothing changed overnight as Dan Zack continues to sit atop the 2019 WSOP Player of the Year standings. Ben Yu, with six cashes including a runner-up performance in the $10,000 Heads Up event, is the only player in the top 10 who has not won a bracelet this year.

Rank Player Points
1 Dan Zack 1,754.40
2 Isaac Baron 1,396.76
3 Femi Fashakin 1,384.62
4 Brett Apter 1,356.43
5 Daniel Strelitz 1,353.20
6 Ben Heath 1,339.27
7 Jeremy Pekarek 1,278.95
8 Frankie O’Dell 1,259.10
9 Ben Yu 1,219.61
10 Scott Clements 1,217.26

WSOP Streaming Schedule

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Wednesday Schedule