WSOP: Win For Nehorayan, Final Table For Nguyen, Deeb, Koon
There may have only been one 2018 World Series of Poker bracelet winner within the Rio on Friday, but two bracelets were actually awarded. That’s because an online event played out into the early morning hours, as 657 PLO players took their shot on the virtual felt.
There was still no winner at the time of publishing, so we’ll have to bring you that info tomorrow. Speaking of PLO, the $25K High Roller has reached a stacked six-handed final table which includes a former PocketFives no.1 player.
Here’s everything you need to know about June 22 at the WSOP.
Robert Nehorayan Wins First Bracelet in $1,500 Limit Hold’em ($173,568)
After three days of play, Robert Nehorayan has come out on top of the 596 players who took part in Event #41: $1,500 Limit Hold’em. For his efforts, he’s banked the lion’s share of the $804,600 prize pool, $173,568, as well as his first gold bracelet.
Nehorayan came into the day third in chips, and managed to maintain a big stack as the 19 players returning were whittled down to a final table. Things were a bit swingier from there on, and four-handed saw Terricita Gutierrez hold almost half of the chips in play. However, after losing a few big pots in a row, she found herself short and ended up busting in fourth.
Kevin Song and David Gee joined Nehorayan in three-handed play, and a big pot between all of them would take it down to two. Gee was all-in with jack-seven against Song’s pocket aces and Nehorayan’s king-seven. It must have been Nehorayan’s day, as his hand ended up winning to bust Gee in third and take a 3:1 chip lead into heads-up.
The two players battled though, and at one point Song managed to take the lead. In the end though, Song was all-in with eight-six suited against Nehorayan’s ten-seven off, and a ten on the flop got the job done.
“It feels pretty good,” said Nehorayan after the win. “I got a little frustrated throughout the match but fortunately I was able to overcome my emotions. The cards helped too obviously.”
Final Table Results:
- Robert Nehorayan – $173,568
- Kevin Song – $107,242
- David Gee – $73,860
- Terricita Gutierrez – $51,733
- Michael Jex – $36,860
- Brad Albrinck – $26,725
- Oleg Chebotarev – $19,723
- Matt Russell – $14,820
- Matt Woodward – $11,343
Scotty Nguyen, Shaun Deeb, Ben Yu, Jason Koon Reach $25K PLO Finale
There’s going to be one heck of a final table on Saturday, with six players returning in Event #42: $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Handed High Roller.
It’s 1998 Main Event champion and five-time bracelet winner Scotty Nguyen who holds the chip lead, followed by defending champion in this event James Calderaro. If he can win this one back-to-back, it’ll certainly be an amazing achievement.
Especially when you consider his other competition. Former PocketFives no.1 Shaun Deeb comes in third in chips, followed by Ben Yu, Jason Koon, and finally Ryan Tosoc.
Just 35 of the 230 runners returned for Friday’s Day 3, and along the way we lost the likes of Jarred Graham, Paul ‘paulgees1’ Volpe, Adam ‘adamyid’ Owen, Tom Marchese, Erik Seidel and Mike Leah.
David Benyamine went out in 7th, bringing the day to an end. He found himself all-in on a flop with middle pair and a straight draw versus Nguyen’s top pair and the higher end of the straight draw. The turn and river bricked, and Benyamine hit the rail to collect $161,020.
All six players are guaranteed $215,718 when they take their seats tomorrow at 2pm. There’s a massive $1,402,683 up top for the champ.
Final Table Stacks:
- Scotty Nguyen – 7,010,000
- James Calderaro – 6,445,000
- Shaun Deeb – 6,305,000
- Ben Yu – 4,775,000
- Jason Koon – 2,905,000
- Ryan Tosoc – 1,300,000
Down to 34 in $2,500 NLHE
Day 2 of Event #43: $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em saw the 1,071-strong field chopped down further to just 34 players, and leading them all overnight is Seth Davies.
He bagged up 1,305,000, but he’ll be joined by some tough competitors tomorrow including Jeff Hakim (1,164,000), Javier Fernandez (1,093,000), Andrew Brokos (625,000), Daniel Buzgon (570,000), Ismael Bojang (497,000), David Peters (480,000), Chris Ferguson (402,000), Ryan Laplante (292,000), and Andreas Klatt (230,000).
Where there are survivors there must be casualties, and few of those who failed to make it through the day include Asi Moshe, Justin Bonomo, Humberto Brenes, Kristen Bicknell, Chance Kornuth, Georgios Sotiropoulos, Peter Eichhardt, Dutch Boyd, Maria Konnikova, David “Bakes” Baker, Nick Shulman and John Racener.
The final 34 are all in the money, with $12,345 locked up. All eyes will be on the $507,274 winner’s prize though, when play kicks off again at 12pm Saturday.
Top 10 Stacks:
- Seth Davies – 1,305,000
- Jeff Hakim – 1,164,000
- Javier Fernandez – 1,093,000
- Chris Edwards – 720,000
- Edan Sucov – 682,000
- Jonathan Cohen – 677,000
- Andrew Brokos – 625,000
- Daniel Buzgon – 570,000
- Andre Haneberg – 551,000
- Samuel Gagnon – 524,000
$10K 2-7 Triple Draw Championship Down to 13
Michael Noori is once again your overnight chip leader in Event #44: $10,000 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw Championship, having bagged the lead after Day 1 too.
His 870,000 stack sits atop the pile, and he’s followed by Christopher ‘Apotheosis’ Kruk (658,000), Quek Sheng (645,000), Randy Ohel (602,000), and Jason Gray (569,000).
Other notables to advance to Day 3 include PocketFives former no.1 Calvin ‘cal42688’ Anderson, although he’s short with 168,000. Matt Glantz and Farzad Bonyadi will both be back tomorrow, with Bonyadi seeking his fourth bracelet after his mom, Farhintaj, won her first a couple of days ago.
Out of the 100 players who entered, 41 would make today’s Day 2 including Jordan Siegel (17th), Todd Brunson (16th), Andrew Kelsall (15th), and Mike Matusow (14th) who all went deep.
The min-cash is currently $14,864, while there’s $287,987 up top. Action resumes at 2pm.
Final 13 Stacks:
- Michael Noori – 870,000
- Christopher Kruk – 658,000
- Quek Sheng – 645,000
- Randy Ohel – 602,000
- Jason Gray – 569,000
- Hanh Tran – 423,000
- Farzad Bonyadi – 392,000
- Nicholas Seiken – 384,000
- Kristijonas Andrulis – 304,000
- Matt Glantz – 198,000
- Steven Tabb – 170,000
- Calvin Anderson – 168,000
- Tyler Meservy – 65,000
Turbo Time in the 1,000 No-Limit Hold’em (30 minute levels)
A fast-paced Day 1 of Event #45: Big Blind Antes $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em (30 minute levels) was played out today, with just 41 of the 1,712 field making it through.
Two-time bracelet winner Steven Wolansky bagged the chip lead with 620,000, winning a huge pot to eliminate Pierre Neuville towards the end of the night. All-in with ace-queen against Wolanksy’s ace-eight suited, Wolansky flopped a backdoor flush draw and hit runner runner to win.
Joining him at the top of the remaining counts are DJ MacKinnon (532,000), Michael Wang (355,000), King Lun Alan Lau (350,000), Mike Hauptman (338,000), Lander Lijo (290,000), Joseph Cheong (280,000) and Robin Hegele (245,000).
Meanwhile, other notables to advance include Athanasios Polychronopoulos (156,000), Kathy Liebert (245,000), Esther Taylor (126,000), and Kelly Minkin (136,000).
Plenty of well-knowns tried and failed today, including Joe McKeehen, Martin Jacobson, Greg Raymer, Ryan Riess, Scott Davies, Heidi May, Nipun Java, Michael Gathy, Niall Farrell, Ben Keeline, and David “ODB” Baker. However, they all exited before the bubble burst at 257 players.
Some of those who made it into the cash include Kenny Hallaert (251st – $1,501), Aditya Agarwal (246th – $1,501), Steven van Zadelhoff (230th – $1,549), Maria Konnikova (227th – $1,549), Tristan Wade (221st – $1,549), Barry Greenstein (209th – $1,549), Chris Moorman (181st – $1,621), Jesse Capps (177th – $1,720), Kristen Bicknell (175th – $1,720), Benjamin Dobson (156th – $1,720), Nipun Java (150th – $1,851), Bart Lybaert (110th – $2,019), Brian Yoon (85th – $2,503), and Loni Harwood (74th – $2,843).
Play resumes tomorrow at 12pm Saturday, with $258,255 and a WSOP gold bracelet awaiting the winner.
Top 10 Stacks:
- Steven Wolansky – 620,000
- DJ MacKinnon – 532,000
- Michael Wang – 355,000
- King Lun Alan Lau – 350,000
- Michael Hauptman – 338,000
- Rick Offley – 320,000
- Lander Lijo – 290,000
- Joseph Cheong – 280,000
- Mario Prats Garcia – 280,000
- Elliott Peterman – 272,000
Negreanu, Ivey Advance in Mixed Omaha/Stud
Event #46: $2,500 Mixed Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better/Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better also got going Friday, with 402 players taking part. After ten levels, just 152 remain.
At the top of the counts is Sergio Ramirez with 139,700, followed by the likes of Eric Rodawig (123,400), Kate Hoang (76,900), Scott Abrams (74,400), Robert Mizrachi (62,500), Felipe Ramos (52,600), Daniel Negreanu (42,200), Jesse Martin (31,900), Marco Johnson (28,000) and Phil Ivey (8,100).
While that line-up is pretty stacked, it could have been even more so had any of this lot made it through the day: Phil Hellmuth, John Racener, Linda Johnson, Joe McKeehen, Frank Kassela, David Bach, Frankie O’Dell, Eric Buchman, Benny Glaser, Allen Kessler, Michael Gathy, Max Pescatori, Brandon Cantu and Mike Leah.
The bubble is set to burst at 61 players, and there’s $214,291 reserved for the champ. Play gets going again at 2pm tomorrow.
Top 10 Stacks:
- Sergio Ramirez – 137,900
- Eric Rodawig – 123,400
- David Prociak – 91,000
- Magnus Edengren – 87,400
- Eddie Blumenthal – 83,100
- Gary Bolden – 78,300
- Paul Edwards – 76,300
- Scott Abrams – 74,400
- Bruce Hoyt – 74,100
- Kate Hoang – 71,700
