Two tournaments at the 2013 World Series of Poker saw their first action on Friday, with a strong field showing up in one tournament and a uniquely formatted event drawing in some of the best poker professionals in the world for its Day One battle.
Event #4 – $1500 Six Handed No Limit Hold’em – Day One
The $1500 Six Handed No Limit Hold’em tournament drew a strong field of 1069 players to its felts, but that was a bit off of last year’s performance in this tournament. In 2012, 1604 players showed up with Matt Matros making WSOP history in earning his third bracelet in as many years in defeating Mark Radoja for the title. The smaller field could be due to an event that will start today (which we’ll discuss in a moment).
Even with such a large starting field, the pros were out in force for the opening of the festivities. David “Bakes” Baker, Eric Froelich, Neil Channing, Rupert Elder, defending champion Matros and former World Champions Jonathan Duhamel and Joe Cada were there from the start, but some others might have wanted to rethink their decision to enter the event. Bill Chen was an early casualty, having his Aces cracked when a player came along on a J-9-4-9 flop and turn. When a seven came on the river, Chen commented over Twitter, “I bet, he raises all in (and) has 10-8. Shrug…out.”
Chen wasn’t the only one with some commentary on his way away from the tables on Friday. Daniel Negreanu was another casualty of the early action and, through Twitter, remarked on the scheduling of the WSOP in saying, “Busted 66 vs. A-Q and really excited FINALLY for the first non-Hold’em tournament of the WSOP. Way too much Hold’em this year.”
As the evening hours approached, the prize pool for Event #4 was released. 108 players would take away an official WSOP cash for playing in this event, with the eventual champion earning a decent $324,764 payday. With this in mind, some players began to stake their claims to the lion’s share of the prize pool.
Cada never seemed to be losing on Friday, working his way up to 45,000 in chips (from the original starting stack of 4500) by the time dinner was served. Duhamel would one up his fellow WSOP Championship Event bracelet holder, cracking the 60K mark as the tournament entered into its final level. Cada wouldn’t be outdone, however, finishing off the day with a 127,000 chip stack that is good for second place at this time behind Greg Hobson.
1. Greg Hobson, 160,500
2. Joe Cada, 127,000
3. Kevin Stammen, 112,800
4. Lee Gaines, 103,000
5. Stewart Newman, 101,500
6. Evan Michelson, 100,700
7. Sean Stevens, 99,100
8. Jesse Yaginuma, 96,100
9. Gnatenko Oleksander, 91,000
10. Matthew Silva, 90,700
Duhamel would finish the day with a 45,200 chip stack alongside other notables such as Bryan Piccioli (85K), Jon Turner (65,400) and recently crowned World Poker Tour Player of the Year Matt Salsberg (45,500).
Day Two of this tournament will see the remaining 117 players battling it down to the final table. The first order of the day on Saturday will be determining who the nine players are who take nothing home for their efforts!
Event #5 – $2500 Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo – Day One
For those who didn’t feel as if a day of Texas Hold’em was for them, Event #5 was the medicine they were looking for. The Omaha Hold’em/Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo mixed game event drew out 374 players for its Day One action on Friday (down from last year’s 393 player tournament won by Oleksii Kovalchuk) and, from the looks of the tables, many poker professionals opted to take on this event rather than Event #4.
Because of the glacial pace of split games (where two players can earn a piece of each pot, the winner of the high hand and the winner of the low), there were few eliminations through the day. One of those, however, was David Bach, who saw his tournament life extinguished by David Williams during the evening hours. He was joined just before midnight by Phil Ivey, who couldn’t mount any charge during the day’s action.
After ten levels of play, 250 players were left to come back today for Day Two of the tournament and attempt to take down Matthew Ashton, the chip leader:
1. Matthew Ashton, 57,800
2. Allyn Jaffrey Shulman, 51,500
3. Mike Gorodinsky, 47,100
4. Andrew Kelsall, 39,900
5. Eli Elezra, 38,700
6. Zimnan Ziyard, 37,100
7. Lawrence Fujii, 36,300
8. Men Nguyen, 35,200
9. Andrew Brown, 34,100
10. Artem Litvinov, 33,700
Other notables such as Farzad Bonyadi (33,300), Max Pescatori (33,000), Berry Johnston (31,700), former WSOP Player of the Year Tom Schneider (29,200) and Mike Matusow (29,200) all are hovering in the Top 25.
With only 40 players taking a cash down from this event, it is going to be a long day for the mixed game specialists. When the champion is crowned, however, it will be worth it to pick up the WSOP bracelet and the $216,988 payday.
Starting Today – Event #6 – $1500 “Millionaire Maker” No Limit Hold’em
One of the most talked about tournaments on the 2013 WSOP schedule is the only one that will kick off action today. The $1500 “Millionaire Maker” has drawn the attention for two reasons. One is that the tournament will guarantee a $1 million prize to the eventual champion and the second is its format, which allows players who enter the 11AM flight – and bust out of the tournament – to come back for the second flight that starts at 5PM.
WSOP officials have suggested that the “Millionaire Maker” could become the largest non-Championship Event tournament in the history of the WSOP. As it is one of the smaller buy-in tournaments that are a favorite of the smaller bankrolled poker player, they should come out in force. With the $1 million guaranteed first place prize, many professionals that wouldn’t step up for a smaller buy in tournament (and its massive field) will also take their shot.
