The 2014 World Series of Poker will award two more bracelets on Thursday as eleven players vie for the championship of Event #37, the $1500 Pot Limit Omaha tournament. In the other event, German professional George Danzer heads a powerful final 13 that will contest for the WSOP bracelet.
Event #37 – $1500 Pot Limit Omaha – Day Two
113 players came back to the felt on Wednesday, all safe in the knowledge that they would take away a $2480 payday for their efforts. They were looking to catch Brandon Paster (135,000 in chips) and Fabrice Soulier (129,300) if they were to have a shot at being among those who would move onto Day Three and maintain their chances at the WSOP bracelet.
As is typical at the start of Day Twos, several shorter stacks looked to get that key double up or head home (or to their next event) with their money in their pockets. One of those was Humberto Brenes, who earned his eighth cash of the 2014 WSOP and is well on course to shatter the record for most cashes in a WSOP (which is 12, held by Konstantin Puchkov). Brenes had plenty of company as Ryan Hughes, Jason Hallee, Ismael Bojang, Bryan Micon, Mike Watson and Daniel Buzgon all departed within the first two hours of the day.
Soulier would take over the lead at this point of the day, eventually rivering a flush in scooping a pot against an opponent who missed a plethora of draws, as the eliminations continued to flow. Layne Flack, Mark Gregorich, Adam Bilzerian, Taylor Paur and Vinny Pahuja were among those who found the rail as the players went on the second break of the day.
Soulier, who continued to hold the chip lead, suddenly faced his first adversity of the day at the hands of Galen Hall. On a 9-6-3 rainbow flop, the two men potted until Hall was all-in and holding the lead with his A-A-10-7. Soulier could only muster a Q-J-10-9 for a top pair of nines and was looking for some help heading to the turn. A seven didn’t ease the nerves of Hall, as Soulier now had a gut shot straight draw to go with his pairing outs, but the King on the river removed the drama. In winning the hand, Hall took over the lead (380K) as Soulier fell to 81K in chips and departed the tournament moments later at the hands of Erick Lindgren.
32 players remained as the tournament took a dinner break, looking to make it to the final table with another couple of levels to play for the night. Lindgren would take over the lead from Hall after rivering a full house, but Lindgren would turn around and give those chips back in tripling up James Hoeland and donating some chips to the stack of Marcel Vonk. By the time the next level arrived, there were only 22 players left in the tournament.
It would take only 19 minutes for the final two tables to be determined. Kevin Saul had staked his claim to the top slot at those two tables, but A. P. Phahurat, Matthew Dames and Vonk all were within shooting distance of him. Saul would extend his lead in eliminating Norman Silverman in 18th place before giving some of those chips back to Hall after Hall hit a nut flush against Saul’s turned straight. The two would clash again with the same outcome, pushing Hall into the lead and Saul down the counts.
Hall added to that lead in eliminating Martins Adeniya in 16th place but, once again, Saul would prove to be a thorn in his side as he lost over 200K in chips when Saul rivered a straight against him. Lindgren ended up the tournament in the 13th place position when he was dumped by the rivered straight of Paster, but Vonk would be the “silent killer” as he was able to work his way past Paster for the lead as the night came to a close.
1. Marcel Vonk, 604,000
2. Brandon Paster, 588,000
3. Galen Hall, 553,000
4. Matthew Humphrey, 549,000
5. Kevin Saul, 506,000
6. Millard Hale, 346,000
7. Dmitri Valouev, 317,000
8. Dapreesch Scates, 303,000
9. Matthew Dames, 219,000
10. Gabriel Nassif, 206,000
11. A. P. Phahurat, 162,000
These eleven men will reconvene at 1PM on Thursday to battle it out for the PLO crown. The eventual champion will take home the WSOP bracelet and a $264,400 bounty.
Event #38 – $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi/Low – Day Two
Although 75 players came back to the baize on Wednesday, a large segment of them would be unhappy with the return. The 134 player field would only pay out the top 16 finishers, ensuring that most of those on the tables wouldn’t see anything for their hard work. As the cards went in the air, Germany’s George Danzer (already the holder of a 2014 WSOP bracelet) held the lead but faced challenges three other 2014 champions in Justin Bonomo, Calvin Anderson and Ted Forrest.
Among the early departures were another 2014 WSOP bracelet winner, Brock Parker, but he wasn’t left alone for long. Frank Kasella, Rep Porter, Phil Hellmuth, Richard Ashby, Mike Sexton and Bill Chen all headed to the rail before the first break of the day as Danzer continued to hold the lead. After the break Phil Ivey, John Juanda, David Bach, Jonathan Duhamel and Roland Israelashvili would be among the casualties.
As the final 24 players redrew for tables, Danzer continued to be the class of the field with his 535K in chips. Other contenders such as Richard Sklar, Kevin Song and Alexander Jung had emerged through the afternoon’s play, but Sklar (holding 354K in chips) was way behind Danzer. After the departures of Song (surprisingly), Huck Seed, Max Pescatori and Alex Bilokur (among others) on the money bubble, Jung had passed Danzer to take over the lead at the two-table redraw.
Play would grind to a halt at this point as the players looked to position themselves for a run at the final table. Only Tom Koral (16th place, $22,244), Matt Glantz (15th, $22,244) and Steve Zolotow (14th, $25,569) would be eliminated over the final four hours of play as Danzer worked his way back into the lead as the Day Two action concluded.
1. George Danzer, 785,000
2. Jeff Lisandro, 420,000
3. Brian Hastings, 415,000
4. Ted Forrest, 387,000
5. Calvin Anderson, 372,000
6. Richard Sklar, 301,000
7. Alexander Jung, 293,000
8. Todd Brunson, 290,000
9. David Singer, 202,000
10. Christopher George, 157,000
11. Norman Chad, 148,000
12. John Monnette, 139,000
13. John Racener, 111,000
This could be one of the most pro-laden final tables of the 2014 WSOP. Danzer, the current leader of the WSOP Player of the Year race, will face challenges from Lisandro, Forrest and Anderson, but Brunson and Singer can’t be overlooked. Then there is ESPN poker announcer Chad, who finished in 12th place in 2011 in the $1500 version of this tournament and final tabled the $2500 Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi/Low tournament in 2012. Event #38 will have most of the eyeballs in the Rio focused on it as they determine the champion and the recipient of the WSOP bracelet and $352,696 in first place money.
