Four hours after the Casino Employees Event kicked off the 2014 World Series of Poker (WSOP), the highlight event of the first week, Event #2: $25,000 Mixed Max No-Limit Hold’em began its four day journey. In this Mixed Max tournament, Day 1 is played with nine-handed tables, Day 2 is six-handed, Day 3 is four-handed, and Day 4 is, you guessed it, heads-up. A familiar face leads the field after the first day: Vanessa Selbst, proud renter of 562,800 chips.
There are plenty of familiar faces in this tournament, unlike the Casino Employees Event, but a $25,000 buy-in will do that for you. After Selbst in the standings is Brain Rast, close on her heels with 557,400, as well as such players as Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi (399,300), Dan Cates (317,000), John Juanda (264,800), Stephen Chidwick (260,600), and Aaron “aejones” Jones (235,800).
131 players paid to play, creating a $3,111,250 prize pool and a first prize of $871,148. The top 16 finishers will cash and at the very least double their money. 60 players remain after the first day; though the Day 3 structure would make one assume (based on the easy math) that Day 2 will end will all survivors in the money, that won’t necessarily be the case. According to the official structure sheet, Day 2 will play through 10 levels, regardless of how many players remain. It is Day 3 that will end when a specific numbers of players remain (four).
Selbst leapt up into the chip lead at the end of night, similar to how Corey Emery did so in the Casino Employees Event. Selbst’s big hand was much more spectacular, though. In the hand, Ravi Raghavan raised pre-flop and Jack Schindler re-raised to 14,000. Selbst four-bet to 31,500, Raghavan folded, but Schindler called to bring about a flop of J-J-8. Selbst led out with a 24,500 chip bet which was called by Schindler. The turn was a Ten, which caused Selbst to check over to Schindler, who moved all-in for 160,000. Selbst insta-called and for good reason – she was holding pocket Jacks for flopped quads. Schindler had T-9, but it didn’t even matter, as his fate was already sealed.
As has already been mentioned, there is still a ways to go before the money bubble bursts, as the remaining field of 60 needs to be narrowed to 16. The tournament will resume today at 2:00pm PST as Selbst, Rast, and the rest of the competitors lock horns in the premiere event of the early World Series of Poker.
2014 World Series of Poker Event #2: $25,000 Mixed Max – Day 1 Chip Leaders
1. Vanessa Selbst – 562,800
2. Brian Rast – 557,400
3. Michael Mizrachi – 399,300
4. Jason Mo – 393,000
5. Fabrice Touil – 327,600
6. Dan Cates – 317,000
7. Ravi Raghavan – 275,000
8. John Juanda – 264,800
9. Stephen Chidwick – 260,600
10. Aaron Jones – 235,800