The 2019 World Series of Poker is into its second weekend of action and it promises to be a busy one. There will be a flurry of activity as two tournaments that were supposed to conclude on Friday enter overtime, another event will play to a WSOP bracelet and the “Millionaire Maker” opens its second Day One of action.
Overtime in Tournaments for First Time at This Year’s WSOP
For the first time at this year’s WSOP, not one but two tournaments will enter an “overtime” situation. Under WSOP rules, play in an event is capped at ten levels or 2AM, whichever comes first, and is resumed the next day. This is done to reduce the wear on not only the players (who would like to lose a tournament because they were too fatigued to make good decisions?) but also the tournament staff and other personnel.
After 13 hours of action in Event #14, the $1500 H.O.R.S.E. tournament, two men remain standing. Jason Stockfish and Murilo Souza will come back at noon on Saturday (Pacific Time) to finish what they started on Friday afternoon. It could be a lengthy battle as both players are roughly equal in chips (Stockfish up 4.095 million to Souza’s 3.425 million) and 30 minutes are left in the Stud session.
The same situation exists in Event #16, the $1500 Six-Handed No Limit Hold’em tournament. After playing until 3AM this morning (the players do have an option of playing one more level if they believe it can complete the tournament), Isaac Baron and Qng Dingxiang will come back at 2PM to the Amazon Room and crown a champion. This happened after a big double up by Dingxiang brought the stacks to almost even (Baron’s 24.475 million to Dingxiang’s 21.025 million).
Two More Tournaments to Determine Champions
After a break for a day to allow the “Millionaire Maker” to start, the $10,000 Heads Up No Limit Hold’em champion will be determined on Saturday. This is the lineup for the semifinals in the tournament:
Benjamin Yu v. Keith Lehr
Cord Garcia v. Sean Swingruber
Everyone except Swingruber has tasted WSOP gold before and Lehr is in the rarefied air of having a chance to win a second bracelet in the same tournament he has previously won. The eventual champion will walk off with that WSOP bling and $186,356 in cash.
The final table is set for the $1500 No Limit Hold’em Shootout and it promises to be an entertaining event. Coming to the felt are longtime fan favorite Kenna James, looking for his first WSOP bracelet, and a couple more fan favorites in the multi-syllabic Athanasios Polychronopoulos and the much easier to say Cary Katz. They are all slightly behind Anatoly Zyrin and his 2.306 million stack (slight differences because of number of players faced in earlier rounds), but nobody is out of it when isn’t even 100K difference in chips.
If that weren’t enough, you also have Day 3 action in the $10,000 Omaha Hi/Lo 8 or Better. The final 23 players are set in that event, with Ken Aldridge trying to hold back the likes of reigning WSOP POY Shaun Deeb, Mike ‘The Mouth’ Matusow, Robert Mizrachi, Mike Wattel and Frankie O’Dell. All those players, save for Aldridge, are looking for another bracelet to add to their collection.
Add in Day 1B of the “Millionaire Maker” (which saw 3930 entries and 968 players survive Day 1A), Day 2 of Event #20, the $1500 Seven Card Stud tournament, and the opening salvos of the $10,000 No Limit Deuce to Seven Lowball Draw tournament, and it is going to be another hectic day around the Rio for the 2019 World Series of Poker.
