Nevada’s always been a great place to shoot a Western , and provided the backdrop to the 1976 classic The Shootist. In John Wayne’s final film the Duke plays an aging gunslinger with a fierce reputation for leaving bodies in his wake. Such is his notoriety, upon arriving in town he finds that plenty of folks already know him as a legend, and those who aren’t looking to profit off his name are out to make one for themselves. By killing him.
It’s a story that comes to mind whenever we look up at the banners hanging above the WSOP tables, each bearing the face of a former champion. These flags up high give the young guns playing below something to shoot for - in more ways than one.
A shootout begins...
960 such hopeful gunslingers amassed on Day 11 for event #23, the $1,500 NLH Shootout, for which two starting flights took place at either end of the day. The shootout format requires each table to play down to a winner, who then moves on to another table where only one can progress, which leaves a final group to play it out for the big money, the bracelet and the glory.
It’s an interesting tournament type that plays to the strengths of sit & go players, while promising the big rewards of a large-field MTT. It’s also an unforgiving format which sees bodies pile up at an alarming rate, as the toughest and luckiest names cut swathes through the competition.
Reputation is no guarantee of success, and those who fell in battle as the bullets flew included Daniel Negreanu, Korey Aldemir, Calvin Anderson, Bin Weng and Patrick Leonard. When you're a 'shootist' like the Duke, there's always someone waiting to take you down. Among those still standing for the next round on Day 2, which starts at 1pm, are Maria Ho, Dan Sepiol, Espen Jorstàd and Landon Tice.
There’s $1,281,600 in the prize pool, and while payouts are still to be confirmed there’s extra incentive for Tice to run deep and clock up a big score. In case you hadn’t heard, he’s in the midst of a summer-long WSOP crossbook bet with Jeremy Becker, and Becker entered the Shootout but didn’t advance. Making it to Day 2 means Tice is already in the money, but he’ll be looking to do even more damage as their duel continues.
Weisman survives five-hour Mexican standoff
The $1,500 PLO event built to a nervy finale with Dylan Weisman, Chino Rheem and Steve Zolotow locked in a three-way fight for the title that lasted even longer than The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.
1,469 entries were down to 10 for the third and final day, and by the time only three remained it could have gone any which way, with all three holding the chip lead at some point. It took five hours, but Zolotow eventually fell to Weisman in a straight-over-straight situation, and not long after things came to a climax when Rheem flopped bottom two-pair against Weisman’s nut flush draw. Weisman hit the flush, scooped the $294,311 first prize, grabbed the bracelet and rode off into the sunset.
A good day for Weisman? No complaints.
A clash of cowboys
When Brent Hart and Eddie Ochana got it all-in heads-up in the $5,000 NLH, they each had a cowboy on hand: for Hart it was the 
, while Ochana held the 
, but with a smaller kicker. That kicker hit the flop to put Ochana in front, but when Hart spiked his own on the river it was done and dusted. Hart took $660,284 and his first WSOP bracelet, while Ochana banked a more-than-respectable $440,202 for second place.
The other bracelet awarded on Day 11 went to John Racener, who won $308,930 and his second WSOP title in the $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship. Racener came into the final table as the short stack but fought hard to claw his way to the top, eventually defeating Chad Eveslage ($205,954) heads-up. In victory he was quick to give a shout out to his late mother, saying “I know she is watching above me right now.”
His winning hand, the 
, also evoked another much-missed figure from the WSOP’s long history: Doyle Brunson famously won the Main Event twice holding Ten-Deuce. The ‘Godfather of Poker’ may no longer be with us, but he’ll never be forgotten. His banner still hangs from the rafters, an enduring inspiration to all the young dudes and cowgirls below…
Photo of the day
You’d think if anyone might have a chair with their name on it at the WSOP, it would be Phil Hellmuth.
Hand of the day
All-in preflop with a first WSOP bracelet and $660K up top, Brent Hart’s 
was dominating the 
of Eddie Ochana. That is, until the flop came 
.
The 
on the turn brought nothing to help Hart, leaving him with just three jacks in the deck to hit.
Lo and behold, the one-eyed 
came on the river to deliver Hart the win in the $5,000 NLH with a three-outer on the last hand of the tournament.
Tweet of the day
We’re not sure why Faraz Jaka is getting quite so excited by something as mundane as a structure sheet. What’s so speci…oh, wait…
Video of the day
“I’ve got her trained: on 3-bets, she goes for the ankles”
The day in numbers
8,115
Entrants after two starting flights in the $300 Gladiators of Poker, with two more Day 1s to go
3
Number of tables you need to win for a WSOP bracelet in the $1,500 Shootout
62.5%
Proportion of the current top 8 in the $10,000 PLO8 Championship who already have a WSOP bracelet (5/8)
Results
Event #16: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em (8-Handed)
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brent Hart | $660,284 |
| 2 | Eddie Ochana | $440,202 |
| 3 | Alex Queen | $309,128 |
| 4 | Kartik Ved | $220,373 |
| 5 | Shant Marashlian | $159,517 |
| 6 | Daniyal Gheba | $117,271 |
| 7 | Taylor Black | $87,582 |
| 8 | Krasimir Yankov | $66,464 |
Event #18: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha (8-Handed)
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dylan Weisman | $294,311 |
| 2 | Chino Rheem | $196,191 |
| 3 | Steve Zolotow | $140,077 |
| 4 | Grzegorz Derkowski | $101,284 |
| 5 | John Zable | $74,178 |
| 6 | Jhojan Rivera | $55,034 |
| 7 | Abdul Al-Magableh | $41,371 |
| 8 | Leslie Roussell | $31,516 |
Event #19: $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship (8-Handed)
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | John Racener | $308,930 |
| 2 | Chad Eveslage | $205,954 |
| 3 | Marco Johnson | $142,245 |
| 4 | Anthony Marsico | $101,062 |
| 5 | Shyamsundar Challa | $73,922 |
| 6 | Justin Kusumowidagdo | $55,715 |
| 7 | Ronnie Bardah | $43,311 |
| 8 | Andrew Kelsall | $34,759 |
Ongoing events
Event #21: $25,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em (Final 12)
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brandon Wilson | 6,130,000 |
| 2 | Stoyan Madanzhiev | 6,000,000 |
| 3 | Michael Rocco | 5,540,000 |
| 4 | Brek Schutten | 4,305,000 |
| 5 | Chongxian Yang | 3,695,000 |
| 6 | Ognyan Dimov | 3,635,000 |
| 7 | Kevin Rabichow | 3,575,000 |
| 8 | Masashi Oya | 3,070,000 |
| 9 | Tyler Stafman | 2,265,000 |
| 10 | Taylor von Kriegenbergh | 1,230,000 |
| 11 | Eli Berg | 760,000 |
| 12 | Justin Saliba | 720,000 |
Event #22: $1,500 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw (Final 13)
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | James Williams | 1,900,000 |
| 2 | Yuichi Kanai | 1,825,000 |
| 3 | Sean Yu | 1,555,000 |
| 4 | Alex Ferrari | 1,475,000 |
| 5 | Steven Gray | 1,325,000 |
| 6 | Heather Alcorn | 1,325,000 |
| 7 | Aaron Cummings | 1,325,000 |
| 8 | Danny Wong | 1,145,000 |
| 9 | Alexander Wilkinson | 965,000 |
| 10 | Ilija Savevski | 885,000 |
| 11 | Jon Turner | 600,000 |
| 12 | Anthony Lazar | 560,000 |
| 13 | Amir Nematinia | 300,000 |
Event #24: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sean Winter | 378,000 |
| 2 | Warwick Mirzikinian | 361,000 |
| 3 | Mathias Bayer | 334,000 |
| 4 | Kyle Cartwright | 329,000 |
| 5 | Luis Velador | 326,500 |
| 6 | Brad Ruben | 310,500 |
| 7 | Yuri Dzivielevski | 304,500 |
| 8 | James Obst | 300,500 |
| Notables | ||
| 16 | Jesse Lonis | 248,000 |
| 21 | Patrick Leonard | 184,500 |
| 26 | Viktor Blom | 167,000 |
| 37 | Brian Rast | 147,000 |
| 91 | Mike Matusow | 20,500 |
| 93 | Chino Rheem | 5,500 |
Note: For events with multiple starting flights, we’ll bring you chip counts from Day 2. Due to its structure, all remaining players in the $1,500 Shootout have equal stacks.
Bracelet winners
Event #1: $5,000 Champions Reunion – Asher Conniff (USA)
Event #2: $500 Casino Employees No-Limit Hold’em – Jose Garcia (USA)
Event #3: $500 Kickoff No-Limit Hold'em Freezeout – Daniel Willis (UK)
Event #4: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better (8-Handed) – James Chen (USA)
Event #5: $1,000 Mystery Millions - Malcolm Trayner (Australia)
Event #6: $25,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship – Darius Samual (UK)
Event #7: $1,500 Dealer's Choice – John Hennigan (USA)
Event #8: $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha (8-Handed) - Bryce Yockey (USA)
Event #9: $1,500 Limit Hold'em (8-Handed) - Nick Guagenti (USA)
Event #10: $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship - Scott Seiver (USA)
Event #11: $1,500 Badugi - David Prociak (USA)
Event #12: $1,500 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em - Simeon Spasov (Bulgaria)
Event #13: $10,000 Dealers Choice Championship - Robert Mizrachi (USA)
Event #14: $1,000 Super Turbo Bounty No Limit Hold'em - Thibault Perissat (France)
Event #15: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better - Caleb Furth (USA)
Event #16: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em - Brent Hart (USA)
Event #17: $800 No-Limit Hold'em Deepstack - TJ Murphy (USA)
Event #18: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha - Dylan Weisman (USA)
Event #19: $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship - John Racener (USA)
Coming up on Day #12
The $25,000 NLH High Roller was a sea of star names, but with 12 players remaining it’s down to just a couple of tables. Brandon Wilson leads the pack but 2020’s online WSOP Champion Stoyan Madanzhiev is snapping at his heels. There’s $1,405,641 up top, and we should see a winner before the day is out.
The $1,500 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw event has played down to a similarly small size with 13 still standing. James Williams has a slender chip lead heading into Day 3, with those on his tail including 2019’s WSOP Dealer of the Year Heather Alcorn. There’s quite a gap between the $7,437 for 13th and the $146,516 first prize, so expect tensions to rise as they play down to a winner.
60 players remain in the $1,500 Shootout, which will see one player from each table progress to Day 3 and the final round, while 95 are still in the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo Championship. Sean Winter is currently out in front but a star-studded field - and three more days of play - will ensure that no one will get an easy ride.
New events starting on Day 12 are limited to event 25: $3,000 Limit Hold’em (2pm), as well as the third of four starting flights for the $300 Gladiators of Poker (10am).
Day #11 gallery
