Four players won bracelets at the World Series of Poker on Saturday, which perhaps makes it strange to begin a recap of the day by talking about a 2-7 Lowball draw tournament, which still has nine players remaining. But when those nine include the likes of Jen Harman, Jason Mercier, Robert Mizrachi, Scott Seiver, Jeremy Ausmus and Mike Watson, no further excuses are required.
The 2-7 tournament in question is the $10,000 Championship event in this lesser-known discipline, and it attracted only the most versatile players. Those nine remaining certainly fit the bill: there are 25 WSOP bracelets between them, three EPT Main Events and one Hall of Famer.
And all of those players are looking up to David Lin, who leads them overnight.
Let's unravel this a bit: the $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship got started on Friday, but registration remained open into Saturday's play. That meant there was enough time for both Phil Hellmuth and Daniel Negreanu, among others, to make late arrivals, but Hellmuth got bluffed by Dan Smith holding quad sevens (this is a game in which the lowest hand wins) before being knocked out, and Negreanu admitted to a bracelet hangover and bust twice. He hopped straight into the $25K PLO and built a stack there in his quest to win Player of the Year (he's currently sixth).
But such was the quality of the field that even with that pair cast aside, there were superstars everywhere. Harman, inducted to the WSOP Hall of Fame in 2015, had the chip lead for a while, before bagging the ninth-biggest stack in the room. By that point, she had been overtaken by Seiver, aiming for a third bracelet of the year, Mizrachi, targeting a second, as well as Mercier and Ausmus, who have six and five, respectively, for their careers already.
Inexplicably, Canada's Watson has never won a WSOP bracelet, even though he is one of only three players with more than one EPT title. He's been stopped in second twice by none other than Mercier (both times in No-Limit 2-7 events), and he'll be looking for redemption. Watson sits second overnight in the hunt to break his WSOP duck. But they'll all have to find a way to rein in Lin, the comparative novice in such star-studded company, who ignored the reputations of his opponents to stack up the chip lead.
It's going to be a very fun Sunday as they find a winner.
Could PLO High Roller become biggest ever?
Even elimination from the $10K Lowball didn't mean the end of the day for poker's highest stakes players because over the other side of the WSOP tournament space, the global resurgence of pot-limit Omaha continued apace.
The WSOP's $25,000 buy-in PLO High Roller could represent a new high point in the four-card game, as registration isn't closed yet. Through the tournament's opening 10 levels, cashiers accepted 365 entries, putting more than $9 million in the prize pool. Could it beat last year's total of 449 entries?
There are still three days to play in the tournament, so chip counts at this stage are advisory, at best. But all of the world's very best sat down, including Negreanu, strolling over from the lowball, and fellow megastar Phil Ivey.
Both bagged stacks at the end of the day, but the 151-player field is still crazily strong. Conrad De Armas leads the way, from Eric Garma and Connor Drinan, but Ike Haxton, Bryce Yockey, Sean Winter, Christian Harder, Juha Helppi, Eelis Parssinen, Ben Lamb, Viktor Blom, Dylan Smith, Felipe Ramos and Artur Martirosian also sit in the top 50. There's a similar concentration of top-ranked players through the entire remaining field.
It's the second of four scheduled days on Sunday.
Aggression factor lands PLO Championship for Nakache
The exuberant cadre of French online poker players who specialise in what they call 'spins' (namely three-handed, short-stacked, hyper-turbos) has a new breakout star. While most of their most profitable work usually necessarily takes place online, Elie Nakache was able to utilise his short-handed skills to fine effect in the $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha championship at the WSOP, the grandest stage, to take down a first bracelet and $1,320,945.
Nakache overcame what had seemed to be an unassailable overnight chip lead held by Joshua Adkins, relegating the American into second place. By that point, the final day's three other challengers, from a starting field of 811, were also bystanders, with Oshri Lahmani banking $315,098 for sixth, Manh Nguyen taking $436,751 for fourth and Jonathan Bowers earning $615,251 for third.
That left Adkins, who had a stack bigger than all his opponents' combined coming into the last day, trying to complete the job against Nakache. He still had a better then three-to-one chip lead entering heads up, but Nakache was just getting started. The tables turned when Nackache's 
rivered a full house on a board of 
and Adkins couldn't get away from his aces. It was, in the words of PokerOrg's Dave Woods, "death by a thousand paper cuts" from there, with Nakache also cracking aces on what would become the final hand. This time 
for Nakache connected very well with a flop of 
to beat Adkins' 
. Adkins took $880,621 for second.
"I’m a spin player, but during the last two years, I fell in love with PLO." Nakache told WSOP at the end of the tournament. "I like to play a lot of hands, and tournaments are perfect for that."
He added: "The key is just a lot of aggression...You can’t just wait for a hand. I had good hands as well. And in the last hand, he had enough of it, he called…and that’s it."
Robinson's surge ends with maiden bracelet
This time last year, Colin Robinson was leaving Las Vegas with a second-place finish in a Monster Stack event and a tale of what might have been. This time, he has a bracelet to go with an even better yarn, after steamrollering through the final table of the latest $2,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em event.
Robinson, from Anthem, AZ, sat in fifth place of 23 coming back for the final day after an opening field of 2,229 had been whittled down. And with many of the best-known players falling short of the final (Alisson Piekazewicz, Andre Akkari and fell in 13th through 11th), Robinson put on the kind of show that is always bound to win tournaments. Robinson knocked out Peter Park in seventh, Akshat Bajaj in sixth, then two-time bracelet winner Barry Schulman in fifth. And the eliminations just kept coming, with Robinson sending all his last three opponents packing too.
The last of those was Carl Shaw, who will have to wait for his second career win. Shaw's runner-up performance earned him $445,285, but Robinson has $667,963 to complement the bracelet.
"Today, I guess, was my day," Robinson told WSOP after finishing up. “Once we got to four handed I felt very confident that I was gonna win...I kind of just got the hands and was running good.”
It takes his career winnings beyond $2 million and represents a sixth WSOP cash of the summer. It's a great time to be running good -- and clearly playing excellently as well.
Collins' Salute to Warriors ends in $200K victory and bracelet
British player Ben Collins now has back-to-back tournament wins on his Hendon Mob resume. In March, it was a £11,190 score at the end of a £220 buy-in tournament in Newcastle, England. But in June, he was over at the World Series. And his title in the $500 Salute to Warriors banked him $207,486, more than twice what he had won in his entire career before.
"It's crazy," Collins admitted, reflecting on a final table in which he had been in and out of the chip lead. He had a massive heads-up advantage at one point over Stavros Petychakis, but was also on the brink of elimination with only 10 percent of the remaining chips. But four hands after that low point, he was champion.
"I started with a big chip lead and it went the other way," he said. "I lost a flip and another all in and I conceded with second at one point. But you get one double up and you start believing."
Belief certainly helps when faced with a field of 4,517 entries, each paying $500 apiece. This is the tournament from which $40 goes to American veterans charities -- hence the Salute to Warriors name -- and it was tough and committed field. Collins was fifth from 17 remaining overnight, but he battled the hardest to land this famous victory, hitting a new high point for a long career.
"My first tournament here was 2009 when I was a pro straight out of school for four or five years," Collins said. "I got a real job and got on with my life and I play the odd tournament in the U.K. I've come out for four weeks to see if I can get a bit lucky."
Job done.
Fal orchestrates Roberts' fall to earn Russia's second of the year
It was Event #69: $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better that kept staff and reporters up late on Saturday night, with an intriguing short-handed battle across three continents keeping viewers captivated.
Russia's Nikolay Fal sat opposite Christian Roberts of Venezeuela and Joseph Hertzog of the United States to determine where the latest bracelet went, along with the $153,730 first prize. And it finished Europe, followed by South America followed by North America, with Fal landing a career first WSOP title.
Most of Fal's previous best work has been done back in Europe, where he has amassed more than $2.3 million in tournament winnings, mostly in no limit hold'em. But he proved highly adept at this tricky stud variant, rising up from 13th in the chip counts overnight to down the long-standing chip leader, Roberts, heads up.
Fal's triumph was only the second for Russian players this year at the WSOP, and was greeted with loud cheers from his partisan rail, despite the late hour.
Okamoto leads Kerstetter, Magnus et al Ladies Championship last 36
It was bubble day in the $1,000 Ladies Championship, followed by a race deep into the money. And with a field of this size (1,245, paying 187 spots), the drama always plays out across multiple tables.
So it proved this time around, with hand-for-hand play only ending when two players were all in and at risk at separate tables. Both at-risk players lost: Andrea Quadros' 
lost a race to Melanie Kaye's pocket sevens. But there was even more heart-rending stuff in the other hand, where Tracy Hill had to figure out if big-stacked Cecile Ticherfatine's four-bet shove actually meant she had the goods.
Hill eventually decided she'd pay to find out, calling all in for her tournament life. Hill had pocket sixes, but soon got the bad news. Ticherfatine had kings. The kings held. And with that, the tournament was into the money, everyone guaranteed at least $2,006.
Eyes however now focused on the $171,732 first prize and getting through a frantic remainder of the day to stay in with a chance. Japan's Shiina Okamoto seemed unflustered by the occasion and maintained a chip lead until bags came out. At that point, only 36 players remained. Okamoto sits with 2,390,000 chips, ahead of a strong field. Ticherfatine continues to be a real threat, sitting in second with 1,700,000, while Jamie Kerstetter (1,120,000) and Nadya Magnus (860,000) are in the top 10. Marle Spragg (805,000), Monika Zukowicz (755,000), Kasey Mills (655,000), Jen Shahade (295,000) and Alexandra Loveless (105,000) are still involved. They'll play to a final on Sunday.
Photo of the day
New champion Elie Nakache takes a moment to admire his new jewellery.
Hand of the day
It was the hand that decisively swung the $10K PLO championship away from Joshua Adkins and set up Elie Nakache's blaze to the title.
Adkins has been in a comfortable lead for more than a day and had significantly more chips in his stack than all his four final-day opponents combined. But Nakache was irresistible in heads-up play, and cracked aces twice to seal the deal.
Nakache was still around 10 million chips behind Adkins when he was dealt and raised to 750,000. (Blinds were 125K/250K.) Adkins, with 
three-bet to 2.25 million. Nakache called.The gave Adkins a gutshot draw to go with his aces, but checked. Nakache, who had flopped two pair, made a bet of 1.6 million, which Adkins called.
The turn gave both players cause for caution. They checked. But the river was great only for Nakache. He slid out 5.5 million and Adkins couldn't let his aces go.
His call switched the chip lead and Nakache never surrendered it from that moment on.
Tweet of the day
It's surely the partnership everyone wants to see.
Video of the day
Ben Collins was all in for his last big blinds, but four hands later was the champion. PokerOrg was watching.
The day in numbers
365
Entries so far in the $25,000 PLO event, already making it one of the biggest tournament of this variant ever, with registration still open.
25
Bracelets between final nine players in $10K 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball Championship event.
5,146
Entries required on the third and final flight of the Colossus to match last year's total. There were 6,105 entries on Day 1B, combining with 4,643 from Day 1A to mean 10,748 entries already. The 2024 tournament boasted 15,894 entries.
Day #33 gallery
Coming up on Day #34
With both the $1,000 Ladies Championship No-Limit Hold'em and the $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship slimming their fields all the way to a final table, there's plenty of room for the last opening flight of the Colossus to fill pretty much every other inch of tournament floor. It's going to be a big one.
Of course, there will need to be a good few tables for Day 2 of the $25K PLO, plus the beginning of the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship.There's a significant chance we will know far more about players in both the PLO and the Stud Hi-Lo than we will the Colossus, but it's purely the numbers coming to Vegas for the Colossus that will make it the dominating force in the room on Sunday.
Results
Event #66: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Elie Nakache | $1,320,945 |
| 2 | Joshua Adkins | $880,621 |
| 3 | Jonathan Bowers | $615,251 |
| 4 | Manh Nguyen | $436,751 |
| 5 | Oshri Lahmani | $315,098 |
Full results on WSOP
Event #67: $500 Salute to Warriors - No-Limit Hold'em
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ben Collins | $207,486 |
| 2 | Stavros Petychakis | $138,423 |
| 3 | Tolga Gesli | $102,360 |
| 4 | Paul Serrate | $76,338 |
| 5 | Rami Hammoud | $57,420 |
| 6 | Dane Harnett | $43,564 |
| 7 | Ben Snodgrass | $33,341 |
| 8 | Siavash Bahri | $25,742 |
| 9 | Gerald Schnierer | $20,052 |
| 10 | Richard Juliano | $15,759 |
Full results on WSOP
Event #68: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Colin Robinson | $667,963 |
| 2 | Carl Shaw | $445,285 |
| 3 | John Reiter | $325,744 |
| 4 | Vitalijs Zavorotnijs | $240,707 |
| 5 | Barry Schulman | $179,687 |
| 6 | Akshat Bajaj | $135,522 |
| 7 | Peter Park | $103,279 |
| 8 | Gonzalo Almada | $79,537 |
| 9 | Ivan Stankov | $61,906 |
| 10 | Ky Nguyen | $48,703 |
Full results on WSOP
Event #69: $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nikolay Fal | $153,730 |
| 2 | Christian Roberts | $102,492 |
| 3 | Joseph Hertzog | $70,288 |
| 4 | Kenneth Kemple | $49,127 |
| 5 | Dekel Balas | $35,006 |
| 6 | Yuval Bronshtein | $25,442 |
| 7 | Nikolay Ponomarev | $18,866 |
| 8 | Jon Turner | $14,280 |
| 9 | Joey Couden | $11,038 |
| 10 | Ryutaro Suzuki | $8,716 |
Full results on WSOP
Ongoing events
Event #70: $400 Colossus No-Limit Hold'em - Flight B
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lisa Tan | 1,680,000 |
| 2 | Drew Dingman | 1,283,000 |
| 3 | Oliver Said | 1,263,000 |
| 4 | William Smith | 1,209,000 |
| 5 | Justin Tsui | 1,154,000 |
| 6 | Exequiel Ramirez | 1,108,000 |
| 7 | Jacob Mulhern | 1,100,000 |
| 8 | Tara Dunn | 1,043,000 |
| 9 | Mateo Vargas | 1,025,000 |
| 10 | Hayk Grigoryan | 992,000 |
Full chip counts on WSOP
Event #71: $1,000 Ladies Championship No-Limit Hold'em
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shiina Okamoto | 2,390,000 |
| 2 | Cecile Ticherfatine | 1,700,000 |
| 3 | Andrea Sager | 1,485,000 |
| 4 | Robyn Alvis | 1,170,000 |
| 5 | Haruna Fujita | 1,160,000 |
| 6 | Jamie Kerstetter | 1,120,000 |
| 7 | Susan Bluer | 1,000,000 |
| 8 | Cherish Andrews | 985,000 |
| 9 | Khyla Boatwright | 970,000 |
| 10 | Nadya Magnus | 860,000 |
| Notables | ||
| 13 | Marle Spragg | 805,000 |
| 15 | Monika Zukowicz | 755,000 |
| 18 | Kasey Mills | 655,000 |
| 29 | Jen Shahade | 295,000 |
| 36 | Alexandra Loveless | 105,000 |
Full chip counts on WSOP
Event #72: $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship (last nine)
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | David Lin | 2,295,000 |
| 2 | Mike Watson | 2,165,000 |
| 3 | Jeremy Ausmus | 1,740,000 |
| 4 | Scott Seiver | 1,215,000 |
| 5 | Jonathan Krela | 1,105,000 |
| 6 | Robert Mizrachi | 875,000 |
| 7 | Jason Mercier | 640,000 |
| 8 | Aaron Kupin | 515,000 |
| 9 | Jen Harman | 410,000 |
Results so far on WSOP
Event #73: $25,000 High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Conrad De Armas | 1,250,000 |
| 2 | Eric Garma | 1,247,000 |
| 3 | Connor Drinan | 970,000 |
| 4 | Fernando Habegger | 933,000 |
| 5 | Cong Pham | 879,000 |
| 6 | Ethan Cahn | 878,000 |
| 7 | Caleb Furth | 875,000 |
| 8 | David Eldridge | 831,000 |
| 9 | Tomer Daniel | 778,000 |
| 10 | Aaron Katz | 751,000 |
| Notables | ||
| 16 | Isaac Haxton | 688,000 |
| 19 | Bryce Yockey | 681,000 |
| 25 | Sean Winter | 605,000 |
| 27 | Christian Harder | 587,000 |
| 34 | Daniel Negreanu | 529,000 |
| 39 | Viktor Blom | 480,000 |
| 51 | Phil Ivey | 412,000 |
Full chip counts on WSOP
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)
- Event #20: $300 Gladiators of Poker No-Limit Hold'em - Stephen Winters (USA)
- Event #21: $25,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em (6-Handed) - Brek Schutten (USA)
- Event #22: $1,500 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw (6-Handed) - Aaron Cummings (USA)
- Event #23: Event #23: $1,500 SHOOTOUT No-Limit Hold'em - Dan Sepiol (USA)
- Event #24: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship - Sean Troha (USA)
- Event #25: $3,000 Limit Hold'em 6-Handed - Daniel Vampan (USA)
- Event #26: $25,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em (8-Handed) - Nick Schulman (USA)
- Event #27: $1,500 Big O - Michael Christ (USA)
- Event #28: $1,500 Freezeout No-Limit Hold'em - Evan Benton (USA)
- Event #29: $10,000 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Championship (6-Handed) - Phil Ivey (USA)
- Event #30: $600 Mixed No-Limit Hold'em/Pot-Limit Omaha Deepstack - Alen Bakovic (Canada)
- Event #31: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed - Nicholas Seward (USA)
- Event #32: $1,500 Seven Card Stud - Richard Ashby (UK)
- Event #33: $600 Pot-Limit Omaha Deepstack (8-Handed) - Alex Manzano (Chile)
- Event #34: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em Freezeout - Antonio Galiana (Spain)
- Event #35: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. - Phillip Hui (USA)
- Event #36: $800 No-Limit Hold'em Deepstack (8-Handed) – Timur Margolin (Israel)
- Event #37: $10,000 Big O Championship – John Fauver (USA)
- Event #39: $50,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em (8-Handed) - Sergio Aido (Spain)
- Event #40: $1,500 Razz – Scott Seiver (USA)
- Event #41: $1,500 Mixed No-Limit Hold'em/Pot Limit Omaha Double Board Bomb Pot - Xixiang Luo (China)
- Event #42: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship - James Obst (Australia)
- Event #43: $1,500 Mixed: PLO Hi-Lo 8; Omaha Hi-Lo 8; Big O - Magnus Edengren (Sweden)
- Event #44: $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em - Jared Kingery (USA)
- Event #45: $10,000 HORSE Championship - Maksim Pisarenko (Russia)
- Event #46: $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold'em Championship - Khang Pham (USA)
- Event #47: $100,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em - Chris Hunichen (USA)
- Event #48: $1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha (8-Handed) - Chris Vitch (USA)
- Event #49: $3,000 Freezeout No-Limit Hold'em - Erlend Melsom (Norway)
- Event #50: $10,000 Razz Championship - George Alexander (USA)
- Event #51: $1,500 Super Turbo Bounty No-Limit Hold'em Freezeout - Peter Park (USA)
- Event #52: $5,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em – Mostafa Haidary (Australia)
- Event #53: $3,000 Nine Game Mixed - Yuri Dzivielevski (Brazil)
- Event #54: $1,500 Millionaire Maker No-Limit Hold'em - Franco Spitale (Argentina)
- Event #55: $250,000 Super High Roller – Santhosh Suvarna (India)
- Event #56: $2,500 Mixed Triple Draw Lowball (2-7, A-5, Badugi) – Patrick Moulder (USA)
- Event #57: $10,000 Super Turbo Bounty No-Limit Hold’em – Frank Funaro (USA)
- Event #58: $50,000 Poker Players Championship - Daniel Negreanu (Canada)
- Event #59: $1,000 Super Seniors No-Limit Hold'em - Sean Jazayeri (USA)
- Event #60: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em - Paolo Boi (Italy)
- Event #61: $2,500 Mixed: Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better; Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better - Dario Sammartino (Italy)
- Event #62: $600 PokerNews Deepstack Championship - Hector Berry (UK)
- Event #63: $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw - David Funkhouser (USA)
- Event #64: $600 No-Limit Hold'em Deepstack - Chris Moen (USA)
- Event #65: $5,000 Seniors High Roller No-Limit Hold'em - Mark Checkwicz (USA)
- Event #66: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship - Elie Nakache (France)
- Event #67: $500 Salute to Warriors - No-Limit Hold'em - Ben Collins (UK)
- Event #68: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em - Colin Robinson (USA)
- Event #69: $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better - Nikolay Fal (Russia)
