Simeon Spasov was the only player to pick up a bracelet on Day #9 (in the $1,500 6-Handed), as the late-running $10,000 Dealer’s Choice Championship paused three-handed for the long break (or ‘night’ as non-poker players refer to it). Robert Mizrachi, Michael Martinelli (see Hand of the day) and Ryutaro Suzuki will pick up where they left off on Day 4, with Mizrachi hoping to claim a fifth bracelet to match his brother Michael.
The bubble burst in the $5,000 8-Handed NLHE in eye-watering fashion (video below), leaving 41 players remaining at bagging-up time, led by Shant Marashlian. Meanwhile, the $10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship slowly built up steam with two-time bracelet winner Juha Helppi at the top of the counts after Day 1. Two tables remain in the $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better, with Caleb Furth the runaway chip leader.
Two more events began, the $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha and the $800 No-Limit Hold’em DeepStack. The latter boasts a $368,977 top prize – not bad for a three-figure buy-in. This is what happens when 4,732 players all like the sound of an event; we consider it might be optimistic to have this event down as a two-dayer in the schedule.
Spasov tops international field
Simeon Spasov is the newest WSOP champion, having taken down Event #12: $1,500 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em for $439,815. He took a little over an hour to see off his final opponent from the 2,526-strong field, John Henry Gordon, securing his second WSOP bracelet and second-highest lifetime cash. Spasov jumps into the top 10 in Bulgaria’s all-time money list; this event has been one of the most popular so far for the internationally travelling contingent and there were six countries represented by the final nine players.
Among the deep-running notables were bracelet-holders Anthony Marquez (8th for $47,633), Tommy Nguyen (12th for $28,480), and Landon Tice (29th for $17,848). Further down the cash ladder were European heavyweights such as Anton Wigg, Ilija Savevski, Fernando Brito, and Jessica Teusl with 379 players paid at least double their buy-in from the $3,372,210 total prize pool.
$10K Dealer's Choice Championship cliff-hanger
It says ‘Play down to a winner’ next to ‘Day 3’ on the structure sheet for the $10,000 Dealer’s Choice Championship, but as has repeatedly been the case in the opening week of the 2024 WSOP, there will now be an unscheduled Day 4, featuring just three contenders for the title. These are (in chip count order): Robert Mizrachi, Michael Martinelli and Ryutaro Suzuki. Mizrachi is aiming to tie his brother Michael with a fifth WSOP bracelet in this most elite of events that tests players in nearly every poker discipline against the best in the business.
Just to get to the final involved seeing off Phil Ivey and Daniel Negreanu in 11th and 10th (for $27,041 each); most recently Ben Lamb hit the rail in 4th, picking up $99,885 but denied a third WSOP bracelet.
Ryutaro Suzuki might be returning with half the stack of either of his two remaining opponents, but has, in the last three years, started making a mark on the live circuit. Most of the young Japanese player’s results have come in mixed-game tournaments (including his bracelet last year in the $3K Nine-Game Mix) and he has proven that he can hold his own against one of the toughest fields in the Series.
Ever see a dealer wince?
The bubble burst in spectacular fashion in the $5,000 8-Handed NLHE, with an eye-watering runout taking down (an admittedly microstacked) Martin Stausholm:
Play continued until just 41 players remained, guaranteed at least $15,430 on Day 3. In the lead was Shant Marashlian, who bagged 2,785,000 chips, with Anthony Cicero and Mark Tarich also topping the two-million mark. Closer to the one million average stack are bracelet-winners Sam Soverel, Ivan Deyra and Corey Thompson, while other notables in the field include Poker Hall of Fame inductees Brian Rast and Erik Seidel.
Furth dominates $1,500 PLO Hi-Lo Day 2
Caleb Furth convincingly topped the chip counts on Day 2 in the $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better, holding over a fifth of the total chips in play with two tables left. Between Furth and his first bracelet lie 13 of split-pot poker’s top players, including bracelet-holders Tom Koral, Mike Holtz, Sean Troha and Jason Daly, Andreas Frohli, Christian Harder and his nearest-stacked rivals Andrew Paterson and Walter Chambers.
Daniel Lowery, meanwhile, is still right in the middle of the pack, having brought the chip lead into Day 2. Lowery has more WSOP-C rings than fingers, winning his 15th earlier this year to tie for second with Maurice Hawkins and Josh Reichard behind Ari Engel. What looks nice with rings? Bracelets.
Slider-free betting
Though Limit Hold’em takes a while to get the large denomination chips flying (what with the 60K starting stack, gradually extending level durations and 300/500 starting blinds), by the end of Day 1 in the $10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship, two-time bracelet-winner Juha Helppi had built a stack of 254,000.
Also chipped up going into Day 2 are Max Hoffman, Michael Lang, and bracelet-holders Michael Moncek, Andrew Kelsall and Chad Eveslage. Like many of the Championship events, Event #19 extends late registration through the first level of Day 2, so the total number of entrants and prize pool are yet to be confirmed; there are currently 64/104 players remaining.
Photo of the day
Hand of the day
A wise man (our own Matt Hansen) once said, “Pot-limit 2-7 Triple Draw is a psycho game only played by psycho people.” While this may have been overly harsh, the action in a 2-7 hand (in the $10k Dealer’s Choice Championship, no less) does leave some questions floating in one’s mind, such as, 'Does blind betting happen a lot at the WSOP?' and, 'Surely these multi-game wizards can count to three?'
Michael Martinelli had 3-bet David Bach’s raise, drawing one. Without peeking at the card, he bet the pot. And moved all-in after the second draw of one (again with his new card still a mystery). It wasn’t a mystery for long: he accidentally showed down his hand thinking there had been three draws already. It was an eight low to Bach’s five smooth, but with the final card popping out a seven for Martinelli and a jack for Bach, he jumped ahead for a double up. Martinelli is now nearly tied for the chip lead three-handed.
Tweet of the day
Video of the day
Don't @&*% with Shaun Deeb.
The day in numbers
$3,331,328
The prize pool for Event #17: $800 DeepStack
97
The percentage to win that flopped flush on the bubble had against the pair of sevens
60
Minutes after 1pm local time players have on Day 2 to register for the $10K Limit Hold'em Championship
Results
Event #12: $1,500 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Simeon Spasov | $439,815 |
| 2 | John Henry Gordon | $293,218 |
| 3 | Steve Yea | $210,645 |
| 4 | Chih Fan | $152,995 |
| 5 | Mark Dube | $112,362 |
| 6 | Daniel Palau | $83,452 |
| 7 | Joseph Brumpacheco | $62,687 |
| 8 | Anthony Marquez | $47,633 |
| 9 | Francisco Vazquez | $47,633 |
Ongoing events
Event #13: $10,000 Dealer’s Choice Championship
| Place | Player | Prize/Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Robert Mizrachi | 3,620,000 |
| 2 | Michael Martinelli | 3,290,000 |
| 3 | Ryutaro Suzuki | 1,555,000 |
| 4 | Ben Lamb | $99,885 |
| 5 | David Back | $71,476 |
| 6 | Richard Bai | $52,985 |
| 7 | George Alexander | $40,743 |
| 8 | Venkata Tayi | $32,543 |
| 9 | Max Kruse | $32,543 |
Event #15: $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better (8-Handed)
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Caleb Furth | 7,450,000 |
| 2 | Andrew Paterson | 3,980,000 |
| 3 | Walter Chambers | 3,870,000 |
| 4 | Andreas Frohli | 2,815,000 |
| 5 | Jonathan Lewis | 2,435,000 |
| 6 | Daniel Lowery | 1,915,000 |
| 7 | Tom Koral | 1,640,000 |
| 8 | Mike Holtz | 1,420,000 |
| 9 | Michael Machugh | 1,408,000 |
Event #16: $5,000 8-Handed NLHE
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shant Marashlian | 2,785,000 |
| 2 | Anthony Cicero | 2,275,000 |
| 3 | Mark Tarich | 2,255,000 |
| 4 | Nate Silver | 1,885,000 |
| Notables | ||
| 24 | Brian Rast | 650,000 |
| 36 | Alexandre Reard | 430,000 |
| 39 | Ian Matakis | 345,000 |
| 40 | Erik Seidel | 225,000 |
Event #17: $800 NLHE DeepStack
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | James Calderado | 2,440,000 |
| 2 | Min Zhang | 2,075,000 |
| 3 | Matthew Laslo | 1,865,000 |
| 4 | Lei Yu | 1,750,000 |
| Notables | ||
| 82 | Shaun Deeb | 770,000 |
| 141 | Philip Hui | 535,000 |
| 154 | Shawn Buchanan | 495,000 |
| 238 | Ryan Leng | 300,000 |
Event #18: $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha (8-Handed)
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mike Dentale | 1,230,000 |
| 2 | Daniel Zack | 953,000 |
| 3 | Andreas Zampas | 833,000 |
| 4 | Xiaoxiao Song | 635,000 |
| Notables | ||
| 5 | Chino Rheem | 624,000 |
| 13 | Erick Lindgren | 509,000 |
| 33 | Scott Ball | 322,000 |
| 49 | Phil Ivey | 278,000 |
Event #19: $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Juha Helppi | 254,000 |
| 2 | Max Hoffman | 237,000 |
| 3 | Mike Lang | 218,000 |
| 4 | Anthony Marsico | 216,000 |
| Notables | ||
| 7 | Michael Moncek | 179,000 |
| 8 | Chad Eveslage | 176,500 |
| 23 | Maria Ho | 118,500 |
| 24 | Josh Arieh | 116,000 |
| 38 | Calvin Anderson | 91,500 |
| 43 | Patrick Leonard | 76,000 |
| 51 | Adam Friedman | 24,000 |
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: Event #12: $1,500 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em - Simeon Spasov (Bulgaria)
Event #14: $1,000 Super Turbo Bounty No Limit Hold'em - Thibault Perissat (France)
Coming up on Day #10
The $10K Dealer's Choice will crown its champion, but that only takes up a third of one table. The rest of the tournament arena will likely be full to bursting with Event #20: $300 Gladiators of Poker. This No-Limit Hold'em event, one of the most accessible in terms of buy-in of the Series, is undoubtedly going to be a monster of an event, with four starting flights and the ability to re-enter twice per flight.
A rather more compact field is expected in the $25,000 6-Handed High Roller, now that the elite players have had a chance to warm up in a few more events before the second $25K of the Series (Darius Samual having won the Heads-Up). Last year Alexandre Vuilleumier saw off 206 other players to claim the $1,215,864 top prize. Any big names not still cruising through Day 2 of the $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship or $1,500 PLO may well filter through to that short-handed, high-action game, bound to be one of the toughest of the year.
The PLO Hi-Lo 8 or Better will play to a conclusion, with Caleb Furth currently leading the last two tables, while the $5,000 8-Handed NLHE is likely (though not nailed on) to do the same (there are 41 players remaining, all guaranteed at least $15,430).
Day #9 gallery
