Shots were fired on the Las Vegas Strip on Sunday, and sadly not in a metaphorical sense. A street shooting outside the Bellagio (above) drew a huge police response, and while it did not directly affect goings-on inside the nearby World Series of Poker host properties of the Paris and Horseshoe casinos, anyone in the area is likely to have experienced some travel disruption at the very least, not to mention the potential trauma of brutal violence taking place so close to home.
Details are still emerging, but authorities have confirmed that the shooting did not take place inside the casino, and that homicide police are investigating.
One of the joys of poker is how easy it is to get lost in the game, focusing on nothing but the chips, the cards and the players as the only things to occupy your mind. Who hasn’t pulled the drapes to block out the rising sun in a home game, stubbornly trying to keep Saturday night alive in the face of an insistent Sunday morning?
But sometimes, try as we might, the outside world just can't be ignored. Our thoughts go out to anyone affected by the violence on Sunday night; we’re reminded once again how lucky we are to spend our time focused on something as fun as a card game.
COLOSSUS shapes up for final day
And what a game it is. Events outside lent proceedings some fresh perspective, which is all too easy to lose given what’s at stake in poker’s biggest showpiece series of the year.
Take the $500 COLOSSUS, for example, which will reward its winner with a return on investment of more than 1,000x. $542,540 is up top, and having started with a field of 16,301 they have played down to just 103 remaining. All 2,326 players who started yesterday’s Day 2 were in the money, with a min-cash worth $1,010, and Day 3 will for many be an exercise in laddering up.
Those still in the hunt include Matt Glantz (22nd, 9.1M), Ryan Leng (39th, 6.5M) and David Pham (70th, 4M). Carlos Caldas of Portugal started Day 2 with the chip lead, and he’ll keep it for Day 3 — which is scheduled to be the last day of play.
Can 103 boil down to 1 before bedtime, or will the COLOSSUS need an unscheduled final day? There’s only one way to find out, and it starts at 2pm.
Guagenti and Rheem play the long game
It happens; some WSOP events will overrun and someone’s final table flow will be interrupted by the need for everyone to just go to bed already. But then there are those events that you just know will play to the bitter end, often because those players left standing are the type of hardened pros who are used to playing all day, all night and then some.
Players, that is, like Nick Guagenti and Chino Rheem, who spent all Sunday playing down to two in the $10K Seven Card Stud Championship, then opted to draw the shades and keep their Sunday night going and to hell with Monday morning.
The result was a marathon that saw the two spend hours battling back and forth for the $295,008 top prize, but only one man could take it down and in the end it was Guagenti who booked the win, adding a third WSOP bracelet to his collection.
A win for longtime grinder Rheem would have been his first piece of WSOP wristwear, but for now he'll have to settle for a consolation prize worth $196,662.
Almost $2M up top in the High Roller
If you’re looking for bracelet winners, a good place to start would be the final two tables of the $25K High Roller, which is positively dripping with jewelry.
18 of 392 remain, with eyes on the prize of $1,949,044, and they include former WSOP winners Chin Wei Lim (2nd, 4.8M), Orpen Kisacikoglu (below, 4th, 4.5M), Byron Kaverman (5th, 4.5M), Joao Simao (9th, 3.4M), Joe McKeehen (12th, 3M), Jim Collopy (17th, 1.3M) and Brandon Wittmeyer (18th, 1M). Play will resume on Monday with blinds at 40K/80K/80K.
Plenty of other bracelet winners failed to make the final day, of course, including many who went out close to the bubble such as Seth Davies, Jeremy Ausmus and Georgios Sotiropoulos.
Luckily, the $50K NLH will be getting started later today, so expect the high rollers to keep on rolling.
