It’s happening. Day 2 brought players back to the Rio Convention Center in Las Vegas, some for their first Day 2 of the live series this year. Others settled in for what they hoped would be long days playing No Limit Hold’em or Omaha Hi-Lo.
Two players won bracelets, with Jeremy Ausmus claiming his second lifetime gold and Caesars dealer Jeremy Barnett picking up his first.
Let’s see what happened.
Event 1: $500 Casino Employees
This was the first event to begin but the second to finish on Day 2. When it was done, Caesars Palace dealer and floor person Jimmy Barnett posed with his first bracelet. The 36-year-old told PokerNews:
“My father passed a handful of years ago from cancer. We would come out here and play all the time. My grandma just passed away three weeks ago. I posted on Facebook I was going to win a tournament for her, and to win a WSOP tournament, it’s special. … I could have lost this, and it would’ve hurt, obviously, but I get to play a game for fun. I get to work at Caesars where I would stay growing up. I really am living the dream. I’m one of the luckiest people you’ll know because I have great friends, family, and doing something I love. It’s work, but it’s not; it’s awesome. To win this is just icing on the cake.”
A lot happened on the second day of this event. Registration closed, a lot of players wrote off the first $25K buy-in of the series, and Yuval Bronshtein bubbled. Cary Katz was the first to make the money in this event. Roland Israelashvili and Daniel Negreanu followed him to the payout cage. And that left a final table that includes many recognizable faces and names.
Most notable of them is Phil Hellmuth, who is already in a position to pick up his 16th career WSOP win.
https://twitter.com/phil_hellmuth/status/1444239370765012995?s=20
Event 2: Day 2 of 3
$25K buy-in
HORSE (1 RE)
Start: 30 Sept
Total entries:
78
Registration still open?
no
Total prize pool:
$1,842,750.00
Players paid:
12
Minimum payout:
$42,162.00
Winner payout:
$552,182.00
Chip leader:
Benny Glaser
Benny Glaser
2.59M chips
Players remaining:
9
Jesse Klein
1.8M chips
Restart:
2pm Saturday
Chad Eveslage
1.695M chips
David Benyamine
1.68M chips
Phil Hellmuth
1.64M chips
Philip Sternheimer
865K chips
Ben Yu
830K chips
Matt Glantz
410K chips
DJ Buckley
160K chips
As mentioned yesterday, WSOP commentator Norman Chad played for the Hope for Depression Research Foundation. He did that via 139 backers, and though he didn’t make the money, he raised $12,500 for the cause.
https://twitter.com/NormanChad/status/1444109314017267713?s=20
Event 3: $1K Covid-19 Relief Charity
This was the third event to start on the first day of the 2021 WSOP but the first to finish. That made Jeremy Ausmus the first bracelet winner of this series. He picked up his second lifetime bracelet – first one came in 2013 – by overcoming a 3-to-1 chip deficit. He told PokerGO News:
“I couldn’t have started the summer any better. It’s not the summer anymore, but yeah. … It’s good to be back. … It’s crazy; it’s been almost two and a half years since the World Series. I think everyone is excited, and it shows by the amount of high rollers I saw in this $1K. People are ready to play. Everyone wants to play the WSOP.”
This is the one that so many players were excited about. In 2019, it was the Big 50; this year, it is the Reunion, signifying the return of the WSOP after last year’s absence. This tournament also has a $5M guarantee on the prize pool.
That $500 Big 50 in 2019 is a comparable tournament, though it offered four starting days. That one delivered 6,095 entries on the first day, more than double the 2,649 of the first day of the Reunion. But considering the dynamics of this year, there are few complaints about the Day 1A turnout.
Event 4: Day 1A of 5
$500 buy-in
NLHE Reunion (1 RE/flight)
Start: 1 Oct
Total entries:
2649
Registration still open?
yes
Total prize pool:
TBD
Players paid:
TBD
Minimum payout:
TBD
Winner payout:
TBD
Chip leader:
Dave Alfa
Players remaining:
129
Day 1B start:
10am Saturday
Event 5: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo
This was the first regular buy-in for a non-hold’em event. The result was 607 entries, whereas the 2019 event brought in 853 entries. That shows almost a 29% decrease in participation.
Event 5: Day 1 of 3
$1,500 buy-in
Omaha Hi-Lo 8-or-Better
Start: 1 Oct
Total entries:
607
Registration still open?
no
Total prize pool:
$810,345.00
Players paid:
92
Minimum payout:
$2,400.00
Winner payout:
$163,252.00
Chip leader:
Christopher Stephen
Players remaining:
230
Restart:
2pm Saturday
And we’ll wrap it up with a fun video taken by Kenna James. He sat next to a man who made the money in a WSOP event for the very first time. The emotion shows how much the WSOP means to players and the joy that poker can bring.
https://twitter.com/WSOP/status/1444178055988084740?s=20
Comments