Day 52 of the 2021 World Series of Poker was a day of high-stakes poker. Two of the tournaments playing out were dubbed High Roller events. One required a $50K buy-in (a regular High Roller) and the other a $250K buy-in (a Super High Roller). Both of those tournaments played down to winners late on Saturday night, and both crowned winners who were no strangers to WSOP gold bracelets.
And another $50K buy-in High Roller just got underway.
At other tables, though, there were players with normal, everyday bankrolls seeking a WSOP gold bracelet. It was one of the very last opportunities to grab one this year for a low buy-in. In fact, it was the last $1,500 buy-in of the 2021 WSOP in Las Vegas.
Just a few days remain in this series, though the WSOP Europe is just getting underway in the Czech Republic. And it’s doing so with stellar numbers.
Event 82: $250K NLHE Super High Roller
The third day of this massive buy-in tournament brought only five players back to the table. It made sense because there were only five places to be paid from the small field. Adrian Mateos held a massive lead going into the action, and the shorter stacks battled for other chips. Mateos rocketed past 30M in chips, but Ben Heath doubled through him to take over briefly. Mateos took out Kincaid in third and took a slight lead into heads-up play. It didn’t take long for Heath to shove with 5-3 on a 7-6-5-Q-2 board, but Mateos had Q-T for the win. Earning his fourth WSOP bracelet, the Spaniard told PokerNews:
“It means a lot. I have played some $100K tournaments and even the $1M buy-in, and I never won a big buy-in like this. So, this was something I’ve had in mind, to win one of these. … The most important thing for me is feeling that I’m among the top tournament players and that I can compete with the best of the best.”
The first of the two starting days recorded 802 entries, 121 paid spots, and 25 survivors. The second flight on Saturday brought in 1,101 entries, which was enough to pay 166 of them. Only 38 of them made it through, but many of them picked up at least $2,400 for their work.
That should set the total prize pool, though PokerNews shows it at $1,469,835, which seems low considering they reported $1,070,670 in the prize pool after Day 1A alone. The WSOP should announce the final number today as the field plays down to a winner on Sunday.
Event 83: Day 1B of 3
$1,500 buy-in
NLHE Closer (1RE/flight)
Total entries:
1,903
(Day 1A = 802 / Day 1B = 1,101)
Registration still open?
no
Total prize pool:
TBD
Day 1 min-cash:
$2,400
Paid players:
287
(Day 1A = 121 / Day 1B = 166)
Winner payout:
TBD
Chip leader:
Alex Kulev
Players remaining:
63
(Day 1A = 25 / Day 1B = 38)
Day 2 restart:
12pm Sunday
Event 84: $50K PLO High Roller
Day 2 brought 33 players back to the tables on Saturday to play down to a final table, though they ended up playing it all the way through. There were only 13 payouts available, and Gavin Cochrane picked up the first one. Henrik Hecklen, Shaun Deeb, and Scott Seiver followed.
When nine players convened at one final table, Jeremy Ausmus was on a short stack, and after tangling with chipleader Alexander Petersen, he had only 400K chips left. Josh Arieh busted the other short stack, Veselin Karakitukov, and Daniel Negreanu took out Ben Lamb. Meanwhile, Ausmus chipped up and doubled up to stay in play.
Petersen took out Josh Arieh. Hellmuth climbed as he doubled through Petersen. And after the dinner break, Ausmus doubled through Negreanu. The latter busted Jared Bleznick, while Laszlo Bujtas doubled through Hellmuth, and Petersen doubled through Bujtas. Hellmuth busted Bujtas a bit later.
Ausmus struggled but doubled through Negreanu once to stay in and then again to take the chip lead. Negreanu did eliminate Petersen and then double back through Ausmus for the lead. All three finalists battled for hours, exchanging the lead and handling serious swings. Eventually, in the wee hours of the morning, Hellmuth ousted Negreanu in third place.
Ausmus took the lead into heads-up play, though, and it took only minutes for Hellmuth to push all-in with Kh-9h-7c-6d on a 7d-9c-6s flop. Ausmus called with Ad-8h-5h-2h, with his straight beating Hellmuth’s two pair. The next two cards changed nothing, as Ausmus claimed his third career bracelet and second of this series. He chatted with PokerNews afterward:
“It feels really good. My first bracelet was in Europe, outside of Paris, so until this year, I had never won a bracelet here at the Rio. I’d had a lot of deep runs, so it’s cool to take a couple down here. … “It was fun playing with those guys, like the old-school, iconic guys. I used to watch them on TV, you know, fifteen years ago, seventeen years ago, before I moved to Vegas and things like that. So, it’s cool.”
Playing faster than most high rollers, Event 85 started with 101 entries – some reentries – and ended its first day with just 35 players left standing. The field consists of many well-known players. In the top ten alone, Darren Elias, Michael Addamo, Mikita Badziakouski, Dan Smith, Shaun Deeb, and Stephen Chidwick hold solid stacks. Jason Koon leads them all, though, with Ole Schemion in a distant second.
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