There are some names that longtime poker fans will always remember, players who were ever-present during the poker boom and made their mark on the game in one way or another. Some of them are back at the tables this year, like David Benyamine, and some never left, like Erik Seidel.
Josh Arieh was one of them. He took his breaks through the years to focus on family, but he never lost his love for the game. And a decade and a half after his last World Serie of Poker bracelet win, he broke out of that dry spell with a win on Day 23 of the WSOP.
His emotion, his passion for poker…all of it reminds us of what we love about it.
Event 39: $1,500 PLO
After taking the chip lead on Day 1, Josh Arieh took it into Day 2 and didn’t let go. He faced very tough competition, especially up against Tommy Le, the only other previous bracelet winner in the final five. But Arieh took the lead into heads-up and never relented. Afterward, he told PokerNews:
“I was just texting my girls. It’s like the whole reason why I work, and it’s tough being out here for so long. I actually just came back, had some good times with them. But I was just thinking about my girls and life, and thinking about everything, and just really f**king excited.”
Day 3 of this tournament took eight hours to play from 16 players down to just five. Max Pescatori exited in 14th place for $20,272, denied a fifth WSOP bracelet. Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier busted in tenth for $26,171, Benny Glaser exited in ninth place, unable to secure a fourth bracelet. David Benyamine busted in eighth place, followed by Jake Schwartz and Chris Vitch, to set a table of five for today.
Event 40: Day 3 of 4
$10K buy-in
HORSE Championship
Total entries:
149
Registration still open?
no
Total prize pool:
$1,389,425
Players paid:
23
Minimum payout:
$16,218
Winner payout:
$361,124
Chip leader:
Kevin Gerhart
Kevin Gerhart = 2.72M chips
Players remaining:
5
Eddie Blumenthal = 2.4M chips
Restart:
2pm Saturday
Marco Johnson = 1.84M chips
Bryce Yockey = 1.445M chips
Brandon Shack-Harris = 540K chips
Event 41: $2,500 NLHE Freezeout
A long second day of No Limit Hold’em took this field down to just eight players. Near the end of the day, original chipleader Dominykas Mikolaitis busted in 13th place for $18,768. And after the ninth-place exit of Christopher Basile, play stopped with eight remaining, only one – Sung Joo Hyun – of whom is a previous bracelet winner.
Event 41: Day 2 of 3
$2,500 buy-in
NLHE Freezeout
Total entries:
896
Registration still open?
no
Total prize pool:
$1,993,600
Players paid:
135
Minimum payout:
$4,009
Winner payout:
$364,589
Chip leader:
Carlos Chang
Carlos Chang = 8.14M chips
Players remaining:
8
Brady Osterman = 7.69M chips
Restart:
12pm Saturday
Arthur Conan = 4.8M chips
Quang Ngo = 4.3M chips
Gerald Cunniff = 2M chips
Sung Joo Hyun = 1.815M chips
Adrien Delmas = 1.4M chips
Sergi Reixach = 1.19M chips
Event 42: $1,500 Razz
The money bubble burst a bit into Day 2, and then players like David “Bakes” Baker and Anthony Zinno led the way to the payout window. Robert Campbell and Brock Parker headed there as well. Later in the evening, Ryan Riess and Julien Martini busted, Frank Kassela followed, and Perry Friedman exited in 18th place. After Joe Paz-Gutierrez departed in ninth place with $6,801, the final eight bagged their chips. Several bracelet winners remain, as Matt Grapenthien goes for his second, Yuri Dzivielevski his third, Bradley Ruben his third, and David “ODB” Baker plays for his third.
Event 42: Day 2 of 3
$1,500 buy-in
Razz
Total entries:
311
Registration still open?
no
Total prize pool:
$563,370
Players paid:
47
Minimum payout:
$2,431
Winner payout:
$99,188
Chip leader:
Charles Sinn
Charles Sinn = 2,345,000 chips
Players remaining:
8
Brett Feldman = 1,230,000 chips
Restart:
2pm Saturday
Matt Grapenthien = 1,215,000 chips
Yuri Dzivielevski = 1,015,000 chips
Alex Livingston = 860K chips
Bradley Ruben = 855K chips
David "ODB" Baker = 180K chips
Hassan Kamoei = 80K chips
Event 43: $1K NLHE Double Stack
The first of two starting days drew nearly 2K entries but whittled the field down to little more than 500 players by the end of the night. Today brings a new crowd to the tables, and all survivors will join together on Sunday to play down toward the money.
Event 43: Day 1A of 5
$1K buy-in
NLHE Double Stack (1RE)
Total entries:
1,937
Registration still open?
yes
Total prize pool:
TBD
Players paid:
TBD
Minimum payout:
TBD
Winner payout:
TBD
Chip leader:
Alexander Farahi
Players remaining:
506
Day 1B start:
11am Saturday
Event 44: $3K LHE
A solid field of Limit Hold’em players took their seats on Friday to play for gold, but only 78 of them made it through the pro-heavy field. Dozens return today to play toward the money. After the top 25 secure payouts, they will go for their seats at the final table
Event 44: Day 1 of 3
$3K buy-in
LHE 6-Handed
Total entries:
162
Registration still open?
no
Total prize pool:
$432,540
Players paid:
25
Minimum payout:
$4,830
Winner payout:
$109,692
Chip leader:
Ray Henson
Players remaining:
78
Restart:
2pm Saturday
Highlight of the Day
At this point in the WSOP, after three weeks of action have already passed, it can be easy to forget that some players are hitting the Rio to play in the WSOP for the first time this year. And many of them feel a certain way about walking into those ballrooms. For example, Tim Reilly is a seasoned pro but still gets excited about his first event of the WSOP season.
https://twitter.com/TimReillyPoker/status/1451937790615191556?s=20
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