The first day of November brought the 33rd day of the 2021 World Series of Poker to the Rio in Las Vegas. It was a very busy day, as the Colossus and Lowball Triple Draw played to their conclusions and numerous other tournaments moved forward.
Players put their Halloween costumes away and got busy at the tables, more focused and knowing that the Main Event starts this week. Further, the WSOP is more than half over, and it’s time to buckle down and get to work.
Here’s what they did.
Event 55: $400 NLHE Colossus
The Colossus started with nearly 9400 players and a $3.1M prize pool. Fewer than 50 players returned for the final day of play, and many of them exited quickly. Halfway through, three-time bracelet winner Barbara Enright busted in 25th place for $10,855, and previous 2021 bracelet winner Carlos Chang exited in 18th place for $13,315. As it played on through the final table, Zyrin didn’t have an easy time and didn’t start heads-up play well against Michael Lee’s aggression. But Zyrin stayed focused and took it down to collect his second career bracelet. He told PokerNews, mostly through a translator:
“The first one was more luck, but this one was won on skill. I had to defeat such a large field. Really strange feeling when you win against more than 9,000 people. … I want to thank my friends, my girlfriend. I want to say hello to my parents, sister, brother, dog, and everyone back home.”
When it’s a championship-level event and only 90 players buy in, the tournament is clearly a very tough one. The field was tough and took two days of play to whittle the field down to just eight survivors. Day 3 began with some short stacks early and quickly. And it all came down to the two chipleaders – Brian Yoon and Danny Wong – for heads-up. Yoon took the lead into the final duel and pulled it off to win his fourth career gold. He spoke to PokerNews afterward:
“This is awesome because I would say right now deuce-to-seven is my favorite game. I’ve been working on this game for several years. I studied, and I learned the game. … It feels good to tack on another one, but I don’t think about my legacy. I am not trying to grind out poker for the next 40 years. I’ll be around and playing in the Main Event for a while, but I’m not bracelet hunting or trying to catch Phil Hellmuth’s record. It just feels good to get into elite company.”
From 500 players over age 60 who returned to this event on Monday, only 65 of them bagged chips at the end of the night. The top 283 made the money, and the field thinned quickly after that. Of the remaining players, none seem to have won a bracelet before, so someone will win their first on Tuesday.
Event 58: Day 2 of 3
$1K buy-in
Super Seniors NLHE (1RE)
Total entries:
1,893
Registration still open?
no
Total prize pool:
$1,684,770
Players paid:
234
Minimum payout:
$1,605
Winner payout:
$255,623
Chip leader:
David Slaughter
Players remaining:
65
Restart:
10am Tuesday
Event 59: $1K NLHE Tag Team
This teams event proved – again – to be a fun tournament. In addition to the usual competitiveness, the team dynamic adds another dimension to strategy and atmosphere. Well-known teams like Jeff Platt and Brent Hanks busted in 27th place on Day 2, and Melanie Weisner and Xuan Liu hit the rail in 18th place for $3,836. Only ten teams made it to the final day.
A slow structure and a slow start brought finally closed registration on Day 2 of this event with just a total of 63 players. That wasn’t far below the 74 entries in the 2019 PPC, but this event hasn’t actually grown in years. Regardless, the prestige remains the same.
Players needed to make it to Day 3 for any hope of getting to the final 10 pay spots. Players like Michael Mizrachi and Phil Hellmuth just didn’t make it through Day 2. Of the 35 players still in action, Paul Volpe leads, but Dan Cates isn’t far behind. Adam Friedman, Alex Livingston, and Chris Vitch rounded out the top five, giving just an example of the start-studded field returning for Day 3 today.
Event 60: Day 2 of 5
$50K buy-in
Poker Players Championship 6-Handed
Total entries:
63
Registration still open?
no
Total prize pool:
$3,016,125
Players paid:
10
Minimum payout:
$82,623
Winner payout:
$954,020
Chip leader:
Paul Volpe
Players remaining:
35
Restart:
2pm Tuesday
Event 61: $600 NLHE Deepstack
Another fast-paced deepstacked tournament on the schedule brought nearly 4K entries to the prize pool, which topped off at just shy of $2M. With several hundred players still in, it may be a bit of a grind on Day 2 to get close to the final table.
Event 61: Day 1 of 3
$600 buy-in
NLHE Deepstack Championship (1RE)
Total entries:
3,916
Registration still open?
no
Total prize pool:
$1,997,160
Players paid:
588
Minimum payout:
$960
Winner payout:
$252,491
Chip leader:
Robert Hankins
Players remaining:
448
Restart:
12pm Tuesday
Event 62: $1,500 PLO Hi-Lo 8-or-Better
This isn’t just any Omaha game, it’s PLO with highs and lows. From hundreds of starters, little more than 100 made it to Day 2. Big names still remain, though, with Nathan Gamble eighth in chips, and others like Dustin Dirksen not far behind. Ari Engel is still in the top 25, as is Mike Matusow.
Comments