WSOP Updates – Event 16, $2,500 H.O.R.S.E. – Eslami Leads 20-Player Pack
Due to the size of the field and the constraints of a fixed-limit format, Event #16, $2,500 H.O.R.S.E., entered play unlikely to be able to play down to the final nine. 207 of the original 382 entrants still remained, and indeed, the field was narrowed only to 20 before play was halted for the night.
Within the first couple of hours, however, there were a few noteworthy eliminations, including Dutch Boyd and Mike Matusow, followed shortly by Scotty Nguyen and Jeff Madsen. Other players moved forward; Daniel Negreanu was able to get his chip stack up to 38K through aggressive action early and California poker pro Shirley Rosario also moved up before fading later in the day. Finally, Cyndy Violette rode the roller coaster all day, coming back from the edge several times to make it into the money.
An hour before dinner, 90 players remained and it was after midnight that the 40-player money bubble burst, with Jason Newitt the unfortunate bubble boy.
The pace picked up after that, with David Grey (40th) and Eugene Todd (39th) out soon after, earning $5,887. Chris Bjorin went on a run that leaves him well-positioned for day Three, but others exited: Toto Leonidas (35th), David Williams (31st) and Violette (25th).
Play finally ended at 4am, after the last Hold 'Em segment saw only three players depart. The final 20 players will return on Monday, with Ali Eslami the overnight leader and John Gale and 2007 bracelet winner Tom Schneider also in the top ten. Players also still in the hunt include Michael DeMichele, Darrell Dicken, Robert Mizrachi and John Huang.
The leaders at the start of Day Three:
PLAYERS — CHIPS
Ali Eslami 200,000
James Richburg 166,000
Harry Kazazian 156,000
Chris Bjorin 152,000
Walter Browne 119,500
John Gale 118,000
Stephen Graboski 112,500
Thayer Rasmussen 111,000
Matt Russell 103,000
Tom Schneider 89,500
Visit PokerNews.com's "Live Reporting of Event #16, $2,500 H.O.R.S.E., for all of the final day's action.
