2007 WSOP Overview, June 25th — H.O.R.S.E. Herd Thinned, Cheung Captures Gold
Monday's play at the World Series of Poker saw Day Two action in the prestigious Event #39, $50,000 H.O.R.S.E., trim more than half the field away from the pack. 127 of the original 148 players were alive at day's start, with 52 surviving the action. Meanwhile, Robert Cheung claimed the bracelet in Event #38, $1,500 No Limit Hold 'Em, highlighting the rest of the day's play at the Rio.
In the H.O.R.S.E. event, Eli Elezra wasn't able to maintain his dominant Day One advantage, though he still finished the session high on the board. John Hanson leads this with two days' play in the books, having amassed 641,000 in chips, just ahead of Toto Leonidas at 621,000. Elezra is in third, ahead of Allen Cunningham, with Kenny Tran, Justin Bonomo, David Oppenheim, Mike Matusow, Phil Ivey and Amnon Filippi rounding out the top ten. Check out this table draw.
In the $1,500 NL finale, Cheung's win came over a final table including Chris Bjorin and Erica Schoenberg. The nine final-table qualifiers were the survivors of a massive 2,780-player field that began two days earlier. Cheung topped Richard Murnick for the title and the $673,628 payday after having eliminated Schoenberg in third place just one hand earlier. Bjorin finished sixth.
Meanwhile, poker author/writer Michael Craig made it to the final table of Event #40, $1,500 Mixed Hold 'Em. Craig comes to the final table (his first at the WSOP) with 317,000 in chips, in second place behind leader Christoph Niesert's 396,000. The final table here is tentatively scheduled for a 3pm PDT kickoff today.
Events #41 and #42 began on Monday. Event #41, $1,000 Seniors Hold 'Em, is one of the 'traditional' WSOP offerings, with 1,882 50-and-over players on hand at the start. This field played all the way down to 121 players by the end of the day's play, well inside the money bubble, with Terry Fueischer atop a leader board that also includes '72 Main Event winner 'Amarillo Slim' Preston in seventh.
Event #42, $1,500 Pot Limit Hold 'Em, drew the late-afternoon starting slot and the indoor/outdoor locale, beginning play in the Poker Pavilion. The 687 entrants played down to 98 by night's end, in easy sight of the 63-player money bubble when action resumes today. Dario Alioto and Billy Stern finished the night at the head of a relatively anonymous leader board, though several big names remain alive in the event.
One more tourney began play at noon today — Event #43, $2,000 Limit Hold 'Em. Play had just commenced as this overview was compiled, so check in at PokerNews.com's 'Live Reporting' blogs for the latest results.
