WSOP Updates – Event #42, $1,500 PLO H/L — Dario Alioto, Billy Stern on Top
Event #42, $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha High/Low Split, began a bit later than its scheduled 5pm start time, due to the huge attendance in the earlier $1,000 Seniors event. Once play got underway, however, the furious action inside the Poker Pavilion narrowed the 687-player field to 98 in less than eight hours of frantic play.
Among the notable players contending for the bracelet, Corum watch and $227,454 first prize money were Johnny Chan, Tony G, Mike Sexton, Terrence Chan, John 'Sir Scoopalot Guth, Brett 'Gank' Jungblut and Marcel Luske. Johnny Chan, Sexton and Tony G signed up for the event after busting out of Day Two of the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event playing in the Amazon Room.
By the time Day One ended, Dario Alito would sat in the lead with 75,000. Chad Brown, Luske, William Chen and Aaron Kanter would be in the hunt, with David 'Devilfish' Ulliott, Jeff Madsen and Chau Giang also finishing Day One with solid chip stacks.
$5,000 Limit Omaha High/Low bracelet winner Guth was an early elimination, as were Minh Ly, David Benyamine and Layne Flack. The game's action-packed nature, coupled with the low starting stacks for the cheaper events, led many pros to take a "go big or go home" approach in the early going.
A different problem created by the rapid-fire eliminations was the temperature in the Poker Pavilion. Often uncomfortably warm (and dubbed the 'Poker Sauna' by some players and writers), the Poker Pavilion is a large tent set up specifically for the World Series outside the Rio, the fast pace of exit left the area with two few bodies for the air-conditioning being pumped in. The temperature dropped so fast that Chad Brown asked, tongue in cheek, if the gift shop sold WSOP-branded gloves.
As more and more players went to the rail, marquee tables were created by the random redraw of seats. One such table of champions including Joe Hachem, Brown, John Esposito and Scott Clements got even tougher when former Main Event Champion Berry Johnston was moved to the seat that Scott Clements vacated. Johnston didn't last long in the seat of doom, however; he was eliminated only fifteen minutes after his table change.
Hachem and Eric 'Rizen' Lynch were eliminated near the end of Day One. With so many players eliminated in one day of play, this event is scheduled to play to completion today, starting at 3pm. Notable players returning for Day Two include Brett Jungblut, Chau Giang, Marcel Luske, Bill Chen, Tony G, Chad Brown and Mike Sexton. Here are the top ten chip counts for Day Two:
Dario Alioto 62,700
Billy Stern 61,100
Gebrehiwet Goitorn 57,600
David Bach 57,500
Larry Fallek 46,400
Lance Allred 45,800
Dustin Cole 43,600
James Tollet 43,500
Gene Timberlake 42,100
Russell Salzer 38,000
Join PokerNews.com's 'Live Reporting' of Event #42, Pot Limit Omaha High/Low Split, when action resumes today at 3pm PDT.
