WSOP What to Watch For: 55 Left in $50K; Mercier, Duhamel, Deeb Lead

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Jun 24, 2014 5 min read

The fifth week of the 2014 World Series of Poker begins today, with five bracelet events in action highlighted by the continuation of the Event #46: $50,000 Poker Players Championship and the conclusions of both Event No. 44: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em and Event #45: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em.

Event #44: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em

After three days culminating with six hours’ worth of heads-up play last night, Jordan Morgan and Evan McNiff will be returning to nearly even stacks to complete Event #44 this afternoon, the last two players remaining from the starting field of 1,914.

The pair have already battled for 197 hands, with Morgan starting heads-up play with a big lead, then McNiff chipping back to seize the advantage, then Morgan nudging in front again before the pair decided to call it quits late last night. When they start back today, Morgan will have 4,445,000 (about 37 big blinds) while McNiff comes back to 4,170,000 (just under 35 big blinds).

This marks McNiff’s first time making the money this summer and best WSOP finish among 10 cashes after never getting further than 25th in an event. It’s Morgan’s first cash of the 2014 WSOP, too, and in fact Event #44 was the first event he entered this year:

As Morgan notes, he’s been playing at the WSOP for a decade now, with more than 20 previous cashes including two final tables at which he finished seventh at both.

Check in at 1 p.m. PDT to see which of these two earns his first WSOP bracelet and the $478,102 first prize when the Event #44 live updates begin again.

Event #45: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em

A bracelet will be won today as well in Event #45: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em where just 11 players are left from the 1,814 who began. Angela Prada-Moed (961,000) will begin with the chip lead today, followed by Loren Klein (804,000) and Ivan Saul (613,000) atop the counts.

The Colombian Prada-Moed has experienced WSOP success before, final-tabling the Ladies event two years ago where she finished fourth for a $47,949 cash. Klein also has done well at the WSOP where he’s collected more than 15 cashes and has made three final tables before, including finishing eighth in this year’s Event #3: $1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha.

Will Givens (fourth, 546,000) is also looking to make a second final table of the summer, having finished fourth in Event #33: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em. Kim Ng (seventh, 452,000) will be looking along with Prada-Moed to become the second woman to win a bracelet this summer along with Vanessa Selbst. Duy Ho (eighth, 446,000) is attempting to make his second career final table after finishing fifth in a $1,500 NLHE re-entry event two years ago. And Paul Sokoloff (11th, 210,000) hopes to add a bracelet to go along with his WSOP Circuit ring.

Play picks up at 1 p.m. in this one as well, so start refreshing the Event #45 live updates then to see who of the final 11 wins his or her first WSOP bracelet and the $306,634 up top.

Event #46: $50,000 Poker Players Championship

Just 55 are left in the $50K Poker Players Championship from the 102 who entered, the turnout having dipped from the 132 who played last year after several big names chose to skip it this time around.

Jason Mercier (802,600) enjoys the chip lead heading into Day 3, with Jonathan Duhamel (783,000) and Shaun Deeb (724,400) not far behind. Duhamel is trying to get back to the $50K PPC final table for a second straight year after finishing eighth in the event a year ago. Indeed, there are quite a few players still left in the field who have made it to the final table of this event before.

The “$50K” has been around since 2006 at the WSOP, starting out as a H.O.R.S.E. event then adopting its current 8-game mixed game format in 2010 when it became known as the “Poker Players Championship.” In fact, nearly a third of the 55 players still alive in Event #46 are trying to get back to a $50K final table, including one former champion in David Bach who won the last H.O.R.S.E. version of the tournament in 2009.

Here’s a list of the 18 players left in the field who have made $50K final tables before, arranged by their current chip status.

Also still alive with an average stack is Melissa Burr (27th, 231,200) who hopes to become the first woman ever to cash in the $50K event. The top 14 finishers will make the money and divide the huge $4,896,000 prize pool, with $1,517,767 of it going to the winner along with the bracelet and the David “Chip” Reese Memorial Trophy, so named after the winner of the very first $50K event back in 2006.

Play resumes at 2 p.m. local time in this one, which is when the Event #46 live updates will start back up as well.

Event #47: $1,500 Ante Only No-Limit Hold’em

There are 80 players left in Event #47: $1,500 Ante Only No-Limit Hold’em, the survivors from a big field of 714 who entered yesterday. Ryan D’Angelo returns to the chip lead with a stack of 120,400, with Event #43: $1,500 Limit Hold’em winner Dan Kelly (fourth, 98,400), Manig Loeser (seventh, 79,000), Max Silver (11th, 73,700), Jeff Garza (13th, 66,900), and Kyle Bowker (15th, 62,000) also among those bagging above average chips.

They’ve not quite reached the cash as only the top 72 spots pay in Event #47, meaning the bursting of the bubble will be an early highlight of action today. There’s a $963,900 prize pool up for grabs, as well as an inviting first prize of $212,093 awaiting the eventual winner.

They start anteing up and bringing in again at 1 p.m. Vegas time today, so check the Event #47 live updates starting then.

Event #48: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Low

Finally, one new event gets started today with Event #48: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Low kicking off. Last year this one attracted a big field of 936, with Jarred Graham being the one to walk away with all the chips, the bracelet, and a $255,942 first prize.

This will be the first tournament in action today with a 12 noon start, which is when you can start your day of page-refreshing with the Event #48 live updates.

Here again is the full schedule of WSOP action for Tuesday (all times PDT):

• 12:00 p.m. — Event #48: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Low (Day 1 of 3)
• 1:00 p.m. — Event #44: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em (Day 4 of 4)
• 1:00 p.m. — Event #45: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em (Day 3 of 3)
• 1:00 p.m. — Event #47: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Ante Only (Day 2 of 3)
• 2:00 p.m. — Event #46: $50,000 Poker Players Championship (Day 3 of 5)

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• Tags WSOP Jordan Morgan Even McNiff Angela Prada-Moed Jason Mercier Jonathan Duhamel Shaun Deeb Ryan D'Angelo Dan Kelly Jarred Graham
• Related Tournaments World Series of Poker
• Related Players Shaun DeebJason MercierDan KellyJordan MorganJonathan DuhamelJarred Graham