WSOP What to Watch For: Galfond Goes for Gold; Hellmuth Top 10 in $10K H.O.R.S.E.

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Jun 09, 2014 5 min read

After yesterday’s bracelet bonanza with three titles claimed among seven events in action, Monday’s five-event schedule at the 2014 World Series of Poker might seem relatively quiet. But the excitement will surely ramp up quickly with two more events scheduled to conclude, the frenzied $1K “turbo” event getting started, and the big-name-heavy $10K H.O.R.S.E. all likely to create a lot of drama as the second week of the 2014 WSOP draws to a close.

Here’s a rundown of what to watch for when following today’s coverage on PokerNews:

Event #19: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em

Just 12 remain from a starting field of 2,086 in Event #19: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em, led by Hiren Patel who has a healthy chip lead over nearest challengers Mustapha Kanit and Ted Gillis.

Patel already has a dozen World Series of Poker cashes and more than a quarter million dollars’ worth of earnings over the last five years of playing at the WSOP.

Also still in the hunt for the $514,027 first prize are Jacobo Fernandez (in fifth position) who has earned more than $1 million at the WSOP since 2007 without having won a bracelet before, and John Hennigan who has more than $1.87 million in WSOP cashes, two bracelets, and eight previous final tables.

Meanwhile currently short-stacked [Removed:480] hopes to become the first-ever WSOP bracelet winner from Bosnia and Herzegovia where he tops the country’s all-time tourney earnings list.

Here are the Event #19 counts to start play today:

They get going at 1 p.m. PDT, which is when our comprehensive Event #19 live updates will begin.

Event #20: $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em Shootout

A lot of attention should be focused on today’s conclusion of Event #20: $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em Shootout, with $254,891 awaiting the winner.

The 10 players returning today are all that’s left from a starting field of 389, with three one-time bracelet winners — Chris Bell, Taylor Paur, and Phil Galfond — among the remaining hopefuls. All players will begin with roughly even stacks after having carried chips forward from the two tables they each won on Saturday and Sunday.

Here is how the 10 players will be seated to start the final table of Event #20:

Cards go in the air at 2 p.m. for this one, with hand-for-hand coverage of the final table beginning shortly thereafter and reported in the Event #20 live updates.

Event #21: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em

Event #21: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em presented WSOP players with the third of six “open,” non-turbo $1K NLHE events of the summer, with 2,043 participating this time around. Just 168 are coming back for today’s second day of play, with Dave D’Alesandro returning to a chip-leading stack of 154,400, almost 50,000 clear of Bronson Tucker in second position.

D’Alesandro has some experience with early leads in tournaments, having ended Day 3 of the 2012 WSOP Main Event with the chip lead before ultimately finishing in 62nd place for a $128,384 score.

Lurking in the start-of-day Top 10 are Jonathan Neckar who has a couple of WSOP final tables including a runner-up finish in 2008, online star Thayer “THAY3R” Rasmussen who is closing in on 20 lifetime WSOP cashes, and 2010 WSOP Main Event ninth-place finisher Soi Nguyen.

Meanwhile sitting just outside that group are eight-time bracelet winner Erik Seidel (in 11th position), 2014 WSOP National Championship winner Dominik Nitsche (in 12th), and two-time bracelet winner and 2014 WSOP Main Event fifth-place finisher JC Tran (in 15th).

Play resumes at 1 p.m. PDT, and they’ll be playing 10 more one-hour levels in an effort to get close to a final table tonight. Follow the Event #21 live updates to see if these leaders can stay in front in the chase for the $335,659 prize and bracelet awaiting the winner.

Event #22: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship

Many were surprised by the large turnout for the Event #22: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship, the fifth of the $10K “Championship” events on the 2014 WSOP schedule. An even 200 players registered for Event #22 yesterday — the biggest field for any of the $10Ks thus far — which meant a total prize pool of $1,880,000 from which $507,614 will go to the winner.

No surprise to see a lot of the top names in this one, with the overnight top 10 crowded with bracelet winners. Check it out:

Sitting just outside the top 10 are two 2014 WSOP bracelet winners, Tuan Le (in 11th) and Justin Bonomo (in 12th), with the rest of the field still full of stars including the bracelet-betting Phil Ivey and Daniel Negreanu who both return to above-average stacks as well as Doyle Brunson further down the counts.

You’ll want to start checking the Event #22 live updates when play resumes at 2 p.m. local time today to see who manages to emerge from this tough group to create what is sure to be another must-see final table.

Event #23: $1,000 Turbo No-Limit Hold’em

The one new bracelet event on today’s schedule should be a popular one, too, the two-day Event #23: $1,000 Turbo No-Limit Hold’em. First introduced last year, the “turbo” format features the same schedule of increases for blinds and antes found in regular $1,000 buy-in NLHE events, except instead of one-hour levels throughout in the turbo levels last just 30 minutes on Day 1, then 40 minutes on Day 2.

Michael Gathy of Belgium won last year’s $1K Turbo event, topping 1,629 to win a $278,613 first prize and his second career bracelet.

They’ve altered the plan a little this time, as last year only the first four levels were a half-hour long, Levels 5-17 were 40 minutes, then they played one-hour levels thereafter.

There were just 35 players left to end Day 1 last year. Tune in for the Event #23 live updates starting at noon Vegas time today to see how far they get this time, with the goal being to reach a final nine-handed table or stop at the end of Level 22.

Here again in one place is a look at the schedule for Day 14 of the 2014 WSOP:

• 12:00 p.m. — Event #23: $1,000 Turbo No-Limit Hold’em (Day 1 of 2)
• 1:00 p.m. — Event #19: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em (Day 3 of 3)
• 1:00 p.m. — Event #21: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em (Day 2 of 3)
• 2:00 p.m. — Event #20: $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em Shootout (Day 3 of 3)
• 2:00 p.m. — Event #22: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship (Day 2 of 3)

Follow all of the action from the 2014 WSOP on our Live Reporting Pages, and stay tuned throughout the summer for plenty more from our What To Watch For series.

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• Tags WSOP Hiren Patel John Hennigan Chris Bell Taylor Paur Phil Galfond Dave D'Alesandro Jeff Madsen Greg Mueller Phil Ivey Daniel Negreanu Doyle Brunson Phil Hellmuth Michael Gathy
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• Related Players Daniel NegreanuPhil IveyPhil HellmuthDoyle BrunsonJeff MadsenJohn Hennigan