WSOP What to Watch For: Sowers, Bonomo Gun for Six-Max Title; Star-Studded $10K 2-7 Draw Continues

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Jun 04, 2014 5 min read

We’re still feeling the excitement of last night’s three final tables at the 2014 World Series of Poker. But the cards keep coming and Wednesday promises poker fans another full day as four events will be in action.

One of them, Event #11: $1,500 Six-Handed No-Limit Hold’em will be playing down to a winner tonight. Meanwhile, the Event #13: $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball Championship features another incredibly stacked field among the 36 players who remain.

Here’s a rundown of what to watch for when following today’s coverage of Day 9 of the 2014 WSOP:

Event #11: $1,500 Six-Handed No-Limit Hold’em

Just 10 remain in Event #11, the $1,500 six-handed NLHE event that drew 1,587 entries, a huge jump from the 1,069 who participated in the same tournament last summer. Mike Sowers of Charlotte, North Carolina returns to the chip lead with hopes of winning his first WSOP event, with Justin Bonomo close behind in second position and in possession of the same dream.

Sowers came close before, finishing second in a $1,500 Ante Only NLHE event in 2012, and taking sixth in this same event in 2011. And Bonomo knows something about coming close at the WSOP, too, having no less than three runner-up finishes in his career including one just last week in the Event #5: $10,000 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball Championship.

Also still vying for the $449,980 first prize in Event #11 is one-time bracelet winner Taylor Paur (currently third in chips).

Event #11 resumes at 1 p.m. local time. Follow the live updates starting then including hand-for-hand coverage once they reach that six-handed final table.

Event #12: $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold’em

Day 2 of Event #12: $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold’em will begin with some bubble tension as 69 players remain out of the 535 starters, but only 63 of them will be making the cash and thus get to start dividing up the $751,950 prize pool, $169,225 of which will be going to the winner.

David Martirosyan returns to the chip lead today with Matthew Damadeo close on his heels and Joseph Cheong, Ryan D’Angelo, Jesse Yaginuma, and Darryll Fish among other big stacks still in a position to continue their Event #12 runs to tomorrow’s finale.

Looking down at the bottom of the counts at those in danger of missing the money, there are several recognizable names including Barny Boatman, Marvin Rettenmaier, John Racener, and frequent WSOP casher Tony Cousineau.

Cousineau has made a career of collecting cashes at the WSOP, and in fact sits atop the current list of "Most Cashes Without a Bracelet" with 58 career cashes, good for 15th on the all-time list.

Tune in early to see if Cousineau makes it through to score another WSOP profit today, then stick around to find out who among the field make it to tomorrow's third and final day. Play starts at 1 p.m., as does the coverage here on PokerNews.

Event #13: $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball Championship

There are 36 players returning for Day 2 of Event #13, another of the $10K “Championship” events that once again drew a small field (just 87), but one full of players with past WSOP successes. Only the top 14 finishers make the money, with the bursting of the bubble likely to come later tonight.

Jennifer Harman returns to the chip lead. She seeks to replicate the feat of Vanessa Selbst last week and become the second woman ever to win three WSOP bracelets in open events. Harman’s first win came in 2000 in another NL 2-7 event (with a $5,000 buy-in), with her second coming in 2002 in a $5,000 limit hold’em tourney.

Right behind Harman in the counts to start today is five-time bracelet winner John Juanda. His most recent bracelet was won in 2011 in a NL 2-7 event, and sitting close in fourth position currently is Larry Wright who also won a NL 2-7 bracelet in 2012.

Noting all of the bracelet holders among the final 36, we thought it might be interesting to see just how many there were heading into today’s Day 2. Here’s what we found:

Just over half the remaining players in Event #13 — 19 of 36 — have won WSOP events before, with 57 bracelets total between them. And it isn’t as though there are any soft spots among those without bracelets who are left in the field, either, with players like Shawn Sheikhan (currently in third), Galen Hall (fifth), Ashton Griffin (sixth), Paul Volpe (eighth), and Mike Watson (ninth) all coming back to above average stacks, too.

Play picks up at 1 p.m. PDT today. Start checking the Event #13 live updates then to see how many of these bracelet holders will be able to continue their quest for more gold tomorrow.

Event #14: $1,500 Limit Omaha Hi-Low

One other event gets underway as Event #14: $1,500 Limit Omaha Hi-Low kicks off. Canada’s Calen McNeil won this one a year ago, topping a 1,014-player field to earn his first career bracelet and a $277,274 payday. Others at that final table a year ago included Todd Brunson, [B]Stephen Chidwick[/B], [B]John Monnette[/B], [B]Tony Ma[/B], and Can Kim Hua.

“Big Wheel” McNeil spoke with Learn.PokerNews a few months back about the importance of being able to maintain a balance between confidence at the table and not letting ego take over to cause tilt and other detrimental actions.Read the interview to learn more about McNeil and how best to “check ego at the door.”

Event #14 starts things today at 12 noon Vegas time, which is when you can start hitting refresh over on the event’s live updates page.

Here again is the full slate of tourneys set to play out on Wednesday:

• 12:00 p.m. — Event #14: $1,500 Limit Omaha Hi-Low (1 of 3)
• 1:00 p.m. — Event #11: $1,500 Six-Handed No-Limit Hold’em (Day 3 of 3)
• 1:00 p.m. — Event #12: $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold’em (Day 2 of 3)
• 1:00 p.m. — Event #13: $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball Championship (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 Mike Sowers Justin Bonomo David Martirosyan Joseph Cheong Tony Cousineau Jennfier Harman John Juanda Larry Wright Calen McNeil
• Related Tournaments World Series of Poker
• Related Players John JuandaMike SowersJustin BonomoJoseph CheongLarry WrightCalen McNeil