2015 WSOP Day 12: Hellmuth Headlines $10K Razz Dirty Dozen; No New Winners Crowned
Day 12 of the 2015 World Series of Poker was fairly slow in that no bracelet winners were determined. That said, there was still plenty of action to be had as the Millionaire Maker burst its money bubble, two new events kicked off, and the $10,000 Razz Championship played down to the final twelve, which included Phil Hellmuth, who notched his first cash of the summer and is in good shape to make a run at his 14th gold bracelet.
Here's everything you need to know about Sunday's action.
Pechie, Leonard & Freedman Lead Final 142 Players in Millionaire Maker
Event #16: Millionaire Maker $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em began with 7,275 entrants — which created a prize pool of $7,142,850 – but after Day 2 came to a close Sunday night, just 142 remained in contention for the $1,277,193 first-place prize. Leading the pack is Florida's Justin Pechie, who bagged 979,000. However, both Aaron Leonard and Wendy Freedman are hot on his heels with 952,000 and 907,000 respectively.
PokerNews actually spoke to Freedman at the end of Day 2 to talk about her experience. You can read that story by clicking here.
Day 2 began with 1,130 players, but just 747 of them were slated to het paid. Among those to earn a payday were defending champ Jonathan Dimmig (731st - $2,749), The Colossus champ Cord Garcia (652nd - $3,044), birthday boy Jeff Madsen (351st - $5,205), online star Phil "OMGClayAiken" Galfond (252nd - $5,990), and recent recipient of a European Poker Awards Lifetime Achievement award Pierre Neuville (179th - $6,973).
While hundreds fell a slew of notables advanced to Day 3 including Bart Hanson (845,000), Blair Hinkle (837,000), Harley Stoffmaker (627,000), Olivier Busquet (358,000), Mike Sexton (350,000), and Andrew Lichtenberger (756,000), who began Day 2 with just 12,000 in chips.
Top 10 End-of-Day 2 Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Count |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Justin Pechie | 979,000 |
| 2 | Aaron Leonard | 952,000 |
| 3 | Wendy Freedman | 907,000 |
| 4 | Kelly Minkin | 858,000 |
| 5 | David Miscikowski | 850,000 |
| 6 | Steve Gross | 847,000 |
| 7 | Bart Hanson | 845,000 |
| 8 | Jeffrey Tanouye | 841,000 |
| 9 | Blair Hinkle | 837,000 |
| 10 | Viclouris Quinonez | 833,000 |
Day 3 of the Millionaire Maker will kick off a 11 a.m. on Monday, and the plan is to either play 10 levels or down to the final table, whichever comes first.
Hellmuth Headlines Stacked "Dirty Dozen" in $10K Razz
Event #17 of the 2015 WSOP, the $10,000 Razz Championship, originally began with 103 players, which created a prize pool of $968,200. At the start of Day 2 on Sunday, 64 players returned looking to make the money at the top 16 and onward toward the final table. By the end of the night, just 12 remained with the UK's Adam Owen and his stack of 591,000 leading the way.
However, the Brit has some still competition including Phil Hellmuth (307,000), who is seeking his 14th bracelet; Poker Hall of Famer Erik Seidel (284,000); and recent bracelet winner Shaun Deeb (155,000), just to name a few.
End-of-Day 2 Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Count |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Adam Owen | 591,000 |
| 2 | Thomas Keller | 535,000 |
| 3 | Phil Hellmuth | 307,000 |
| 4 | Erik Seidel | 284,000 |
| 5 | Mike Leah | 242,000 |
| 6 | Mike Gorodinsky | 239,000 |
| 7 | Stephen Chidwick | 235,000 |
| 8 | Jyri Merivirta | 225,000 |
| 9 | Shaun Deeb | 155,000 |
| 10 | Eric Wasserson | 141,000 |
| 11 | Brandon Shack-Harris | 58,000 |
| 12 | Trevor Jones | 39,000 |
Of course not everyone was so lucky. Among those to leave empty handed on Day 2 were Max Pescatori, Andrew Robl, Jen Harman, Jonathan Duhamel, Todd Brunson, Ismael Bojang, and one of the two start-of-day chip leaders Brock Parker — the other was Abe Mosseri, who also busted — who actually bubbled the tournament.
The in-the-money finishers included Ben Yu (16th - $17,098), Joseph Ranciato (15th - $17,098), Thomas Butzhammer (14th - $19,654), and Tommy Hang (13th - $19,654).
The final dozen players will return at 2 p.m. local time on Monday to play down to a winner. Check back tomorrow night to see if Hellmuth can capture his coveted 14th bracelet.
Bracelet Winner Greg Kolo Leads Final 29 in Event #18: $1,000 Turbo No-Limit Hold'em
The second Turbo event (technically the first was a hyper turbo) on the 2015 WSOP schedule kicked off at the Rio Convention Center Sunday. Event #18: $1,000 Turbo No-Limit Hold'em drew 1,791 entries creating a $1,611,900 prize pool paying 198 spots. The winner will earn $298,290 and a WSOP bracelet.
Being a turbo, the money bubble burst part way through the day and after notables including Daniel Strelitz, and WSOP bracelet winners Andy Bloch and Lisa Hamilton busted in the money, they played down to the final 29.
Nitesh Rawtani snatched the chip lead from Joshua Field in the late stages when he rivered aces full of nines against Field's turned fives full of aces. He eventually bagged 560,000, but a late surge from 2014 WSOP bracelet Gregory Kolo saw him end the night on 862,000 forn the lead.
Recognizable names like WSOP bracelet winner John Gale and Jason Wheeler will also be in the hunt for the bracelet when play resumes at 1 p.m. Monday.
Big Names Dot $3,000 Limit Hold'em Leaderboard
The 2015 WSOP Event #19: $3,000 Limit Hold'em Six-Handed kicked off at 4 p.m. Sunday, drawing 319 entries by the time registration closed. An $870,870 prize pool was created that will pay 36 spots. A min-cash is worth $5,129 and along with a WSOP bracelet, $230,799 is reserved for first.
Several notable players built stacks through the first ten levels of play, including six-time WSOP bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu, back-to-back WSOP Main Event finalist Mark Newhouse, online high-stakes guru Brian Hastings, the venerable David Benyamine, Antonio Esfandiari and WSOP cash machine Maria Ho.
While other big names like Michael Mizrachi, Huck Seed, and David "ODB" Baker found a way in and out of the event, the relatively unknown Joseph Thomas took hold of the chip lead and was the only one of 160 Day 1 survivors to bag over 100,000 in chips.
They will all return for Day 2 at 2 p.m. local time Monday with plans to play down to a final table.
Two new events will kick off on Monday including Event #20: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em at Noon and Event #21: $10,000 Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better Championship. While you wait, check out this video on how to workout on tournament breaks:
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