WSOP Day 17: Monster Stacks, Crowds, and Three Final Tables Set
It was a packed house at the Rio All-Suites Hotel & Casino for Day 17 of the 2015 World Series of Poker Friday as Day 1a of the $1,500 Monster Stack event kicked off drawing a massive crowd. The $5,000 Eight-Handed event played down to a final table and three others events drew closer to handing out even more WSOP hardware.
Check out the Day 17 recap below for all the 2015 WSOP information you'll need to be in the know.
Three Contenders Remain in the $1,500 H.O.R.S.E.
After three full days of play, three players remain in contention for $239,750 and the gold bracelet in Event #24: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. Robert Campbell leads the way with 2.67 million, followed by Arash Ghaneian with 2.27 million and David Levi with 855,000.
Levi is one of the more accomplished players without a bracelet in WSOP history, as he has 37 cashes for more than $550,000 but has never finished better than third. Mike “SirWatts” Watson made yet another final table here, but the Canadian fell short once again in pursuit of his first bracelet when he busted in sixth. Final table players in this event have been at the mercy of variance, with average stacks coming in around six big bets.
Other players falling during Day 3 included 14-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth (31st), Lonnie Heimowitz (24th), Steve Sung (22nd), Ian Johns (21st), Ted Forrest (18th), Brandon Cantu (13th), Stuart Rutter (11th), and Mike Wattel (ninth).
The remaining players return at 1 p.m. on Saturday with limits of 80,000/160,000 to play until a champion is crowned.
Final Table of Stud Championship Set
[B]Brian Hastings[/B]' mission to “punish everyone” - his favored Twitter hashtag as he attempts to win a heap of side bets – could culminate on Saturday when the final table of Event #27: $10,000 Seven-Card Stud Championship begins at 2 p.m. Hastings bagged 770,000 at the conclusion of Day 2, a big lead over second-place John Thrower's 426,000.
Mikhail Semin (426,000), Scott Clements (384,000), Chris George (251,000), [B]Max Pescatori[/B] (207,000), [B]Dan Kelly[/B] (172,000), and Oxana Cummings (128,000) also made the final table. The small field 91 runners hit the money at 16 players, with David Steicke (14th), Cory Zeidman (13th), Justin Smith (12th), David Chiu (11th), Rep Porter (10th) and Mike Gorodinsky (ninth) all cashing.
Remaining players will come back to compete for a first-place prize of $239,518.
Milan Leads Stacked Final Table; Seeks Bracelet in Back-to-Back Years
Event #25: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em 8-Handed began with 493 players – which created a prize pool of $2,317,100 – but on Day 3, just 23 returned to action. It didn't take long for 15 of them to hit the rail, leaving a stacked final table of eight.
France's Pierre Milan, who won a gold bracelet last year after taking down Event #29: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em for $536,768, leads the pack with 3.031 million, but he faces some stiff competition in two-time World Poker Tour champ Jonathan Little (2.039 million), reigning WPT Player of the Year Anthony Zinno (908,000), and three-time WSOP bracelet winner and 888poker's latest Team Pro, Dominik Nitsche (861,000).
The Final Table
| Seat | Player | Hometown | Count |
| 1 | Jeff Tomlinson | Jupiter, FL | 1,363,000 |
| 2 | Dominik Nitsche | Minden, Germany | 861,000 |
| 3 | Dan O'Brien | Las Vegas, NV | 1,095,000 |
| 4 | Pierre Milan | Paris, France | 3,031,000 |
| 5 | Andrius Bielskis | Lithuania | 905,000 |
| 6 | Jonathan Jaffe | Longmeadow, MA | 2,205,000 |
| 7 | Jonathan Little | Las Vegas, NV | 2,039,000 |
| 8 | Anthony Zinno | Boston, MA | 908,000 |
Among those to fall on Day 3 were Shaun Deeb (22nd - $16,219), Jesse Sylvia (18th - $16,219), Joseph Cheong (16th - $19,672), Valentin Vornicu (15th - $19,672), and the start-of-the-day chip leader Tyler Cornell (11th - $30,238).
According to updates from the event, Cornell fell in Level 24 (12,000/24,000/4,000) when Dan O'Brien limped under the gun and Hans Winzeler did the same from the small blind. Cornell, who had grown short, then moved all in for 363,000 from the big blind. O'Brien moved all in over the top and Cornell discovered the bad news.
Cornell: A♥J♥
O'Brien: A♠K♠
The board ran out a clean 2♥K♣5♣6♦Q♦ and Cornell's run came to an unceremonious end.
The final eight players – who account for four gold bracelets and seven WPT championships – will return at 1 p.m. local time on Saturday to play down to a winner. Be sure to check back tomorrow to see who walks away with the $567,724 first-place prize.
Wallace Leads Final 16 of Event #26: $1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha
Day 2 of Event #26: $1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha, a tournament that attracted 1,293 players and created a prize pool of $1,163,700, began with a tenth of the field remaining, but after 10 levels of play, just 16 remained with Aaron Wallace and his stack of 753,000 leading the way.
Others still in contention for the $226,985 first-place prize include Marko Neumann (657,000), Chase Steely (519,000), Amir Sahebdivani (301,000), and Jeroen Choiner (81,000).
Top 10 Day 2 Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Hometown | Count |
| 1 | Aaron Wallace | Carmel, IN | 753,000 |
| 2 | Marko Neumann | Recklinghausen, Germany | 657,000 |
| 3 | Balazs Somodi | Hungary | 634,000 |
| 4 | Julian Galvan | Sacramento, CA | 602,000 |
| 5 | Chase Steely | Williamsburg, KY | 519,000 |
| 6 | Noah Merritt | Vancouver, WA | 448,000 |
| 7 | Richard St. Peter | Las Vegas, NV | 405,000 |
| 8 | Daniel Zack | Princeton, NJ | 333,000 |
| 9 | Curtis Krushelniski | Macklin, SK, Canada | 325,000 |
| 10 | Michail Karapanos | Athens, Greece | 315,000 |
Among those to fall during Day 2 play were Matt Stout (117th - $1,978), Jeremy Ausmus (105th - $1,978), Marvin Rettenmaier (78th - $2,688), Mike Leah (66th - $3,048), Allen Kessler (31st), Greg Merson (29th - $5,690), and Jake Bazeley (20th - $6,842).
According to live updates, in Level 19 (4,000/8,000), a pot was building between Bazeley and Aaron Wallace. With approximately 75,000 in the pot and a flop of 9♠5♥4♣, action sparked between the two that resulted in Bazeley getting his last 168,000 in the middle.
Bazeley: Q♥10♥J♣9♦
Wallace: A♥K♥8♠7♠
The 6♦ turn gave Wallace a straight, and he was pushed the pot after the 3♥ completed the board on the river.
The third and final day will get underway at 1 p.m. local time on Saturday.
Monster Stack Draws Monstrous Crowd
The first of two starting flights for the 2015 WSOP Event #28: MONSTER STACK $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em drew 3,027 entries Friday. And while this first flight put the event on a pace to draw less than the 7,862 entries the 2014 WSOP edition did, it left no doubt as to its popularity amongst the poker masses. Players have asked the WSOP for years to add more chips and more play to bracelet events and with the Monster Stack offering ten times the buy-in for its starting stacks, it has now become a definitive answer to that request.
Starting at 10 a.m. Friday, the event played through 11 60-minute levels and a 90-minute dinner break. Some 825 players survived the day with a relatively unknown Australian named Chi Truong bagging the overnight lead with 193,400 chips. However, a more familiar name in 2010 WSOP Main Event third-place finisher Joseph Cheong sits within 10,000 of the lead.
A host of top pros also bagged big and will look to make a run when they return for Day 2 Sunday, including 2014 WSOP Main Event Champion Martin Jacobson, three-time WSOP bracelet winner Vanessa Selbst, two-time WSOP bracelet winners Brandon Cantu, Steve Billirakis and Hoyt Corkins, and one-time WSOP Bracelet winners Scott Montgomery, Allen Bari and Eugene Katchalov.
Day 1b will kick off at 10 a.m. local time Saturday with thousands more expected to fill tables across the Rio.
Saturday will also see the start of Event #29: $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball Championship beginning at 4 p.m. local time.
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