WSOP Day 19: Dan Smith Leads The Deuce, 272 Monster Stacks Remain and More
There were no new bracelet winners on Day 19 of the 2015 World Series of Poker Sunday, but plenty of action plenty anyway. Two new events kicked off, the two Day 1 Monster Stack fields combined to start Day 2 and the $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball Championship played down to a final table and beyond.
Check out the recap below for the all the news that's fit to print.
Dan Smith Leads Final Six in Event #29: $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball Championship
Event #29: $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball Championship attracted 77 players and created a prize pool of $723,800, but on Sunday 32 returned for Day 2 action. By the end of the night, only six would remain with Dan Smith and his stack of 661,000 leading the way.
Others still in contention include Nick Schulman (554,000), who has won the event two times before, Jon Turner (439,000), Erik Seidel (265,000), Phil Galfond (255,000), and Eli Elezra (160,000.
The day began with players looking to make the money at the top 14, but that proved easier said than done for 18 of them. Among those to fall short of the money were Jeffrey Lisandro, Mike Leah, Brian Hastings, Matt Glantz, Huck Seed, Shaun Deeb, Billy Baxter, and bubble boy Mike Gorodinsky, who finished runner-up to Phil Hellmuth in the $10,000 Razz Championship last week.
Rep Porter was the first to collect a cash, taking $14,693 for his 14th-place finish, and he soon had company on the rail. Jesse Martin (13th - $14,693), Mike Watson (12th - $14,693), Farzad Bonyadi (11th - $17,067), George Danzer (10th - $17,067), Jorryt van Hoof (9th - $17,067), and Bernard Lee (8th - $19,824) all took their leave before night's end.
According to updates from the event, Lee fell after he opened for 14,000 and Adam Owen shoved all in for 119,5000 from the big blind. Lee only had 108,000 total, and opted to call it off before drawing one. Owen stood pat with 10x7x4x3x2x. Lee showed he was drawing live to a 7x6x5x2x, but he failed to get there as he paired a 5x on the draw. The UK's Adam Owen would follow Lee out the door in seventh place.
The Final Table
| Seat | Player | Count |
| 1 | Erik Seidel | 265,000 |
| 2 | Phil Galfond | 255,000 |
| 3 | Nick Schulman | 554,000 |
| 4 | Jon Turner | 439,000 |
| 5 | Dan Smith | 661,000 |
| 6 | Eli Elezra | 160,000 |
The final six players will return at 2 p.m. local time on Monday to play down to a winner. Be sure to check back tomorrow to see who walks away with the gold bracelet and accompanying $224,383 first-place prize.
Just 272 Monster Stacks Remain
The money bubble broke on Day 2 of the 2015 WSOP Event #28: MONSTER STACK $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Sunday. A total of 2,060 players started play as the survivors from two Day 1 starting flights combined for the first time. After a total of ten 60-minute levels just 272 remained.
The 720-player money bubble popped half way through the day with notables including JC Tran, Vanessa Selbst, Alex Kravchenko, Max Greenwood, Andy Black, Joseph Cheong and Dan Heimiller all busting in the money.
When the 272 survivors bagged Sunday, Serbian Milos Skrbic held the chip lead on some 1.3 million in chips. Several notables also bagged big, including former PokerNews Live Reporting Manager Garry Gates, 1998 World Series of Poker Main Event and the 2008 WSOP $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. champ Scotty Nguyen, 2015 WSOP bracelet winner Ben Zamani, two-time WSOP bracelet winner Hoyt Corkins, 2008 November Niner and 2010 WSOP bracelet winner Scott Montgomery and 2011 WSOP bracelet winner Allen Bari.
The event is schedule for five days with Day 3 set to begin play at 11 a.m. Monday.
Hinchcliffe Leads Day 1 of Event #30: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em
Event #30: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em attracted 2,150 runners to the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, but after 11 levels of play, just 235 remained. Of those, 216 will earn a portion of the $1,935,900 prize pool, with the eventual winner taking home $353,391. The man with the best shot at it right now is Chris Hinchcliffe, who bagged up a healthy lead with 206,000.
Top 10 Day 1 Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Count |
| 1 | Chris Hinchcliffe | 206,000 |
| 2 | DJ Mackinnon | 164,500 |
| 3 | Ilkin Amirov | 160,000 |
| 4 | Brian Brunner | 147,200 |
| 5 | Timothy Stearns | 139,200 |
| 6 | Bruce Angeski | 133,900 |
| 7 | Shannon Shorr | 122,000 |
| 8 | Kyle Weir | 121,200 |
| 9 | Michael Kamran | 120,100 |
| 10 | Shawn Stroke | 107,500 |
Among those to take a shot and fall on Day 1 were Greg Raymer, James Woods, Dominik Nitsche, Carlos Mortensen, Mo Nuwwarah, Joe Kuether, Mike Leah, and PokerNews legal contributor Maurice "Mac" VerStandig, who recently penned a piece on drunkards who attempt to sue casinos in a vain attempt to recoup their loses.
VerStandig fell late in the evening when he got his short stack all in preflop holding QxQx. His opponent held AxJx suited, and an ace on the flop put an end to VerStandig's long day.
While many fell, plenty of notable advanced to Day 2 including Aditya Prasetyo (103,900), Joe Tehan (91,300), Shaun Deeb (73,100), Antonio Esfandiari (70,100), and Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier (49,500).
Day 2 will kick off at 1 p.m. local time inside the Amazon Room.
$3,000 PLO 8 Draws 480
The 2015 WSOP Event #31: $3,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better kicked off at 4 p.m. Sunday drawing 480 players and creating a $1,310,400 prize pool that will pay 54 spots. A min-cash is worth $5,071 and along with a WSOP gold bracelet, first place will pay $301,413.
2015 WSOP bracelet winners John Gale, Shaun Deeb and Brian Hastings were among those that came and went in this one. They were joined by superstars Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu and Joe Hachem in the group that failed to bag up for Day 2.
By the time 10 levels were through it appeared three-time WSOP bracelet winner Jeff Madsen took the chip lead with high-stakes online phenom Doug Polk closely in tow and names like Robert Mizrachi, Tom Schneider, Shawn Buchanan and Mike Watson among those within striking distance.
A total of 133 survived the day and will return for Day 2 Monday beginning at 2 p.m. local time.
Monday will also see the start of the 2015 WSOP Event #32: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed at 12 p.m. local time and Event #33: $1,500 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball beginning at 4 p.m.
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