WSOP Day 41: Main Event Keeps Going Despite Roof Leak; "Lucky 7s" Event Ends
The World Series of Poker Main Event kept on rolling on Day 41 of the 2015 WSOP. Day 1b kicked off at noon, and the final bracelet of the summer was earned, leaving only the big one to take center stage for the remainder of the summer.
Hamid Feiz Leads Counts as 1,716 Fire in 1b
Two flights are in the books and one remains in the world's most prestigious poker tournament.
Day 1b of the Main Event attracted 1,716 players for $10,000 apiece, and when the dust settled after five two-hour levels, Hamid Feiz of Urbandale, Iowa, had the most bountiful day as he bagged 182,675. That's tops by a long shot among 1,154 survivors, with Adil Khan a distant second at 156,800.
For his part, Khan wasn't ready to get too excited just yet.
"I know it doesn't mean anything right now," he said. "I was running really well today and playing OK."
Last year, Day 1b drew 2,144 entries, and through two Day 1s this year there have been a combined 2,457 entries.
Plenty of notables bagged stacks to join Feiz and Khan for Day 2.Dominik Nitsche (128,725), Matt Salsberg (113,025), Shawn Cunix (108,375), 2014 Player of the Year George Danzer (96,300), 2004 Main Event champ Greg Raymer (92,200), and Brian Rast (88,825) all finished among the top 100 in the counts.
Players did run into one minor snag just before dinner when a rainstorm of epic proportions — for Las Vegas, that is — hit the area, causing a leaky roof and rendering a section of the Brasilia room unusable. That caused the tournament staff to send players on dinner break a bit early but things were easily moved around and the tournament continued normally after the break.
Galen Hall, Shannon Shorr, Jay Farber, Andy Frankenberger, Dan Smith, Robert Mizrachi, and Leo Margets were among the well-known players going bust during the course of play.
The Main Event continues with the third and final Day 1 flight, Day 1c, at noon on Tuesday. Expect the biggest field by far of the three starting days.
Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Stack |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hamid Feiz | 182,675 |
| 2 | Adil Khan | 156,800 |
| 3 | Srikanth Koneru | 154,725 |
| 4 | Edward Grau | 148,825 |
| 5 | Marko Neumann | 146,675 |
| 6 | Yong Lu | 141,750 |
| 7 | Alexander Wilkinson | 139,025 |
| 8 | Chad Power | 135,575 |
| 9 | Omri Shaked | 134,250 |
| 10 | Jeffrey Tanouye | 131,075 |
Berkowitz Claims "Lucky" Title in $777 Event
Connor Berkowitz won Event #66: $777 "Lucky 7s" No-Limit Hold'em, the first such event the WSOP has held. He won $487,784 for topping the 4,422-player field.
It isn't Berkowitz's first time scoring five figures or more, but you wouldn't know that looking at his poker stats. That's because Berkowitz makes a living playing tournaments online in his home state of New Jersey, where he can play legally with fellow residents.
The final table for the event included Matt Matros, who finished eighth, and Faraz Jaka, who was denied his first bracelet with a fifth-place finish. Berkowitz proved to be Jaka's downfall as he shoved for 1.5 million over a Jaka open to 260,000 and doubled when he hit a three-outer with A♣8♥ against Jaka's A♥9♣. A bit later, Berkowitz finished Jaka with 4♥4♦ against A♦9♦ as neither player found any improvement on the board.
Berkowitz then continued to run hot, busting Jeffrey Dobrin with A♠K♠ when Dobrin picked up A♥Q♥. That gave Berkowitz half of the chips in play three-handed and he made it a full four eliminations in a row by also taking out David Yu in third and John Armbrust in second.
"It really is a dream come true," he said. "It's everybody's dream, but for it to actually happen is insane."
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Connor Berkowitz | Manalapan, NJ | $487,784 |
| 2 | John Armbrust | Austin, TX | $301,615 |
| 3 | David Yu | Foster City, CA | $217,173 |
| 4 | Jeffrey Dobrin | Las Vegas, NV | $160,496 |
| 5 | Faraz Jaka | San Jose, CA | $119,606 |
| 6 | John Gallaher | Lebanaon, TN | $89,890 |
| 7 | John Zimmerman | Las Vegas, NV | $68,098 |
| 8 | Matt Matros | Brooklyn, NY | $52,033 |
| 9 | Massimo Mosele | Torino, Italy | $40,085 |
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