WSOP Day 41: Main Event Keeps Going Despite Roof Leak; "Lucky 7s" Event Ends

3 min read
Dominik Nitsche

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

RankPlayerStack
1Hamid Feiz182,675
2Adil Khan156,800
3Srikanth Koneru154,725
4Edward Grau148,825
5Marko Neumann146,675
6Yong Lu141,750
7Alexander Wilkinson139,025
8Chad Power135,575
9Omri Shaked134,250
10Jeffrey Tanouye131,075

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 A8 against Jaka's A9. A bit later, Berkowitz finished Jaka with 44 against A9 as neither player found any improvement on the board.

Berkowitz then continued to run hot, busting Jeffrey Dobrin with AK when Dobrin picked up AQ. 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."

PlacePlayerHometownPrize
1Connor BerkowitzManalapan, NJ$487,784
2John ArmbrustAustin, TX$301,615
3David YuFoster City, CA$217,173
4Jeffrey DobrinLas Vegas, NV$160,496
5Faraz JakaSan Jose, CA$119,606
6John GallaherLebanaon, TN$89,890
7John ZimmermanLas Vegas, NV$68,098
8Matt MatrosBrooklyn, NY$52,033
9Massimo MoseleTorino, Italy$40,085

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