2016 WSOP Day 15: Mercier Just Misses, Two Bracelets Won, and Negreanu Chases 7th
Day 15 of the 2016 World Series of Poker will forever be remembered as the day Jason Mercier came runner-up in his attempt to win back-to-back $10,000 championship-level events at the WSOP.
However, his chase for the big payday in a number of bracelet bets continued on, as did all the action from the WSOP felt, with two more bracelets won, two more events inching closer to doing the same, and two more events kicking off.
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Dehkharghani Wins, Mercier Runner-Up in the $10,000 Razz
High-stakes cash pro Ray Dehkharghani took down the $10,000 Razz Championship on Wednesday, defeating Mercier heads-up.
Two days after winning the $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Single Draw Championship, Mercier got all the way to heads-up play in a bid for his fifth WSOP bracelet, ultimately finishing runner-up to Dehkharghani.
In denying Mercier his fifth career WSOP bracelet, Dehkharghani won hist first and the $273,338 first-place prize it came with.
"It means a tremendous amount to win this gold bracelet," Dehkharghani said. "My goal this summer was to win a gold bracelet. I only play two to three tournaments a year and my mission was to win a bracelet and now I've won a bracelet, so I feel very fortunate."
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ray Dehkharghani | $273,338 |
| 2 | Jason Mercier | $168,936 |
| 3 | Yueqi Zhu | $116,128 |
| 4 | Brian Hastings | $82,078 |
| 5 | Robert Campbell | $59,694 |
| 6 | John Racener | $44,712 |
| 7 | Bart Hanson | $34,521 |
| 8 | Jyri Merivirta | $27,499 |
Mercier also had hundreds of thousands on the line in bracelet bets and talked about the disappointment of coming so close to another win in an article posted here.
"It was really clear the stress really set in and affected him," Dehkharghani said. "It wasn’t a matter of my capitalizing on that, but I do believe the weight of [the side bets] affected him negatively in the match. It was palpable."
Sam Soverel Wins the $1,000 PLO
High-stakes pro Sam Soverel won Event #19: $1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha title on Wednesday night. Soverel earned $185,317 and his first WSOP bracelet, ultimately getting the best of a 1,106-entry field.
Soverel is a regular in some of the biggest cash games and high-roller events held on American soil.
"Coming into this year's Series, a $1,000 event isn't something I would normally play," Soverel said after the win. "But I had a really bad week in cash games, so I decided to take a few days off. Then, I late registered right before the dinner break and came in with only 10 big blinds when I started, and then ran good."
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sam Soverel | $185,317 |
| 2 | Kirby Lowery | $114,486 |
| 3 | Garrett Garvin | $81,080 |
| 4 | Zachary Hench | $58,164 |
| 5 | Bruno Borges | $42,270 |
| 6 | Jeffrey Landherr | $31,126 |
| 7 | Jared Koppel | $23,228 |
| 8 | Henri Ojala | $17,570 |
Negreanu Chases 7th Bracelet in the $3K Six-Max
Poker superstar Daniel Negreanu is making a run at his seventh WSOP bracelet in Event #21: $3,000 Six-Max No-Limit Hold'em. After two days of play, Negreanu sits fifth in chips with 26 players remaining.
Aussie Martin Kozlov holds the lead with recognizable names like David Vamplew, Will Givens, Matt Giannetti, Doug Polk, Alex Rocha, Jordan Cristos and defending champion Jordan Liberto still in the thick of it.
Jeremy Ausmus, Chris Ferguson, Eric Baldwin, Matt Glantz, Dan Kelly, Andy Frankenberger, Tony Gregg, Joseph Cheong, and Dan O'Brien were among those who made the money on Wednesday, but failed to advance.
Top 5 Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Stack |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Martin Kozlov | 1,497,000 |
| 2 | David Vamplew | 1,310,000 |
| 3 | Calvin Lee | 1,236,000 |
| 4 | Raghav Bansal | 1,059,000 |
| 5 | Daniel Negreanu | 932,000 |
Play resumes at 12 p.m. local time on Thursday with plans to play down to a champion. Each of the remaining players is guaranteed $15,477 while $531,577 and a WSOP bracelet awaits the winner.
Limit Hold'em Down to 15
Event #22: $1,500 Limit Hold'em played down to just 15 players remaining on Wednesday.
Danny Le grabbed the overnight lead with WSOP bracelet winner Tyler Bonkowski hot on his heels headed into the event's third and final day Thursday.
Four-time WSOP bracelet winner Daniel Idema is also in hunt.
Ryan Laplante, a 2016 WSOP bracelet winner, Joe McKeehen, winner of the 2015 WSOP Main Event, and Joshua Beckley, runner-up to McKeehen, all cashed, but failed to survive on Wednesday.
Play resumes Thursday at 2 p.m. local time with plans to play down to a champion. A first-place prize of $188,815 and a WSOP bracelet awaits the winner.
$2,000 No-Limit Hold'em Draws 1,419
Event #23: $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em drew 1,419 entries on Wednesday, creating a $2,554,000 prize pool that will pay 213 spots. A min-cash is worth $3,004 while $447,739 and a WSOP bracelet is reserved for the winner.
After 10 levels of play, 283 players remain with Iman Shahbazy holding the overnight lead.
888poker New Jersey Ambassador Tom Cannuli and 888poker Ambassador Sofia Lovgren were among those who took a swing and missed in this one.
Lovgren was coming off a 12th-place finish in the $1,500 Millionaire Maker, and she spoke to PokerNews' Sarah Herring about that run:
However,888poker's Jessica Dawley pushed through to Day 2 alongside a group of recognizable players including Darryl Fish, Dutch Boyd, and Andre Akkari.
Play resumes at 12 p.m. local time Thursday with plans to play 10.5 more levels.
$10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Begins
Event #24: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship drew 171 entries on Wednesday, creating a $1.607 million prize pool that will play 26 spots. A min-cash is worth $15,088 while $422,874 and a WSOP bracelet awaits the champion.
After 10 levels of play, 66 players remain with five-time WSOP bracelet winner Daniel Alaei leading.
Matt Vengrin, Alexey Makarov, Bryn Kenney, and Adam Friedman all built contending stacks, and after finishing runner-up in the $10,000 Razz Championship, Mercier late-registered and ran it up to a stack within striking distance of the leaders as well.
Phil Hellmuth, Jonathan Duhamel, John Racener, Calvin Anderson, Anthony Zinno, and Marco Johnson all ran out of chips before the clock did.
The survivors will resume play on Thursday at 2 p.m. local time with plans to play another 10 levels.
What's On Tap?
In addition to all the other action described above, Event #25: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em begins at 11 a.m. local time and Event #26: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Low starts at 3 p.m.
As the 2016 WSOP rolls on, be sure to stay tuned to PokerNews for continued coverage, brought to you by our sponsors, 888poker.
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