What to Watch For: June 15, 2017
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A slew of big names will make the trek back to the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino on Thursday as the $10,000 Razz Championship plays to a conclusion and The Marathon gets set for a busy Day 4. Aussie James Obst leads a tough final nine in the razz event, while Faraz Jaka, John Phan and Maurice Hawkins lead the field in The Marathon. It all sets up for an exciting Day 16 at the 2017 World Series of Poker.
Event #26: $10,000 Razz Championship
Only nine were left standing at the end of Day 2 in the $10,000 Razz Championship, and it will definitely be worth following the conclusion of this one on Thursday. James Obst, who now has three top 10 finishes at this year's series, leads the way with 818,000 in chips and is well positioned to claim his first career bracelet. He's joined at the unofficial final table by bracelet winners David "ODB" Baker, Brandon Shack-Harris, Anthony Zinno and Nick Schulman. Despite playing a limited schedule at the WSOP every year, Schulman is looking to make the final table of a $10K Championship event for the ninth straight year.
The final nine players will return Thursday at 2 p.m. PDT and then they will redraw for seats. PokerNews will be here with all the action so make sure to tune back in.
Event #23: THE MARATHON - $2,620 No-Limit Hold'em
Faraz Jaka ended Day 3 as the chip leader of Event #23: THE MARATHON - $2,620 No-Limit Hold'em with a stack of 2,838,000. Maurice Hawkins finished second with 2,423,000 and John Phan sits in third with 2,374,000. Fifty-six players are still in the running for the $690,469 top prize and the WSOP gold bracelet.
There are many other notables left in this field, including Ana Marquez (1,035,000), Upeshka De Silva (799,000), Eric Baldwin (617,000) and Kristen Bicknell (401,000). Play resumes Thursday at noon and seven 100-minute levels are scheduled again. The PokerNews live reporting team will be there to catch all the action so do come back to follow it all.
Event #25: $1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha
Only 11 players remain from a field of 1,058 in Event #25, and a familiar names tops the leaderboard. Russion pot-limit Omaha expert Igor Sharaskin, who finished third in the $565 PLO event at the WSOP last week, holds more than double the amount of chips of his next closest competitor, Casey Carroll. Sharaskin will look to better his deep run last week and stake claim to his first bracelet along with the $179,126 top prize. 888 Ambassador and fan favorite Bruno Politano enters the final day as the short stack but will surely keep the event entertaining until he exits or goes on to win. Play resumes at noon on Thursday, so be sure to follow all the updates at PokerNews.
Event #27: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed
American pro Craig Varnell leads the 202 Day 1 survivors with a healthy stack of 202,600 in the $3,000 Six-Max event. Joining Varnell at the top is Jeff Coddington, who missed out on the chip lead by just two antes, bagging a stack of 202,400. Andy Spears (193,200), Jerry Payne (185,700), and John Bergman (185,500) round out the top five.
Also returning for Day 2 on Thursday will be Mike Sowers (152,600), Steve Sung (139,800), Jeremy Ausmus (132,500), Vanessa Selbst (124,9000, Igor Kurganov (112,000), David Pham (61,900), Gaelle Baumann (61,900), and Mike Watson (59,200). Play resumes at noon and you can follow all of the Day 2 updates right here.
Event #28: $1,500 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw
Sixty-one players advanced from a field of 326 runners on Day 1 of Event #28: $1,500 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw , putting the event relatively close to the money with 49 places paid out. The player with the best chance of locking up that money, at least as far as chip stack goes, is Mark Roland. The East Coast mixed game player managed to run his 7,500 starting stack up to 116,600 by day's end, making him the leader by far of the remaining runners. Jordan Siegel sits in second with 104,100.
Meanwhile, Brian Brubaker, Jon Turner, Yuval Bronshtein, Ian Johns, Rep Porter, Shaun Deeb and Rob Mizrachi all remain in the hunt with sizable stacks. Limits will be 1,200/2,400 when play resumes at 2 p.m. on Thursday. Follow all the live action right here at PokerNews.
Event #29: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em
Hold'em fans will arrive early to the Rio on Thursday as the $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em event begins at 11 a.m. Last year, Michael Gagliano topped a field of 1,045 to win the $448,463 prize and his first gold bracelet. With a larger buy-in than the $1,000 and $1,500 buy-in NLHE tournaments on the schedule, this event should weed out some of the recreational weekend players and attract a higher ratio of skilled pros. Follow all of the action for three days right here at PokerNews.
Event #30: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship
It doesn't have quite the prestige of the $50,000 Poker Players Championship, but Thursday's $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship is always high on the list for mixed-games connoisseurs every summer. Jason Mercier won this event last year as part of his incredible run to claim Player of the Year honors. He finished ahead of 170 other players, including final tablists James Obst, Nick Schulman, Jesse Martin and Byn Kenney. Other former winners of this championship event include Andrew Barber, Chris Wallace and David "Bakes" Baker. The action kicks off at 3 p.m. on Thursday, and PokerNews will have a team on the floor covering all the action from start to finish.
