What to Watch For: June 22, 2017
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Longtime pro and six-time bracelet winner Ted Forrest is among the chip leaders after two days of play in the $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better in which Max Pescatori, Justin Bonomo and David Sklansky are also among the final 16 hoping to win the title. Elsewhere, several big names are still alive in both the $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed Championship and $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha.
Event #40: $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better
After two days of play, 16 return to the Rio to decide a winner on Thursday. England's Steve Jelinek (481,000) leads the field, followed by Hal Rotholz (445,000) and Ted Forrest (416,000). Jelinek is looking for his second bracelet, while Forrest — with more than $2 million in WSOP earnings and more than $6.3 million total — is looking for No. 7.
Other notables still in the hunt for the gold include bracelet holders Max Pescatori (324,000), Justin Bonomo (210,000) and David Sklansky (117,000), as well as Don Zewin (408,000), Walter Treccarichi (285,000) and Tim Finne (234,000).
Join PokerNews as play resumes on Thursday at 2 p.m. for all the live updates.
Event #41: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha
A total of 870 players registered yesterday for this low buy-in pot-limit Omaha event, and after 10 levels there were 138 remaining led by Chun Law with 179,100. The Tennessean has more than $322,000 in WSOP winnings including finishing 35th in the Main Event in 2015 for $211,821.
Rounding out the current top three are Kyle Knecht (148,400) and Philip Hayes (139,000). Other notables remaining include Toby Lewis (125,200), David Williams (71,700), TJ Cloutier (52,500), Thomas Taylor (45,100), Joe Cada (29,900), Jeff Lisandro (25,000) and defending champion Jiaqi Xu (10,200).
Williams felt good about his prospects in this event:
Put 72k in the bag on day 1 of #wsop $1500 PLO. A few people from the money and 2 days from gold.
— David Williams (@dwpoker)
First place will take home $231,483 and the gold bracelet. Day 2 resumes on Thursday at 12 noon. Check back to PokerNews for all your live updates from this event.
Event #42: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed Championship
After one day of play in this short-handed NLHE championship event Grayson Ramage led the field with 527,700. In addition to his considerable online winnings, Ramage has notched more than $1.2 million in live tournaments. He is seeking the first bracelet of his career.
Ramage is followed in the counts by bracelet winner Sam Stein (364,500), William Stevenson (355,100) and two-time bracelet winner and 2016 Main Event third-place finisher Cliff Josephy (330,300).
After 10 levels of play, 129 players remain from the original 332. Those looking to get in the money will need to finish in the top 50 for a minimum cash of $15,091. First place will take home a big-time payday of $775,923 along with a bracelet.
Other players still alive with big stacks include Ryan Leng (298,400), Goran Mandic (258,800), Rainer Kempe (254,400), Matt Berkey (253,000), Kristen Bicknell (239,400) and Olivier Busquet (201,400).
Play resumes on Thursday at 2 p.m. Join PokerNews for all the coverage by clicking here.
Event #43: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em SHOOTOUT
The shootout format is back at the WSOP on Thursday with this lower buy-in event likely to attract plenty of players seeking a bracelet. A reminder for the uninitiated, in a shootout players must win their table, then advance to another table to win that one, and so on. It's simple, yet easier said than done — go undefeated and you're the champion.
Last year's winner Safiya Umerova took home $264,046 and her first bracelet. Play kicks off at 11 a.m. and PokerNews will bring you every bet, bluff and fold.
Event #44: $3,000 H.O.R.S.E.
The mixed game fun returns at this mid-tier price, and with the current popularity of games other than no-limit hold'em this event should attract a nice-sized field as well. This is the third H.O.R.S.E. event on the schedule so far. Last year's version was won by Marco Johnson for $259,730, his second career bracelet.
The tournament gets underway at 3 p.m. on Thursday, so keep it here on PokerNews for start-to-finish coverage from this and every 2017 WSOP event.
