WSOP Day 24: Nguyen, Negreanu, Hellmuth Return for $3,000 H.O.R.S.E.
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The Vegas weather may be scorching outside, but it's nice and cool in the comfy confines of the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino. That's where several big names will be returning for Day 2 of the $3,000 H.O.R.S.E. event, including Scotty Nguyen, Daniel Negreanu and Phil Hellmuth. Also, six-time bracelet winner TJ Cloutier is among the chip leaders in the $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha as a busy weekend of poker commences on Friday.
Event #41: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha
From the 138 players who began Day 2 of yesterday's PLO event, just 18 will be returning for a third day. They'll play down to a winner today, with $231,483 and the gold bracelet awaiting the winner.
Loren Klein currently holds the chip lead (719,000). Klein has won a bracelet already in 2016 in Mixed NLHE/PLO. He also has two runner-up finishes to go along with many other cashes at the WSOP, with most of his nearly $1.4 million in career tournament winnings coming in PLO or mixed game events.
Rounding out the top six are end-of-Day-1 chip leader Chun Law (638,000), Sergej Barbarez (570,000), Jeff Williams (553,000), Mark Wahba (462,000) and six-time bracelet winner TJ Cloutier (449,000). A win would bring Cloutier his first bracelet since 2005.
Day 3 should crown a champion and play resumes on Friday at 12 noon. Click here for all your PokerNews live updates.
Event #42: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed Championship
Short-handed poker continued at the Rio yesterday as well, and after two days of play in Event #42 it is Charlie Carrel leading the remaining 24 players with 1,500,000. While excelling online and on other tours, Carrel is still seeking his first WSOP bracelet. Rounding out the top five are Albert Daher (1,418,000), Chi Zhang (1,347,000), Tommy Chen (1,191,000) and Dmitry Yurasov (1,111,000).
Others still remaining include Connor Drinan (822,000), Dario Sammartino (755,000), Sam Stein (690,000), Eric Wasserson (600,000), Kristen Bicknell (504,000) and Steven Iglesias (160,000). The last player standing will win $775,923 and the gold bracelet.
With several big names still alive and looking for a bracelet, this should be an exciting one to follow once play resumes at 2 p.m. today. PokerNews will be there, of course, with live updates all day and night.
Event #43: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em SHOOTOUT
Another "shootout" event got going yesterday, drawing a big field of 1,025. The last player standing will take home a payday of $257,764. Meanwhile all 120 players returning for today's Day 2 are guaranteed a cash of $4,837.
Some of those remaining in the Day 2 field include 2016 November Niners Vojtech Ruzicka and Kenny Hallaert, 2011 November Niner Martin Staszko, and bracelet winners Kevin MacPhee, Carlos Mortensen, Kevin Eyster, Kyle Cartwright and Chris Moorman. PokerNews Strategy contributor Jonathan Little and Daniel Strelitz are also among those still alive and seeking a first bracelet.
Just as a reminder, in a shootout the goal is to win your table and then the next and keep advancing. A perfect record and you're the champ. Who will outwit, outplay, and outlast all the rest? Follow PokerNews' live updates to find out.
Event #44: $3,000 H.O.R.S.E.
This race began on Thursday and Andre Akkari is the chip leader after Day 1 with 110,100. Following him in the counts are Christopher Sensoli (91,200) and Nikolay Fal (90,500).
The day started with 399 entries from which 156 remain. The event has a total prize pool of just over $1 million, and the winner will take home $256,226 and the bracelet.
Among the many notables returning for the second day are Scotty Nguyen (84,300), Daniel Negreanu (44,900), James Obst (62,100), Ben Yu (44,900), Jason Mercier (76,400), Natasha Mercier (21,000), Phil Hellmuth (36,100), Jeff Madsen (81,700) and Chris Bjorin (61,600).
Join PokerNews when the tournament resumes on Friday at 2 p.m. Click here for all the live updates.
Event #45: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em
This midpoint buy-in of poker's classic game returns to the Rio this weekend, which should bring out a nice turnout and build a big prize pool. There's a catch to this one, however. It's a two-day event with only 30-minute levels, so expect some fast-paced, aggressive play throughout.
Ankush Mandavia is the reigning champion in this event. He topped a 524-player field in this one a year ago to claim the bracelet and a $548,139 first prize.
Play gets underway at 11 a.m. on Friday and PokerNews has you covered with all the live updates.
Event #46: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better
Omaha fans should turn out en masse for this lower buy-in split-pot fun fest. David Nowakowski took down this one last year, a tournament that featured 732 players and near a $1 million prize pool, earning his first bracelet and biggest win of his career ($203,113).
Play gets underway at 3 p.m. and PokerNews will have it covered.
Event #19C: THE GIANT - $365 No-Limit Hold'em
Another bargain poker event new to the WSOP schedule, the third leg of the Giant gets started on Friday. This $365 NLHE event features weekly Friday night flights on June 9, 16, 23, 30 and July 7 at 7 p.m.
Each opening flight plays deep into the money and remaining players are paid out an amount equivalent to the last paid place of the night. Players' chips are bagged and the remaining prize pool carried over to Day 2 with a cumulative restart coming July 8. Players are allowed unlimited re-entries during each Day 1 flight.
PokerNews will pick back up coverage of Event #19 starting at 7 p.m. tonight, so check in then for continuing live updates as players continue to fire that one.
