WSOP What to Watch For: July 15, 2017
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As 1,084 survivors returned for Day 4, players were in the money but those numbers wouldn’t last long. Within only a few hours the field had been thinned to about 700 and more players began to fall throughout the day. When the action was over, only 297 remained, including 2016 November Niner Kenny Hallaert, who sits in third and looking for a second straight final table. Five other November Niners also remain in the field hoping for another deep run – Ben Lamb, Antoine Saout, Eoghan O'Dea, Chino Rheem, Tom Cannuli, Michael Ruane, Matt Giannetti, and Jake Balsiger.
Event #73: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em MAIN EVENT
Argentina’s Damian Salas leads the field with 4,678,000 chips, and has more than $900,000 in tournament winnings. He’s looking to parlay his success into his first WSOP bracelet. Following him is Sebastien Comel with 4,198,000 and Hallaert with 4,145,000. Comel has $458,000 in winnings and looking for his first major win.
The 35-year-old Belgian Hallaert may be the story of Day 4 as he attempts the Herculean feat of back-to-back Main Event final tables. In 2016, he took sixth for $1.5 million and had a good run this summer with eight cashes for more than $350,000. That total includes two final tables: third in Event #36: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed for $238,855; and seventh in Event #66: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em for $58,803. Despite having many close calls and $2.2 million in WSOP winnings, he is still looking for that first bracelet.
Other notables with above-average stacks include JP Kelly (3,923,000), Jonas Mackoff (3,076,000), Mickey Craft (2,389,000), Dario Sammartino (1,769,000), Martin Finger (1,658,000), Charlie Carrel (1,598,000), Matt Bond (1,488,000), Isaac Haxton (1,436,000), and 888 Ambassador Dominik Nitsche (1,404,000).
The winner will take home the gold bracelet and $8.15 million. Players return for Day 5 on Saturday at 11 a.m. ESPN2 will have the action from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and PokerGO beginning at 4 p.m. Keep it at PokerNews for all the updates as play builds to a final table.
Event #74: The Little One for One Drop No-Limit Hold'em
Not to be forgotten, this event played down the final 100 players after three starting flights and Day 2 action on Friday. The three-day event attracted 4,391 entries for a prize pool of $3.95 million. The winner will take home $528,316.
Leading the field going into Day 3 is Daniel Dizenzo with 1,345,000. Alexandros Papadopoulos from Greece is in second place with 1,200,000, while Luigi Knoppers from the Netherlands takes the third spot with 1,174,000.
Other notables who made it through to Day 3 include Matt Affleck (347,000), Dan Heimiller (629,000), Upeshka De Silva (127,000), and Chris Ferguson (163,000), who could retake the Player of the Year lead by the time this event is over.
The 2017 One Drop events were a huge success. In the Little One Drop, $487,401 was raised and every single person who entered the event contributed to the donation. Over three starting flights there were 4,391 entries, including some very generous multiple re-entries.
Day 3 kicks off again on Saturday at 2 p.m. and PokerNews will have all the action.
