2021 WSOP Day 34: Ryan Leng Leads Final 10 in the $50K PPC

Matthew Pitt
Senior Editor
5 min read
Ryan Leng

The 2021 World Series of Poker (WSOP) may be 34 days into its schedule but the action and drama is showing zero signs of slowing down. The 34th day of the 2021 WSOP saw two events conclude, and five other progress towards their finales.

Jean-Luc Adam won Event #58: $1,000 Super Seniors No-Limit Hold'em for his first bracelet and $255,623, while Team Ruter, made up of Mike Ruter and Samy Dighlwai, triumphed in the $1,000 Tag Team event.

Continue reading to discover what else went down in Las Vegas on November 2.

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Leng Leads the $50,000 Poker Players Championship

Ryan Leng
Ryan Leng

Only ten players remain in the hunt for the Chip Reese Memorial Trophy and the bracelet that comes with winning the $50,000 Poker Players Championship. There is also the not-so-small matter of a top prize worth $954,020, but the players in this event are in it for more than the money.

Thirty-five players returned to the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino on November 2 but only ten had chips in front of them when the curtain came down on Day 3 proceedings. Ryan Leng, who won his third WSOP bracelet earlier in the series, leads the way into Day 4. Leng bagged up 4,500,000 chips and enjoys a substantial lead over the other nine players.

Josh Arieh (3,025,000) is Leng's closest rival in terms of chips. Dan "Jungleman" Cates (2,310,000) completes the podium.

The rest of a the field is stacked with talent and bracelets, as you would expect from such a prestigious event. Chris Brewer (2,025,000), Eli Elezra (1,880,000), Matt Glantz (1,575,000), and Nick Schulman (1,280,000) each have seven-figure stacks.

Rounding out the chip counts are Paul Volpe (900,000), GGPoker ambassador Daniel Negreanu (780,000), and Mike Wattel (670,000).

Play resumes at 2:00 p.m. local time on November 3, and PokerNews' live reporting team will be with you every step of the way.

Event #60: $50,000 Poker Players Championship Chip Counts

PlacePlayerCountryChips
1Ryan LengUnited States4,500,000
2Josh AriehUnited States3,025,000
3Dan CatesUnited States2,310,000
4Chris BrewerUnited States2,025,000
5Eli ElezraIsrael1,880,000
6Matt GlantzUnited States1,575,000
7Nick SchulmanUnited States1,280,000
8Paul VolpeUnited States900,000
9Daniel NegreanuCanada780,000
10Mike WattelUnited States670,000

Follow all the action from the $50,000 Poker Players Championship

Perry Ernest Top The $600 Deepstack Championship Counts

Perry Ernest
Perry Ernest

A bumper field of 3,923 players bought into Event #61: $600 Deepstack Championship on Day 1 and only 448 progressed to Day 2. The second day took place on November 2 and saw the field whittled further to only 40 players.

Perry Ernest is the man to catch going into Day 3 courtesy of having the welcomed problem of finding a way to fit 10,500,000 chips into an overnight bag. Ernest's stack is the only one weighing in at eight figures, or 101 big blinds in old money.

Ernst won a monster-sized pot midway through Day 2 when he clashed with Terry Fleischer, before finding aces when Tanya Kirk held kings. He will be hoping he has not used up all his luck too soon.

Only two former WSOP champions have chips in front of them. Barry Shulman (2,425,000) and Mark Seif (950,000) are both looking for their third career bracelets.

Return to PokerNews from 12:00 p.m. on November 3 as the field plays down to the final five seats.

Event #61: $600 Deepstack Championship Top 10 Chip Counts

PlacePlayerCountryChips
1Perry ErnestUnited States10,500,000
2Sami RustonUnited States7,150,000
3Marc RangelUnited States6,800,000
4Richard DixonUnited States6,430,000
5Edgardo RosarioUnited States5,859,000
6Jean Francois AlexandreCanada5,480,000
7Nicolas De BariArgentina5,100,000
8Ronald SluckerUnited States5,030,000
9Fernando Viana Da CostaBrazil5,000,000
10Rubin ChappellUnited States4,400,000

Check out all the action from the $600 Deepstack Championship

Kaplan Comes Out On Top in the $1,500 PLO8 Event

Matthew Kaplan
Matthew Kaplan

The second day of Event #62: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better saw 100 of the returning 113 players bust before day's end. When the dust settled in the tournament area, it became clear Matthew Kaplan held the overnight chip lead.

Kaplan has already cashed three times at the 2021 WSOP and is now on course to bag himself his first bracelet. However, he will not have matters his own way because there are some very talented players in the chasing pack.

Kevin Gerhart is one of them. Gerhart (2,900,000) has three WSOP bracelets in his trophy cabinet and we would not bet against him securing a fourth.

Also, you cannot write of the chances of Dustin Dirksen (2,400,000), Roman Hrabec (1,800,000), or Dylan Wilkerson (1,240,000) either. Indeed, all the players through to Day 3 have made it this far on merit and would make a worthy champion.

Tune into PokerNews from 2:00 p.m. on November 3 to discover which of the players gets their hands on the tournament's bracelet and the $186,789 top prize.

Event #62: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Top 10 Chip Counts

PlacePlayerCountryChips
1Matthew KaplanUnited States3,145,000
2Kevin GerhartUnited States2,900,000
3Dustin DirksenUnited States2,400,000
4Roman HrabecCzech Republic1,800,000
5Sterling LopezUnited States1,350,000
6Dylan WilkersonUnited States1,240,000
7Tamon NakamuraJapan1,145,000
8Alexandr OrlovUnited States1,015,000
9Bryant BustamanteUnited States805,000
10Michael TrivettUnited States730,000

Who will win the $1,500 PLO 8 event? Find out here.

Moon Shines Bright Over Salute to Warriors Field

John Song
John Song is third in chips at the restart

Event #63: $500 Salute to Warriors saw 1,738 players buy in but only 169 of them managed to navigate their way through the scheduled 17 levels. The prize pool weighs in at $712,580, and almost $70,000 was raised for the United Services Organization (USO) and other military-related charities.

Andrew Moon rose to the top of the chip counts on Day 1. His 1,274,000 stack being the only one over a million chips. Taylor Pollard (866,000) and John Song (711,000) make up the top three.

Alan Percel (580,000) already has a bracelet to his name, and has done his chances of winning another no harm at all by bagging up a top ten stack.

Others to look out for on Day 2 include Jake Schwartz (534,000), Erik Cajelais (353,000), Benjamin Moon (229,000), Adrian Buckley (136,000), and Mike Brodsky (206,000), the latter pledging any winnings to charity.

Eighteen 40-minute levels are scheduled to start from 12:00 p.m. on November 3 in the Amazon Room of the Rio. Join us then for all the action from this exciting event.

Event #63: $500 Salute to Warriors Top 10 Chip Counts

PlacePlayerCountryChips
1Andrew MoonUnited States1,274,000
2Taylor PollardUnited States866,000
3John SongUnited States711,000
4Nicholas VerderamoUnited States653,000
5Senthuran VijayaratnamCanada629,000
6Terry WheelerUnited States617,000
7Kyle BesawUnited States584,000
8Alan PercalUnited States580,000
9Marty ZabibUnited States557,000
10Arnaldo GordonUnited States536,000

Find all the Salute to Warriors updates by clicking here.

Prociak Leads From Astedt in the $5K PLO/NLHE Mix

David Prociak
David Porociak

Most poker players tend to specialize in either No-Limit Hold'em or Pot-Limit Omaha, but the 579 players who bought into Event #64: $5,000 Mixed No-Limit Hold'em/Pot-Limit Omaha are a dab hand at both.

Only 49 starters made it through to the second day, and nobody accumulated more chips than David Prociak (2,405,000). Prociak won his bracelet in a Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo event in 2016, has a shade over one million more chips than anyone else in the field.

Swedish online poker legend Niklas Astedt (1,345,000) returns to the action in second place, while Finnish grinder Joni Jouhkimainen (1,215,000) is most definitely in contention.

Six returnees are looking to add to their collection of poker jewelry. Tommy Le (1,050,000) already has two bracelets on his wrists. Barak Wisbrod (865,000), Jason Somerville (690,000), Daniel Zack (530,000), John Racener (415,000), and Alan Sternberg (310,000) being the other former champs in the field.

Play resumes at 2:00 p.m. on November 3 and the tournament will play down to a winner. Keep up-to-date with all the action from the final day right here at PokerNews.

Event #64: $5,000 Mixed No-Limit Hold'em/Pot-Limit Omaha

PlacePlayerCountryChips
1David ProciakUnited States2,405,000
2Niklas AstedtSweden1,345,000
3Joni JouhkimainenFinland1,215,000
4Greg DyerUnited States1,175,000
5Tommy LeUnited States1,050,000
6Oliver BoschAustria1,020,000
7Uri ReichensteinIsrael1,010,000
8Shahar LeviIsrael945,000
9Barak WisbrodIsrael865,000
10Corey ZedoUnited States785,000

Relive all the Day 1 action, and feast your eyes on all future updates

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Matthew Pitt
Senior Editor

Matthew Pitt hails from Leeds, West Yorkshire, in the United Kingdom, and has worked in the poker industry since 2008, and worked for PokerNews since 2010. In September 2010, he became the editor of PokerNews. Matthew stepped away from live reporting duties in 2015, and now concentrates on his role of Senior Editor for the PokerNews.

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