Selbst, Lindgren, Deeb Chipleaders At Start Of Day 2
Event #35 was the first time a six-handed PLO event graced the World Series of Poker Schedule, but judging by the turnout and the quality of the names at the top, we can assume it is a big hit. The event drew an impressive 507 entrants, creating a prizepool of $2,382,900 and a humongous $619,575 first prize.
We are down to 105 from our starting 507, and of those remaining, there are a multitude of big names at the top. Team PokerStars Pro (USA) Vanessa Selbst (who won a PLO bracelet in 2008) was our huge overnight chip leader with 250,300, over 40,000 more than second place Eric Lindgren (208,000). Also near the top are Shaun Deeb (195,000), EPT champion Mike "timex" McDonald (181,800), 2011 LAPC champ Gregory Brooks (147,000)
While Selbst and company finished the day out strong, plenty of big names also fell on Day 1. Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Carlos Mortensen, Galen Hall, Sammy Farha, Barry Greenstein, Eric Baldwin, Joe Cada, Robert Williamson, Yevgeniy Timoshenko, Scott Seiver, and Daniel Negreanu (who at one point held the chip lead) amongst others will not be joining us here at the start of Day 2.
Other pros who successfully navigated the field and will start here on Day 2 are David “Devilfish” Ulliott (125,000), Joe Hachem (55,000), Brian Rast (105,500), Layne Flack (93,500), Andy Seth (101,800), Jeff Lisandro (62,800), and Jason Mercier (56,800). Also making it through here to Day 2 were Kevin Boudreau and Chance Kornuth, the runner-up and winner of last year’s $5,000 PLO event (though that one was played nine handed), who happened to play at the same table much of the day.
Another name to watch is the man, the myth, the legend himself, Tom "durrrr" Dwan. Dwan had and lost the chip lead at least three times yesterday and his crazy, aggressive, play-every-hand-no-matter-what style will make him a fun and interesting player to watch here on Day 2. If he runs well, he may be our chip leader within a few hours, but if not, he could very well be out within minutes. Either way, he is someone we will definitely have our eyes on as he looks to make his first deep run of this year's WSOP.
The remaining field will begin playing here at 2:30 PM PST. We’ll surely hit the money and most likely come close to a final table of six. Join us then as the PokerNews Live Reporting Team brings you all the action, hands, and eliminations from the $5,000 PLO/Six-Handed Event! See you there.