Ready, Set... Draw! Day 1 of the Deuce Awaits
Welcome to Event #59: $2,500 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball, one of the last preliminary bracelet events on the 2013 WSOP schedule. We'll be seeing no flops in this one, but rather lots of discards and draws, pat and broken hands, and small and big bets as we discover together over the next three days who will be the next WSOP bracelet winner.
Randy Ohel returns as the defending champion in this event after topping a field of 228 a year ago to earn the victory and $145,247 first prize.
Last year's tourney ended with a dramatic and lengthy heads-up battle that saw the lead change more than a dozen times between Ohel and runner-up Benjamin Lazer following the bustout of David "ODB" Baker in third. At one point Lazer had built a stack of about 1.6 million while Ohel was down to just over 100,000, but the latter managed to claw all of the way back to earn his first career bracelet.
Whether or not this year's version of "the deuce" produces similar drama remains to be seen. We do, however, expect a similarly-sized tournament with many of poker's elite likely taking a shot at the last draw event on the schedule. Play begins at 5 p.m. local time, with the schedule calling for eight one-hour levels to play out tonight. Be sure to return here to PokerNews then for start-to-finish coverage of Event #59.
As we await today's initial deals and draws, here's Kristy Arnett with an update of all that's happening currently WSOP-wise at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino: