Peltekci Leads Final 52, Four-Time Bracelet Winner Schneider Hot on His Heels
That's a wrap from the Amazon Room! After five 120-minute levels of play, Event #5: $10,000 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball Championship has bagged up for the evening. By the end of the night it was Mike Peltekci who led the final 52 players with a stack of 171,000. Bagging up close to Peltekci's stack is none other than four-time WSOP bracelet winner Tom Schneider with 155,300.
The day began with 120 hopefuls beginning their quest to claim the fifth gold bracelet of the 2014 WSOP. These 120 players generated a total prize pool of $1,128,000. The top 12 players in the field will make the money with first place earning an astounding $355,324.
Peltekci, who bagged up the chip lead for the evening, currently serves as Merit Casino President in Cyprus. PokerNews' own Rich Ryan sat down with Peltekci for an interview last August which can be read here. Close behind Peltecki is Schneider, who looks to claim his fifth WSOP bracelet. Each of Schneider's bracelet have been in non-hold'em games, but he's yet to add a draw game victory to that list. That could very well change by the end of this event, as Schneider sat toward the top of the chip counts for most of the day and continued his upward trend as the day closed out.
Also returning toward the top of the chip counts is reigning triple draw champion Eli Elezra. Elezra won his second bracelet in 2013's only triple draw event, beating Daniel Negreanu heads up for the gold. The two-time bracelet winner has experience on his side and will return for Day 2 with a healthy stack of 125,600.
This stacked field has dozens of familiar faces returning for Day 2. Notable names who sit among the final 52 include, but are not limited to 1996 WSOP Main Event champion Huck Seed (136,000), David Chiu (120,000), Scott Abrams (108,700), three-time bracelet winner Barry Greenstein (104,000), George Danzer (86,800), seven-time bracelet winner Billy Baxter (85,200), David Benyamine (71,700), Calvin Anderson (65,800), Freddy Deeb (62,500), Phil Galfond (38,300), Jason Mercier (37,200), Jennifer Harman (34,600), and poker legend Doyle Brunson (22,200).
While all of these players will come back for Day 2, others were not as fortunate. The day saw many notable names fall victim to their peers before the bag and tag occurred. Those to fall include Daniel Negreanu, Chino Rheem, Phil Ivey, Scott Seiver, Eric Wasserson, Phil Laak, Abe Mosseri, Allen Kessler, Mike Matusow, Layne Flack, and many more.
Play resumes at 2 p.m. on Friday in the Amazon Room. Be sure to tune back into PokerNews for all of the latest from the felt as this prestigious event plays down to a final table!