Negreanu, Matusow and Racener Chasing Bracelet as 16 Remain in Event #22: $1,500 Eight-Game Mix
There were 134 players who returned for Day 2 of Event #22: $1,500 Eight-Game Mix and at the end of the day, only 16 hopefuls remained. Leading the way at the end of play on Day 2 was Nicholas Seiken who bagged up 360,000 chips. Seiken is looking to add to his 12 World Series of Poker cashes with another here in this event, where he also seeks his first bracelet.
Action was fast and furious as chip leader Jon Turner quickly started adding to his stack. But chips seemed to fly quickly in this volatile mix of games as the chip lead changed hands several times before the money bubble broke with 73 players remaining.
That unfortunate bubble boy was Joseph Haddad who got his money in a three-way pot in Razz. Haddad was all in against Patrice Biton and Mikko Hirovonen but ended up making a jack-ten low against Biton’s seven-five low to be sent home as the last player not to make any more. Along with Haddad, some other players who didn’t make it to the cash include Maria Ho, Allen Kessler, Scott Bohlman, Ivo Donev, Svetlana Gromenkova, Jeff Madsen, Cliff Josephy, Jeff Lisandro, and David “Bakes” Baker, to name a few.
Once the bubble burst, players started flying off the shelves quicker than turkey on Thanksgiving. Some of those who made it into the money include Amnon Filippi (71st - $2,238), Benny Glaser (64th - $2,277), Jake Schwartz (57th - $2,277), Ylon Schwartz (54th - $2,394), Vladimir Shchemelev (45th - $2,598), Scott Seiver (34th - $3,349), Fabrice Soulier (30th - $3,972), and Dylan Linde (24th - $4,844). Turner made it into the cash as well, finishing 38th for $2,905.
Action tightened up towards the end of the night, but Valentin Vornicu remained very active with a stack that fluctuated up and down as the night progressed. Vornicu played in some of the biggest pots of the tournament but made a crucial misstep against Per Hildebrand in 2-7 Triple Draw late in the day. Vornicu opted to break an eighty-seven low against Hildebrand, who stood pat with a ninety-seven, and subsequently lost the hand. The 12-time WSOP Circuit Ring winner never recovered from that pot and was eliminated shortly after in 23rd place for $4,844. Among others to bust within the last few levels of play were Ben Yu (22nd - $4,844), James Obst (20th - $4,844), and Paul Sokoloff (18th - $6,072).
Daniel Negreanu was another player who had quite a tumultuous day. Just after the bubble burst, Negreanu was down to just 8,500 chips, which at the time was just over one big bet. He quickly doubled multiple times, twice through Scott Seiver, and never looked back. By the end of the night, he had built up a stack of 126,000 to bring into the final day of play.
Other notables returning tomorrow for the final day of play including Per Hildebrand (278,000), David Bach (263,000),John Racener (226,500), Anthony Zinno (198,000), Iori Yogo (97,500) and Mike Matusow (83,000), to name a few.
Action resumes at 2 p.m. local time where players will begin in Level 21 with betting limits at 10,000/20,000 and blinds of 2,500 and 5,000 in No-Limit and Pot-Limit games. PokerNews will return tomorrow as well to provide coverage for the remainder of this event, so don’t miss a thing.
