Friedman Begins Quest for Four in a Row in $10,000 Dealer’s Choice
The first Championship event of the 53rd World Series of Poker begins Sunday, and it couldn’t be a higher profile tournament.
All eyes in poker's mixed-game community will be on Event #10: $10,000 Dealer's Choice 6-Handed Championship, also now affectionately known as the “Adam Friedman Classic”.
The highly-respected mixed game wizard has won each of the last three Dealer's Choice Championships, defeating a who’s who of the poker world along the way to earning over $850,000 with his victories.
The Adam Friedman Three-peat
| YEAR | CHAMPION | RUNNER-UP | ENTRANTS | 1ST PRIZE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Adam Friedman | Phil Hellmuth | 93 | $248,350 |
| 2019 | Adam Friedman | Shaun Deeb | 122 | $312,417 |
| 2018 | Adam Friedman | Stuart Rutter | 111 | $293,275 |
*Finished 5th in 2015 ($63,277)
Who Can Stop Friedman?
This event brings out the absolute best of poker’s mixed game players, and one who has returned to the WSOP in full force so far this year is Poker Hall of Famer, Phil Ivey. The 10-time bracelet winner could be among the stacked field looking to stop a Freidman four-peat.
Recent runners-up Phil Hellmuth and Shaun Deeb are certain to be in the field, as well as a host of other superstars and multi-time bracelet winners.
Four-time bracelet winner Brad Ruben won the $1,500 Dealer's Choice event earlier this week, in which Friedman finished 15th.
Jaswinder Lally was runner-up to Ruben and is the 2021 champion of the $1,500 event. Could we see him take a shot at making a run in today’s championship event?
What to Expect
The players will have a variety of 20 flop, stud, and draw games to choose from each orbit, with ten 60-minute levels scheduled for Day 1 and 15-minute breaks slotted in after every two levels.
The event is a freezeout, and the field will begin with 60,000 chips with late registration open until the beginning of Day 2, which will see seven 90-minute levels played.
Action kicks off at 3 p.m. local time in the Paris Ballroom and the PokerNews live reporting team will have all the action from this and every event from the WSOP’s new home at Bally’s and Paris Las Vegas.