Ian O'Hara Leads Record-Smashing Field; Hellmuth Still Alive in Title Defense
Records are made to be broken, and Day 1 of Event #29: $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw smashed one today.
A field of 437 players eclipsed the previous tournament record by more than 140, creating a prize pool of $583,395. After 10 hour-long levels, just 122 remain of that original enormous field to chase the World Series of Poker bracelet and $127,809 first prize.
Leading the way is Ian O’Hara, who built up a chip lead of 294,500 by the end of the day. O'Hara has 39 career WSOP cashes and three final table appearances, but he has yet to win his elusive first bracelet. Brandon Shack-Harris (235,500) and 2007 Player of the Year Tom Schneider (207,500) also finished Day 1 among the largest stacks.
Event #29: $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Top 10 Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ian O'Hara | United States | 294,500 |
| 2 | Brandon Shack-Harris | United States | 235,500 |
| 3 | Jon Kyte | Norway | 213,500 |
| 4 | Tom Schneider | United States | 207,500 |
| 5 | Gabe Paul | United States | 189,500 |
| 6 | Michael Lang | United States | 185,000 |
| 7 | Ilkka Heikkila | Finland | 172,500 |
| 8 | Jonathan McGowan | United States | 172,000 |
| 9 | Yosif Nawabi | United States | 170,500 |
| 10 | Yanni Raz | United States | 166,000 |
Jake Schwartz, runner-up to Phil Hellmuth in this event a year ago, bagged up 157,500. Hellmuth, who had been sidelined by a bout with COVID-19 for the past week, returned to defend his title near the end of late registration and made it through with 121,500. Mike Matusow (149,500) and 2022 bracelet winner Alex Livingston (103,000) are also among those returning for Day 2.
The story of the day, though, might have been Yanni Raz. The former member of the Israeli army and Los Angeles real estate tycoon didn’t intend to play in this tournament. He didn’t even know how to play 2-7 Lowball. He thought he was buying in to a No-Limit Hold’em event and tried to get a refund when he realized his mistake. But, despite needing to re-enter, he finished the day with 166,000, looking to complete a remarkable run to the bracelet.
Plenty of notables saw their tournament end on Day 1, including Daniel Negreanu, Maria Ho, and reigning Main Event champion Koray Aldemir.
The remaining players will return at 2 p.m. local time tomorrow inside the Bally’s Event Center. They are scheduled to play until just five remain.
Stay tuned to PokerNews throughout the day as this star-studded field jostles to make the money and secure a seat at the final table.