Incredibly Tight Race Atop Final 19 in $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball
After ten levels of play on Day 2 of the 2022 World Series of Poker Event #29: $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw, the margin atop the leaderboard is whisker thin, with the top two stacks actually tied.
Yuri Dzivielevski and Jonathan McGowan ended play with equal 1,110,000 chip stacks, with Roland Israelashvili just a single chip behind with 1,105,000.
Not far behind them are Maxx Coleman (970,000) and Yosif Nawabi (960,000), who are separated by just 10,000 chips.
Top Ten End of Day 2 Chip Counts
| RANK | PLAYER | COUNTRY | CHIP COUNT |
|---|---|---|---|
| T-1 | Yuri Dzivielevski | Brazil | 1,110,000 |
| T-1 | Jonathan McGowan | United States | 1,110,000 |
| 3 | Roland Israelashvili | United States | 1,105,000 |
| 4 | Maxx Coleman | United States | 970,000 |
| 5 | Yosif Nawabi | United States | 960,000 |
| 6 | Drew Scott | United States | 785,000 |
| 7 | Tomas Szwarcberg | Argentina | 550,000 |
| 8 | Gabe Paul | United States | 545,000 |
| 9 | Kane Kalas | United States | 540,000 |
| 10 | Kenneth Po | United States | 485,000 |
A Wild Day of Action
These tight margins atop the leaderboard are a true indicator of just how competitive play was on Tuesday, a day which was originally supposed to play down to the final five players, but because of the record-smashing field size of 437 runners, with 122 of them returning for Day 2, that plan had to be altered. The final 19 players now return at 1:00 p.m. Wednesday to play down to a winner.
The bubble was surprisingly quick to burst in Level 14, as bodies flew out the door at a rapid pace with Nick Schulman part of a double bubble along with Neeraj Nayak busting on the same hand to split the 66th place payout.
After that, eliminations came quickly with big names such as Mike Matusow, Todd Brunson, Brandon Shack-Harris, Alex Livingston, and last year’s runner-up in this event, Jake Schwartz, cashing but not surviving the day.
The Champ Eliminated by an Unlikely Source
Two of the most noteworthy bustouts of the day came with unlikely stories attached to them.
First, before the bubble burst, popular YouTube vlogger Ryan Depaulo, who has been splashing in the WSOP mixed games for the first time in his career, eliminated defending champion Phil Hellmuth short of the money. Depaulo would go on to cash in 58th place for $2,417.
Yanni Raz, who mistakenly entered the tournament thinking it was a No-Limit Hold’em event, picked up the game of Lowball quickly enough to make a run to 28th place for $3,518.
Day 3 at 1:00 p.m. on June 15
As mentioned, 19 players still remain in search of the $127,809 first prize and the prestigious WSOP gold bracelet. They will continue to play 60-minute levels in the Bally’s Event Center until a champion is crowned.
PokerNews will be there for all the action, along with all your news and excitement from around the World Series of Poker at its new home of Bally’s and Paris Las Vegas.