Brad Ruben Goes for Fourth Bracelet; Jaswinder Lally Seeks to Go Back-to-Back
Play has concluded on Day 2 of Event #4: $1,500 Dealer’s Choice, and at the end of 10 hour-long levels, it is Brad Ruben who leads the 14 surviving players into the final day.
The three-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner will go for a fourth WSOP victory on Friday in a commanding chip position with 2,102,000 chips. Only Jorge Walker (1,420,000), who was at the top of the chip counts for much of the day, has even half the number of chips as Ruben.
Event #4: $1,500 Dealer's Choice Top 10 Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brad Ruben | United States | 2,102,000 |
| 2 | Jorge Walker | United States | 1,420,000 |
| 3 | Alfred Atamian | United States | 1,004,000 |
| 4 | Ben Yu | United States | 848,000 |
| 5 | Naoya Kihara | Japan | 808,000 |
| 6 | Charles Bransford | United States | 650,000 |
| 7 | Jaswinder Lally | Canada | 565,000 |
| 8 | Christoper Roman | United States | 552,000 |
| 9 | Dean Joe | United States | 539,000 |
| 10 | Norman Chad | United States | 526,000 |
But Ruben’s path to further WSOP glory won’t be easy. Bracelet winners Ben Yu (848,000), Naoya Kihara (808,000), Marco Johnson (521,000), and Brian Rast (466,000) are also still alive looking to add another piece of jewelry to their collection.
Poker commentator Norman Chad rode a short-stack for much of the day before securing a quadruple-up during the final level and made it through Day 2 with 526,000 as he seeks his second appearance at a WSOP final table.
Then there is Jaswinder Lally, the defending champion of this event, who secured a massive double-up earlier in the day to climb to the top of the leaderboard and ended with 565,000.
Day 2 Action
Day 2 began with 123 survivors from a starting field of 430. John Racener, Mike Matusow, and Brandon Shack-Harris all hit the rail before the money was reached. Two-time bracelet winner Nathan Gamble was eliminated during hand-for-hand play, but a recount showed he finished in 65th place, the first player to be in the money.
From there, Todd Brunson (44th), former WSOP Player of the Year Robert Campbell (42nd), and John Monnette (36th) would all find themselves making the walk over to the payout cage. Adam Friedman, the three-time defending champion of the $10,000 version of this event, was well on his way to making it to Day 3 before being eliminated on the last hand of the night by Walker.
The remaining players will return tomorrow at 2 p.m. local time inside the Bally’s Event Center to play down to a champion.
PokerNews will be by the table providing all the action until a new WSOP bracelet winner is crowned.