Kakon And Rotholz Bag Big After Day 1 Of Razz Championship; Negreanu, Friedman And Baker Make It Through
After 10 levels of play, 59 players found bags in WSOP Event #79: $10,000 Razz Championship at Bally's and Paris Las Vegas. A total of 125 fired on Day 1 of this event and with registration open until the start of play on Day 2 Wednesday, that number could climb a bit more.
Hanging at the top of the chip counts with 308,000 is bracelet winner William Kakon. Kakon won his bracelet in $1,500 Limit Hold’em in 2015 for $196,055. In this series, Kakon has seen two cashes in Pot-Limit Omaha events and it seems has branched out into more mixed games. He is sitting atop the charts and like Daniel Strelitz just days ago, put himself in position to try to earn his second bracelet.
Another massive stack at the end of the day is Hal Rotholz, who ended the day with 299,000. Rotholz is a regular in the WSOP mixed games, having made two final tables at the WSOP last year. He has yet to win his first bracelet, however, and will try to make his first a Razz one.
Event #79: $10,000 Razz Championship Top 10 Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | William Kakon | Morocco | 308,500 |
| 2 | Hal Rotholz | United States | 299,000 |
| 3 | Brian Hastings | United States | 263,000 |
| 4 | Kyle Dilschneider | United States | 247,000 |
| 5 | Daniel Negreanu | Canada | 240,000 |
| 6 | Amir Nematinia | United States | 228,500 |
| 7 | Perry Friedman | United States | 228,000 |
| 8 | Adam Friedman | United States | 214,000 |
| 9 | David Bach | United States | 210,500 |
| 10 | Yueqi Zhu | United States | 198,500 |
Others making it through include bracelet winners Daniel Negreanu (240,000), Adam Friedman (214,000), David “ODB” Baker (174,500), Yuri Dzivielevski (144,500), and winner of the $1,500 Razz Daniel Strelitz (66,500).
Defending champion Benny Glaser (21,000) made it through the day on a short stack while sitting at the same table as Phil Hellmuth (12,500), both of whom were involved in some colorful encounters throughout the day. Hellmuth won this event during the 2015 WSOP and has a second Razz bracelet from the 2012 WSOP in the $2,500 Razz event, so these two were bound to clash.
Players who saw their hopes for a second day diminish included Phil Hui, Shaun Deeb, Frank Kassela, Matt Glantz, Carol Fuchs, Maria Ho, and Mike “The Mouth” Matusow. Registration for this tournament remains open until the start of Day 2.
Players will return on July 13th at 2 p.m. to the Paris Purple section. Level 11 will be the first level of the day with a 1,000 ante, 1,000 bring-in, and limits at 4,000-8,000. Levels will last 90 minutes with 15-minute breaks after each level. A 60-minute dinner break will occur after Level 14 ( ~8:30 p.m.) with play ending after Level 17. Stay tuned to PokerNews for all updates regarding the World Series of Poker.