“Miami” John Cernuto has won three, but the last was more than 20 years ago. Kyle Cartwright and Nick Kost both won in 2014. Poker star turned tennis player turned back to poker star James Obst won in 2017; Giuseppe Pantaleo earned his in the tag team event in 2018. Jim Collopy was the most recent winner, adding his second just two years ago.
These players have already experienced World Series of Poker glory and captured a coveted gold bracelet. Today, when the final day of Event #17: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better begins at 1 p.m. local time, they and 27 others will be looking to put their name in the poker spotlight.
Just 33 players out of a record-setting field of 1,143 have made it through the first two days and given themselves a chance to win the bracelet and $262,542. They’re all looking up at Kyle Burnside, who experienced a fruitful final level last night on his way to bagging up 2,345,000. Cartwright isn’t far behind with 2,310,000, while Erik Perry (1,935,000), Eric Varnado (1,760,000), and Qinghai Pan (1,680,000) round out the top five.
Day 3 Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|
| 1 | Kyle Burnside | United States | 2,345,000 | 59 |
| 2 | Kyle Cartwright | United States | 2,310,000 | 58 |
| 3 | Erik Perry | United States | 1,935,000 | 48 |
| 4 | Eric Varnado | United States | 1,750,000 | 44 |
| 5 | Qinghai Pan | United States | 1,680,000 | 42 |
| 6 | Ryan Scully | United States | 1,300,000 | 33 |
| 7 | Jim Collopy | United States | 1,275,000 | 32 |
| 8 | Tomomitsu Ono | Japan | 1,270,000 | 32 |
| 9 | Jeffrey Mitseff | United States | 1,215,000 | 30 |
| 10 | Mark Bixler | United States | 1,205,000 | 30 |
Collopy (1,275,000), Pantaleo (1,175,000), Obst (720,000), Cernuto (635,000), and Kost (495,000) are the other past bracelet winners coming into Day 3. For others, though, today is the opportunity every poker player dreams of. They include Ryan Scully (1,300,000), Ben Vidal (980,000), and the excitable Mike Thorpe (600,000).
The action begins inside the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas on Level 26, with blinds of 20,000-40,000 and 40,000-80,000 limits. The plan for today is to play down to the final table and an eventual champion.
The field was once massive. One by one, more than 1,100 have already had to walk away in disappointment. Just these 33 remain; one of them will be the newest WSOP champion.
Stay tuned throughout the day as PokerNews provides live updates as the field whittles down toward the final table until there is only one player standing in the spotlight.
Tags:
Ben VidalEric VarnadoErik PerryGiuseppe PantaleoJames ObstJim CollopyJohn CernutoKyle BurnsideKyle CartwrightMike ThorpeNick KostQinghai PanRyan Scully
