Obst Leads Final 32, Defending Champ Cates Terminated in Poker Players Championship
Following six more levels of high-stakes and high-quality mixed game poker, James Obst will take the chip lead into Day 3 of the World Series of Poker $50,000 Poker Players Championship.
Obst, who took time away from poker to pursue a career in tennis but has made a triumphant return to the WSOP, will bring 2,972,000 chips into Day 3, leading the final 32 players who bagged at night’s end.
Just behind Obst is Daniel Alaei, who entered at the start of Day 2 and amassed 2,064,000 chips, while Phil Ivey bagged the third largest stack of 1,655,000, and Day 1 chip leader Josh Arieh sits not far behind them in sixth with 1,365,000 chips.
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | James Obst | Australia | 2,972,000 |
| 2 | Daniel Alaei | United States | 2,064,000 |
| 3 | Phil Ivey | United States | 1,655,000 |
| 4 | Talal Shakerchi | United Kingdom | 1,598,000 |
| 5 | Johannes Becker | Germany | 1,387,000 |
| 6 | Josh Arieh | United States | 1,365,000 |
| 7 | Brian Rast | United States | 1,306,000 |
| 8 | Lyle Berman | United States | 1,268,000 |
| 9 | Dzmitry Urbanovich | Poland | 1,196,000 |
| 10 | Nacho Barbero | Argentina | 1,158,000 |
A total of 73 players started the day with 26 more entering through three levels and the dinner break, before registration closed at about 7:40 p.m. local time. The 99 total players created a final prize pool of $4,727,250 that will see 15 get paid at least $84,255, with the winner receiving $1,324,747, a WSOP gold bracelet, and the grandest prize in all of mixed games, the Chip Reese Memorial trophy.
One player who won’t be back Tuesday is defending champion Dan Cates, who battled back from taking a severe hit from Obst at the end of Level 10, but eventually fell for good midway through the final level of the day versus Alaei, who made a wheel against him in Limit 2-7 Triple Draw.
Among others that busted throughout the day were former WSOP Player of the Year recipients Daniel Zack and Shaun Deeb. Hall of Famer Chris Moneymaker’s first foray into the PPC ended on Day 2, as did fellow Hall of Famer Jen Harman.
A litany of multi-time bracelet winners also fell including Brian Yoon, Anthony Zinno, David "ODB" Baker, and Julien Martini.
Headlining some of the other players who will return for Day 3 is Phil Hellmuth, who had a rollercoaster day after entering at the start of Level 9.
Early in his day, he was on the wrong end of what he called the “greatest call anyone’s made against him all summer” by Ben Yu, but after a few swings along the way, the 16-time bracelet winner ended the night in the middle of the pack with 933,000 chips.
Plenty more big names will be joining Hellmuth in the quest to build up their stack on Day 3 including former PPC champions Matthew Ashton (1,068,000) and Elior Sion (934,000), along with 2021 WSOP Main Event Champion Koray Aldemir who battled back from a very short stack to bag 645,000.
The final 32 players will return to the Horseshoe Event Center at 1 p.m. local time on June 20 to play six more levels, which will likely take them into the money.
Stay with PokerNews for our continued coverage from the tournament floor as the Poker Players Championship rolls on toward crowning a champion here at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.