Jason Duong and David "ODB" Baker All Smiles as Day 2 of the $1,500 Limit Event Concludes
Big-name players fell to the wayside on Day 2 of Event #7: $1,500 Limit Hold'em at the 2023 World Series of Poker. However, David "ODB" Baker, winner of two WSOP bracelets including the 2019 World Series of Poker $1,500 Limit Hold'em bracelet, and relative unknown Jason Duong, slowly but inexorably built chip stacks to put them in great shape to make the final table when play resumes on Day 3.
Baker flew under the radar for much of Day 2, but seemed to tip the poker table toward him, causing all his opponents' chips to slide into his stack. One memorable hand of the day involved Baker in a huge pot where he rivered trip fours, besting Lonnie Price's flopped aces.
Day 2 began at 2:00 p.m. local time with 169 returning players. They were playing for a piece of the $703,545 prize pool, paid to the top 80 finishers.
Fellow WSOP bracelet winner, Jason Gola, will join Baker on Day 3, while Day 1 chip leader Raul Celaya maintained a top ten stack. Another compelling story on the day was when Rostyslav Sabishchenko, who recently finished third in the WSOP online Limit Hold'em Championship, embodied the classic poker saying "a chip and a chair," turning one big blind into 27 (1,075,000).
Also moving on to Day 3 is Kerry Welsh, who has cashed in this event three out of four years, Matthew Dames, who has five WSOP limit cashes, and WSOP veterans Scott Eskenazi, John Armbrust, Chairud Vangchailued, and WSOP.com online pro Omar Mehmood.
The field proved extremely competitive with many well-known names cashing, including 2015 WSOP Main Event winner Joe McKeehen and WSOP bracelet winners Nick Schulman, Patrick Leonard, Justin Pechie, Japanese mixed-game specialist Ruiko Mamiya, and Yueqi Zhu, who finished third in this event last year.
Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Bets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jason Duong | Canada | 1,615,200 | 20 |
| 2 | David "ODB" Baker | United States | 1,260,000 | 16 |
| 3 | John Mullaney | United States | 1,225,000 | 15 |
| 4 | Kerry Welsh | United States | 1,185,000 | 15 |
| 5 | Matthew Dames | United States | 1,175,000 | 15 |
| 6 | Rostyslav Sabishchenko | Ukraine | 1,075,000 | 13 |
| 7 | Raul Celaya | United States | 900,000 | 11 |
| 8 | Scott Eskenazi | United States | 785,000 | 10 |
| 9 | Paul Dockal | United States | 775,000 | 10 |
| 10 | John Armbrust | United States | 735,000 | 9 |
The remaining 17 players have locked up at least $4,843, but all eyes will be on the $146,835 top prize and the coveted WSOP bracelet when play resumes. Players will return at 1 p.m. PDT for the finale and play down to the final table, which will be streamed on PokerGO's YouTube channel starting at 5pm.
Stay tuned to PokerNews for all the updates from Day 3 of the $1,500 Limit Hold'em event, when a new WSOP champion will be crowned at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.