Event #88: $1,500 The Closer | 2023 World Series of Poker

07-16-2023 15:40 UTC-8

Dan Sindelar Eliminated in 26th Place ($24,060)

Roxanne Johnson

Level 34 : Blinds 200,000/400,000, 400,000 ante

Dan Sindelar was in the middle position and moved all in for 2,210,000 and the hijack Roongsak Griffeth also moved all in with the superior stack.

Dan Sindelar: A♥10♥
Roongsak Griffeth: J♥J♣

The board ran out with 6♣Q♦7♦2♥3♦ and Griffeth won with his pair of jacks and eliminated Sindelar.

Player	Chips	Progress
Roongsak Griffeth	7,000,000 150,000	150,000
Dan Sindelar	Busted

Tags: Dan Sindelar Roongsak Griffeth

07-16-2023 15:40 UTC-8

Agharazi Babayev Eliminated in 27th Place ($19,480)

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Ryan Lashmar

Level 34 : Blinds 200,000/400,000, 400,000 ante

Agharazi Babayev was all in and at risk preflop against Peter Hengsakul who had a covering stack.

Agharazi Babayev: 7♦7♥
Peter Hengsakul: A♦A♠

Babayev was drawing close to dead when Hengsakul hit a set on the Q♦A♣K♦ flop. He did not hit running quads on the 2♠ turn and J♣ river resulting in his elimination.

Player	Chips	Progress
Peter Hengsakul	20,800,000 9,800,000	9,800,000
Agharazi Babayev	Busted

07-16-2023 14:52 UTC-8

Baize Turns One Green Chip into Nearly Two Million

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Roxanne Johnson

Level 33 : Blinds 150,000/300,000, 300,000 ante

David Baize had one green chip left and Shaotong Chang was the only caller and happened to have aces A♣A♠. Baize blazed through those aces with his J♦7♥ on a board of 10♣9♦K♥8♣7♦ where he hit his straight to stay alive.

The next hand witnessed he was automatically all in on the big blind 225,000 and an early position player, Ryuta Ogawa raised to 525,000 and everyone else folded and he was heads up with the lucky Baize.

David Baize: K♥7♠
Ryuta Ogawa: A♣8♥

The board ran out (of course in favor of Baize) with 10♥4♥J♦5♥9♥ and Baize hit the flush on the river.

The very next hand Kharlin Sued was in late position and pushed all of his chips in except for one green chip and then laughed as he realized that he did not have enough now to keep one green chip due to the blinds going up. Sued was all in for 300,000. Lucky Baize also moved all in for his new stack of 650,000 and the big blind, Mihai Niste who had a massive stack declared, "I just want to call because this is my favorite hand" and so he did.

Kharlin Sued: J♦10♠
David Baize: K♣J♥
Mihai Niste: 6♣2♠

The board ran out J♠8♦A♦5♥2♣ and lucky Baize won again with his pair of jacks with a king kicker, Sued was knocked out of the tournament and Niste still has a big stack.

Player	Chips	Progress
Mihai Niste	4,000,000 -1,100,000	-1,100,000
Shaotong Chang	3,000,000 -1,100,000	-1,100,000
David Baize	1,900,000 1,600,000	1,600,000
Ryuta Ogawa	800,000 -900,000	-900,000
Kharlin Sued	Busted

Tags: David Baize Kharlin Sued Mihai Niste Ryuta Ogawa Shaotong Chang

07-16-2023 12:56 UTC-8

Hughes Gets the Knockout

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Roxanne Johnson

Level 29 : 60,000/120,000, 120,000 ante

The button raised all in for about 570,000 and Kyle Hughes also shoved his stack in for about 1,100,000 and the big blind folded.

Button: Q♥10♥
Kyle Hughes: A♠K♣

The board ran out with no sweat for Hughes K♠6♣4♠7♥4♦ and he instantly had a chip boost.

Player	Chips	Progress
Kyle Hughes	2,620,000 1,240,000	1,240,000

Tags: Kyle Hughes

07-16-2023 11:37 UTC-8

Levenberry Bets Every Street

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Alek Gillies

Level 27 : Blinds 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante

Ping Liu called from under the gun and Cuba Levenberry checked from the big blind.

The flop came 2♦6♣K♣, and Levenberry led out for 80,000. Liu found a call.

While the turn peeled the 6♥, Levenberry continued for 225,000. Liu took some time but made the call.

The river came the 2♠, and Levenberry fired for 375,000. After contemplating his decision, Liu laid it down for Levenberry to take the pot uncontested.

Player	Chips	Progress
Cuba Levenberry	3,330,000 1,730,000	1,730,000
Ping Liu	1,120,000 925,000	925,000

Tags: Cuba Levenberry Ping Liu

07-16-2023 11:26 UTC-8

Confusion Over Shove

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Roxanne Johnson

Level 27 : Blinds 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante

Preston McEwen raised to 650,000 and Nicholas Petitti pushed in one stack of chips and did not verbalize anything. The floor determined it was just a call and pushed back the remaining 80,000. McEwen held about 20,000 chips behind so neither player was all in preflop. The flop came 9♠K♦7♦ and Petitti pushed the rest of his stack in and McEwen snap called.

Preston McEwen: Q♣5♣
Nicholas Petitti: A♠6♠

The turn came the 4♣ and the river was the Q♦ and McEwen took the pot with his pair of queens and Petitti was left with a very small stack.

Player	Chips	Progress
Preston McEwen	2,800,000 1,685,000	1,685,000
Nicholas Petitti	60,000 -1,175,000	-1,175,000

Tags: Nicholas Petitti Preston McEwen

07-16-2023 09:48 UTC-8

Day 2 Prize Pool

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Alek Gillies

Level 24 : Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante

Day 2 Prize Pool

Place	Earnings (USD)	Place (Cont.)	Earnings (Cont.)
Place	Prize	Place (Cont.)	Prize (Cont.)
1	$606,810	14-17	$29,910
2	$376,420	18-26	$24,060
3	$284,030	27-35	$19,480
4	$215,650	36-44	$15,880
5	$164,750	45-53	$13,030
6	$126,660	54-62	$10,760
7	$100,120	63-71	$8,950
8	$76,300	72-80	$7,500
9	$59,790	81-89	$6,320
10-11	$47,160	90-98	$5,370
12-13	$37,437	99-153	$4,590

07-16-2023 09:27 UTC-8

A Steal for Cuba

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Alek Gillies

Level 23 : Blinds 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante

Everyone folded to Cuba Levenberry who raised to 75,000 from the button.

His opponents in the blind folded and the big blind showed 5♥8♣.

This is one of a few tournaments Levenberry has made the money at from the World Series of Poker. Other notable tournaments include cashing in the Main Event and his recent fourth place finish in Event #82: $3,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 6 Handed.

Player	Chips	Progress
Cuba Levenberry	1,600,000 -110,000	-110,000

Tags: Cuba Levenberry

07-16-2023 08:08 UTC-8

Two Flights Will Merge for Day 2 of Event #88: $1,500 The Closer

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Roxanne Johnson

Event #88: The Closer No-Limit Hold'em final day today is kicking off at 10:00 a.m. local time at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas. Day 1a and 1b were filled with action and plenty of big names came to play for one of the last bracelets of the 2023 World Series.

Only 258 players advanced from a total of 3,531 entrants over two starting flights. The total prize pool generated was $4,713,885. Players returning to Day 2 are already guaranteed $2,390.
The players will play down to a winner, reconvening at Horseshoe Ballroom Red section on Sunday, July 16th, at 10 a.m. local time.

Matthew Moore (1,750,000) and Chen Feng Wen (1,750,000) are the two Day 1b chip leaders heading into Day 2 but Benson Tang (2,185,000) and Alan Hamza (1,910,000) were the chip leaders from Day 1a and are the chip leaders overall heading into Day 2.

Top Ten Chip Counts

Rank	Name	Country	Chip Count	Big Blinds
1	Benson Tang	United States	2,185,000	73
2	Alan Hamza	United States	1,910,000	64
3	Jeffrey Tanouye	United States	1,865,000	62
4	Chen Feng Wen	China	1,750,000	58
5	Matthew Moore	United States	1,750,000	58
6	Cuba Levenberry	United States	1,710,000	57
7	David Baize	United States	1,700,000	57
8	Lisa Hamilton	United States	1,605,000	54
9	Faizal Khoja	United States	1,580,000	53
10	Mohommed Khan	United States	1,475,000	49

Returning players will be competing against the likes of Michael Noori (1,355,000), Preston McEwen (1,115,000), Chris Moorman (835,000), Ethan Yau (565,000), Niall Farrell (805,000), Pat Lyons (705,000), Ben Yu (535,000) and Kathy Liebert (130,000).

Today will be the final day and start at 10:00 a.m. PDT and will play until a winner is crowned. Levels will last 30 minutes each, with a 15-minute break scheduled after every fourth level and a dinner break prior to the start of the final table. Blinds will resume in Level 23 at 15,000/30,000 with a 30,000 big blind ante.

Be sure to keep it here for the rest of the week as PokerNews will be on hand to provide live updates from the floor on this and other remaining WSOP bracelet events.