Ermin Leads Star-Studded Field in Short-Deck High Roller
It was a wild day on the felt in Event #93: $10,000 Short Deck No-Limit Hold'em at the 2023 WSOP at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas that saw chips flying in all directions throughout the opening eight levels. There were a total of 84 entries recorded, and only 31 players bagged up chips to move on to Day 2.
After all the dust settled, it was Ivan Ermin who leads the star-studded field with 411,000 chips. Defending champion Shota Nakanishi busted his first bullet within the first two levels but re-entered and managed to spin his starting stack up to an impressive 346,000. Also among the leaders are Nobuaki Sasaki who bagged up 378,300 chips after some late-night heroics and five-time bracelet winner and poker HoFer John Juanda, who finished the night with 240,900 chips.
Martin Nielsen also will be returning tomorrow with a big stack, who at one point joked to the table that he had only cashed $405 the entire series. When tablemate Cary Katz asked him how that was possible, he said he min-cashed a $250 Daily Deepstack which received a round of laughs from the table. He has now bagged 346,800 in a $10,000 short-deck event in the hopes of getting his second cash of the summer!
Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ivan Ermin | Russia | 411,000 |
| 2 | Nobuaki Sasaki | Japan | 378,300 |
| 3 | Martin Nielsen | United Kingdom | 346,800 |
| 4 | Shota Nakanishi | Japan | 336,300 |
| 5 | Eric Wasserson | United States | 310,000 |
| 6 | Robert James | United States | 265,500 |
| 7 | John Juanda | Indonesia | 240,900 |
| 8 | Dong Chen | China | 238,800 |
| 9 | Dario Sammartino | Italy | 217,900 |
| 10 | Chris Brewer | United States | 213,700 |
The day kicked off at 2:00 p.m. local time with only 12 players taking their seats at the start of play, but that number quickly escalated. With each player getting three bullets of 20,000 chips apiece, there was no shortage of action at any point.
Some of those that were unlucky to hit the rail throughout the day include Erik Seidel, Daniel Negreanu, Nacho Barbero, Jesse Lonis, Phil Ivey, and all-time money leader Justin Bonomo who busted just before bagging.
There were many others who managed to make their way unscathed through the day, minus some minor bumps in the road. This includes recent bracelet Sam Soverel (157,000), Mikita Badziakouski (137,200), Patrick Leonard (129,00), Nick Schulman (96,200), and the 2023 Poker Hall of Fame inductee Brian Rast also found a bag with 128,900 to return with tomorrow.
Unlike last year, when this event was in the middle of the series, there wasn’t as much drinking as this is the last high-roller event, and many players are using it as a chance to save their summer.
Late registration will remain open until the start of Day 2, which begins at 1:00 p.m. local time in the Horseshoe Gold Section. The action will resume on Level 9 with the ante at 1,200, and the levels will continue to be 60 minutes in length. The schedule indicates that they will play down to the final five players, but that remains to be determined depending on how the day pans out.
The PokerNews live reporting team will be back on the tournament floor to bring you all of the live updates throughout the day.