Owais Ahmed Bags Massive Chip Lead on Day 1 of $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw
After ten hours of play on Day 1 of Event #63: $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw at the 2024 World Series of Poker at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, 68 players from a starting field of 453 were able to find a bag for Day 2.
Leading the pack heading into the second day is Owais Ahmed, who bagged an impressive 633,000, ahead of his nearest competitor David "ODB" Baker with 480,000. Jen Harman rounds out the podium on 364,000.
Despite falling short of last year’s 548 entrants, the players today were able to create a prize pool of $604,755. The top 68 players were guaranteed a min-cash of $3,040 with the eventual winner set to receive $123,314.
End of Day 1 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Owais Ahmed | United States | 633,000 | 106 |
| 2 | David "ODB" Baker | United States | 480,000 | 80 |
| 3 | Ali Eslami | United States | 458,000 | 76 |
| 4 | Antonio Seremet | Australia | 457,000 | 76 |
| 5 | Jen Harman | United States | 364,000 | 61 |
| 6 | Patrick Moulder | United States | 360,000 | 60 |
| 7 | Dario Alioto | Italy | 335,000 | 56 |
| 8 | Christopher Roman | United States | 335,000 | 56 |
| 9 | Ryan Depaulo | United States | 308,000 | 51 |
| 10 | David Funkhouser | United States | 304,000 | 51 |
The 2-7 Single Draw tournament always brings out all of poker’s biggest stars, as both the no-limit and mixed game crowds find a common love for this beautiful game.
Those known for their big bet prowess such as Chance Kornuth, Justin Saliba, and Bin Weng have an easy transition into no-limit single draw. At the same time, mixed game crushers like Brad Ruben and David "ODB" Baker remain confident in the drawing nature of the game. This combination creates an interesting mix of players and styles.
Seventeen-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth made a brief appearance in today’s tournament and he spent this time with lowball poker legend Billy Baxter.
Towards the end of the day, no one knew if they were going to make the money on Day 1. However, thanks to a surge of eliminations in the final two levels, the tournament director announced that they would be playing into the money before the players bagged for the night. Play continued an extra 40 minutes on the stone bubble until Ryan Riess was finally eliminated after pairing his three against the ace-low of his opponent.
Several notables successfully fought their way through the first 15 levels, including mixed game specialist David Funkhouser (251,000) and Brian Yoon, who boasts a total of five WSOP gold bracelets (181,500).
Well known players to take their shot but fail to see a return on their investment include six-time bracelet winner Shaun Deeb, the red hot David Prociak, Scott Seiver and Christopher Vitch, mixed game specialist Kevin Gerhart, and hall of fame inductees Johnny Chan and Billy Baxter.
Payouts
| Place | Prize | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $123,314 | 10-11 | $8,125 |
| 2 | $81,412 | 12-14 | $6,408 |
| 3 | $54,868 | 15-20 | $5,180 |
| 4 | $37,764 | 21-27 | $4,295 |
| 5 | $26,555 | 28-34 | $3,654 |
| 6 | $19,087 | 35-41 | $3,192 |
| 7 | $14,030 | 42-68 | $3,040 |
| 8-9 | $10,552 |
Play resumes on June 27th at 1 p.m. local time, at which point play will continue for ten 60-minute levels with a 60-minute dinner break after Level 21. Be sure to stay tuned as the PokerNews live reporting team continues to provide updates of this event through to its conclusion.