Cho Leads the Way; Racener, Baker, and Ausmus Advance
Stud Games: 10,000-30,000, 30,000-60,000 Limits, 7,000 Ante
Event #91: $3,000 H.O.R.S.E. at the 2024 World Series of Poker saw a total of 357 players enter to create a prize pool of $953,190 and a first place prize of $206,321.
At the start of Day 2, 141 players still had their hopes and dreams of conquering this bracelet alive, but only 17 made it to the end of the day today with their chances still alive.
End of Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Bets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wooram Cho | South Korea | 1,875,000 | 23 |
| 2 | John Racener | United States | 1,765,000 | 22 |
| 3 | Gary Bolden | United States | 1,650,000 | 20 |
| 4 | David "ODB" Baker | United States | 1,130,000 | 14 |
| 5 | David Tarbet | United Kingdom | 940,000 | 11 |
| 6 | Jeremy Ausmus | United States | 930,000 | 11 |
| 7 | Xiaochuan Zhang | China | 880,000 | 11 |
| 8 | Paul Campbell | United States | 640,000 | 8 |
| 9 | Travis Trail | United States | 610,000 | 7 |
| 10 | Luis Velador | Mexico | 585,000 | 7 |
A very decorated field is being led by a relative newcomer — Wooram Cho — who ended his day with 1,875,000. This is only Cho’s third WSOP cash in Las Vegas and his lifetime earnings only date back to 2020. However, he is not lacking for experience on the poker felt as he has several overseas cashes from the WSOP Europe as well as many tournament wins and cashes in Korea, with the biggest cash clocking in at $158,401. With his sizable chip stack, he looks to add a WSOP bracelet to his list of titles.
Sitting behind him is two-time WSOP bracelet winner John Racener, who ended his day with 1,765,000. Racener spent much of the tournament yesterday playing two tables, but before the day started he finished 85th in the $1,500 PLO 6-Max for $3,376, so his focus was solely on this tournament. It paid off in spades as he steadily climbed up the tournament leaderboard to the second-biggest stack in the room. With this being his 18th cash of the WSOP, he looks to make his fourth final table of the summer and collect his second bracelet, with hopes to overtake the lead in the WSOP POY race.
Gary Bolden (1,650,000) rounds out the podium as the long-time tournament grinder looks to collect his first WSOP bracelet.
David “ODB” Baker (1,130,000) leads a contingent of WSOP bracelet winners that include Luis Velador (585,000), Arash Ghaneian (465,000) and Ismael Bojang (305,000). Each one of them is looking to secure another bracelet to add to their resumes.
As the WSOP POY race winds to a close, many eyes are on six-time WSOP bracelet winner Jeremy Ausmus (930,000), who sits within striking distance of current POY leader, the seven-time bracelet winner Scott Seiver. Although he is yet to claim a bracelet this summer, Ausmus has seen plenty of successes on the felt with 18 cashes and 6 final tables. A deep run and another top-three finish in this event would make things quite close between him and Seiver, adding some last-minute spice to what has already been an incredibly exciting WSOP.
Players will return Saturday at 1 p.m. at Level 23 in the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas. Blinds will bet 20,000-40,000 with 40,000-80,000 limits and a 10,000 ante and bring in. Play will continue until a winner is crowned.
Action of The Day
Many players fell quickly throughout the early part of the day. Brian Hastings, Matt Glantz, Todd Brunson, David Williams, and Phil Ivey all found themselves falling short of the money.
The bubble actually burst without hand-for-hand play as Ryan Hughes sent a short stack out on the bubble in a round of Omaha hi-lo. After that, the remaining 54 players all secured themselves at least a min-cash of $6,051.
After the bubble broke, the eliminations flowed fast and furious as many players like Jonathan Breneman ($6,051), Phil Laak ($6,353), Renan Bruschi ($7,040), and Sean Troha ($8,042) fell. Their quest to add more titles to their resumes will have to wait for another tournament.
The final elimination of the night came as three-time WSOP bracelet winner and Poker Hall of Famer Barry Greenstein fell in eighteenth place. He got his remaining chips into the center during a hand of stud with his split kings up against John Racener’s split kings. Racener ended up making kings and eights on the river and he scooped Greenstein, leaving him to take home $8,042 for his deep run.
Stay tuned to PokerNews for updates on the eventual winner and all winners in the 2024 WSOP.