Overtime Needed! John Racener Leads Gary Bolden into Day 4 of The $3,000 H.O.R.S.E.
Stud Games: 100,000-400,000, 400,000-800,000 Limits, 100,000 Ante
357 players came out to the 2024 WSOP to play one of the most popular game mixes in the poker world. The $3,000 H.O.R.S.E. sees a mix of two flop games and three stud games, where players can test their skills across all five game types.
A total of $953,190 was collected for the prize pool and a first place prize of $206,321 will be awarded to whoever wins the bracelet. From a stacked field of seventeen players, just two remained in their seats as the night came to an end.
Leading the way is two-time WSOP bracelet winner John Racener with 10,050,000.
Racener had quite the day as he came in second in chips, and flirted with both the lead in and the bottom of the tournament ranks. He won a massive pot in Omaha Hi-Lo where he took 60% of the chips in play three-handed and has maintained that amount more or less into his heads up match.
WSOP POY watchers will note that Racener has already won one bracelet this summer in the $10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship. A win here will not only grant him his third WSOP title, but it will also put him in contention for POY with just a few more events to go.
The other horse in this race is Gary Bolden who sits with 4,275,000. Originally from St. Louis, Missouri, Bolden has been a staple of tournaments all around the country for nearly 15 years.
With nearly 400 live cashes on his resume and $1,596,435 in lifetime earnings, Bolden has come close to a bracelet multiple times throughout the years in many different variants. Sitting closer than he ever has before — and having guaranteed at least a career best score of $135,877 — he looks to do battle with Racener in their quests to be crowned one of the H.O.R.S.E. champions of the 2024 WSOP.
Official Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Payout |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $206,321 | ||
| 2 | $135,877 | ||
| 3 | Travis Trail | United States | $91,547 |
| 4 | David Tarbet | United Kingdom | $63,134 |
| 5 | Luis Velador | Mexico | $44,591 |
| 6 | David "ODB" Baker | United States | $32,274 |
| 7 | Jeremy Ausmus | United States | $23,952 |
| 8 | Wooram Cho | South Korea | $18,238 |
Day 3 Action
It did not take too long for the tournament to be reduced to two tables as WSOP bracelet winner Arash Ghaneian (17th-$8,042) was dispatched quickly by Paul Campbell in Omaha Hi-Lo. After that, the eliminations kept coming. Jared Hyman (16th-$8,042) ended up losing a flip in Hold’em to David “ODB” Baker, Long-time WSOP regular Tom McCormick (15th-$9,461) could not survive Jeremy Ausmus’ ten-seven in Razz.
After that, Racener ascended up the counts as he took several big pots off of many of the players at his table. Ahmed Mohamed (14th-$9,461) could not survive Racener’s rampage as his last hand came in Stud Hi-Lo when his wired queens could not improve against the split aces of Racener. After that, WSOP bracelet winner Ismael Bojang (13th-$9,461) was next to go as his aces up shriveled in stud hi-lo against Racener’s kings full. After that, Xiaochuan Zhang (12th-$9,461) drifted down to the shortest stack left and was eliminated by Travis Trail.
The period of the tournament saw a couple more players fall before the final table was reached. Despite some start-of-day momentum, Paul Campbell (11th-$11,454) could not survive his short stack when his gutshot in stud did not come home against David Tarbet’s jacks up.
Next up, it was Nghia Le (10th-$11,454) who would be the final player to fall before the final table. His last chips went in during stud hi-lo against Luis Velador as his last chips went in with a pair of queens while Velador held a pair of kings. Le exited the tournament to have the final table of nine set to go.
Final Table Action
The final table of nine, immediately saw some jockeying around of the positions as the chip lead became hotly contested. Multiple switches saw Tarbet begin with the chip lead, Bolden take it over, and then Trail launched into what would be a massive lead.
The first player to go at the final table would be the last woman in the field, Adrienne Carter, who finished in ninth place. Spending most of the day prior as the shortest stack, Carter got her final chips in with three broadway cards in stud. She did pair up her king, but the fives and threes for Trail would be enough to win the pot from her. Carter collected $14,259 for her efforts.
Start of day chip leader Wooram Cho began the day with a rough start, losing quite a few pots in the early goings of the day. By the time the final table had come around, Cho was sitting near the bottom of the counts and was nearly forced all in from the big blind in limit hold’em. His seven-two could not improve enough against Velador’s ace-two and Cho ended his run in eighth place for $18,238.
Those with eyes on the very competitive WSOP POY race, knew full well the implications of Jeremy Ausmus making another WSOP final table (tying Phil Hellmuth’s single-summer record).
Ausmus's closest competitors like Scott Seiver were certainly keeping a watchful eye on this final table to see where he would finish after this tournament. His seventh bracelet will have to wait, however as he ended up getting his chip in during the hold’em round against Bolden, each player holding top pair. It was Bolden’s kings with a jack-kicker that would see him ascend up the chip counts and Ausmus collected $23,952 for his seventh-place finish.
Bolden’s dominance continued as he climbed higher to become nearly neck and neck with Trail, while the other players all drifted down the counts. The next to be a victim of Bolden’s growing stack was three-time WSOP bracelet winner Baker who clashed with him in Omaha hi-lo. Bolden’s aces ended up being good for the high half and the river counterfeited Baker’s low draw to give Bolden the low. Bolden took over the chip lead and Baker exited in sixth place for $32,274.
Another bracelet winner would fall into Bolden’s wake as two-time WSOP bracelet winner Velador who had drifted down to the shortest stack remaining. When the razz round came around, Velador got in his last chips with a three-card six versus Bolden’s three-card ten. Both players ended up making a nine, but it was Bolden’s nine-seven that held strong while Velador exited in fifth place for $44,591.
Though coming into the final table as the chip leader, Tarbet seemed unable to keep the momentum going as he nearly doubled up Racener a couple of times.
In what became the pot of the tournament, Tarbet got all of his chips in on the turn in a pot in Omaha hi-lo, while Bolden raised to create a side pot with. With half of the chips in the center, the river gave Racener middle two with the nut-low, good for Racener to scoop the massive pot and take a huge lead while Tarbet was eliminated in fourth place for $63,134.
Racener began to pull away even more as the Trail and Bolden battled while both getting short. Rather than a collision with the big stack, Bolden and Trail clashed with each other as Trail got in his split queens in Stud against Bolden’s open sevens. A third seven appeared for Bolden on sixth street and Bolden took in the remainder of the chips from Trail while Trail collected $91,547 for his third place finish.
The heads up match saw Racener come in with a sizable lead over Bolden but a lengthy battle followed that saw the chip lead flip back and forth multiple times. Each player fell down at some point to just two big bets and each time they rebounded and overtook the chip lead. Racener and Bolden started their heads up match with 10,075,000 and 4,250,000 and after three hours of play, their stacks ended at 10,050,000 and 4,275,000 respectively.
Play will resume at 1 p.m. tomorrow with players coming back to Level 33. The blinds will come back to 250,000/500,000 blinds with limits at 500,000/1,000,000 and an ante 100,000. A winner will emerge tomorrow no matter how long it takes so tune back in with PokerNews to see who will be crowned the winner of the $3,000 H.O.R.S.E. at the 2024 WSOP.