Eliminations are fast at the start of Day 2 and Main Event champ Ryan Riess was among the earliest knockouts.
Cameron Bolton was on the short stack and went all in from under the gun. Riess in the cutoff reraised all in. Ronalds Sims on the button was the biggest stack of the three. He made the call and the blinds folded.
Cameron Bolton: 4♠4♣
Ryan Riess: A♠K♠
Ronald Sims: A♥A♣
The board was 9♥3♦8♥7♥6♠, no help to either all-in player. They were out, while Sims has managed to build a very nice stack early on.
A four-way all-in and call situation occurred on Table 529 with Gabriel Nastasa in early position against Tae Hoon Chang in middle position, Yuchung Chang in the hijack and Jordan Spurlin on the button.
Gabriel Nastasa: 10♣10♦
Tae Hoon Chang: A♣A♥
Jordan Spurlin: J♥J♠
Yuchung Chang: 8♦8♣
All four players had a pair, but the board of 3♦7♦2♠6♥Q♠ didn't improve any hand so Tae Hoon Chang scooped the main pot while Gabriel Nastasa, who had the shortest stack, was eliminated.
There were a total of 3,215 entries over two starting flights, creating a prize pool of $3,205,335. Only 362 players reached the minimum payout of $3,000 while they compete for the grand prize of $525,500 and WSOP gold bracelet.
Day 2 of Event #98: $1,500 The Closer No-Limit Hold'em at the 2024 World Series of Poker at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas gets underway at 11 a.m.
Over two flights, a prize pool of $3,205,335 was generated from the 3,215 entries, with just 361 advancing to Day 2 today. Players will play 30-minute blind levels throughout until a winner has been crowned.
Leading the pack is Martin Stausholm from Denmark, who amassed an impressive 2,035,000 chips on Day 1b, making him the only player to surpass the two million chip mark. A deep run in this event could push Stausholm's live tournament earnings beyond $3,000,000. Despite this, he has only reached one WSOP final table, finishing seventh in the Crazy Eights event back in 2018.
Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts
Place
Player
Country
Chips
Big Blinds
1
Martin Stausholm
Denmark
2,035,000
102
2
Daniel Rezaei
Austria
1,830,000
92
3
Gal Naim
Israel
1,610,000
81
4
Timur Khamidullin
Russia
1,550,000
78
5
Jared Bleznick
United States
1,540,000
77
6
Mario Colavita
Italy
1,525,000
76
7
Aaron Mermelstein
United States
1,500,000
75
8
Robert Nemeskerikiss
United States
1,435,000
72
9
Kazuhiko Yotsushika
Japan
1,335,000
67
10
John Racener
United States
1,295,000
65
Coming in second in chips is Daniel Rezaei of Austria, who bagged the Day 1a chip lead with 1,830,000 chips. Rezaei came close to winning a gold bracelet in 2022 during the online version of this event, finishing as the runner-up. Now, coming in second in chips, he has positioned himself perfectly to go one step further and claim a coveted WSOP bracelet today.
Jared Bleznick won his first bracelet just a few days ago in Event #92: $50,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em. He defeated a star-studded field of absolute crushers to become the champion and will be oozing with confidence. He managed to bag the fifth biggest stack for today with 1,540,000 chips.
Jared Bleznick
Rounding out the top ten is two-time bracelet winner John Racener with 1,295,000 chips. Racener has enjoyed a very successful summer at the 2024 WSOP, securing a bracelet in Event #19: $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship (8-Handed) and making three additional final tables, the most recent being Event #91: $3,000 H.O.R.S.E. (8-Handed), where he finished second. Although he hasn't had a deep run in a No-Limit Hold'em event this summer, it's worth noting that he was the runner-up in the 2010 Main Event, earning over $5,500,000. Racener is definitely a player to watch as this event progresses.
Further down the chip counts, but still definitely in contention to become this event's champion, are players such as Joey Couden (1,270,000), Joey Weissman (1,065,000), Andrew Kelsall (915,000), Daniel Smiljkovic (805,000), David Coleman (750,000), Yuval Bronshtein (720,000), and six-time bracelet winner Brian Hastings (630,000).
Brian Hastings
Cards will be in the air at 11 a.m. local time in the Horseshoe Ballroom, and play will continue until a winner is crowned. The action starts at Level 21, with blinds at 10,000/20,000 and a 20,000 big blind ante. There will be a 15-minute break after every four levels and a dinner break scheduled before the final table.
Stay tuned right here as PokerNews provides live updates throughout the day until a champion is crowned.
Second hand I get TT and flop a boat against utg's AJo. 8bb.