Ashton Looking for His Second Championship, Obst and Negreanu Chase Player of the Year Points
It’s Day 4 of the Event #62: $50,000 Poker Player’s Championship and only 15 are left standing from the original field of 100 players.
Early Wednesday morning players decided to play down past the money bubble where two-time former PPC champion Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi fell to Isaac Haxton, bringing everyone else into the cash. Currently, everyone is guaranteed $77,320 but what each player is really looking for is the $1,395,767 first-place prize and the chance to get their name engraved on the David ‘Chip’ Reese Memorial Trophy.
One man who’s been there already is Matthew Ashton. In 2013 Ashton won this event, taking home $1,774,089. He returns today with 3,220,000 and is one of the largest stacks in the room. He looks to continue the recent trend of two-time PPC winners alongside Mizrachi and Brian Rast, who fell on Day 2.
There are also several others who are looking to etch their name into poker history, including multiple bracelet winners Daniel Negreanu (2,223,000), Shaun Deeb, (2,442,000), Paul Volpe (2,315,000), Ian Johns, (1,044,000) and Mike Matusow (565,000). Along with these players are also Isaac Haxton (who’s leading the way with 3,268,000), Elior Sion, (2,033,000), Talal Shakerchi (828,000) and Ralph Perry (508,000), all of whom are looking for their first piece of World Series of Poker gold. And of course there are several looking for their second piece of World Series of Poker jewelry such as Ivo Donev (1,900,000), Aaron Katz (1,484,000), and Scott Seiver (1,428,000).
Also still alive is James Obst (856,000). Obst sits high among the World Series of Poker Player of the Year leaderboard and will look to take this cash and climb even higher, having already locked up one bracelet this summer along with two final tables, and seven cashes. Obst currently sits 11th on that leaderboard but will look to climb higher with a good finish in this event. Negreanu is also looking for Player of the Year points as he is currently sitting just behind Obst in 13th place. A win in this event is worth 184 points which is enough to move Obst into the pole position, and could put Negreanu in contention for the title as well.
Players are scheduled to return and play another six 100-minute levels starting at 2 p.m. PDT Wednesday and PokerNews will be here with all the updates. Be sure to follow along as players are like to grind down to the final table and beyond today.
| Room | Table | Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon | 2 | 1 | Daniel Negreanu | Canada | 2,223,000 |
| Amazon | 2 | 2 | James Obst | Australia | 856,000 |
| Amazon | 2 | 3 | Elior Sion | United Kingdom | 2,033,000 |
| Amazon | 2 | 4 | Talal Shakerchi | United Kingdom | 828,000 |
| Amazon | 2 | 6 | Paul Volpe | United States | 2,315,000 |
| Amazon | 5 | 1 | Ian Johns | United States | 1,044,000 |
| Amazon | 5 | 2 | Mike Matusow | United States | 565,000 |
| Amazon | 5 | 4 | Ivo Donev | Austria | 1,900,000 |
| Amazon | 5 | 5 | Johannes Becker | Germany | 897,000 |
| Amazon | 5 | 6 | Shaun Deeb | United States | 2,442,000 |
| Amazon | 7 | 1 | Ralph Perry | United States | 508,000 |
| Amazon | 7 | 2 | Aaron Katz | United States | 1,484,000 |
| Amazon | 7 | 4 | Isaac Haxton | United States | 3,268,000 |
| Amazon | 7 | 5 | Matthew Ashton | United Kingdom | 3,220,000 |
| Amazon | 7 | 6 | Scott Seiver | United States | 1,428,000 |
| Year | Entries | Prize Pool | Winner | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 143 | $6,864,000 | Chip Reese | $1,716,000 |
| 2007 | 148 | $7,104,000 | Freddy Deeb | $2,276,832 |
| 2008 | 148 | $7,104,000 | Scotty Nguyen | $1,989,120 |
| 2009 | 95 | $4,560,000 | David Bach | $1,276,806 |
| 2010 | 116 | $5,568,000 | Michael Mizrachi | $1,559,046 |
| 2011 | 128 | $6,144,000 | Brian Rast | $1,720,328 |
| 2012 | 108 | $5,184,000 | Michael Mizrachi | $1,451,527 |
| 2013 | 132 | $6,336,000 | Matthew Ashton | $1,774,089 |
| 2014 | 102 | $4,896,000 | John Hennigan | $1,517,767 |
| 2015 | 84 | $3,696,000 | Mike Gorodinsky | $1,270,086 |
| 2016 | 91 | $4,176,000 | Brian Rast | $1,296,097 |
| 2017 | 100 | $4,800,000 | $1,395,767 |