WSOP: Big Day 1B in the Main Event, Wins for Matsuzuki and Andrew
The second starting flight of the 2018 World Series of Poker Main Event played out on Tuesday, producing some big numbers. We also saw two new bracelet winners crowned, and a final table end the day three-handed.
Here’s all the news from July 3.
Big Turnout on Day 1B
There were 2,378 entries on Day 1B of the $10,000 Main Event, and after five two-hour levels that number was whittled down to 1,794. Topping them all is Smain Mamouni with 311,000, followed by Samuel Bernabeu (309,500), Barbara Rogers (307,000), Daniel Colpoys (246,800), and Alex Foxen (242,300).
Plenty of notables made it through the day, and they don’t come much more notable than Johnny Chan. The 10-time bracelet winner bagged up 151,100 when all was said and done, and will join the likes of Rifat Palevic (185,800), Scott Davies (171,200), Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi (166,200), Pablo Fernandez (160,100), Pierre Neuville (147,500), Shaun Deeb (143,300), and Chris Ferguson (134,900) on Day 2.
Former PocketFives #1 player Calvin ‘cal42688’ Anderson had a good session at the felt, just a few days after winning his second WSOP bracelet. He almost doubled his starting stack to 99,100, while John Hesp – whose life will be turned into a Hollywood movie – also survived with 63,900.
The same can’t said for former WSOP Main Event champions Jamie Gold and Greg Raymer, Justin Liberto, Doug Polk, Jason Somerville, Mickey Craft, Anton Morgenstern, Brandon Wong, and Kenny Hallaert, all of whom hit the rail.
Day 1C begins at 11am tomorrow, but as it’s July 4th it’ll be interesting to see what the turnout looks like. So far, entry numbers are very promising compared with previous years.
Top 10 Day 1B Stacks:
- Smain Mamouni – 311,000
- Samuel Bernabeu – 309,500
- Barbara Rogers – 307,000
- Daniel Colpoys – 246,800
- Alex Foxen – 242,300
- Alpheus Chan – 208,600
- Paul Varano – 204,400
- Brian Brubaker – 203,600
- Luis Vazquez – 201,800
- Liam O’Donoghue – 196,200
Matsuzuki Wins First Bracelet in $10K Stud8 Championship
One of the two bracelet winners on Tuesday was Dan Matsuzuki, who overcame a tough final table to take down Event #64: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship.
After denying Scott Bohlman his second bracelet of the summer, Matsuzuki won his first piece of WSOP jewellery as well as $364,387. Fourteen players returned today led by Chris Vitch, who would ultimately bust out in fourth.
“It still hasn’t hit me really,” Matsuzuki said after his win. “I wasn’t even going to play this event, but my buddy convinced me. ‘Come on; Let’s gamble’ – those were his exact words. He took a piece of me and we registered on Day 2 and I just got a good run of cards.”
Final Table Results:
- Dan Matsuzuki – $364,387
- Scott Bohlman – $225,210
- Ken Aldridge – $154,648
- Chris Vitch – $108,739
- Daham Wang – $78,337
- Jerry Wong – $57,855
- Bryce Yockey – $43,833
- Joseph Michael – $34,089
Galen Hall Leads Final Three in Crazy Eights
Play ended on Day 3 of the $888 Crazy Eights event with just three players remaining, led by Galen Hall with 30,100,000. His opponents are Niels Herregodts with 24,750,000, and Eduards Kudrjavcevs with 16,400,000.
They’ll have to wait a day before playing it out, in order to give them all a chance to play in the Main Event tomorrow. That means we’ll find a winner in this one on Thursday, and whoever it is will take home their first WSOP bracelet.
Throughout the day we lost Chris ‘moorman1’ Moorman was Paul ‘pvas2’ Vas Nunes, who fell in 23rd and 17th places, respectively. Arthur Conan (15th – $34,577), Dara Taherpour (14th – $43,539), Fabrice Casano (13th – $43,539), Smith Collins (12th – $55,222), Shai Zurr (11th – $55,222), and Hunter Frey (10th – $70,546) all exited too before a final table was set.
From there we saw the eliminations of Philip Tom (8th – $90,888), Martin Stausholm (7th – $117,888), Jeremiah Miesen (6th – $153,888), Alexander Kuzmin (5th – $201,888), and Andrey Zaichenko in 4th place for $266,888.
Find out who will the $888,888 first-place prize on Thursday.
Final Three Stacks:
- Galen Hall – 30,100,000
- Niels Herregodts – 24,750,000
- Eduards Kudrjavcevs – 16,400,000
Tim Andrew Takes Down PLO Giant
The second bracelet of the day went to Tim Andrew for his win in Event #11: $365 PLO GIANT for $116,015. Andrew turned up late today after sleeping in, but it turned out the extra rest served him well.
All eyes were on Michael Mizrachi at the start of the day, as The Grinder was going for his fifth bracelet. Alas, he’d fall in fifth for $30,461, leaving the stage for Andrew to take down his first.
Final Table Results:
- Tim Andrew – $116,015
- Pete Arroyos – $71,703
- Robert Cicchelli – $53,709
- Sandeep Pulusani – $40,379
- Michael Mizrachi – $30,461
- James Sievers – $23,076
- Kevin Nomberto – $17,541
- Raymond Walton – $13,384
- Srinivas Balasubramanian – $10,250
