Winning the K Triple Draw Championship bracelet was just part of Ben Yu’s amazing day (WSOP photo)

To say that Ben Yu had a good day Monday at the 2017 World Series of Poker would probably be an understatement. First he battled through a typically difficult final table in the $10,000 Triple Draw Deuce to Seven Championship to win his second career bracelet. He then registered late for the $10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship and finished Day 1 of that event with the biggest stack.

His win was one of three bracelets awarded on Monday, while four other events were also in action.

Frank Maggio Wins Seniors Championship

Frank Maggio has played the Seniors event every year he’s been eligible – now he’s the champion (WSOP photo)

While some of the early events on the WSOP schedule have seen smaller fields than years past, the $1,000 Seniors Championship smashed its record for field size with 5,389 entrants. The field was so big in fact, that it took an extra day to determine the champion.

In the end, 56-year-old Frank Maggio of Calumet City, Illinois stood tall to win $617,303 and his first career WSOP bracelet. Maggio is a regular in the Seniors event and also played the Marathon event earlier this week.

“I come out here every year since I turned 50 to play in the Seniors event. I cashed a couple of years ago, but this year’s a big surprise,” said Maggio.

Maggio beat William Murray of Cottonwood, Arizona heads-up. Murray walked away with $381,233 for his runner-up finish.

Final Table Payouts

  1. Frank Maggio – $617,303
  2. William Murray – $381,233
  3. Dieter Dechant – $281,691
  4. Mark Lillge – $209,715
  5. Anthony Licastro – $157,321
  6. Gina Bacon – $118,923
  7. Lewis LeClair – $90,594
  8. Paul Spitzberg – $69,552
  9. Dan Heimiller – $53,817

Christopher Frank Wins First Bracelet in $1,500 NLHE

Christopher Frank grabbed the first bracelet of his career in the ,500 NLHE event Monday (WSOP photo)

The $1,500 No Limit Hold’em events are usually some of the biggest fields of the year at the WSOP, filled with a cross section of younger up and coming pros and recreational players taking their shot at a WSOP event. The final table usually ends up being filled with relatively new faces. That wasn’t quite the case in Event #33 though.

Christopher Frank, of Vienna, Austria, beat out a final table that include New Jersey grinder and WSOP bracelet winner, Michael Gagliano, Max Pescatori, Noah Vaillancourt, Georgios Sotiropoulos and Pratyush Buddiga to win $284,833 and his first WSOP bracelet.

“I don’t think it really has sunk in yet, but it’s a very good feeling” said Frank. “I’ve been playing the live circuit for pretty long, and I’ve always dreamed of winning something big. And now I’ve done it.”

This is Frank’s third cash of the 2017 WSOP and pushed his career earnings to nearly $1.5 million.

Ryan Leng finished runner-up for $237,776.

Final Table Payouts

  1. Christopher Frank – $384,833
  2. Ryan Leng – $237,776
  3. Arkadiy Tsinis – $171,208
  4. Pratyush Buddiga – $124,615
  5. Grant Denison – $91,699
  6. Georgios Sotiropoulos – $68,226
  7. Noah Vaillancourt – $51,332
  8. Max Pescatori – $39,060
  9. Michael Gagliano – $30,063

Ben Yu Wins Second Bracelet, Beating “Tough” $10K Triple Draw Final Table

Heading into the final table of the $10,000 Triple Draw Championship, Ben Yu was in the middle of the pack surrounded by extremely talented players. By the end of it all though, Yu was the last player standing, posing for the winner’s photo with his second WSOP bracelet in hand.

“It was actually a very tough final table,” Yu said. “I think the media overblows it. Even a lot of the name players, the ones you’ve seen have some success, aren’t always that great. But this final table and this field was actually really tough.”

He’s not wrong. The final table included Mike Matusow, Shawn Buchanan, Mike Watson, Nick Schulman and former #1-ranked PocketFiver Shaun Deeb. Yu toppled all of them to win $232,738 while Deeb had to settle for runner-up status and $142,842.

Final Table Payouts

  1. Ben Yu – $232,738
  2. Shaun Deeb – $143,842
  3. Nick Schulman – $98,337
  4. Mike Watson – $68,601
  5. Shawn Buchanan – $48,854
  6. Mike Matusow – $35,532

Kerry Goldberg Leading Super Seniors into Day 3

While the Seniors event played down to a winner on Monday, the Super Seniors was getting down to the nitty gritty. Just 22 players remain in the tournament reserved for those 65 or older and Jacksonville, Florida’s Kerry Goldberg sits on top of the chip counts as the only player with a seven figure stack.

Goldberg finished Day 2 with 1,224,000 while his closest competitor, Earl Hirakawa, put 728,000 into his bag at the end of the day.

The remaining players return at Noon on Tuesday to play down to a winner.

Top 10 Chip Counts

  1. Kerry Goldberg – 1,224,000
  2. Earl Hirakawa – 728,000
  3. Darrell Ticehurst – 716,000
  4. Veronica Daly – 634,000
  5. James Moore – 559,000
  6. John Isler – 546,000
  7. Ernest Ruybalid – 451,000
  8. Daniel Favreau – 450,000
  9. Stanley Siegel – 363,000
  10. Federico Cuellar – 332,000

Kenny Hallaert On Top of Talented Group in $5K Six Max

As far as No Limit Hold’em events go at the WSOP, the $5K Six Max is always on of the toughest fields year-after-year. This year is now exception and with just 18 players left in the field, 2016 November Niner Kenny Hallaert is on top with a talented group of players attempting to chase him down.

Hallaert ended Day 2 with 1,767,000, just ahead of former #1-ranked PocketFiver Chris Hunichen, who finished with 1,622,000.

Among the other players still in the field are Faraz Jaka (1,213,000), Sam Soverel (865,00), Garrett Greer (626,000), James Obst (585,000), Jonathan Jaffe (442,000) and the shortest remaining stack, Mike Leah (246,000).

Leah was more than happy to move on to Day 3, having played Day 1 of the $1,000 NLHE event during breaks.

There were 191 players at the start of Day 2, with just the top 87 guaranteed a payday. Included in th group of players who managed to cash were Bernardo Da Silveira Dias, Jason Les, Dietrich Fast, John Racener, Jonathan Little, Dario Sammartino, Niall Farrell, Sam Grafton, Michael Mizrachi, Rocco Palumbo and Jesse Sylvia.

The final 18 players get back in action at 2 pm PT on Tuesday.

Top 10 Chip Counts

  1. Kenny Hallaert – 1,767,000
  2. Chris Hunichen – 1,622,000
  3. Nadar Kakhmazov – 1,262,000
  4. Faraz Jaka – 1,213,000
  5. Rob Kuhn – 1,041,000
  6. Dan Abouaf – 1,041,000
  7. Christian Rudolph – 1,005,000
  8. Sam Soverel – 865,000
  9. Jacob Haller – 651,000
  10. Garrett Greer – 626,000

Eveslage, Salter, Varnell and Seif On Top of $1K NLHE

The first regular $1,000 buy-in NLHE event of the summer attracted 2,020 players with just 238 surviving the first 10 levels of play to move on to Day 2. Chad Eeslage and Louis Salter bagged 197,300 and 192,000 respectively to lead the way.

Other notable names to move on to Day include Craig Varnell, Mark Seif, Kevin Saul, Vinny Pahuja, Ryan Laplante, Jordan Young, Martin Jacobson, Barry Greenstein, Anthony Spinella and Loni Harwood.

Action resumes at Noon PT.

Top 10 Chip Counts

  1. Chad Eveslage – 197,300
  2. Louis Salter – 192,000
  3. Craig Varnell – 141,300
  4. Mark Seif – 131,200
  5. Johnykutty Sam – 127,500
  6. Gregory Brewer – 117,900
  7. Alex Foxen – 114,000
  8. Terry Schumacher – 111,400
  9. Chad Layne – 108,400
  10. Finn Zwad – 104,000

Ben Yu Shows Up Late, Finishes Up Top After Day 1 of $10K Limit Hold’em

Daniel Negreanu called the field in the $10,000 Limit Hold’em event the “softest $10K of the summer” and then went out proved it by finishing with the third biggest stack. The two players above him include defending champion Ian Johns and Ben Yu.

Yu registered late after winning the $10K Triple Draw bracelet earlier in the evening.

The event drew 120 players – 10 more than it did in 2016. Just 41 advanced to Day 2 however. Included in the group that will be returning for stacks on Tuesday include Phil Hellmuth, JC Tran, Ismael Bojang, Brock Parker, Sorel Mizzi, Shaun Deeb, Jon Turner and Terrence Chan.

Top 10 Chip Counts

  1. Ben Yu – 360,000
  2. Ian Johns – 272,000
  3. Daniel Negreanu – 260,500
  4. Kevin Song – 246,500
  5. Michael Ross – 240,000
  6. Phil Hellmuth – 225,500
  7. Mark Klecan – 211,000
  8. Joe McKeehen – 209,000
  9. Mike Schneider – 197,000
  10. Tom McCormick – 190,500