Wow, what a day. Friday at the 2017 World Series of Poker saw the all-time leading money winner in online tournaments win his very first bracelet, having endured multiple runner-up finishes over the years. Two more bracelet winners were also crowned, two new events got going, and three more tournaments chalked up another day. Oh, and Daniel Negreanu is close to his seventh bracelet yet again.

Here’s a look at all of Friday’s action.

Chris Moorman adds a WSOP bracelet to his epic resume

If there’s one name synonymous with online poker tournaments, it’s Chris ‘Moorman1’ Moorman. The 31-year-old Brit has won more than anyone in the format – more than $14 million to be precise – as well as more than $5 million in live earnings and a WPT title.

You can now add a WSOP bracelet to his accomplishments, after he took down the $3,000 No Limit Hold’em Six-Handed for $498,682.

It almost wasn’t to be, though. When play reached the official final table, Moorman was all-in with ace-king against the pocket jacks of Steve Sung. A miracle ace on the river saved his tournament life.

From there they saw the start-of-day chip leaderMax Silver bow out, followed by John Gorsuch, Sung, and Michael Gagliano in third. Moorman had slightly more than a 2:1 chip lead when he got heads up against Brazil’s Bernardo Dias, and that meant two rowdy rails as the Brazilians and Brits are known for their side-stage support.

The Brit never lost the chip lead throughout the battle, but every time Dias got short he found a double. In the end though, he open jammed for around 20 big blinds with king-ten, and Moorman snap-called with ace-king, which held up.

Moorman then celebrated in style with a ‘shoe bomb’ (a jaegerbomb shot drunk out of his own shoe) alongside his rail, which included his wife Katie, and some of the UK’s leading players such as Craig McCorkell, Toby Lewis, Niall Farrell, Chris Brammer, and Tom Middleton.

“I feel like anytime you win live, it’s just a lot more real,” Moorman said. “All your friends are there celebrating with you and particularly a lot of my online success was when I was living in the U.K. I would be playing all through the night and maybe win a tournament about five or six in the morning and I would just be there on my own.”

Having the bracelet under his belt, Moorman’s optimistic for the rest of the series.

“The series is still young, there are plenty of more events out there,” he added. “I’ve already had three cashes, including this one, and I feel great and confident. Hopefully, I can make a final table and if not, hopefully, some more Brits do and I can be on the rail and support them and I would be just as happy, to be honest.”

Final table payouts:

1. Chris Moorman – $498,682
2. Bernardo Dias – $308,166
3. Michael Gagliano – $210,139
4. Steve Sung – $145,634
5. John Gorsuch – $102,605
6. Max Silver – $73,510

Venezuela’s first bracelet comes as Joseph Di Rosa Rojas wins The Marathon

Joseph Di Rosa Rojas is the first player from Venezuela to win WSOP gold (WSOP photo)[/CAPTION]

The unknown player from Venezuela came into the home straight of the $2,620 Marathon with the lead, and he never lost it, running that chip lead all the way to victory.

Joseph Di Rosa Rojas not only captured his first gold bracelet and $690,469 – more than ten times his career earnings before tonight; he also took down the first ever bracelet for his home country of Venezuela.

It was by no means an easy final table, what with the likes of Tim Reilly, Julien Stuer, Faraz Jaka and Maurice Hawkins all taking seats. But by the time Rojas found himself heads-up against Alexander Lynskey, he had built up an impressive 8:1 chip advantage.

In the final hand, Rojas limped on the button only for Lynskey to shove with the . Rojas snap-called with the , leaving Lynskey in dire straits. That is, until the flop hit the felt, giving him two pair. Now it was Rojas who needed to improve, and he did so quickly on the turn, giving him a bigger two pair. The completed the board, and that meant victory for Rojas.

When asked how he felt about capturing the first bracelet for Venezuela, Rojas laughed, “I don’t know, maybe tomorrow I will know!”

Final table payouts:

1. Joseph Di Rosa Rojas- $690,469
2. Alexander Lynskey – $426,663
3. Jeffrey Tomlinson – $307,728
4. Tim Reilly – $224,316
5. Julian Stuer – $165,277
6. Faraz Jaka – $123,105
7. Andrew Jernigan – $92,705
8. Pratik Ghatge- $70,590
9. Maurice Hawkins – $54,356

Brian Brubaker takes down $1,500 Triple Draw Deuce for $109,967

While he’s not a household poker name like Moorman, Los Angeles-based mixed game pro Brian Brubaker showed his worth on Friday by winning the $1,500 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw.

First prize in this event was $109,967, and it would take two hours of heads-up play against start-of-final table chipleader Brendan Taylor before Brubaker could capture his first gold bracelet. The entire final table only took five hours, showing how much of a battle the final duel was.

Rewinding back to the start of the final table, the first players to fall wereRick Fuller and Dean Kerl in sixth and fifth respectively, before professional German soccer player Max Kruse exited in fourth, taking his rowdy rail with him. Jason Riesenberg then busted in third, leaving Taylor – seeking his second gold bracelet – up against Brubaker.

The lead swung back and forth several times, but ultimately Brubaker began to pull away, grinding down his opponent. In the final hand Brubaker patted a nine-low, and Taylor held a four-card eight-low before drawing one. He had outs, but it came an eight on the river to pair his hand, giving Brubaker the victory.

“It was a lot of fun. Pretty intense, there were a lot of swings throughout the final table,” Brubaker said. “Luckily, I pretty much just won the majority of the [heads-up] pots and went straight up.

“I guess I’m pretty good at draw altogether, especially in a tournament,” he added. “I make some adjustments in tournaments I think are successful. I don’t know if they’re necessarily what other people would say are good. But, I’ve been successful with it and now I have something to prove it.”

Final table payouts

1. Brian Brubaker – $109,967
2. Brendan Taylor – $67,952
3. Jason Riesenberg – $43,597
4. Max Kruse – $28,740
5. Dean Kerl – $19,482
6. Rick Fuller – $13,591

Eddy Sabat bags chip lead in $2,500 No Limit Hold’em

Day 2 of Event #29 has seen the 1,086 starting field decrease to just 30 players, all of whom with return on Saturday. Eddy Sabat holds the most chips with 1.86 million, followed by Asi Moshe (921K) and Tom Thomas(861K).

Scott ‘Aggro Santos’ Margereson is also still in contention (712K), as is Chi Zhang (674K), Giuseppe Pantaleo (568K), Curt Kohlberg(376K), John Dolan(305K), Jonathan Abdellatif(252K), 2015 November Niner Federico Butteroni (236K), and start-of-the-day chip leader Pablo Fernandez(132K).

The prize pool of $2,443,500 has created a healthy first-place prize of $456,822. Play resumes on Saturday with all players guaranteed $10,868.

Top 10 chip counts:

1. Eddy Sabat – 1,866,000
2. Asi Moshe – 921,000
3. Tom Thomas – 861,000
4. Jamie Armstrong – 756,000
5. Scott Margereson – 712,000
6. NAME REDACTED – 676,000
7. Chi Zhang – 674,000
8. James Calvo – 572,000
9. Giuseppe Pantaleo – 568,000
10. Charalampos Lappas – 526,000

Daniel Negreanu leads $10K H.O.R.S.E finale

As Day 2 neared its end, Daniel Negreanu managed to increase his chip lead and will come into Saturday’s Day 3 of the $10,000 HORSE Championship way out in front.

Just 15 of the 150 players who started remain, including recent two-time bracelet winner David Bach, three-time bracelet winner Brian Rast, and five-time bracelet winner Jason Mercier, who also happens to be the defending champion.

There’s $383,208 for the winner, but all that will be on Negreanu’s mind after several close calls will be the gold bracelet. If he can capture it, it’ll be his seventh. Play resumes at 2pm Saturday.

Final 15 chip counts

1. Daniel Negreanu – 1,213,000
2. Scott Bohlman – 756,000
3. Don Zewin – 704,000
4. Richard Chase – 647,000
5. David Bach – 572,000
6. Brian Rast – 553,000
7. Jason Mercier – 541,000
8. Yuebin Guo – 513,000
9. Jerry Wong – 457,000
10. Eric Rodawig – 334,000
11. Mack Lee – 319,000
12. Anthony Zinno – 283,000
13. Andrew Brown – 282,000
14. Phillip Wallace – 226,000
15. Mark Gregorich – 137,000

Senior’s Event and $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo kick off

Two more tournaments got started on Friday: the $1,000 Senior’s No Limit Hold’em Championship, and the $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Mix.

A massive starting field of 5,389 entered the Senior’s, with 809 making the money. Well, we ended Day 1 with just 694, meaning the bubble burst on Day 1 and everyone is already guaranteed $1,587, but all have their eyes set on the $617,303 first-place prize.

The mean leading the way when the chips were bagged was Kevin Dowling, who managed to spin his 5,000 starting stack up to 160,800. Also returning for Day 2 will be Georgios Karakousis (158,300), Martinus Kaspers (157,300), Jim Earnest (142,600), David James (135,000),Greg Raymer (101,400), defending champion Johnnie Craig (95,000), Dan Heimiller (22,500), Bill Klein (23,300), Cliff Josephy(19,900) and Joe Somerville (7,000).

Chris Ferguson, Scotty Nguyen, Billy Baxter, Mike Sexton, Men Nguyen, and Barry Greenstein all entered, but failed to bag chips.

Top 10 chip counts

1. Kevin Dowling – 160,800
2. Georgios Karakousis – 158,300
3. Martinus Kaspers – 157,300
4. David James – 142,600
5. Jim Earnest – 135,000
6. Bill Maness – 121,300
7. Jim Ernest – 114,000
8. Gina Bacon – 108,500
9. Greg Raymer – 101,400
10. Dan Schmiech – 101,400

Meanwhile over in the Omaha event, it was Daniel Zack who ended the day on top with 92,375. The 688 field was whittled down to 224, and there are plenty of well-knowns returning tomorrow.

A few of those who made it through include Igor Sharaskin (85,500), Allen Kessler (73,450), Leif Force (70,050), Sam Farha (43,775), Lee Markholt (32,900), Nikolai Yakovenko (32,800), Yuval Bronshtein (28,125), Mike Matusow (23,175), Phil Hellmuth(21,650), Rob Mizrachi (18,850), Mike Sexton (18,450) and Benny Glaser(15,300).

Top 10 chip counts

1. Daniel Zack – 92,375
2. Igor Sharaskin – 85,500
3. Allen Kessler – 73,450
4. Leif Force – 70,050
5. David Brookshire – 58,300
6. Alan Sternberg – 44,000
7. Sam Farha – 43,775
8. Orlando Romero – 41,575
9. Regina Hampton – 37,300
10. Stephen Johnson – 36,100