Four people won bracelets on Friday at the 2018 World Series of Poker, despite the fact that only three events ended. That’s because one winner was a tag team who’ll now split the first place prize.

We also saw a former PocketFives #1 player end the day with a big heads-up chip lead, the Ladies Event reach a final table, and a whole lot more.

Here’s all the news from June 29.

Calvin Anderson Heads-Up Versus Frank Kassela in $10K Razz

Event #56: $10,000 Razz Championship resumed Friday with 13 players, and it was meant to play down to a winner that night. However, upon hitting the early morning hours, Calvin ‘cal42688’ Anderson and Frank Kassela paused play and will now return on Saturday to play it out.

Former PocketFives no.1 player Anderson holds more than a 3:1 chip lead overnight, with 4,585,000 to Kassela’s 1,370,000. They’re both guaranteed $191,111, while the winner will pick up $309,220. If Anderson can finish the job Saturday, he’ll win his second bracelet, denying Kassela his fourth.

Before the final table today, we lost Allen Kessler (9th – $25,664), Ismael Bojang (10th – $25,664), Paul ‘paulgees81’ Volpe (11th – $21,059), Eric Rodawig (12th – $21,059) and Ted Forrest (13th – $17,706). From there, Dzmitry ‘Colisea’ Urbanovich went out in eighth ($31,992), followed by POY candidate John Hennigan ($40,817). Mike ‘goleafsgoeh’ Leah finished fourth for $96,744.

Heads-up resumes at 2pm Saturday.

Bracelet #3 for Portugal as Diogo Veiga Wins $3K Big Blind Antes

Diogo Veiga has become only the third Portuguese player to win a bracelet, having taken down Event #54: Big Blind Antes $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em for a massive $522,715 score.

He had a huge rail cheering him on throughout the final table, which resumed today with just four players remaining. Barry Hutter returned with the chip lead, while Veiga came in second in chips. Those two would end up heads-up against each other, with Hutter holding a significant chip lead. Veiga then flopped the nut straight and got it in versus a flush draw, managing to hold.

From there Veiga took control, and in the end Hutter shoved with ace-ten off for 18 big blinds. Veiga woke up with king-ten suited and called, going on to spike a king on the flop which held.

“[The rail] called for that king on the flop way more than me!” said Veiga afterwards. “The last hand is definitely on them… The other ones are on me!”

“It feels amazing. I can’t believe it yet,” he added. “The adrenalin is still too high. I can’t say much more than that, I’m just super happy.”

Final Table Results:

1. Diogo Veiga – $522,715
2. Barry Hutter – $323,019
3. Radoslav Stoyanov – $228,241
4. Jonathan Abdellatif – $163,404
5. Tom McCormick – $118,552
6. David Yan – $87,179
7. Anna Antimony – $64,991
8. Cathal Shine – $49,126
9. Todd Ivens – $37,660

Pantaleo and Luther Win Tag Team for $175,805

More than a thousand teams tried, but only one succeeded after three days of play in Event #55: $1,000 Tag Team No-Limit Hold’em.

The two-player team of Giuseppe Pantaleo and Nikita Luther emerged victorious, and they’ll each take home a bracelet whilst splitting the $175,805 first-place prize. On how they came together, Luther said: ”I just randomly hit him up on Twitter, I said we should be the teams, we met once last year, and we didn’t know each other well but, now we know each other well.”

Their partnership saw Luther tagging in and out whilst also playing in the $3K NLHE event (which she’d finish 17th in). They eventually found themselves heads-up against the team made up of Kazuki Ikeuchi, Hiroki Iwata, and Sho Mori, and were able to clinch victory when Pantaleo shoved with deuces and Iwata called with ace-nine suited. An ace hit the flop, but a deuce arrived on the river to end it all.

Final Table Results:

1. Giuseppe Pantaleo – Nikita Luther – $175,805
2. Kazuki Ikeuchi – Hiroki Iwata – Sho Mori – $108,608
3. Manig Loeser – Joelle Parenteau – Daniel Weinand – $76,797
4. Alex Rocha – Megan Milburn – Joanne Milburn – $55,016
5. Gabriel Neto – Carlos Caputo – $39,936
6. Adam Lamphere – Ao Chen – Yijie Zhang – $29,380
7. Salah Levy – Frank Mariani – Cord Garcia – $21,910
8. Bon Koo – Bienvenido Caballero – $16,565
9. Loni Harwood – Haixa Zhang – Kelly Minkin – $12,700

Mike Takayama Takes Down Super Turbo Bounty

The third bracelet of the day went to Mike Takayama from the Philippines, who took down the speedy one-day Event #59: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em Super Turbo Bounty for his first bracelet and $198,568.

The fact this only took one day of play is pretty crazy when you think that 1,400 people took a shot at the beginning. That number had increased to 2,065 runners by the time registration closed, and a few notables who went deep and cashed included Shaun Deeb (172nd – $1,214), Michael Moore (24th – $6,275), Pablo Mariz (32nd – $5,103), Jake Bazeley (33rd – $5,103), Jaspal Brar (48th – $3,490), Jordan Polk (71st – $2,497), Greg Raymer (120th – $1,471), and Taylor Wilson(122nd – $1,471).

By the time they reached a final table, Takayama was applying some heavy pressure, continuously putting his opponents to the test. He’d bust the first four players from the finale, eventually reaching heads-up play against Lorenc Puka. The duel didn’t take long, with Takayama’s king-jack off beating Puka’s ace-four suited in an all-in-pre hand to win.

“I’m very happy with how I played and it is everyone’s dream to win a bracelet,” Takayama said after his win.

Final Table Results:

1. Mike Takayama – $198,568
2. Lorenc Puka – $122,627
3. Matthew Smith – $88,938 
4. Steve Jelinek – $65,145
5. Spencer Baker – $48,196
6. Kavish Shabbir – $36,019
7. Elizabeth Montizanti – $27,193
8. Jack Duong – $20,743
9. Oliver Rusing – $15,988

Final Table Set in $1,000 Ladies Event

The 696-strong field in Event #57: $1,000/$10,000 Ladies No-Limit Hold’em Championship is down to just ten after two days and 20 levels of play. That means it’s final table time tomorrow.

Leading the finale will be Jill Pike, who went on a rush in the last level to bag up 651,000. She’s followed by Jessica Dawley (612,000), Weiyi Mo (469,000), and Tara Cain (446,000).

Rounding out the final table are Tara Snow (431,000), Danielle Andersen (226,000), Lisa Fong (209,000),  Jacqueline Burkhart (191,000), Mesha James (127,000), Molly Mossey (126,000).

They’ve all locked up $6,799 for tenth, but there’s a far more attractive prize awaiting the winner: $130,230 and the bracelet. Whoever wins it will be taking home their first piece of WSOP jewellery.

Throughout the day we lost a bunch of notables, all of whom made the money. Melanie Weisner (70th – $1,782), bracelet winner Cyndy Violette (47th – $2,219), Mina Greco (35th – $2,991), Natasha Mercier (34th – $2,991), Gaelle Baumann (31st – $2,991), and Kristy Arnett (28th – $2,991) all hit the rail deep.

Action resumes at 12pm Saturday, with blinds at 4K/8K.

Final Table Stacks:

1. Jill Pike – 651,000
2. Jessica Dawley – 612,000
3. Weiyi Mo – 469,000
4. Tara Cain – 446,000
5. Tara Snow – 431,000
6. Danielle Andersen – 226,000
7. Lisa Fong – 209,000
8. Jacqueline Burkhart – 191,000
9. Mesha James – 127,000
10. Molly Mossey – 126,000

$5K 6-Max Down to 27

Another ten levels of action played out today in Event #58: $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em 6-Handed, whittling down the 621 field further, leaving just 26 of the 203 Day 2 players still in contention.

Andrew Graham tops them all with 1,403,000, surging up the counts when he won a huge pot from Anthony Spinella late in the day (kings over jacks). Following Graham is Eric Blair (1,280,000), Dave Stefanski (1,150,000) and Justin Adams (1,113,000).

Other notables still in with a shot include James Mackey (787,000), Sergio Aido (744,000) Main Event Champion Greg Merson (584,000), John-Robert Bellande (440,000), Martin Finger (304,000), and Sylvain Loosli (288,000).

We lost plenty of familiar faces throughout Friday’s play, including Martin Jacobson, Ryan Riess, Jake Schindler, Michael Gathy, Bryn Kenney, Scott Seiver, Liv Boeree, Igor Kurganov, Robert Mizrachi, Asi Moshe, Ryan Leng, Bart Lybaert and Felix Bleiker.

Day 3 gets going at 2pm Saturday. They’re all in the money now with $16,958 locked up, but let’s face it: that’s nothing compared with the $616,302 first prize.

Top 10 Stacks:

1. Andrew Graham – 1,403,000
2. Eric Blair – 1,280,000
3. Dave Stefanski – 1,150,000
4. Justin Adams – 1,113,000
5. Tay Nguyen – 871,000
6. James Mackey – 787,000
7. Sergio Aido – 744,000
8. Arthur Morris – 683,000
9. Arsenii Karmatakii – 671,000
10. Seth Akash – 611,000

Gamble Leads Yet Another Event

It feels like everyday we’re telling you that Nathan Gamble is chip leading a tournament. He’s only  gone and done it again, bagging up the lead after Day 1 of Event #60: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship.

Gamble’s 312,800 tops the 125 survivors out of the 218 total field. Joining him at the top of the counts are Jason Berilgen with 265,000, Chad Power with 247,000, and former PocketFives #1 player Joao ‘joaosimaobh’ Simao with 226,800.

Cliff Josephy, Scott Bohlman, Ryan Laplante, Eli Elezra, and Ari Engel also bagged up top ten stacks, while Eric Kurtzman (123,000), Carol Fuchs(112,100), Randy Ohel (97,3000, Daniel Negreanu (92,900), Jesse Martin (50,100), and Phil Hellmuth (25,400) are just a few of the other players advancing.

The same can’t be said for the likes of Kyle Miaso, Adam Owen, Phil Hui, Darryll Fish, Matt Glantz, Daniel Ospina, Dylan Linde, John Hennigan, David Benyamine, and Kate Hoang who all hit the rail.

Things get going again at 2pm Saturday, with registration still open until the start of play.

Top 10 Stacks:

1. Nathan Gamble – 312,800
2. Jason Berilgen – 265,000
3. Chad Power – 247,000
4. Joao Simao – 226,800
5. Cliff Josephy – 226,000
6. Scott Bohlman – 184,200
7. Eoghan O’Dea – 166,500
8. Ryan Laplante – 165,700
9. Eli Elezra – 155,000
10. Ari Engel – 153,400

Day 1E of GIANT NLHE In The Books

A whopping 4,347 players took a seat today in Day 1e of Event #6: $365 GIANT No-Limit Hold’em, and after 21 levels 378 of them will advance to Day 2.

Alexander Lakhov bagged the chip lead, while the likes of Barry Greenstein, Chris Moneymaker, Jeff Gross and Greg Raymer failed to advance.

Day 2 begins tomorrow at 2pm, combining all survivors from all five day starting flights.

Top 10 Day 1E Stacks:

1. Alexander Lakhov – 1,720,000
2. Thai Ha – 1,180,000
3. Tuan Nguyen – 975,000
4. Sandy Friedman – 830,000
5. Kai Munster – 675,000
6. Jonathan Dwek – 650,000
7. Jonathan Delmundo – 613,000
8. Rees Scruggs – 550,000
9. Daniel Herschman – 504,000
10. Steven Wolansky – 455,000

Tomorrow’s Action (June 30)

We’ll be able to bring you the winner of Event #61: $1,000 WSOP.com ONLINE No-Limit Hold’em Championship tomorrow, as that one was still playing at the time of publishing. But what else is happening on Saturday?

Well, at 11am you’ve got Day 1A of Event #62: $888 Crazy Eights No-Limit Hold’em 8-Handed, which comes with $888,888 guaranteed for first place. Day 1B begins at 5pm.

Then at 3:30pm, action moves back online for Event #63: $3,200 WSOP.com ONLINE No-Limit Hold’em High Roller. Expect to see many players grinding both live and online tomorrow.