Danny Le won his first career WSOP bracelet on Thursday in the ,500 Limit Hold’em event (WSOP photo)

The 2016 World Series of Poker is really just some the Summer of Jason Mercier. Just 72 hours after Mercier finished runner-up in a $10,000 buy-in event, he’s leading the final 14 players in the $10,000 buy-in HORSE. Mercier is looking to become the first player in WSOP history to make three consecutive $10,000 buy-in event final tables.

There was supposed to be two WSOP bracelets awarded on Thursday, but one of the two final tables was unable to get down to a champion and will return Friday to finish.

Event #21: Will Givens Leads Final Five in $3,000 Six Max No Limit Hold’em

Day 3 of the $3,000 buy-in Six Max No Limit Hold’em event saw 26 players return to the felt including six-time WSOP bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu but ten more levels of play on Thursday just weren’t enough to get down to a champion. Will Givens, who won a bracelet in 2014, leads the final five players with 6,030,000.

Right behind Givens is Calvin Lee with 4,250,000. Mark ‘dipthrong’ Herm sits in third with 2,770,000.

Negreanu was one of the earliest casualties of the day, busting out in 19th place.


Justin Liberto, who won this event last summer, then followed Negreanu out the door with an 18th place finish. Doug Polk was eliminated in 15th place and former November Niner Matt Giannetti was out in 13th.

Final table play resumes Friday at Noon PT and will be live-streamed on WSOP.com.

Final Table Chip Counts

  1. Will Givens – 6,030,000
  2. Calvin Lee – 4,250,000
  3. Mark Herm – 2,770,000
  4. Martin Kozlov – 1,555,000
  5. Steven Thompson Vila – 835,000

Event #22: Danny Le Wins $1,500 Limit Hold’em

Danny Le’s third career WSOP cash turned out to be a dream come true. Le outlasted 664 other players to win the $1,500 buy-in Limit Hold’em event.

“I finally got a gold bracelet. I can’t believe it. I finally won a gold bracelet,” said Le after his win. Le beat Scott Farnsworth heads-up to win the bracelet and the $188,815 first place prize money.

Farnsworth registered for the event on Tuesday thinking he was playing in a No Limit Hold’em tournament, only to find out the fixed betting limits when he took his seat.

Final Table Payouts

  1. Danny Le – $188,815
  2. Scott Farnsworth – $116,663
  3. Tyler Bonkowski – $80,706
  4. Dave Tobin – $56,740
  5. Dale Eberle – $40,550
  6. Dustin Bush – $29,466
  7. Andrew Beversdorf – $21,778
  8. Daniel Huseman – $16,376
  9. Esmeralda Villafuerte – $12,532

Event #23: Anthony Spinella Leads $2,000 No Limit Hold’em

Day 2 of the $2,000 No Limit Hold’em event began with 283 players still in contention, but through ten levels of play, just 27 remain. Leading the pack is 2015 WSOP bracelet winner Anthony Spinella, who bagged up 1,060,000. The only other player to finish with a seven-figure stack was Russian poker pro Andrey Pateychuk.

Other notables still in the field include former WPT500 champion Craig Varnell (989,000), Sam Chartier (956,000) and Matt Stout (550,000).

The bubble burst early on Thursday and some of the players who busted after that burst include Ari Engel, Tommy Vedes, Aaron Gustavson, Andre Akkari, Cliff Josephy, Yevgeniy Timoshenko and Chris Hunichen.

The final 27 players return a Noon PT and are schedule to play down to a winner.

Top Ten Chip Counts

  1. Anthony Spinella – 1,060,000
  2. Andrey Pateychuk – 1,022,000
  3. Craig Varnell – 989,000
  4. Sam Chartier – 956,000
  5. Tom Braband – 823,000
  6. Kamel Mokhammad – 717,000
  7. Viliyan Petleshkov – 656,000
  8. Albert Hart – 638,000
  9. Clemens Manzano – 555,000
  10. Matt Stout – 550,000

Event #24: The Jason Mercier Show Continues in $10,000 HORSE. Championship

Jason Mercier continues to be THE story of the 2016 WSOP after making it to Day 3 of yet another $10,000 buy-in event with the chip lead. Mercier finished with 1,597,000 and the top spot amongst the remaining 14 players in the $10,000 HORSE event with just one more day of play to go.

Right behind Mercier is Jesse Martin with 1,244,000 and Nick Schulman with 1,170,000.

Mike Sexton was eliminated on the bubble in 27th place. Right after his elimination Chris Ferguson was sent out in 26th place for the fifth cash of his summer. Other players to bust on Thursday but still find the cashier cage on the way out included Erik Seidel (24th), Matt Vengrin (22nd), David Benyamine (19th), Daniel Alaei (18th) and Jason Somerville (16th). This was the first ever Limit event that Somerville has cashed in.

Mercier and the other 13 players all return at 2 PM to play down to a winner.

Top Ten Chip Counts

  1. Jason Mercier – 1,597,000
  2. Jesse Martin – 1,244,000
  3. Nick Schulman – 1,170,000
  4. Bryn Kenney – 708,000
  5. Mikhail Semin – 684,000
  6. Yuval Bronshtein – 577,000
  7. Douglas Lorgeree – 519,000
  8. James Obst – 466,000
  9. Randy Ohel – 465,000
  10. Adam Friedman – 436,000