WSOP: Loren Klein Secures Record-Tying Fourth Bracelet
On Thursday, Loren Klein added his name to the World Series of Poker history books and now has a shot at erasing a few names in 2020. Klein was one of three players to win bracelets on Thursday, with the other two winning the first bracelets of their career.
Aristeidis Moschonas Wins $600 NLHE/PLO Deepstack Title
Greece is now on the board. Aristeidis Moschonas defeated Dan Matsuzuki heads-up to win the $600 No Limit Hold’em/Pot Limit Omaha Deepstack event to give his homeland of Greece their first bracelet of 2019.
Moschonas, who typically plays PLO cash games, felt he had a noticeable advantage over the players in the field who specialize in No Limit Hold’em as the moved between PLO and NLHE.
“My main game is PLO, I’m a PLO cash player. I also play No-Limit tournaments so it’s like the perfect format for me,” Maoschonas said. “I have an edge against the No-Limit players who don’t know how to play PLO.”
The $194,759 score he got for winning was definitely nice, but the extra day the tournament needed to complete cost the 37-year-old the chance to play one of the marquee events on the schedule.
“I wanted to play the $25K PLO but I went to deep on this one, but it’s OK I guess,” Maoschonas said.
Matsuzuki, who won the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo event last year, banked $120,374 for the runner-up finish.
Final Table Payouts
- Aristeidis Moschonas – $194,759
- Dan Matsuzuki – $120,374
- Raghav Bansal – $88,410
- Rainer Kempe – $65,482
- Ashish Ahuja – $48,914
- Stephen Ma – $36,852
- Adam Lamphere – $28,006
- Daniel Moravec – $21,469
- Simon Samokovski – $16,603
Loren Klein Makes History With $2,500 Mixed Big Bet Win
For the fourth straight year, Loren Klein has won a WSOP bracelet. Klein beat Ryan Hughes heads up to win the $2,500 Mixed Big Bet event for $127,808. He joins Bill Boyd and Doyle Brunson as the only players to have won a bracelet four years in a row.
Klein’s other three wins were the $1,500 NLHE/PLO (2016), $1,500 PLO (2017), and the $10,000 PLO Championship (2018).
Hughes has a streak of his own. This is the second consecutive year that he’s finished runner-up in this event. He also finished seventh in 2017 to make him the only person to cash all three years that the event has existed.
Philip Hui finished third for $51,346 and his eighth cash of the 2019 WSOP.
Final Table Payouts
- Loren Klein – $127,808
- Ryan Hughes – $78,985
- Phillip Hui – $51,346
- Arthur Morris – $34,328
- Joseph Couden – $23,622
- Jonathan Depa – $16,746
- Mike Sexton – $12,240
Michael Blake Takes Down Super Seniors
Michael Blake came out on top of the record-setting 2,650-player field in the Super Seniors event to win $359,863.
“It’s the third time I’ve played in it. I’m an old guy, I’ve played poker for most of my life, and I feel very fortunate,” said Blake, 71.
Blake beat 2009 WSOP Europe Main Event champion and Card Player Magazine co-owner Barry Shulman for the bracelet. Shulman’s wife, Allyn, who won the Seniors Event in 2012, finished 36th.
Final Table Payouts
- Michael Blake – $359,863
- Barry Shulman – $222,295
- Cary Marshall – $162,536
- Timothy Joseph – $119,888
- Rick Austin – $89,217
- Kanajett Hathaitham – $66,987
- Jeffrey Miller – $50,751
- Bruce Treitman – $38,802
- Miles Harris – $29,939
Damjan Radanov Leads $1,500 NLHE Bounty into Day 3
Day 2 of the $1,500 No Limit Hold’em Bounty event started with 272 players – all in the money – and ended with Damjan Radanov leading the 23 survivors. Radanov bagged up 4,625,000 while two-time bracelet winner Asi Moshe ended up right behind him with 4,530,000.
Other notables moving on to Day 3 include Harrison Gimbel, Martijn Gerrits, and Kalidou Sow.
Among the 249 players who were unable to make it through the 10 levels of play were Phil Ivey, Loni Harwood, Sam Grizzle, Steven van Zadelhoff, Scott Margereson, Justin Young, and Barry Greenstein.
Day 3 begins at
Top Chip Counts
- Damjan Radanov – 4,625,000
- Asi Moshe – 4,530,000
- Timothy Stephens – 3,220,000
- Harrison Gimbel – 2,985,000
- Andrew Hills – 2,580,000
- Patrick Truong – 2,505,000
- Tonio Roder – 2,300,000
- Bastian Fischer – 2,185,000
- Martijn Gerrits – 2,145,000
- Benjamin Chalot – 1,900,000
Anson Tsang Leads Massive $25K PLO High Roller
Day 2 of the $25,000 Pot Limit Omaha High Roller was mostly about Anson Tsang, but it’s impossible to ignore the 56 players who late-regged or re-entered on Day 2. Those players helped push this year’s event to 278 total entrants, smashing the previous high of 230.
Tsang finished Day 2 leading the final 39 players with a stack of 4,775,000. James Chen put on a late surge to move within striking distance of Tsang and bagged 4,140,000. Alex Epstein sits third with 2,450,000.
Other notables still chasing down the $1,618,417 first place prize include Robert Mizrachi, Erik Seidel, Ben Tollerene, Paul Volpe, Stephen Chidwick, Justin Bonomo, and Dan Smith.
Day 3 begins at 2 PM PT and will play down to six players.
Top Chip Counts
- Anson Tsang – 4,775,000
- James Chen – 4,140,000
- Alex Epstein – 2,450,000
- Firas Sadou – 2,430,000
- Robert Mizrachi – 2,245,000
- Wasim Korkis – 1,900,000
- Esther Taylor-Brady – 1,730,000
- Erik Seidel – 1,533,000
- Ka Kwan – 1,415,000
- Ben Tollerene – 1,215,000
Day 1 of Ladies Event Draws Huge Field; Familiar Faces
Jennifer Lopez – no, not THAT Jennifer Lopez – ended Day 1 of the Ladies Event with the chip lead, narrowly edging out Katie Lindsay. Lopez finished with 251,900, while Lindsay bagged 245,600.
For the first time in the history of the event, players were able to re-enter after busting one time. That helped lead to a record number entries – 968 to be exact – before registration closed. In 2018, the event drew a field of 696 players.
Some of the notables moving on to Day 2 include Ana Marquez, Allyn Shulman, Erica Lindgren, Kathy Liebert, Maria Lampropulos, Maria Ho, Kelly Minkin, Gaelle Baumann, and Kristy Arnett.
Defending champ Jessica Dawley was one of the 707 players who were eliminated on Day 1. Action resumes at Noon PT.
Top Chip Counts
- Jennifer Lopez – 251,900
- Katie Lindsay – 245,600
- Diane Cooley – 229,100
- Raylene Celaya – 216,500
- Tian Jin – 216,100
- Iva Lazaova – 216,000
- Ana Freitas – 210,000
- Irina Batorevicova – 203,300
- Dee Luong – 173,700
- Erika Weinstein – 173,000
Baitai Li Leads Day 1 $2,500 No Limit Hold’em Event
Just 200 of the 996 players who entered the $2,500 No Limit Hold’em event on Thursday managed to survive the opening day of play. New York’s Baitai Li ended up with the chip lead as play wrapped for the night, ending with 354,800.
Li’s closest threat is Barny Boatman. The Brit finished with 263,100, just ahead of Canadian Mark Radoja, who bagged 248,000.
Some of the bigger names who advanced to Day 2 include Ari Engel, David ‘Bakes’ Baker, Kitty Kuo, Kristen Bicknell, Bryan Piccioli, Martin Jacobson, Tony Dunst, Kenny Hallaert, Ben Yu, and Jake Schwartz.
Day 2 begins at 1 PM PT and the first 50 players eliminated will do so without showing any return on their $2,500 buy-in. Play is scheduled to go another 10 levels.
Top Chip Counts
- Baitai Li – 354,800
- Barny Boatman – 263,100
- Mark Radoja – 248,000
- Antal Mezei – 246,400
- Sebastian Percysmith – 245,000
- Jesse Smith – 224,300
- Oihan Abarzuza – 214,500
- Adrian Apmann – 205,100
- Truyen Nguyen – 190,000
- Stefan Ivanov – 174,700
Johannes Becker Tops $10,000 2-7 Triple Draw Day 1
Last summer, Johannes Becker won his first bracelet by taking down the $2,500 Mixed Lowball event. On Thursday he took a pretty good step towards winning another one, albeit against a tougher field. Becker finished Day 1 of the $10,000 2-7 Triple Draw Championship with 526,500 – 130,000 more than any other player.
Benny Glaser, who won his first bracelet in a $1,500 buy-in version of this event in 2015, ended up second in chips with 396,500. A total of 92 players entered on Day 1 with players able to enter up until the start of Day 2. There is no re-entry in this event. There will need to be 17 Day 2 entries for this year’s event to match the 109 that played in 2018.
The 32 players that managed to avoid busting on Day 1 include Luke Schwartz, Calvin Anderson, Brian Hastings, Marco Johnson, Brian Yoon, David ‘ODB’ Baker, and Mike Matusow.
Day 2 action gets underway at 2 PM PT and will play seven 90-minute levels.
Top Chip Counts
- Johannes Becker – 526,500
- Benny Glaser – 396,500
- Luke Schwartz – 321,500
- Mark Gregorich – 275,000
- Daniel Ospina – 258,500
- George Wolff – 232,500
- Cary Katz – 223,000
- Rep Porter – 216,500
- Calvin Anderson – 208,000
- Max Kruse – 195,500
