Another massive Day 1 field took over most of the tables on Sunday at the 2017 World Series of Poker but that didn’t stop Nathan Gamble from emerging on top of a talented group of players to win the only bracelet awarded. Phil Hellmuth also spent the day positioning himself for another shot at bracelet #15.

Nathan Gamble Wins $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha 8 or Better

The aptly-named Nathan Gamble beat Adam Hendrix heads-up to win the first WSOP bracelet of his career and $223,339 in the $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha 8 or Better to win the only bracelet awarded on Sunday.

“Right now, I’m in shock,” said Gamble. “Pot Limit Omaha and Pot Limit Omaha 8 or Better, I used to play (them) growing up as like a 13 or 14-year-old kid. So, I have extreme confidence coming into this. I’ve played four Omaha tournaments this World Series and cashed on three. So honestly, I felt better going into this than any other event.”

Gamble’s two other cashes this WSOP were a 100th place finish in the $565 PLO and a 128th place finish in the $1,000 PLO. The 27-year-old from Texas started Day 3 with the 14th biggest stack of 21 remaining players.

The only previous bracelet winner at the final table was fifth place finish Marco Johnson. Former #1-ranked PocketFiver Kevin Saul started the day second biggest stack but managed just an 11th place finish.

Final Table Payouts

1. Nathan Gamble – $223,339
2. Adam Hendrix – $137,992
3. Ray Henson – $96,555
4. Michael Gross – $68,544
5. Marco Johnson – $49,379
6. Miguel Use – $36,106
7. Fernando Macia – $26,803
8. Millard Hale – $20,205
9. Wendy Weissman – $15,470

Monster-sized Field on Day 1B of the $1,500 Monster Stack

One of the most popular tournaments of the summer, the $1,500 Monster Stack drew out an amazing 4,040 players on Day 1B to push the total field to 6,717 players and a prizepool north of $9 million. Topping the Day 1B field was Matthew Downs with 320,200 chips. He’s the only player over the two starting days to end up with more than 300,000.

Some of the notables to bag on Day 1B include Shannon Shorr (133,200), Matt Berkey (120,000) Aditya Agarwal (115,700), Maurice Hawkins (114,600), Ian O’Hara (112,500) and Robert Salaburu (98,300).

The Day 1A and 1B fields will combine on Monday with action resuming at 11 AM.

Top 10 Chip Counts

1. Matthew Downs – 320,200
2. David Olson – 298,000
3. David Sabbah – 233,000
4. Saya Ono – 231,700
5. Yann Chaumond- 185,000
6. Thuy Kawano – 183,600
7. Victor Lee – 176,200
8. Ihar Soika – 160,400
9. Chris Tryba – 158,200
10. Fernando Gutierrez – 157,600

Andrew Kelsall Leads $10K Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo Final 11

The name at the top of the chip counts with just 11 players remaining is Andrew Kelsall, but if the Tampa native wants to win his first WSOP bracelet, he’s going to have get through seven previous bracelet winners on Monday. That group is of course highlighted by none other than 14-time bracelet winnerPhil Hellmuth.

Kelsall finished Day 2 with 965,000, putting him just ahead of Christopher Vitch and Jameson Painter. Hellmuth finished with the seventh biggest stack at 420,000. He’s not the only former World Champion in the mix though. Jonathan Duhamel finished as the second shortest stack.

Included in the group that busted in the money on Monday were Daniel Negreanu (18th – $15,182), John Monnette (17th – $15,182), Richard Ashby (15th – $16,800), Todd Brunson (14th – $19,130) and Chris Ferguson (12th – $22,396).

The final 11 will play down to a winner on Monday beginning at 2 PM PT.

Top 11 Chip Counts

1. Andrew Kelsall – 965,000
2. Christopher Vitch – 925,000
3. Jameson Painter – 919,000
4. Abe Mosseri – 767,000
5. Brock Parker – 609,000
6. Benny Glaser – 477,000
7. Phil Hellmuth – 420,000
8. Dan Shak – 406,000
9. Alex Luneau – 331,000
10. Jonathan Duhamel – 228,000
11. Randy Ohel – 203,00

Guilherme Rodrigues Tops Day 1 of Six Max PLO Action

Four cards and lots of legroom were the order of the day as the $3,000 Six Max PLO event kicked off Sunday night. Of the 630 players who began the day, just 127 managed to make it through until the end. Brazil’s Guilherme Rodrigues ended up with the biggest stack at 256,600.

Chino Rheem finished the night with the second biggest stack. The four-time World Poker Tour champ has never won a WSOP bracelet.

Other notables to advance to Day 2 include Roberto Romanello, Jason Wheeler, Sam Soverel, Jeff Madsen, Christian Harder, Felipe Ramos, Brandon Shack-Harris, Mike Sexton, Mike Watson and Robin Ylitalo.

The cards are back in the air Tuesday at 2 pm PT.

Top 10 Chip Counts

1. Guilherme Rodrigues – 256,600
2. Chino Rheem – 214,400
3. Gionni Demers – 211,300
4. Samuel Higgs – 200,100
5. Aleksei Altshuller – 166,300
6. Dylan Hortin – 161,700
7. Igor Sharaskin – 158,500
8. Nadar Kakhmazov – 154,200
9. Ryan Goindoo – 148,000
10. Ivan Naumov – 143,800