Paul Volpe was all business after winning second bracelet.
Paul Volpe won his second WSOP bracelet on Sunday at the Rio at the 2016 World Series of Poker. The Millionaire Maker field finally combined for the first time while two vastly different events kicked off.

Paul ‘paulgees’ Volpe Wins Second Bracelet in Eight Game Mix

Paul Volpe won his second WSOP gold bracelet and is the first former PocketFives Number 1 ranked player to win in 2016. Volpe won $149,943 after defeating Jason Stockfish heads-up. Volpe’s win is his second final table of Series after stretch of two runner-ups and two other final tables reaching back to 2015.
Volpe’s approach to the game was clear in his post-win comments, “With me, poker is mostly about the money. I know with the World Series of Poker there’s so much history and I respect that,” he said. “But I am here to earn a living, make money and support my family.”

The event drew 101 more players than 2015 with 491 and built a prize pool of $662,850. The result may be an effect of the schedule this year with two Dealers Choice events, HORSE, Pot Limit Omaha and Razz events all drawing early interest from players.

Final Table Payouts
1. Paul Volpe – $149,943
2. Jason Stockfish – $92,638
3. Ron Ware – $60,882
4. Benjamin Ludlow – $40,911
5. Anthony Lazar – $28,123
6. Gavin Smith – $19,787

Mohsin Charania Tops Milly Maker Field

Two starting flights with single re-entry drew a monster field of 7,190 entrants of the Millionaire Maker, but they all in the same room together for the first time on Sunday with 1,172 returning players. After a long day of action Mohsin Charania leads the 124 surviving players with 1.6 million.

The money bubble burst at 1,079 players and all Day 3 players are guaranteed $7,589. Five-figure payouts begin at 90 players and ninth place is good for $96,091. Many players were surprised to see first place earn $1.065 million, runner-up making an even $1 million but third place falls short with $500,000 – which is sure to have a huge effect on play.

Garrett Greer, Adam Levy, Max Silver, Loni Harwood, Ismael Bojang, Matt Affleck and Simon Deadman all survived the day’s action but outside the top counts. Charania hasn’t had breakout success at the WSOP but has four cashes on the Series and bubbled the final table of the Top Up Turbo event.

Top Ten Chip Counts
1. Mohsin Charania – 1,664,000
2. Frank Rusnak – 1,348,000
3. Jorge Eghi – 1,289,000
4. Kyle Arora – 996,000
5. Mikhail Semin – 973,000
6. Dylan Kehoe – 937,000
7. Danny Elmore – 936,000
8. Benny Chen – 926,000
9. Louis Salter – 915,000
10. Dale Beaudoin – 900,000

Jason Mercier Looks for 4th Bracelet in No Limit Deuce to Seven Championship

The $10,000 No Limit Deuce to Seven Championship attracts the best poker players in the world – drawing from the tournament world and cash game world. An even 100 players entered the event, 34 survived to Day 2 and Jason Mercier leads the final nine to Day 3.

Mercier is the only player over a million with one elimination away from the official final table. A stacked field of Mike Watson, Stephen Chidwick, David Grey and Jesse Martin all return.

Anthony Zinno just missed the cut bowing out in 10th place – also making the money, but not Day 3 were Brian Hastings, Mike Matusow and Daniel Negreanu.

Day 2 Chip Counts
1. Jason Mercier – 1,023,000
2. Mike Watson – 853,000
3. Stephen Chidwick – 770,000
4. Benny Glaser – 706,000
5. David Grey – 534,000
6. Alex Leneau – 442,000
7. Jesse Martin – 248,000
8. Herezel Zalewski – 238,000
9. Lamar Wilkinson – 194,000

Event 17: $1,000 No Limit Hold’em

The first $1,000 No Limit Hold’em event of the Series kicked off on Sunday and made the money before any players put chips in the bag. The tournament drew 2,242 entrants and only 239 advance to Day 2 with Stacey Nutini leading the way with 174,300

Daniel Weinman continues his hot early run bagging up in the top ten, but moving on with more modest stacks are Martin Staszko, Keven Stammen, Carlos Mortensen and Steven Gee.

The field generated a prize pool north of $2 million for 337 players to finish in the money. All returning players have $1,628 guaranteed but have a pay jump five spots away. The final four players all join the six-figure club and the winner earns $316,920.

Top Ten Chip Counts
1. Stacey Nutini – 174,300
2. Franklin Yao – 151,800
3. Koray Aldemir – 140,000
4. Koray Aldemir – 140,000
5. Matthew Schreiber – 129,300
6. Stefan Clemens – 125,000
7. Daniel Weinman – 122,000
8. Fabrice Halleux – 121,800
9. Pedro Oliveira – 120,300
10. William Firebaugh – 119,000

Event 18: $3,000 HORSE

The late afternoon tournament saw 400 players enter and 144 bag up chips at the end of play. George Trigeorgis has a sizable lead heading into Day 2 with twice the average stack separating him from the field.

The field juiced the prize pool to $1,092,000 for the top 60 finishers. The big money starts at 14 players with five-figure payouts.

Brock Parker, Taylor Paur, Justin Bonomo and $10,000 Seven Card Stud Champ Robert Mizrachi all bagged up in the top half of the counts.

Top Ten Chip Counts
1. George Trigeorgis – 160,200
2. Nicholas Kiley – 103,500
3. Brett Reichert – 102,200
4. Jared Talarico – 99,400
5. Andrey Zhigalov – 98,800
6. John Crisp – 96,000
7. Thao Thiem – 94,300
8. Par Hilderbrand – 89,400
9. Chino Rheem – 89,000
10. Mike Leah – 85,000

Just Another Manic Monday

Monday’s action sees only one final table – the Deuce to Seven Championship – and the Millionaire Maker plays down to the final nine players. The early event is repeat of the weekend’s PLO madness with a $1,000 event kicking off and the $10,000 Razz Championship has cards in the air at 3 pm.