WSOP: Umerova Denies Farrell, Shack-Harris Leads $10,000 PLO
The first day of July crowned one new bracelet winner, left six players to return in the $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha Championship and two more events return a handful players for Day 3. The $888 Crazy Eights event brought out the crowds with two flights in the re-entry event.
Safiya Umerova Upsets Niall Farrell for First Bracelet in $1,500 Shootout
“I think women poker players are underestimated, it happens to me.” Umerova said. “They underestimate my thinking and my game overall. I’ve only been playing poker for a very short time. It’s exciting, this is a great start for my career.”
“I dream big. I want to be the best poker player in the world,” she added. “I know I am not there yet, but I want to have the most gold bracelets anyone has ever had. That’s the goal. That’s what you’re supposed to go for, right?”
Heads-up play began with Farrell holding a 3-1 chip advantage but Umerova won a key pot when all in with queens. Farrell held 
but two queens on the flop doubled up Umerova’s stack. A few hands later, down 3-1, he shoved holding queen high and Umerova called with an ace. An ace hit on the flop and Umerova became the second female bracelet winner in as many days.
Final Table Payouts
- Safiya Umerova – $246,046
- Niall Farrell – $163,158
- Michael Mixer – $118,109
- Yuliyan Kolev – $86,513
- Damian Salas – $64,129
- Raymond Ho – $48,115
- Daniel McAulay – $36,543
- Daniel Tang – $28,101
- Alexander Lakhov – $21,881
Brandon Shack-Harris Leads Final Six in $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha Championship
Day 3 of the $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha Championship began with 28 returning players after a brutal Day 2 bubble and after ten levels of play Brandon Shack-Harris leads the six-handed Day 4 table.
Matthew Parry, Loren Klein, Melad Marji, Harley Stoffmaker and Tommy Le round out the final six. It’s an odd lineup for the event with the unknowns totaling 11 WSOP cashes while Shack-Harris, Klein and Le have 51 cashes and more than $2.5 million combined.
Jason Mercier, Mike Watson, Taylor Paur, Mike Matusow and Erik Seidel all made the money but ultimately found the rail.
Play resumes Saturday at noon and will be live-streamed with hole cards.
Final Six Chip Counts
- Brandon Shack-Harris – 5,425,000
- Matthew Parry – 4,775,000
- Loren Klein – 3,530,000
- Melad Marji – 2,930,000
- Harley Stoffmaker – 2,265,000
- Tommy Le – 1,600,000
Jay Farber, James Akenhead and James Akenhead Headline Day 3 in $3,000 No Limit Hold’em
The $3,000 No Limit Hold’em event began with 287 returning players for Day 2 and after ten levels of play the field was trimmed to 31 players – well short of the intended final table mark. Tony Ruberto bagged up the lead with three November Niners sliding into the top 10.
James Akenhead, Simon Deadman and Daniel Rudd lead a contingent of British players after finishing in the top 20. Andrew Lichtenberger, Tristan Wade, John Hennigan and John Racener also advanced but in the bottom half of the counts.
Players return at noon on Saturday with over $500,000 on the line for the winner and they’ll play to a winner is crowned. Depending on the finish of the PLO Championship and the lineup, it could be live-streamed later in the day on WSOP.com.
Top Ten Chip Counts
- Tony Ruberto – 1,165,000
- Jay Farber – 1,077,000
- Nick Yunis – 1,056,000
- Thomas Miller – 970,000
- Linglin Zeng – 858,000
- James Akenhead – 851,000
- Erhan Iscan – 798,000
- Pierre Neuville – 770,000
- Salvatore Dicarlo – 763,000
- Sevan Markarian – 690,000
Allen Le & John Monnette Lead Stacked Field of 27 to Day 3 in Mixed Omaha Hi-Lo
The Mixed Omaha Hi-Lo event of three variants is new for the 2016 WSOP schedule and the field returned 207 players to Day 2. Ten levels of play reduced the field to 27 survivors littered with bracelet winners but Allen Le and John Monnette were the only two players to finish above the 500,000-mark.
Gary Bolden, Bart Hanson and Keith Ferrera landed in the top 10 counts while Timothy Burt, Gavin Smith, David Bach and Jason Somerville all return with shorter stacks.
Michael Mizrachi, John Holley, Mike Leah and Ted Forrest made deep runs into the money but didn’t survive the day. Play resumes for Day 3 at noon as one of three events playing to a winner.
Top Ten Chip Counts
- Allan Le – 562,500
- John Monnette – 531,000
- Cody Crouch – 435,500
- Yuval Bronshtein – 348,000
- Gary Bolden – 323,500
- Philipp Eirisch – 311,500
- Alexey Makarov – 278,000
- Bart Hanson – 217,500
- Keith Ferrera – 206,000
- Mark Johns – 193,500
Two Flights for Crazy Eights Event Combine for 2,816 Entrants
The multiple re-entry $888 Crazy Eights Eight Max No Limit Hold’em event ran two of the four opened flights on Friday and combined for 2,816 entrants collectively. Despite those huge numbers, only 36 players advanced from Flight 1A and 50 survivors from Flight 1B – 86 total. Andy Spears bagged the most with 499,000 from the late wave and Daniel Fried led the first flight.
Dimitar Danchev, Loni Harwood, Jason Les, Allen Kessler and Jennifer Shahade standout from the 36 Flight 1A survivors. John Gordon, Scott Davies and Hank Sitton advance from Flight 1B pool of 50 advancing players.
Day 2 returns to action Sunday at 2 pm in the Amazon Room, bringing all four flights together for the first time. Flight 1C has cards in the air at 10 am and Flight 1D gathers for a start at 4 pm on Saturday.
Top Ten Chip Counts A & B Combined
- Andy Spears – 499,000
- Daniel Fried – 366,000
- Gytis Bernatavicius – 360,000
- Francis Rusnak – 341,000
- DNR – 336,000
- Joshua Field – 323,000
- Lev Mimma – 315,000
- Jennifer Shahade – 285,000
- Henry Grunzweig – 279,000
- Joep Raemaekers – 278,000
Saturday’s Crazier Eights & Poker Players Championship
The WSOP will be stretched to its limits on Saturday with three events playing down to a winner in the Amazon Room, while shoehorning in two more flights of the $888 Crazy Eights event. Then the prestigious $50,000 Poker Players Championship kicks off at 3 pm, scheduled for five days and arguably brings together the toughest field each year.
