Event #54: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Handed Championship

This year's $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship saw a massive turnout of 428 players, making it the biggest edition of this tournament in history by ten runners (418 players in 2014).

The first ten levels of the tournament reduced the field to less than a half, leaving only 186 players hope to reach the $938,732 top prize, including the title defender Brandon Shack-Harris.

Shack-Harris was one of the driving forces on Day 1, building a promising 299,500 stack for the next stage. Last year, Shack-Harris ranked 36th at the end of Day 1 with 176,600 in his bag.

The reigning champion is among the tournament top ten but the pole position is in strong possession of Sorin Drajneanu, who climbed to 469,200 in the last level, leaving all of his opponents far behind.

With just over $100,000 in live tournament cashes to his name, Drajneanu certainly isn't one of the familiar faces in $10,000 Championship events. Most of his previous reported notches came in his hometown Bucharest, Romania's capital.

Drajneanu has been flying under the radar so far, leaving the spotlight to many other notable players who took to the felt. As is always the case, the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship drew a star-studded line-up. Drajneanu's nearest rival looked to be Andjelko Andrejevic, who's on 369,400. Andrejevic knocked out Jason Mercier in the penultimate level of the day and managed to add a lot more chips during the remaining session.

Pot-Limit Omaha specialist Jeff Madsen was among those who thrived on Day 1, bagging 219,800. The four-time bracelet winner was sitting next to Daniel Negreanu. Madsen first dropped about a half of his stack but hit an uphill swing when he tangled in a three-way pot against Negreanu and Daniel Weinman.

Negreanu was all-in preflop with jacks and queen-ten, while Madsen ended up all-in on the flop, holding double-suited aces. Weinman had flopped a wrap and bottom pair, seeking a double knockout, but Madsen's aces remained the winning hand. Madsen busted Negreanu in addition to a full double through Weinman, catapulting his stack back over the starting line.

Other well-known players who climbed over the virtual average chip-line included Johnny Lodden (270,000), Dermot Blain (214,000), Ben Lamb (189,200), Dmitry Yurasov (182,900), Roberto Romanello (179,800), Justin Bonomo (160,500), Mike Gorodinsky (150,200) and Shaun Deeb (144,600).

They will continue maneuvering their belongings on Day 2, which kicks off Thursday at 12 p.m. in the Brasilia Room. Tune to PokerNews for the live coverage to see which of the remaining players will make a deep run at the title.

The tournament staff has announced four more hands before bagging.

Andjelko Andrejevic is the current chip leader with about five minutes before a draw for the last few hands. Andrejevic, however, gave up some of his chips to Alberto Fonseca in the following hand.

Andrejevic raised from the under the gun, and Fonseca flatted on the button.

Both players checked the     flop.

They saw the   turn and Andrejevic decided for a delayed continuation bet, putting in 8,500. Fonseca stuck around.

The   river brought another bet from Andrejevic, and Fonseca matched the required 17,000.

"One pair," declared Andrejevic but Fonseca had a better hand, rolling over his      for two pairs.

Andjelko Andrejevic	350,000	160,000
Alberto Fonseca	200,000	40,000

There was an open and a call before Johnny Lodden, on the button, three-bet to 6,600.

"One color of each chip, eh? I like it." said the original raiser as he called. The other player put in the chips too.

The flop was    , and everyone checked. The turn card was the  , and when it checked to Lodden, he bet 10,000. The original raiser called, and the remaining player folded. The river was the  , and a final check to Lodden saw him bet 25,000. There was some slight hesitation from Lodden's opponent, who called and then guessed Lodden's holdings. He was way off.

Lodden tabled      for a full house.

Johnny Lodden

270,000

75,000

The flop was    , and Johnny Lodden, in the big blind, checked. Stephen Chidwick had position, but he didn't have many chips left, and he bet 6,500 of them. Lodden check-raised to 20,000, and Chidwick called.

The turn card was the  . Lodden bet enough to put Chidwick all in, and he called.

Lodden :     
Chidwick:     

It's not often you see the same hand in PLO, but there it was, and as a meaningless river hit, Chidwick survived, but surely with mixed feelings.

Johnny Lodden	195,000	45,000
Stephen Chidwick	55,000	55,000

Jason Mercier was in second position, raising to 4,200. He received two calls before small blind Andjelko Andrejevic three-bet to 10,600. The action returned to Mercier, who pushed all in for 21,700 total, earning two folds and a call from Andrejevic.

Jason Mercier:     
Andjelko Andrejevic:     

The       board brought a sweat, but Mercier ultimately didn't get there on the river, departing at the beginning of the ninth level. Andrejevic is now closing on 200,000 chips.

Andjelko Andrejevic	190,000	190,000
Jason Mercier	0	0

Players are on their final 20-minute break for today. Two more levels will follow before bagging.

Brandon Shack-Harris' table broke quite a while ago. Since then, Shack-Harris has been sitting a few yards away, accompanying Igor Yaroshevskyy.

So far, the relocation seems to suit Shack-Harris. While a major collision between Shack-Harris and Igor Yaroshevskyy wasn't spotted, one can deduce what has happened at the table based on the chip flow.

Yaroshevskyy, who was one of the tournament leaders on dinner, is now down to 30,000. Shack-Harris, on the other hand, climbed up to roughly 200,000, pushing his name toward the top ten.

Brandon Shack-Harris	200,000	120,000
Igor Yaroshevskyy	30,000	-150,000