Sunday, June 7, 2015 3:16 AM Local Time
Day 1 of the $10,000 Razz Championship got cards in the air at 4 pm on Saturday afternoon at the Rio. By the time late registration closed, 103 players had put up a stack of high society to take their shot at WSOP glory.
After five, two-hour levels, the field had been shrunk to just 63 players, who will come back on Sunday to continue their quest for a Bracelet. By the day's end, nobody had more chips in the field than both Abe Mosseri and Brock Parker, who each bagged up 140,900 in chips. Joining them at the top of the chip counts are Hani Awad and Jyri Merivirta. They bagged 122,200 and 113,800 in chips, respectively.
Shaun Deeb finished with a healthy stack to cap off a good day of poker for him. Earlier in the evening, he won his first Bracelet in the $10,000 Pot Limit Hold'em Championsip. After earning his first WSOP win, Deeb got right back on the proverbial horse and late registered the Razz Championship. He finished the day with 94,700 in chips, good for fifth place on the totem pole.
Not everybody was lucky enough to survive the day though. Brian Hastings was one of the first players eliminated from the tournament, hitting the rail at the beginning of the second level. Other well-known pros who failed to survive the day include defending champion George Danzer, Huck Seed, Mohsin Charania, John Monnette, Bill Chen, Scott Seiver, Daniel Negreanu, Josh Arieh, and veteran poker reporter Mickey Doft.
Phil Hellmuth, Brandon Shack-Harris, David Bach, Jen Harman, Stephen Chidwick, Erik Seidel, and Mike Leah are just a handful of top pros who also made it through the day.
Day 2 will get cards in the air at 2 pm on Sunday as the remaining players move closer to the final table. Check back with WSOP.com to follow the action throughout the day.
Sunday, June 7, 2015 2:53 AM Local Time
The clock has been paused with ten minutes left on the clock. A six was drawn from the deck, so each table will play that many more hands before bagging up for the night.
Sunday, June 7, 2015 2:44 AM Local Time
Brandon Cantu completes to 1,000 with and Randy Ohel makes it two bets with . Cantu calls and they are heads-up to fourth street. Cantu catches and Ohel catches . Ohel bets 1,000 and Cantu calls. On fifth street, Ohel catches and Cantu gets . Ohel bets again, this time for a full big bet of 2,000. Cantu calls and they go to sixth street.
Cantu: (x-x)/
Ohel: (x-x)/
Cantu acts first showing a queen low after Ohel pairs his five. Cantu checks and Ohel bets. Cantu check-calls and they go to the river. Both players check and Ohel announces a 10-7 low as he tables in the hole. Cantu quickly turns over his hand and shows his 10-9 low and Ohel wins the pot.
Randy Ohel - 66,000
Brandon Cantu - 26,000
Sunday, June 7, 2015 2:41 AM Local Time
This second-annual $10,000 Razz Championship has officially drawn 103 entries, generating a prizepool worth $271,105. That money will be divided up among the final 16 players, with a min-cash worth $17,098.
The eventual champion will earn $271,105, the gold bracelet, and the distinction of being crowned the 2015 Champion of Razz.
Sunday, June 7, 2015 2:26 AM Local Time
On sixth street, Mark Gregorich bets and Brandon Cantu goes into the tank for just under a minute with their boards looking like this.
Gregorich: (x-x)/
Cantu: (x-x)/
"I've got you beat Mark," said Cantu while pondering his decision.
Cantu tosses in a call and Gregorich checks after they are each dealt a river card. Cantu bets and Gregorich takes a few moments before calling. Cantu tables , good for a perfect seven low and Gregorich mucks his hand.
Brandon Cantu - 15,000
Mark Gregorich - 8,000
Sunday, June 7, 2015 2:08 AM Local Time
Brock Parker completes with a up, and Thomas Bihl makes it two bets for 2,000, showing a . Parker calls, and off they go.
Parker: (x-x)/ /(x)
Bihl: (x-x)/ /(x)
Parker leads out for 1,000 on fourth street, and Bihl calls. That action repeats for the big bet of 2,000 on fifth street. On sixth, Parker checks his ace, then calls a bet from Bihl. On seventh, Parker leads back out for 2,000, and Bihl calls.
Parker rolls over for the winning eighty-five, and that pot allows the three-time bracelet winner to stretch his lead over the rest of the field. He's still the only player over the century mark in chips.
Brock Parker - 120,000
Thomas Bihl - 14,400
Sunday, June 7, 2015 2:00 AM Local Time
On fifth street, Jonathan Duhamel bets, a player in seat 1 calls and Eric Wasserson calls as well. They go to sixth street and their boards are completed.
Seat 1: (x-x)/
Jonathan Duhamel: (x-x)/
Eric Wasserson: (x-x)/
Seat 1 checks and Wasserson bets 2,000. Duhamel takes a moment and then folds and seat 1 check-calls. After seventh street was dealt face-down, seat 1 checks and Wasserson bets 2,000. Seat 1 pick up his hole cards and flashes a pair of deuces as he mucks his hand. Wasserson collects the pot, but flashes to the table as he collects his chips.
"I shouldn't have shown that," said Wasserson with a wry smile.
Eric Wasserson - 73,000
Sunday, June 7, 2015 1:42 AM Local Time
On fourth street, John Monnette bets with showing and Andrei Churikov calls with showing. On fifth, Monnette catches and Churikov catches . Churikov bets and Monnette calls. On sixth, Monnette catches and Churikov pairs his five. Monnette bets, Churikov raises, and Monnette gets the last of his chips in the middle. Churikov calls and the cards are tabled.
Monnette: ( )/
Churikov: ( )/
Monnette has a 9-6 low and a draw to a smooth six, but is behind Churikov's 7-6. Churikov tables as his river card and Monnette doesn't squeeze his and quickly flips up , which improves his hand, but not enough to top Churikov.
Andrei Churikov - 29,000
John Monnette - Eliminated
Sunday, June 7, 2015 1:37 AM Local Time
Mike Leah brings in with a , Stephen Chidwick completes for 1,000 with an , Roland Isra calls with a , and Mickey Doft calls with his . Leah folds.
Doft: (x-x)/ /(x)
Chidwick: (x-x)/ /(x)
Isra: (x-x)/ /(x)
Isra bets his lead on fourth street, and Doft calls. Chidwick raises to 2,000, Isra calls, and Doft raises all in for 2,100 total. Call-call, and Doft's tournament life is at risk once again. Isra bets again on fifth street, then check-calls two Chidwick bets on sixth and seventh.
At showdown, Chidwick reveals his for a sixty-five, and Isra can't beat it. Neither can Doft, as he mucks his and makes his exit.
Stephen Chidwick - 50,000
Roland Isra - 24,000
Mickey Doft - Eliminated
Sunday, June 7, 2015 1:27 AM Local Time
On fifth street, Andrew Robl bets and Bryn Kenney calls. The dealer peels off sixth street and their boards look like this:
Robl: (x-x)/
Kenney: (x-x)/
Both players open pair, but Robl is first and bets 2,000. Kenney calls and they head to the river. Robl checks his cards and bets 2,000 again. Kenney takes 30 seconds in the tank before tossing in a call. Robl shows in the hole, giving him a 7-6 low and Kenney mucks his hand.
Andrew Robl - 34,000
Bryn Kenney - 24,000
Sunday, June 7, 2015 1:10 AM Local Time
Mickey Doft completes for 1,000 with a , and the player in Seat 3 calls. Doft is all in for his last 500 on fourth street.
Doft: / /(x)
Seat 3: / /(x)
Seat 3 peels over his seventh-street card, showing an to make a ninety-eight. Doft is drawing live, and he sweats out a on seventh street to save his tournament life.
Mickey Doft - 4,400
Sunday, June 7, 2015 1:05 AM Local Time
Todd Brunson and Bryn Kenney are part of the field as the players return from the break, and it looks like they're entries number 102 and 103, respectively.
Registration is now closed, and the official numbers will be posted as soon as they're available.
Sunday, June 7, 2015 1:02 AM Local Time
Level: 5
Blinds: 1k/2kBring-In:300
Ante: 200
Sunday, June 7, 2015 12:41 AM Local Time
The players are on their final 15-minute break of the night.
Sunday, June 7, 2015 12:41 AM Local Time
Mickey Doft, the player in Seat 3, Mike Leah, and Stephen Chidwick tangle up in a big four-way pot.
Doft: (x-x)/ /(x)
Seat 3: (x-x)/ /(x)
Leah: (x-x)/ /(x)
Chidwick: (x-x)/ /(x)
Everyone gets four bets in apiece on third street, and another four apiece on fourth with Leah and Chidwick being the primary aggressors. Chidwick bets fifth, and everyone calls. That action repeats on sixth with another bet and three calls. On seventh, Leah makes the leading bet of 1,600, Chidwick calls, and the other two players tuck and muck.
Leah reveals , and his seventy-five is the winner.
Mike Leah - 73,000
Stephen Chidwick - 41,000
Mickey Doft - 2,100
Sunday, June 7, 2015 12:35 AM Local Time
Mark Greogrich brings it in with and Max Pescatori limps in with . Scott Seiver completes from late position with and Chris George makes it two bets with . Gregorich and Pescatori fold and Seiver calls. Seiver catches and George catches . George bets and Seiver calls. On fifth street, both players check and their boards are completed on sixth street.
Seiver: (x-x)/
George: (x-x)/
George bets 1,600 and Seiver shows that he paired his ace on fifth street and mucks his hand. George scoops the pot and both players have less than 10 big bets.
Scott Seiver - 10,400
Chris George - 12,500
Sunday, June 7, 2015 12:19 AM Local Time
Brock Parker completes with an , and Phil Hellmuth defends his bring-in.
Parker: (x-x)/ /(x)
Hellmuth: (x-x)/ /(x)
Parker bets fourth, fifth, and six streets, with Hellmuth calling each time. On seventh, Parker squeezes his down-cards and checks. Hellmuth does the same and announces, "I hit a ten." He shows .
"Eight," Parker answers, turning over his winning . He collects the pot to move up into the top spot with close to 90,000 chips.
Brock Parker - 88,000
Phil Hellmuth - 47,000
Sunday, June 7, 2015 12:00 AM Local Time
On fifth street, Steve Billirakis bets 1,600 and Phil Hellmuth raises to 3,200. Billirakis calls and after sixth street is dealt, their boards look like this:
Billirakis: (x-x)/
Hellmuth: (x-x)/
On sixth, Billirakis leads out again and Hellmuth calls. Hellmuth stands up from his chair as the river card is dealt. He stares at Billirakis, who checks. He sits back down and squeezes his river card. He finds paint on the squeeze and angrily flips up . Billirakis tables , giving him a 9-8 low and he takes the pot.
"Are you even trying to win?" asked Hellmuth. "I've got a four card seven against two fives and a nine. How f****** bad do you play? I haven't seen all your hole cards, but what the f*** is that?"
Steve Billirakis - 56,000
Phil Hellmuth - 41,000
Saturday, June 6, 2015 11:50 PM Local Time
There's a multi-way conversation going on at Table 351 involving Ted Forrest, Jeff Lisandro, Josh Arieh, and Abe Mosseri, who are seated all in a row in seats five through eight. The topic of conversation? Allen Kessler, who appears to be skipping this event.
The chatter began with one of them suggesting that Kessler will get to 100 WSOP cashes before he wins a bracelet. The cash count stands at 39 right now, so there's a long way to go to fade a Chainsaw bracelet.
Lisandro, for one, is on Kessler's side. "He'll make a bracelet," Lisandro says firmly.
"In what?!" comes the response from the other three in unison.
"He'll run hot at some point," Lisandro suggests.
"He doesn't play enough hands to run hot," Arieh counters. "It's mathematically impossible. How many final tables does he even have?"
After some debate, the line is set at seven with Lisandro taking the over. When they learn that the actual number is five, there are a lot of "I told you so" looks, and Lisandro curses himself for taking the bad side of the bet.
Saturday, June 6, 2015 11:36 PM Local Time
On fourth street, Andrew Brown bets with , a player folds, and Keith Lehr calls with .
"Give him a jack," said Lehr to the dealer.
Brown catches and Lehr catches . Lehr's board takes the lead and he bets. Brown calls and they go to sixth street.
Brown: (x-x)/
Lehr: (x-x)/
Both players check sixth and both players check seventh. Lehr mentions something about having a pair of fours and Brown quickly tables in the hole, giving him a 9-7 low and Lehr mucks his hand.
"You were getting called down," said Brown as he was stacking his chips.
Adndrew Brown - 38,000
Keith Lehr - 12,000