Event #4: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better

On the second day of the 2018 World Series of Poker, the limit Omaha Hi-Lo aficionados came out in full force to contest for the bracelet in Event #4: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better. A total of 911 players paid the requisite $1,500 to play, six more than the event drew last year. Together, they created a total prize pool of $1,229,850, and the winner on Saturday, June 2 will receive the biggest chunk worth $239,771, as well as the gold WSOP bracelet.

After ten levels of 60 minutes and plenty of chopped pots, 295 of the entrants made it through to the second day. It was Dao Bac who claimed the Day 1 chip lead with 74,700. Nick Guagenti, who had a deep run in last year's Main Event, also had a strong showing with 65,600, as well as Pamela McPeak, who bagged 64,900.

Top Chip Counts After Day 1

Among those that made it through to the second day were many former WSOP bracelet winners, including six-time winner Layne Flack (41,500), four-time winner Jeff Madsen (31,900) and three-time bracelet winner Benny Glaser (27,200). Glaser won this very event back in 2016 and will be trying to achieve an improbable second victory in three years. Allen Kessler (39,600), John Racener (31,300) and Mike Leah (22,500) also advanced to Day 2.

Mike Matusow made it to Day 2 with 14,800. "The Mouth" showed why he earned his moniker by bombarding his opponents with a non-stop barrage of words throughout the day. Matusow made it through in good company, as fellow bracelet winners Madsen, Chris Tryba and Leif Force also advanced from a stacked table that brought a combined 16 bracelets together at one point.

Six of those belonged to Chris Ferguson, who busted out shortly before the end of the night at the hands of Matusow himself. Holding a hand with ace-four of clubs, Matusow flopped the nut flush to end Ferguson's bid for a seventh piece of jewellery in the ultimate level of the night.

Plenty of notables showed up for this event and many of them fell by the wayside on the first day. James Woods was among the first to fall, and the actor was joined on the rail by Ari Engel, Sorel Mizzi, Brian Hastings, James Obst, Mike Ross, Felipe Ramos, Kathy Liebert, Kristen Bicknell, Jeff Lisandro and Todd Brunson.

On Friday, June 1 at 2 p.m. local time, the remaining players will return in level 11, with limits of 500/1,000. Another ten levels of 60 minutes are scheduled as play continues in the Amazon Room of the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino. PokerNews will be on the floor to cover this event start-to-finish as the 2018 World Series of Poker rolls on.

Event #4: Day 2 Seat Draw

The first day of Event #4: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better at the 2018 World Series of Poker is done. An assortment of end-of-day chip counts and an extensive recap will follow.

Towards the end of the level, Kate Hoang has emerged as one of the bigger stacks, however, the chip lead seems to be up close and could go either way.

Hoang got into a three-way pot out of the small blind and checked the      turn, as did the big blind. David Self bet on the button and picked up two callers. On the   river, the action checked once more to Self and his bet was called by Hoang and the big blind. Self showed      for a set of tens and Hoang mucked, the big blind took the low portion of the pot with the     .

Kate Hoang	60,000	33,000
David Self	30,000	30,000

A short-stacked Chris Ferguson was all in for his final chips and Mike Matusow was the one who tried to score the knockout.

The board ran out       and Matusow showed      for the nut flush to end Ferguson's bid in the twilight stage of the day.

Mike Matusow	18,000	14,500
Chris Ferguson	0	-7,500

Mike Leah raised in middle position, a player on the button called, Ryan Laplante called from the small blind and Jose Razo peeled from the big. Leah continued with the small bet on the     flop and all other players came along.

On the   turn, it was Razo who led out and once again everyone called, bringing four players to the river. The river was the   and Razo bet again. Leah was the only caller as the button and Laplante quickly folded their hands.

Razo tabled      for the nuts and Leah mucked.

Jose Razo	30,000	30,000
Ryan Laplante	30,000	-7,500
Mike Leah	14,000	-11,000

The showdown had already been concluded, while the dealer was busy sorting out the main pot and side pot. What happened? A short stack was all in with the      and hit the nut low and straight on a board of      .

However, Kate Hoang and Randy Ohel were still involved and played for the much bigger pot. Ohel also had the nut low with      and a king-high flush.

However, Hoang had      for the nut flush and scooped the high pot to chip up.

Randy Ohel	28,000	0
Kate Hoang	27,000	18,000

Natasha Mercier was among the last players to jump in and John Monnette has also just now been spotted in the field. Below are further notable stacks in the penultimate level of the day.

Dao Bac	50,000	35,000
Victor Ramdin	39,000	13,000
Jarred Koppel	31,000
Allen Kessler	30,000	7,000
Raymond Davis	21,000	13,500
Ray Henson	16,000	4,000
Jason Rivkin	16,000	7,000
John Monnette	12,000
Natasha Mercier	10,000

Preflop a short stack was all in for a mere 1,700 out of the big blind and he was called by an opponent in late position and Ronan Nally in the small blind. On the     flop, Nally check-called a bet before check-raising the   turn to pick up a call. Nally bet the   river and the sole remaining active player called all in.

Nally turned over      for the nut straight and neither opponent could beat that. Nally earned a few chips more after a low earned him half the pot against a flush and a straight, but he is not the biggest stack at the table just yet. That honor currently belongs to Frank Muir.

Frank Muir	50,000	13,500
Ronan Nally	35,000	35,000