Event #44: $10,000 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw Championship

Day 2 of Event #44: $10,000 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw Championship has come to a conclusion with Michael Noori holding the chip lead for the second consecutive day.

Noori maintained his standing near the top of the chip counts for the majority of the day. While he didn't score all that many eliminations, he won several key pots once the field redrew to the final three tables to add to his stack and eventually opened up a sizable chip lead to end the day.

Canadian Christopher Kruk sits second overall with 658,000, while Randy Ohel is third with 602,000.Jason Gray (569,000) and Hanh Tran (423,000) are the only other two players over average chips, while the likes of WSOP bracelet winners Farzad Bonyadi and Calvin Anderson are also still in the hunt. Bonyadi's mother, Farhintaj Bonyadi, won Event #36: $1,000 Super Seniors No-Limit Hold'em earlier this series, and a win for Bonyadi could deliver an unprecedented mother-and-son victory at the 2018 World Series of Poker.

At the beginning of Day 2, the 100-player field had already been reduced to just 41 players, but with registration open until the first card hit the air, a total of nine new faces showed up to take a seat in the tournament. Anderson, John Racener, Tyler Meservy, Jared Talarico, Samuel Touil, Justin Bonomo, Kristijonas Andrulis, Jason Gray, and Phil Ivey all entered play, and with it meant an official prize pool of $1,024,600 would be created that would ensure the final 17 players an in-the-money finish while awaiting the eventual victor would be a coveted WSOP bracelet and the $287,987 first prize.

Once the cards were officially airborne, action would be fast and furious as shallow stacks looked to make a move up the leaderboard. WSOP bracelet winners JC Tran, Mike Wattel, Benny Glaser, Vanessa Selbst, Frank Kassela, Jesse Martin, Chris Vitch, and Eli Elezra were just a handful of the casualties, along with late entrants Racener, Bonomo, and Ivey.

Dinner break was reached with players just a table from the money, and once play resumed, Mike Ross, Brant Hale, Nam Le, Shawn Buchanan, and Luke Schwartz hit the rail. With the tournament now on the bubble, it would take close to an hour before Max Kruse was drawing live to a wheel against Anderson's      . Unfortunately for Kruse he paired his three and became the tournament bubble boy which was deja vu for the German soccer star as he also bubbled the Event #23: $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship nearly two weeks ago.

With players now guaranteed an in-the-money finish, action continued at a slow rate as everyone was still relatively deep. Jordan Siegel (17th), Todd Brunson (16th), Andrew Kelsall (15th), and Mike Matusow (14th) all were eliminated before play concluded for the night. As was the case on Day 1, Noori ended the day as chipleader after amassing an 870,000 chip stack to lead the remaining 13 players into Day 3.

Day 3 action resumes at 2:00 p.m. (PDT) on Saturday, June 23rd, with the PokerNews live reporting team on the floor to provide continuous live updates until an Event #44 Champion is crowned. So stay tuned to PokerNews.com for the ongoing coverage of Event #44, along with all the updates from the 2018 World Series of Poker!

On the final hand of the night, Mike Matusow raised from the button. Randy Ohel three-bet from the small blind, Kristijonas Andrulis called from the big blind, Matusow reraised all in for 31,000, Ohel reraised and Andrulis called.

On the initial draw Ohel stood pat, Andrulis drew two, Matusow drew three and Ohel bet. Andrulis called.

Ohel stood pat on the second draw, Andrulis drew one, Matusow drew one and Ohel bet. Andrulis called.

Both Ohel and Andrulis stood pat on the final draw and Matusow went into the tank for about three minutes.

"I'm all in and I don't know what the f*ck to do," said Matusow. "I literally don't know what the f*ck to do."

Eventually Matusow drew one, throwing away an  .

Ohel check-called a bet from Andrulis who showed      . Ohel mucked, Matusow showed     , followed by a   and was eliminated in 14th place.

Randy Ohel	602,000	-48,000
Kristijonas Andrulis	304,000	124,000
Mike Matusow	0	-100,000

Randy Ohel raised from the small blind and Kristijonas Andrulis called from the big blind.

Both drew two on the first draw, Ohel checked, Andrulis bet, Ohel check-raised and Andrulis called.

Both stood pat on the second draw, both players checked, Ohel took two on the third draw and Andrulis stood pat again.

Ohel checked, Andrulis bet and Ohel tanked for a bit before he folded.

Randy Ohel	650,000	-70,000
Kristijonas Andrulis	180,000	40,000

Quek Sheng raised his button to 16,000 and Calvin Anderson called in the big blind.

Both players drew two and checked. On the second draw both players again drew two as Anderson led out for 16,000.

Sheng raised to 32,000, and Anderson called.

Both players then drew one, and Anderson led out again. Sheng called, and Anderson announced, "You win!"

Sheng fanned his      , and Anderson mucked.

Quek Sechariah Sheng	475,000	65,000
Calvin Anderson	375,000	-195,000

From under the gun, Nicholas Seiken raised to 16,000 and Tyler Meservy called on the button, as did Steven Tabb in the small blind, and Christopher Kruk in the big blind.

Seiken drew one, while his three opponents each drew two. Tabb and Kruk checked to Seiken, and he bet 8,000. Meservy raised to 16,000, and Tabb, Kruk, and Seiken all called.

Tabb drew one, Kruk drew two, Seiken drew one, and Meservy drew one as action checked through after the second draw.

The final draw saw each player draw one. Tabb checked, Kruk bet 16,000, and both Seiken and Meservy folded. Tabb called, and Kruk revealed his       which was good.

Christopher Kruk	435,000	-45,000
Nicholas Seiken	420,000	150,000
Steven Tabb	230,000	50,000
Tyler Meservy	131,000	-129,000

Andrew Kelsall raised from under the gun and Randy Ohel called from the cutoff.

Both drew two on the initial draw, Kelsall bet and Ohel called.

Kelsall drew one on the second draw, Ohel drew two, Kelsall bet his remaining 11,000 and Ohel called.

Kelsall drew one on the final draw and Ohel stood pat with      . Kelsall showed     , but caught another   to bust in 15th place.

Randy Ohel	488,000	48,000
Andrew Kelsall	0	-35,000

Four players put in three bets predraw.

Michael Noori drew one from the small blind on the first draw, Matt Glantz drew two from the big blind, Farzad Bonyadi drew two from the cutoff and Calvin Anderson drew two from the button. Noori bet and everyone called.

On the second draw, Noori drew one, Glantz drew two, Bonyadi drew one and Anderson drew one. Noori bet again, Glantz folded, Bonyadi called and Anderson called.

Noori stood pat on the final draw, Bonyadi drew one and Anderson drew one. Noori bet, Bonyadi folded and Anderson called.

Noori tabled      , Anderson showed      and a  , and Noori won the pot.

Michael Noori	840,000	150,000
Calvin Anderson	520,000	-106,000
Matt Glantz	340,000	68,000
Farzad Bonyadi	330,000	-31,000

Michael Noori raised from the button, Todd Brunson called from the small blind, Quek Sheng three-bet from the big blind, Noori four-bet, Brunson called and Sheng called.

Brunson drew two on the first draw, Sheng drew two, Noori stood pat and action checked to Noori who bet. Both Brunson and Sheng called.

Brunson drew two on the second draw, Sheng drew two, Noori stood pat and Brunson bet his remaining 11,000. Sheng called, Noori raised and Sheng called.

Brunson drew two on the final draw, Sheng drew one, Noori stood pat and action was checked.

Noori tabled      , Sheng showed       for a useless straight, and Brunson sweated his final two cards showing    . He turned over an   and   to bust in 16th place.

Michael Noori	690,000	106,000
Quek Sechariah Sheng	250,000	-110,000
Todd Brunson	0	-83,000