Sunday, June 17, 2018 2:15 AM Local Time
Michael Mizrachi Leads Final 42 Players in Poker Players Championship

Day 2 of the Event #33: $50,000 Poker Players Championship has come to a conclusion with Michael Mizrachi leading the remaining 42 players.
The opening day of the Poker Players Championship saw 77 players take a seat throughout the day as only 74 would survive until the bagging and tagging process at the end of the night. Leading those players would be three-time WSOP bracelet winner Benny Glaser who was sitting slightly ahead of previous Poker Players Championship winners Brian Rast and John Hennigan.
Late registration was open through dinner break, and an additional ten players would enter the tournament as the likes of Ben Lamb, Bryn Kenney, Gus Hansen, Aaron Ogus, Sergii Baranov, Luke Schwartz, Cary Katz, Tommy Hang, and Chris Klodnicki all found themselves in the field, while defending champion Elior Sion would enter as the buzzer sounded after dinner break.
Once registration closed, and the 87-player field was set, a prize pool of $4,176,000 would be created that would pay the final 14 players a guaranteed $72,500. Those fortunate enough to make the final table would each be guaranteed a $191,234 payday, while the eventual winner of the Poker Players Championship would collect the $1,239,126 first prize, the coveted WSOP bracelet, and the David "Chip" Reese Memorial Trophy.
Once play concluded, just 42 players would remain for Day 3 play. Leading those players would be two-time Poker Players Championship winner Michael Mizrachi who amassed a chip stack of 1,274,000. Right behind Mizrachi is Phil Ivey (1,131,000), Shaun Deeb (933,000), Eli Elezra (917,000), and Dan Smith (901,500). Previous champions Mike Gorodinsky (519,000), Elior Sion (344,000), Brian Rast (304,500), and John Hennigan (289,000) are also still in contention, along with a multitude of mixed game crushers and WSOP bracelet winners.
Play is set to resume at 2pm (PDT) on Sunday, 17 June, with the PokerNews Live Reporting Team providing continuous live updates of all the Poker Players Championship action. So stay tuned right here to PokerNews.com for all the Event #33 updates, along with all the continued coverage from the 2018 World Series of Poker.
Room | Table | Seat | Player | Country | Chip Counts | Big Blinds | Big Bets |
Amazon | 429 | 1 | Michael Mizrachi | United States | 1,274,000 | 212 | 106 |
Amazon | 429 | 2 | Brian Rast | United States | 304,500 | 51 | 25 |
Amazon | 429 | 3 | James Obst | Australia | 599,500 | 100 | 50 |
Amazon | 429 | 4 | Randy Ohel | United States | 383,000 | 64 | 32 |
Amazon | 429 | 5 | David "ODB" Baker | United States | 84,000 | 14 | 7 |
Amazon | 429 | 6 | Justin Bonomo | United States | 712,000 | 119 | 59 |
| | | | | | | |
Amazon | 430 | 1 | David Benyamine | United States | 467,500 | 78 | 39 |
Amazon | 430 | 2 | David "Bakes" Baker | United States | 513,000 | 86 | 43 |
Amazon | 430 | 3 | Mike Leah | Canada | 176,000 | 29 | 15 |
Amazon | 430 | 4 | Michael Glick | United States | 480,500 | 80 | 40 |
Amazon | 430 | 5 | Anthony Zinno | United States | 396,000 | 66 | 33 |
Amazon | 430 | 6 | Eli Elezra | United States | 917,000 | 153 | 76 |
| | | | | | | |
Amazon | 431 | 1 | Jason Mercier | United States | 339,000 | 57 | 28 |
Amazon | 431 | 2 | Daniel Negreanu | Canada | 422,000 | 70 | 35 |
Amazon | 431 | 3 | Ryan Miller | United States | 306,000 | 51 | 26 |
Amazon | 431 | 4 | Ben Lamb | United States | 160,000 | 27 | 13 |
Amazon | 431 | 5 | Jean-Robert Bellande | United States | 716,000 | 119 | 60 |
Amazon | 431 | 6 | Tommy Hang | United States | 560,000 | 93 | 47 |
| | | | | | | |
Amazon | 438 | 1 | Mike Gorodinsky | United States | 519,000 | 87 | 43 |
Amazon | 438 | 2 | Jared Bleznick | United States | 192,500 | 32 | 16 |
Amazon | 438 | 3 | Chri Vitch | United States | 843,500 | 141 | 70 |
Amazon | 438 | 4 | John Monnette | United States | 361,500 | 60 | 30 |
Amazon | 438 | 5 | Benny Glaser | United Kingdom | 330,500 | 55 | 28 |
Amazon | 438 | 6 | Aaron Katz | United States | 787,500 | 131 | 66 |
| | | | | | | |
Amazon | 439 | 1 | Ian Johns | United States | 165,000 | 28 | 14 |
Amazon | 439 | 2 | Jesse Martin | United States | 763,500 | 127 | 64 |
Amazon | 439 | 3 | Shaun Deeb | United States | 933,000 | 156 | 78 |
Amazon | 439 | 4 | Isaac Haxton | United States | 346,000 | 58 | 29 |
Amazon | 439 | 5 | Phil Ivey | United States | 1,131,500 | 189 | 94 |
Amazon | 439 | 6 | Phil Galfond | United States | 513,500 | 86 | 43 |
| | | | | | | |
Amazon | 446 | 1 | Dan Smith | United States | 901,000 | 150 | 75 |
Amazon | 446 | 2 | Yehuda Buchalter | United States | 418,000 | 70 | 35 |
Amazon | 446 | 3 | Eric Wasserson | United States | 257,000 | 43 | 21 |
Amazon | 446 | 4 | Elior Sion | United Kingdom | 344,000 | 57 | 29 |
Amazon | 446 | 5 | Greg Mueller | Canada | 595,000 | 99 | 50 |
Amazon | 446 | 6 | Alexander Kostritsyn | Russia | 122,000 | 20 | 10 |
| | | | | | | |
Amazon | 447 | 1 | Chris Klodnicki | United States | 454,000 | 76 | 38 |
Amazon | 447 | 2 | Luke Schwartz | United Kingdom | 485,000 | 81 | 40 |
Amazon | 447 | 3 | Naseem Salem | United States | 602,000 | 100 | 50 |
Amazon | 447 | 4 | Sergii Baranov | Ukraine | 717,000 | 120 | 60 |
Amazon | 447 | 5 | Ben Yu | United States | 678,500 | 113 | 57 |
Amazon | 447 | 6 | John Hennigan | United States | 289,000 | 48 | 24 |

Sunday, June 17, 2018 2:13 AM Local Time
End-of-Day 2 Chip Counts
Michael Mizrachi | 1,274,000 | 74,000  |
Phil Ivey | 1,131,000 | -94,000  |
Shaun Deeb | 933,000 | -37,000  |
Eli Elezra | 917,000 | -3,000  |
Dan Smith | 901,500 | 71,500  |
Chris Vitch | 843,500 | 343,500  |
Aaron Katz | 787,500 | -10,500  |
Jesse Martin | 763,500 | 23,500  |
Sergii Baranov | 717,000 | 282,000  |
Jean-Robert Bellande | 716,000 | 96,000  |
Justin Bonomo | 712,500 | -27,500  |
Ben Yu | 678,500 | 108,500  |
Naseem Salem | 602,000 | -8,000  |
James Obst | 599,500 | -35,500  |
Greg Mueller | 595,000 | 15,000  |
Tommy Hang | 560,000 | 135,000  |
Mike Gorodinsky | 519,000 | -101,000  |
Phil Galfond | 513,500 | 215,500  |
David "Bakes" Baker | 513,000 | -197,000  |
Luke Schwartz | 485,000 | 25,000  |
Michael Glick | 480,500 | 125,000  |
David Benyamine | 467,500 | -7,500  |
Chris Klodnicki | 454,000 | 169,000  |
Daniel Negreanu | 422,000 | 64,000  |
Yehuda Buchalter | 418,000 | 211,500  |
Anthony Zinno | 396,000 | -234,000  |
Isaac Haxton | 396,000 | -73,500  |
Randy Ohel | 383,000 | -119,000  |
John Monnette | 361,500 | -38,500  |
Elior Sion | 344,000 | -141,000  |
Jason Mercier | 339,000 | 69,000  |
Benny Glaser | 330,500 | 50,500  |
Ryan Miller | 306,000 | 38,000  |
Brian Rast | 304,500 | 64,500  |
John Hennigan | 289,000 | -166,000  |
Eric Wasserson | 257,000 | 147,000  |
Jared Bleznick | 192,500 | 22,500  |
David "ODB" Baker | 184,000 | -294,000  |
Mike Leah | 176,000 | 11,000  |
Ian Johns | 165,000 | -375,000  |
Ben Lamb | 160,000 | -50,000  |
Alexander Kostritsyn | 122,000 | -313,000  |

Sunday, June 17, 2018 1:55 AM Local Time
Schulman Eliminated by Elezra

No-Limit Hold'em
As recapped to us by Eli Elezra, Nick Schulman raised all in from under the gun for 67,500 and Elezra called from the button. Michael Mizrachi called from the big blind and the flop came down .
Mizrachi checked, Elezra bet 100,000 and Mizrachi folded.
Elezra showed for a set of queens, well ahead of Schulman's .
Schulman was unable to catch up, securing the pot for Elezra to increase his stack past the million mark.
However, a few hands later Elezra lost about 200,000 to Mizrachi.
Michael Mizrachi | 1,200,000 | 280,000  |
Eli Elezra | 920,000 | 60,000  |
Nick Schulman | 0 | -75,000  |
Sunday, June 17, 2018 1:53 AM Local Time
Four More Hands
The clock has been paused, and there will be four more hands remaining in the day.
Sunday, June 17, 2018 1:51 AM Local Time
Bellande Bets Out Smith on River
Limit Hold'em
Dan Smith opened the cutoff to 20,000 and Jean-Robert Bellande three-bet the button to 30,000. Smith called, and the flop landed .
Smith checked, Bellande bet 10,000, and Smith called.
Both players checked the on the turn as the completed the board on the river.
Smith checked, Bellande bet 20,000 and Smith folded.
Dan Smith | 830,000 | -22,000  |
Jean-Robert Bellande | 620,000 | -54,000  |

Sunday, June 17, 2018 1:37 AM Local Time
Smith Secures Big Double
Pot-Limit Omaha
John Hennigan opened and Yehuda Buchalter called. Dan Smith raised the pot from the big blind to 52,000. Hennigan called and Buchalter folded.
The flop came . Smith announced pot and Hennigan slid a stack of 25,000 chips forward. Smith called.
Dan Smith:
John Hennigan:
The turn was the and the river was the and Smith secured a big double up through Hennigan.
Dan Smith | 852,000 | 192,000  |
John Hennigan | 455,000 | -305,000  |
Sunday, June 17, 2018 1:37 AM Local Time
Ivey vs. Negreanu
No-Limit Hold'em
Phil Ivey raised to 13,000 from the cutoff and Daniel Negreanu called from the big blind.
They checked to the turn of a board where Negreanu bet 10,000. Ivey called, the river completed the board and Negreanu bet 27,000. Ivey called.
Negreanu showed for a missed straight draw, while Ivey tabled for tens and treys to win the pot.
Phil Ivey | 1,225,000 | 80,000  |
Daniel Negreanu | 358,000 | -267,000  |
Sunday, June 17, 2018 1:31 AM Local Time
Updated Chip Counts
Phil Ivey | 1,145,000 | 5,000  |
Shaun Deeb | 970,000 | 240,000  |
Michael Mizrachi | 920,000 | 50,000  |
John Hennigan | 760,000 | 120,000  |
Justin Bonomo | 740,000 | -48,000  |
Jesse Martin | 740,000 | 135,500  |
David "Bakes" Baker | 710,000 | -90,000  |
Naseem Salem | 610,000 | 500,000  |
Ben Yu | 570,000 | 338,000  |
John Monnette | 400,000 | 25,000  |
Ben Lamb | 210,000 | -360,000  |
Mike Leah | 165,000 | -45,000  |
Eric Wasserson | 110,000 | -30,000  |
Nick Schulman | 75,000 | -183,000  |
Mike Matusow | 45,000 | -45,000  |
Sunday, June 17, 2018 1:23 AM Local Time
Bakes Up Among Chip Leaders with Double Elimination

Pot-Limit Omaha
On a flop Jesse Klein checked to Marco Johnson who potted to 40,000 off of an 80,000 chip stack. David "Bakes" Baker just called and Klein raised all in for 120,000. Johnson put the rest of his stack in the middle and Baker called, putting two players at risk.
Jesse Klein:
Marco Johnson:
David "Bakes" Baker:
The turn was the giving Baker a full house and the river meant he sent both players to the rail.
David "Bakes" Baker | 800,000 | 196,000  |
Jesse Klein | 0 | -80,000  |
Marco Johnson | 0 | -170,000  |
Sunday, June 17, 2018 1:18 AM Local Time
Sion Shoves the River Against Monnette
Pot-Limit Omaha
Picking up the action after a flop of , Elior Sion had check-raised to 38,000 from the big blind. John Monnette (with 13,000 committed on the flop) called from the button.
The turn was the , Sion bet 80,000 and Monnette called.
The river was the , Sion shoved for 204,500 and Monnette tanked for about two-and-a-half minutes before he folded.
Elior Sion | 485,000 | 225,000  |
John Monnette | 375,000 | -165,000  |

Sunday, June 17, 2018 1:08 AM Local Time
Elezra Moving Up the Counts
Razz
Jesse Klein: / /
Eli Elezra: / /
Jesse Klein bet on fourth and fifth street, with Elezra both calling. The players checked sixth street, and the action went check-check before seventh street was even dealt.
Elezra showed for a ten-low and it was good.
Eli Elezra | 860,000 | 330,000  |
Jesse Klein | 80,000 | -80,000  |
Sunday, June 17, 2018 1:05 AM Local Time
Negreanu and Gorodinsky Chop
Stud Hi-Lo
Phil Ivey had the bring-in and Mike Gorodinsky called. Daniel Negreanu completed to 10,000, and both Ivey and Gorodinsky called.
Negreanu led fourth street and Ivey and Gorodinsky called, as action checked to Gorodinsky on fifth and he bet 20,000. Negreanu called, and Ivey folded as Gorodinsky bet sixth, and Negreanu called.
Ivey: / (folded on fifth)
Gorodinsky: / /
Negreanu: / /
On seventh, Negreanu led out for 20,000 and Gorodinsky called.
Negreanu tabled his for a low and a pair of threes, and Gorodinsky tabled his for a pair of sixes for the high.
Phil Ivey | 1,140,000 | 87,000  |
Daniel Negreanu | 625,000 | 29,000  |
Mike Gorodinsky | 620,000 | 60,000  |
Sunday, June 17, 2018 1:00 AM Local Time
Monnette Wins Big Razz Pot
Razz
There was a big three-way pot in Razz, with John Monnette, Elior Sion and Benny Glaser still in the hand on seventh street.
Elior Sion: / / - folded on seventh street
Benny Glaser: / /
John Monnette: / /
Monnette bet, Sion folded and Glaser called. Monnette showed for a six low and Glaser mucked.
There were several murmurs of "Nice hand" from players at the table.
"Wow," said tablemate Justin Bonomo, "'Nice hands' from the whole table in a razz pot!"
John Monnette | 540,000 | 220,000  |
Benny Glaser | 280,000 | -210,000  |
Elior Sion | 260,000 | 41,000  |
Sunday, June 17, 2018 12:54 AM Local Time
Vitch Bets Out Leah
2-7 Triple Draw
Chris Vitch raised to 20,000 and Mike Leah called next to act in the cutoff. Both players drew two, and Vitch bet out 10,000.
Leah called, and both players drew one and then checked.
On the final draw, both players drew one and Vitch bet out 20,000. Leah folded, and Vitch was pushed the pot.
Chris Vitch | 500,000 | 115,000  |
Mike Leah | 210,000 | 10,000  |
Sunday, June 17, 2018 12:50 AM Local Time
"Strange Time for a Hollywood"
No-Limit Hold'em
Dan Smith raised to 12,000 from under the gun, Jean-Robert Bellande called from the hijack and John Hennigan called from the big blind.
The flop came down and Bellande bet 10,000 out of turn. Smith checked, Bellande's 10,000 stayed, Hennigan raised to 26,000, Smith check-reraised to 68,000, Bellande folded and Hennigan called.
The turn was the , Smith checked, Hennigan bet 100,000 and Smith mulled it over for a bit before he folded.
"That was a strange time for a Hollywood," said Eric Wasserson.
"I had a massive hand," said Smith. "Not a Hollywood. Sick time for a needle, though."
Jean-Robert Bellande | 674,000 | 54,000  |
Dan Smith | 660,000 | -85,000  |
John Hennigan | 640,000 | 19,000  |

Sunday, June 17, 2018 12:46 AM Local Time
Mercier Gets There Versus Leah
2-7 Triple Draw
David "ODB" Baker raised and Jason Mercier called on the button, with Mike Leah calling in the big blind.
All three players drew two and checked. Leah and Baker drew one, with Mercier drawing two. Leah bet, Baker folded and Mercier called.
Leah stood pat and Mercier drew one. Leah bet and Mercier called. "Eight rough," said Leah.
Mercier showed and won the pot.
"What was the action on the end?" asked tablemate Chris Vitch.
"Pat, one, bet, peel, catch, pray, call," replied Mercier.
Jason Mercier | 270,000 | 90,000  |
Mike Leah | 200,000 | -240,000  |
Sunday, June 17, 2018 12:45 AM Local Time
Kenney Eliminated by Gorodinsky

Razz
Phil Ivey had the bring-in and Mike Gorodinsky completed. Bryn Kenney called, as did Alexander Kostritsyn.
On fourth, Kenney bet, and both Kostritsyn and Gorodinsky called. On fifth, Kenney bet 20,000, Kostritsyn folded, and Gorodinsky raised to 40,000. Kenney raised all in for his 44,000 total, and Gorodinsky called. Each player's board ran out as follows:
Gorodinksy: / /
Kenney: / /
Kostritsyn: / (folded on fifth)
With Kenney making a jack-nine low, and Gorodinsky making a jack-eight low, Kenney would be eliminated from the Poker Players Championship.
Mike Gorodinsky | 560,000 | 159,000  |
Alexander Kostritsyn | 435,000 | -66,000  |
Bryn Kenney | 0 | -74,000  |
Sunday, June 17, 2018 12:34 AM Local Time
Smith Folds to Bellande
2-7 Triple Draw
Dan Smith and Jean-Robert Bellande each committed 20,000 predraw, and each player drew two.
Smith bet out 10,000 and Bellande called. Smith stood pat, and Bellande drew two.
Smith bet, Bellande raised, and Smith called.
Both players then stood pat, and Smith check-folded to a bet from Bellande.
"I promise you your ten was no good!" announced Bellande.
"I had better then a ten Jean." responded Smith.
"Stop! Stop it!" added Bellande.
Dan Smith | 745,000 | -136,500  |
Jean-Robert Bellande | 620,000 | -21,000  |
Sunday, June 17, 2018 12:30 AM Local Time
Owen Eliminated by Mizrachi

No-Limit Hold'em
Adam Owen raised from the button, Michael Mizrachi three-bet from the big blind, Owen four-bet jammed for roughly 202,000 and Mizrachi called after a few moments with . Owen trailed with .
The board ran out , giving Mizrachi a set of eights and four to a flush to eliminate Owen.
Michael Mizrachi | 870,000 | 366,000  |
Adam Owen | 0 | -211,000  |
Sunday, June 17, 2018 12:23 AM Local Time
Chip Counts from Table 431
Justin Bonomo | 788,000 | 338,000  |
Benny Glaser | 490,000 | -130,000  |
John Monnette | 320,000 | 187,500  |
Chris Klodnicki | 285,000 | 47,000  |
Elior Sion | 219,000 | -209,000  |