$10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw (Event #21)

Play has concluded in Event #21: $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship with the 84-entrant field reduced to just 29 players with Brazilian musician and music producer Pedro Bromfman leading the players into Day 2 on Sunday.

This event has a long and rich history behind it that has seen a who's who of poker players claim gold over the years. Back in 1973 at the 4th Annual World Series of Poker, the first 2-7 Lowball event was featured on the schedule, and since then it has been a staple as it has attracted some of the best tournament players in the world, along with Bobby's Room regulars.

Over the past few years, the likes of John Monnette, Jason Mercier, Phil Galfond, Paul Volpe, Jesse Martin, and Nick Schulman twice have all been victorious. Last year, it was Brian Rast collecting his fourth WSOP gold bracelet when he defeated the 95-entrant field to capture the $259,670 first-place prize. Before this wave of young pros claimed glory, the old brigade of John Juanda, Mike Matusow, and Erik Seidel were all featured on the winner's board in this event.

In a slight change to the structure of the event for the 2019 installment, players were allowed one re-entry with registration open until the start of Day 2. WSOP bracelet winners Chris Vitch, Ray Dehkharghani, David "ODB" Baker, Larry Wright, Mike Gorodinsky, Farzad Bonyadi, Lawrence Berg, and Shaun Deeb all fell to the rail. Previous champions Schulman, Matusow, and Seidel were also eliminated. Unfortunately for the likes of Baker, Deeb, Schulman, Seidel and several others, they have already exercised their re-entry and will be unable to join the field on Day 2.

With numbers being thrown around the room late in the day with anything from 10 to 20 players entering the field, just 29 players are currently through to Day 2 with Pedro Bromfman in the lead with 470,000 in chips. Bromfman rocketed to the top in the early part of the day and never let his foot off the gas as he continued to apply pressure on his table. After nearly tripling late in the day, Majid Yahyaei used that momentum to finish with 410,000, while recent WSOP bracelet winner Dan Zack sits third in chips with 312,000. Just outside the top three chip counts are Julien Martin (285,500), Ajay Chabra (283,500), Dan Shak (283,500), and Jean-Robert Bellande (263,000).

Also surviving into Day 2 include WSOP bracelet winners Frank Kassela, Galen Hall, Daniel Ospina, Daniel Negreanu, Benny Glaser, Mike Wattel, Randy Ohel, and Marco Johnson, along with previous champions Brian Rast, John Monnette, Billy Baxter, Paul Volpe, and Jesse Martin.

Play resumes at 2 p.m. (PDT) on Sunday, June 9, in the Gold section of the Amazon Room with the 29 remaining players likely to see a set of new entrants and re-entrants join the field. The PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be on the floor providing continuous live updates of all the action from Day 2 of Event #21: $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship, so stay tuned to PokerNews.com to see who will be crowned the next World Series of Poker gold bracelet winner.

Julien Martini raised the button and Shaun Deeb shoved the big blind. Martini called, and both players drew one.

Martini:     
Deeb:     

Deeb drew the  , and Martini the  , and Deeb's nine-seven wasn't enough against Martini's number two.

Julien Martini	285,000	190,000
Shaun Deeb	0	-60,000

Alex Balandin raised to 8,000 from the cutoff and Dan Zack called in the small blind.

Both players drew one, and Zack bet out 5,500.

Balandin raised to 21,000, and Zack quickly called.

Balandin showed an  , and Zack fanned his       and collected the pot.

Dan Zack	295,000	127,000
Alex Balandin	245,000	-60,000

John Monnette raised to 6,500 from under the gun and Jesse Martin moved all in from the button for 30,500. Anthony Alberto shoved from the big blind for 52,000, and Monnette folded. Alberto drew one, and Martin stood pat.

Martin:      
Alberto:     

Alberto squeezed the  , and Martin doubled through.

John Monnette	170,000	0
Jesse Martin	72,000	58,100
Anthony Alberto	21,500	-38,500

Daniel Negreanu raised the button to 7,500 and Cary Katz called in the big blind.

Both players drew one, and then checked.

Katz tabled his      , and Negreanu nodded his head in acknowledgement and then mucked.

Daniel Negreanu	108,500	7,500
Cary Katz	80,000	1,600

Majid Yahyaei was all in from the small blind for 88,000, and Philip Sternheimer was all in from the big blind for 68,000. Jean-Robert Bellande had them both covered and at-risk from the button.

Yahyaei stood pat, while Sternheimer and Bellande each drew one.

Yahyaei:      
Bellande:     
Sternheimer:     

Bellande squeezed first and found the  , while Sternheimer then squeezed the   and was eliminated while Yahyaei almost tripled through.

Majid Yahyaei	250,000	181,000
Jean-Robert Bellande	220,000	-70,000
Philip Sternheimer	0	-125,000

Majid Yahyaei shoved all in from under the gun for 32,000 and Lawrence Berg called from the small blind. Berg drew one, and Yahyaei stood pat.

Yahyaei:      
Berg:     

Berg squeezed the   for a worse ten-eight low, and Yahyaei doubled through.

Majid Yahyaei	69,000	-42,000
Lawrence Berg	15,000	-32,200