Event #40: H.O.R.S.E. Championship

The top of the field heading to Day 2 of Event #40: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. will be tightly packed, but Qinghai Pan vaulted above everyone in the last two levels of the night to take the biggest of the big stacks into Thursday's play with 373,000 chips.

Several others were in contention for the chip lead before Pan soared past the field including Scott Seiver (261,000), Andrew Yeh (229,500), Randy Ohel (219,500), David Benyamine (219,000), and Brett Richey (215,000).

Pan started his run to the top earlier in the day by eliminating Daniel Negreanu in a hand of Razz. He'll be looking to improve on his recent 7th place finish in the $3,000 version of this discipline in Event #32.

Wednesday's event drew 139 entries through the first 10 levels of play, with 71 surviving, and late registration still open until Day 2.

Adam Friedman and Phil Hellmuth could be among the last entrants after they did battle in Event #36: $10,000 Dealer's Choice, with Friedman defeating Hellmuth to become a three-time defending champion of that event.

Top 10 Chip Counts After Day 1

Elite Field Shows Up

The $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship always draws an elite field of mixed-game superstars, and this year was no exception, with 2019 WSOP Player of the Year Robert Campbell (181,500), Scott Bohlman (180,000), Max Pescatori (125,500), Yuri Dzivielevski (100,000) and defending champion Greg Mueller (30,500) among those surviving the day.

Others such as Eli Elezra, Daniel Negreanu, Brian Rast, Matt Glantz, David "ODB", Baker, and David "Bakes" Baker were not as fortunate.

The atmosphere in the room was generally light as well, with plenty of conversation and an interesting table involving mixed-games star Brandon Shack-Harris (177,500) keeping things playful in the early stages of this battle for a bracelet.

Business will get far more serious Thursday however, as the players battle into the money, beginning at 2:00 pm local time with level 11, which comes with limits of 4,000 and 8,000. The levels also move from 60 minutes to 90, and the players will take a 60-minute dinner break after level 14.

Stay tuned to PokerNews for continued coverage of this and every World Series of Poker Event live from the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino.

Play has ended for the night. The tournament clock shows 71 players remaining, with registration open until the start of day two.

A full recap of the day's action will be posted shortly.

Qinghai Pan	373,000	168,000
Scott Seiver	261,000	93,000
Andrew Yeh	229,500	9,500
Randy Ohel	219,500	79,500
David Benyamine	219,000	-56,000
Marco Johnson	218,000	88,000
Jerry Wong	217,500	100,500
Brett Richey	215,500	155,500
Jesse Klein	199,500	-10,500
Nate Silver	197,000	75,000
Richard Sklar	196,500	11,500
Raymond Henson	192,000
James Woods	189,000	0
Peiwen Wang	189,000	135,000
Chad Campbell	189,000	129,000
Benny Glaser	184,500	119,500
Robert Campbell	181,500	-500
Thomas Hammers	180,500
Scott Bohlman	180,000	3,000
Brandon Shack-Harris	177,500	60,500
Dario Sammartino	173,500	120,500
Tommy Hang	168,500	91,500
Christopher Chung	165,000	30,000
Todd Ivens	160,000	16,500
Bryce Yockey	156,000	93,000
Michael Trivett	155,000	57,000
Christopher Vitch	155,000	31,000
Dan Shak	154,500	32,500
Eric Rodawig	151,500	15,500
Yehuda Buchalter	149,500	-48,500
Max Pescatori	125,500	105,000
Wendy Freedman	116,000	74,800
Matt Grapenthien	113,000	4,000
Kevin Song	111,000	42,000
Kevin Gerhart	110,000	51,000
Renan Bruschi	104,500	34,500
Yuri Dzivielevski	100,000	-2,000
Craig Chait	95,500	-40,500
Johannes Becker	95,500	95,500
Andrew Kelsall	91,000	34,000
Perry Friedman	87,500	-10,500
Yuebin Guo	78,000
Gary Benson	76,000	-20,000
Alexander Harris	71,000
Shaun Deeb	71,000	11,000
Cary Katz	70,500	10,000
David Singer	69,500	5,500
Jesse Hampton	68,500	-37,500
Eddie Blumenthal	65,500	5,500
Nick Schulman	60,000	44,000
Bertrand Grospellier	58,000	-60,000
Kyle Montgomery	51,000
Frankie O'Dell	47,500	-64,500
Hansu Chu	46,000	-30,000
Mark Gallo	46,000	-10,000
William Klevitz	45,500	-14,500
Chris Bell	40,000
Ryan Laplante	39,000	-81,000
Ryan Boyle	36,000	22,000
John Monnette	35,500	-20,500
Ismael Bojang	34,500	13,500
Andre Akkari	31,000	-49,000
Greg Mueller	30,500	-43,500
john Hennigan	30,000	-62,000
John Racener	29,000	10,000
Felipe Ramos	28,500	-13,000
Aaron Kupin	28,000	-36,200
Brock Parker	24,500	-35,500
Allen Kessler	19,000	-7,000
Tom McCormick	19,000
Derek McMaster	6,500	-40,500

Shaun Deeb has taken his seat in the final 20 minutes of Day 1. There are currently 75 players remaining, with late registration open until the start of the day 2.

Shaun Deeb	60,000	60,000
Paul Volpe	0	-60,000
Alex Livingston	0

David Benyamine has built himself a decent chip lead as the final 75 players grind through the final level of the night.

David Benyamine	275,000	138,000
Andrew Yeh	220,000	160,000
Jesse Klein	210,000	57,000
Qinghai Pan	205,000	125,600
Yehuda Buchalter	198,000	20,000
Richard Sklar	185,000	185,000
Robert Campbell	182,000	6,000
Scott Seiver	168,000	27,000

Stud Hi-Lo

After raising to begin the hand, Felipe Ramos committed his last big bet on sixth street against the calls of Richard Sklar and Hansu Chu.

Felipe Ramos:    /      /  
Richard Sklar:     /     
Hansu Chu:     /     

Ramos was relieved to find that his two pair were good, as he tripled up ahead of the last level of the night.

Richard Sklar	138,000	138,000
Hansu Chu	76,000	16,000
Felipe Ramos	41,500	9,500

Stud

Nate Silver was in a heads-up pot with Benny Glaser as the two reached seventh street. Silver bet and was called before turning over     /      for a straight, taking in the pot as Glaser mucked his hand.

Nate Silver	122,000	14,000
Benny Glaser	65,000	-82,000

Razz

Norman Chad was just the victim of a horrific runout against Marco Johnson which eliminated him from the tournament.

According to Johnson, the last of Chad's chips went in on fourth street while he held      versus Johnson's     .

Chad then proceeded to draw paint on fifth through seventh streets and Johnson picked up a   and a   to make the best hand and eliminate Chad.

Several other players have been seen leaving the tournament area recently as the bustouts start to accumulate as the night nears it's end.

Marco Johnson	130,000	70,000
Norman Chad	0	-55,200
Jared Bleznick	0	-60,000
Chris Brewer	0	-60,000
David "ODB" Baker	0	-23,000
Barbara Enright	0	-5,000
Joao Vieira	0	-60,000
Christina Hill	0	0
Emin Gabrelians	0	-55,400

Players have been sent on their final 15-minute break of the night.

Stud

David Benyamine:    /      /  
Tony Hartmann:    /      /  

Tony Hartman committed the rest of his chips on fifth street, and revealed a set of fours after David Benyamine called. Hartmann was ahead until Benyamine hit a full house on sixth street, and could not catch up on seventh ending his run.

David Benyamine	137,000	31,000
Tony Hartmann	0	0

Nate Silver knocked out John Esposito to climb over the 100,000 mark. At nearby tables, more familiar names sat down to join the field.

Nate Silver	108,000	24,500
Paul Volpe	60,000	60,000
Matthew Ashton	60,000	60,000
Jared Bleznick	60,000	60,000
Owais Ahmed	0	-60,000
James Chen	0	-100,000
John Esposito	0	-61,000
Zachary Milchman	0	-60,000