Event #53: High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha (8-Handed)

One of the high-stakes highlights of the 2021 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas is one step closer to crowning a champion. Out of a field of 212 entries in Event #53: $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller, only 25 players remain in contention for the biggest slice of the $5,008,500 prize pool. They have all locked up a payday of $44,807 locked up so far and the winner can look forward to the coveted gold bracelet and top prize of $1,251,860.

Best-positioned for the seven-figure payday and what would be his second gold bracelet is Ben Lamb, who soared to the biggest stack on Day 2. Lamb was one of nearly three dozen late entrants during the first two levels and bagged up a massive stack of 3,885,000. That's well ahead of second-placed Nathan Zimnik (2,535,000) and David Benyamine (2,340,000). One of the former champions of this specific tournament is also still in the mix, as Shaun Deeb advanced with just shy of two million in chips.

Top 10 Counts Day 2 Event #53: $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller

Among the notable contenders outside of the top five are Joao Vieira, Bryce Yockey, Jeremy Ausmus, Tommy Le, Simon Lofberg,
Jerry Wong, and Ka Kwan Lau. Ausmus and Le were on the final table of Event #45: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship, in which Le claimed his second career gold bracelet only a few days ago. The Californian was down to just under two blinds prior to the money bubble but made it through with 1,035,000 in pursuit of an unprecedented back-to-back victory in WSOP PLO High Roller tournaments.

Previous WSOP $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High-Roller Champions

Defending champion Stephen Chidwick was eliminated a few spots outside of the money when he fell victim to the hot run of Lamb during the final stages of the night. Other notables such as Dash Dudley, Dylan Weisman, John Racener, Josh Arieh, Yuval Bronshtein, Dario Sammartino, Sam Soverel, and Jake Schwartz all missed out on another WSOP cash for their poker resume.

Lamb was also responsible for bursting the money bubble when he turned a flush against Ian Bradley's two pair. For the remainder of the day, Lamb remained the undisputed chip leader. Seven players earned cash prizes and among them were four WSOP bracelet winners in Ben Yu, Joseph Cheong, Scott Seiver, and Chance Kornuth.

All remaining 25 players will return to their seats in the Amazon Room at 2pm local time on Friday, October 29. The penultimate tournament day is scheduled to reduce the field to the final five players and the action recommences in Level 21 at blinds of 15,000/30,000 with a big blind ante of 30,000.

Stay tuned to find out who will make it all the way to the live-streamed final as the PokerNews team will be on the floor to provide all key hands from start-to-finish.

Tommy Le bet the     flop for 40,000 and Amir Mirrasouli raised to 90,000, which Le called. The   turn was checked by Le and Mirrasouli now bet 100,000 for Le to call.

After the   river, Le checked once more and Mirrasouli checked behind with the      to see Le turn over      for treys full of jacks to win the pot.

Tommy Le	1,035,000	185,000
Amir Mirrasouli	605,000	-245,000

Scott Seiver raised to 60,000 on the button and Joao Vieira made it 205,000 in the small blind. Seiver quickly called and the two players saw a flop of    . Vieira made a pot-sized bet and Seiver snapped in his last 300,000 chips.

Scott Seiver:     
Joao Vieira:     

Vieira flopped top pair but Seiver had a small wrap with an over card. The   on the turn paired the board and the   hit the river, bricking everything for Seiver who hit the payout desk.

Joao Vieira	1,805,000	555,000
Scott Seiver	0	-300,000

Tommy Le lost nearly half of his stack when he tangled with Martin Dam, who jammed the flop to force an instant fold.

Ben Lamb appears to be the runaway chip leader as Shaun Deeb and Nathan Zimnik are more than one million behind.

Ben Lamb	3,650,000	125,000
Nathan Zimnik	2,550,000	50,000
Shaun Deeb	2,300,000	-350,000
Bryce Yockey	1,700,000	790,000
Joao Vieira	1,250,000	-50,000
Martin Dam	1,100,000	350,000
Amir Mirrasouli	850,000	-655,000
Tommy Le	850,000	-650,000
Ka Kwan Lau	550,000	0
Scott Seiver	300,000	-140,000

Mohammad Arani was all-in with a short stack after a     flop and big stack Shaun Deeb called.

Mohammad Arani:     
Shaun Deeb:     

Deeb held a gutshot but didn't get there, as the   turn and   river kept Arani in the lead with aces up.

"Not even a dent," Arani said as Deeb lost a fraction of his massive stack.

Shaun Deeb	2,650,000	1,040,000
Mohammad Arani	625,000	125,000

Ben Yu raised to 85,000 in middle position and Ben Lamb three-bet to 290,000 on the button. The action folded back to Yu who called to see a flop of    . Yu jammed all in for around 300,000 and Lamb snapped him off.

Ben Yu:     
Ben Lamb:     

Yu flopped the best hand with two pair but the   and   runout gave Lamb a straight to eliminate Yu.

Ben Lamb	3,525,000	725,000
Ben Yu	0	-400,000

Five ways to the     flop, Tommy Le bet 75,000 out of the small blind and was only called by Bryce Yockey in a late position. The   turn slowed down Le and he checked, Yockey bet 150,000 and Le reluctantly called.

Both then checked the   river and Le flashed the    for a full house first, then also revealed the    as Yockey mucked to forfeit the pot.

Tommy Le	1,500,000	850,000
Bryce Yockey	910,000	-430,000

Former chip leader Eric Kurtzman was seen on the way to the rail and the board was already killed. The cards were still exposed as LaDarren Banks prevailed with      versus      to send Kurtzman out in 32nd place.

"You are killing it," Kurtzman said on his way out as he bumped fists with Banks.

Nathan Zimnik then looked up the all-in of Michael Kamran for the last 210,000.

Michael Kamran:     
Nathan Zimnik:     

The       board kept Kamran in contention.

Nathan Zimnik	2,500,000	-450,000
LaDarren Banks	2,050,000	1,050,000
Michael Kamran	500,000	200,000
Eric Kurtzman	0	-460,000

Nathan Zimnik was already one of the chip leaders coming into the money bubble, but he continued to build his stack with some constant pressure during hand-for-hand play.

In one hand, Zimnik led out for 100,000 on the turn with the board reading     . Eric Kurtzman called and the   paired the board on the river. Zimnik fired out another bet of 300,000 this time and Kurtzman was forced to fold.

Just a couple of hands later, the board read      and Zimnik took the lead with a bet of 75,000. Michael Kamran called this time and the river was the  . Zimnik sized up a bet of 225,000 and Kamran dumped his cards to the muck.

Nathan Zimnik	2,950,000	900,000
Eric Kurtzman	460,000	-1,080,000
Michael Kamran	300,000	-360,000