Event #34: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha

Josh Arieh, who has three of his six World Series of Poker bracelets in Omaha events, as well as six other WSOP Omaha final tables, is at it again. From the moment he sat down in Event #34: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, he began accumulating chips until his stack dwarfed most if not all of those in the field, and it now stands at 1,196,000.

Arieh's Omaha skills are unquestionable, of course, but fortune seemed to favor him today, also. One particular hand that helped Arieh on his way to the top of the chip leaderboard was an improbable one. Josh Arieh had a short stack at risk holding J-J-7-8 with spades, and the opponent had almost the same hand, J-J-T-8 with hearts. Arieh looked at his opponent and said, "Good game, buddy," then flopped a flush draw, turned a spade, and it left his opponent drawing dead.

End of Day 1 Top 10 Chip Counts

Other notables to bag on Day 1 include Matthew Parry (1,102,000), Eric Fields (1,015,000), Steve Foutty (803,000), Todd Hatch (779,000), Anson Tsang (708,000), Daniel Negreanu (446,000), Ronald Keijzer (407,000), and Tommy Le (73,000).

A field of 1,355 generated a $1,808,925 prize pool, with first place receiving $298,192 and the coveted WSOP bracelet. The 98 players who bagged chips on Day 1 are each guaranteed $3,002.

Day 2 stars at 10:00 a.m. local time. Ten levels will be played with 15-minute breaks after every two levels, and a 60-minute dinner break after Level 23 (approximately 4:30 p.m.). Play resumes at Level 18 with blinds of 5,000/10,000 and a 10,000 big blind ante.

Stay tuned to PokerNews, as this 2023 World Series of Poker tournament provides more four-card action on Day 2.

The tournament director has announced the final four hands of the night before the players bag up for Day 2 tomorrow, June 15th at 10 a.m.

After calling a raise from the under the gun player, Daniel Negreanu bet enough on a flop of     to put the under the gun all in, and he called.

Negreanu winced and said, "Aces?" and the player showed Negreanu's radar is as finely tuned as ever.

Daniel Negreanu:     
Under the Gun:     

When the   rolled off on the turn, Negreanu politely asked, "A six?" and then immediately said, "A six." when the   was hand-delivered to the river.

Daniel Negreanu

525,000

0

Matthew Parry had raised from the button when the big blind reraised all in. Parry began talking himself into the call. "I really like this hand... Ah, let's gamble," and called.

Matthew Parry:     
Big Blind:     

The       runout didn't help either player as Parry busted out the big blind with his pair of fours and ace kicker.

Matthew Parry

675,000

177,000

Tommy Le raised to 15,000 and the action folded around to Seth Frederici in the big blind and he made the call.

"My turn," said Le as Frederici was making the call.

"There are no turns here," he replied.

The dealer fanned a flop of     and Frederici check-called a bet of 15,000.

The   hit the turn and both players checked to the   river.

Frederici bet the pot of 69,000 and Le went into the tank.

"I think you caught a lucky eight is what happened," he said while making a decision.

A few moments went by and Le mucked his hand. Frederici did the same, opting not to show him.

"I didn't get bluffed," concluded Le.

"I had you crushed, in my mind."

Seth Frederici	808,000
Tommy Le	170,000	-45,000

On the     flop, Steve Foutty checked to Matthew Parry who fired out a bet of 15,000 and Foutty made the call.

The   turn was checked through to see the   on the river.

Foutty pushed out a bet of 31,000 and Parry went into the tank. After about 20 seconds, Parry made a raise to 115,000, putting Foutty to a decision as he also went into the tank.

"It felt like you were going to accidentally just call and win," Said Foutty as he was making his decision.

A few more moments went by before Foutty tossed in the chips to call.

Parry tabled      before Foutty tabled      to scoop the pot.

There was a little bit of banter back and forth as Foutty raked in the pot but Foutty made sure to let Parry know it was all in good fun.

With 38,000 in the middle, the action checked to Gaurav Raina and he bet 15,000. There was one call before the big blind check-raised to 98,000. Raina went into the tank for a couple of minutes before deciding to jam his 131,000 into the middle. The third player quickly got out of the way and the big blind made the call.

Gaurav Raina:     
Big Blind:     

The big blind flopped a set of tens, but it was still a fair fight as Raina had an over pair, flush draw, and straight draw.

The   turn completed Raina's straight draw and he was able to fade the paired board as the   landed on the river.

Gaurav Raina

315,000

315,000