Event #37: $10,000 Big O Championship

An action-packed Day 2 of Event #37: $10,000 Big O Championship at the 2024 World Series of Poker saw the 108 players who bagged on Day 1 of the event at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas being joined by 32 new entries during the first two levels of the day, during which late registration was open.

This brought the total entry count of the brand-new event to 332, a massive turnout for a $10,000 buy-in event. It created a prize pool of $3,087,600, of which fifty players would receive a payout. Indeed, plenty of payouts were distributed, as at the end of the day, only 19 had chips and moved on to Day 3.

Leading them is Calvin Anderson, who put 2,385,000 chips in his bag at the end of the day, good for nearly 80 big blinds when the tournament restarts. Anderson is well-accomplished both live and online in all forms of poker. In 2023, he won two of his four total bracelets, and he will be looking to continue his form this year.

Following Anderson closely is John Fauver, who may be unknown to the larger public but has plenty of pot-limit Omaha wins under his belt, in every variety of the game. Fauver was the only other player who crossed two million chips, bagging up 2,125,000. Dylan Weisman, meanwhile, rounds out the top three as he is looking for his second bracelet of the year. He finds himself in the upper regions of the chip counts on back-to-back days with a stack of 1,700,000 chips.

Also in the upper half of the chip counts are WSOP regular Michael Rocco (1,640,000), old-school David Benyamine (1,350,000), and three-time bracelet winner Ryan Hughes (925,000).

End of Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts

Other notables who have made it through to Day 3 include $25K Fantasy picks Anson Tsang (890,000) and Adam Friedman (415,000), as well as recent $10,000 2-7 Triple Draw runner-up Danny Wong (890,000).

Day 2 Action

To reach the bubble phase, a lot of players had to leave empty-handed. In the first few levels of the day, goodbyes were said to the likes of Brian Rast, Jim Collopy, Sean Troha, Nick Schulman, Ren Lin, and Freddy Deeb. Benny Glaser, Yuri Dzivielevski, Kevin Gerhart, Phil Hellmuth, Scott Seiver, Joao Vieira and Day 1 chip leader Wing Po Liu got closer, but all bowed out before cashing as well.

Ultimately, Amir Wahab and Zhen Cai busted two away from the money, meaning that the remaining players picked up at least the min-cash of $20,306. Once in the money, the likes of David Williams, Mike Matusow, Tom Koral, Yuval Bronshtein, and Justin Saliba waved goodbye.

At the final three tables, Matt Glantz, Naoya Kihara, Sean Winter, Benjamin Miner, and Dylan Smith were eliminated before the final 19 players bagged and tagged for the third day.

They are all guaranteed at least $25,430 for their efforts, but everyone will be eyeing the gargantuan $681,998 top prize, the coveted WSOP bracelet, and the prestigious title of inaugural Big O Champion that comes with the victory.

Remaining Payouts

The remaining players will return to the Horsehoe Event Center at 1 p.m. local time on June 15. The blinds will be at Level 21, 15,000/30,000 with a 30,000 big blind ante, and all levels will remain 60 minutes in length. The schedule is to play down to five players, who will then return for a fourth and final day.

Check back in to PokerNews at that time to not miss any of the five-card, split-pot action that the $10,000 Big O Championship still has in store.

Joe Ritzie got his final chips in on a flop of     against Farid Jattin, and was the one at risk.

Joe Ritzie:      
Farid Jattin:      

Jattin had the dominating heart flush draw and a pair, but the board ran out    to give Ritzie a runner-runner diamond flush to double up.

Farid Jattin	950,000	-350,000
Joe Ritzie	335,000	160,000

Benjamin Miner pushed his final 125,000 chips in from the small blind and was called by Dylan Weisman in the big blind.

Benjamin Miner:      
Dylan Weisman:      

Weisman was the only one who paired one of his hole cards on the       board, scooping the pot and eliminating Miner.

Dylan Weisman	1,800,000	70,000
Benjamin Miner	0	-190,000

Michael Rocco raised to 60,000 in the cutoff and was called by Naoya Kihara in the small blind.

The flop was spread     and Kihara checked to Rocco. The latter fired a bet of 175,000, after which Kihara went all in for around 600,000 chips total. Rocco made a quick call as the cards hit their backs.

Naoya Kihara:      
Michael Rocco:      

Kihara had a big lead with his set of jacks, and the   turn did not change anything. The   river did, however, as Rocco made a straight to the queen to rake in the pot and eliminate the final Japanese player standing.

Michael Rocco	1,750,000	450,000
Naoya Kihara	0	-750,000

Tom Koral and Adam Friedman both started the hand with roughly 150,000 in chips. In this hand they both got all-in preflop, with Koral having slightly fewer chips than Friedman, he was the one at risk.

Tom Koral:      
Adam Friedman:      

The board ran out       and Koral was out of the tournament..

Adam Friedman	290,000	90,000
Tom Koral	0	-55,000

With a pot of 200,000 in the middle, Philip Shing got his 535,000 chips in from the cutoff against Aaron Sacks in the big blind on a flop of    .

Philip Shing:      
Aaron Sacks:      

The board ran out with the   turn and   river. Both players made the nut low, but Shing was awarded the high part of the pot with two pair, jacks and eights.

Meanwhile, Justin Saliba was eliminated from another table.

Philip Shing	952,500	232,500
Aaron Sacks	340,000	-160,000
Justin Saliba	0	-205,000

Naoya Kihara raised to 50,000 under the gun and Danny Wong defended the big blind. Both players then checked the     flop before Kihara bet 60,000 chips on the   turn.

Wong check-called to see the   river. He checked again, after which Kihara made a bet of 250,000. Wong took a few moments to think it through but ultimately forfeited his cards to the dealer.

Meanwhile, Eric Dawson was eliminated from another table.

Naoya Kihara	1,275,000	345,000
Danny Wong	450,000	-275,000
Eric Dawson	0	-230,000

Yuval Bronshtein and Nitesh Rawtani got all in on the     flop with Bronshtein being the player at risk of elimination.

Yuval Bronshtein:      
Nitesh Rawtani:      

The   turn and   river gave Rawtani the nut low, and a flush for the high. He scooped the entire pot and eliminated Bronstein.

Nitesh Rawtani	710,000	235,000
Yuval Bronshtein	0	-215,000