Event #37: $10,000 Big O Championship

Adam Friedman raised to 105,000 in the hijack and Nitesh Rawtani called on the button which saw everyone else fold.

The flop rolled out     and Friedman bet 285,000 while engaging in some friendly banter with Rawtani.

"I've got good cards," Friedman said.

"So do I," Rawtani responded "that's why i'm thinking of calling."

After some more thought, Rawtani called and the turn peeled off a  . Friedman moved all in for 310,000 and Rawtani called almost immediately.

Adam Friedman:      
Nitesh Rawtani:      

Rawtani held sevens and fours with the nut low, while Friedman held aces with the ace-high flush draw and an inferior low. The river peeled off the  , which was no help to Friedman as while his flush was completed, Rawtani made a full house.

The five-time bracelet winner wished his tablemates luck as he exited the tournament area.

Nitesh Rawtani	1,950,000	600,000
Adam Friedman	0	-415,000

Michael Rocco raised to 105,000 from the hijack before Ryan Hughes flat-called in the cutoff. Rocco checked to Hughes on the     flop, after which the latter made a bet of 75,000.

Rocco called before both players checked the   turn. On the   river, Rocco threw in a pot-sized bet of 435,000. Hughes spent a few moments in the tank before sliding in a call.

Rocco tabled       for the nut straight and raked in the pot when Hughes' cards were added to the muck.

Michael Rocco	2,200,000	600,000
Ryan Hughes	650,000	-275,000

Calvin Anderson opened to 75,000 from the cutoff and was called by Alfred Atamian on the button. Shiva Dudani then potted for 330,000 out of the small blind. Anderson came back over the top and both Atamian and Dudani got their remaining chips into the middle to setup a three-way all in.

Shiva Dudani:      
Alfred Atamian:      
Calvin Anderson:      

The board ran out       to give Atamian the scoop with the flopped boat, sending Dudani to the rail in 19th place.

Calvin Anderson	2,100,000	-285,000
Alfred Atamian	1,000,000	545,000
Shiva Dudani	0	-395,000

Michael Rocco called in the hijack which saw Farid Jattin complete in the small blind and Joe Ritzie checked his option in the big blind.

The board ran out       and players checked all the way to the river where Jattin bet 45,000, which only Ritzie called.

Jattin turned over       for a set of tens with a seven-six low and it was good against Ritzie's       for a worse set and worse low.

Michael Rocco	1,600,000	-40,000
Farid Jattin	1,100,000	65,000
Joe Ritzie	295,000	-30,000

P.J. Cha made it 65,000 to go in the hijack before Dylan Weisman raised the pot to 240,000 in the cutoff. The action folded back to Cha, who threw in a call.

The flop fell     and Cha checked to Weisman. The latter then fired a pot-sized bet of 555,000 chips, the majority of Cha's stack.

Cha quickly let his hand go as he forfeited the pot to his opponent.

Dylan Weisman	2,015,000	315,000
P.J. Cha	685,000	-240,000

Today, the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas will be the scene for the third day of Event #37: $10,000 Big O Championship. This event is new on the schedule at the 2024 World Series of Poker and turned out to be a big success. A massive crowd of 332 people decided to buy in, creating a prize pool of $3,087,600.

However, only 19 players will return for Day 3 of the event, and among them is Dylan Weisman, who captured his second bracelet in Event #18: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha exactly one week ago.

Weisman is widely considered one of the most successful modern pot-limit Omaha tournament players but has been broadening his horizons recently by entering more mixed game and hi-lo events. His skill set seems to have transferred over well, as Weisman gathered 1,700,000 chips throughout the two days of play in the Big O Championship, landing him in third place on the leaderboard and granting him 57 big blinds to play with.

That is not to say that Weisman will have an easy path in front of him, as mixed-game legend and four-time bracelet winner Calvin Anderson bagged the chip lead on Day 2. Anderson was among the latest entries in the field, buying in near the end of the registration period early on Day 2, but spun his 60,000 starting chips to a stack of 2,385,000 before the day had ended.

Also finding themselves in the top ten at the start of Day 3 are Poland's Tomasz Gluszko (1,515,000), Colombian playmaker Farid Jattin (1,035,000), and bracelet winners David Benyamine (1,350,000) and Ryan Hughes (925,000).

Start of Day 3 Top Ten Chip Counts

Further down the counts one can find the likes of decorated players such as Anson Tsang (905,000), Danny Wong (890,000), and Adam Friedman (415,000), while Shiva Dudani (395,000) and Joe Ritzie (325,000) are on the bottom of the leaderboard with stacks worth less than 15 big blinds.

All 19 players have secured themselves a payday of at least $25,340, but they will be fighting tooth and nail to try and capture the top prize of $681,998 that accompanies the eventual Big O Champion's bracelet.

Remaining Payouts

The tournament will resume at 1 p.m. local time in the Horseshoe Event Center. The blinds will restart at Level 21, blinds 15,000/30,000 with a 30,000 ante. All levels will have a duration of 60 minutes, with a 15-minute break after every two of them. A dinner break is scheduled after Level 26, around 7:30 p.m. local time. The plan is to play down to the final five players, who will then bag up and return for the fourth and final day on Sunday.

Be sure to stay tuned to PokerNews for all of the five-card action, and don't forget to check out our WSOP hub for coverage of all the live bracelet events.