With the 2017 World Series of Poker into its second week, Daniel Negreanu will play Wednesday heads-up for a bracelet. Other action of note includes one well-known pro successfully wading through more than 18,000 recreational players to make the final table of the Colossus III, and a Team CardsChat member hanging on to stay in contention for a bracelet.
It’s still early in June, but Negreanu’s summer so far can be described as close but no cigar. In the lead up to the WSOP, he finished 3rd and 8th in two different super high roller events at the Aria in Las Vegas.
And last week, he got his first chance at WSOP bracelet number seven in the $10,000 WSOP tag team championship. Before the poker forums could even begin debating whether a shared bracelet should count toward his bet-backed goal of winning three this summer, his team finished 3rd.
But Negreanu seems to be knocking on victory’s door, with his best chance so far of notching a win coming on an unintended Day Four in the $10,000 Omaha Hi-Low 8 or Better Championship. Only Abe Mosseri stands in his way, and he’s armed with a larger chip stack.
This tournament was supposed to end Tuesday night, but WSOP officials called it a wrap when the final table reached heads-up well after 2 am.
Play will resume at 2 pm PT on Wednesday, with Mosseri holding a 2:1 chip stack advantage going into heads-up play.
Mosseri won a bracelet in 2009 and has more than $1.7 million in career live tournament winnings. Sure, that pales in comparison to Negreanu’s accomplishments. But it’s enough for poker’s all-time winningest player to know that winning his first bracelet of the Series won’t necessarily come easy.
Affleck Eyes Colossus Title
With 18,054 players whittled down to nine after just three days of play, Colossus III will crown its winner on Wednesday. A WSOP event with a $565 buy-in doesn’t attract many high rollers, but one world-class pro who entered survived a minefield as dangerous as the Korean DMZ.
Matt Affleck, if you’ll recall, infamously busted out of the 2010 WSOP Main Event in 15th place when eventual champion Jonathan Duhamel cracked his pocket aces with pocket jacks. The Washington native angrily left the Rio while ESPN cameras followed the teary-eyed poker pro into the hall.
Affleck has more than $2.3 million in lifetime tournament winnings, but is still chasing that elusive first WSOP bracelet. He can add $1 million to his Hendon Mob resume on Wednesday if he can mount a comeback.
Affleck will enter the final table as the shortest stack, with 3.5 million chips. Chip leader Erkut Yilmaz has 16 million.
$1,500 Dealers Choice Down to Nine
Event #11, the $1,500 Dealers Choice 6-Handed had 364 entries and played down to nine players. Christopher Sensoli is the chip leader (552,000). Brandon Cantu made the final two tables (131,500). If he wins the $119,399 prize for 1st place, perhaps he can afford to pay Jason Mercier the money he owes him.
CardsChat Player at Tag Team Final Table
We are down to the final table in Event #10, the $1,000 Tag Team No-Limit Hold’em. D.J. MacKinnon and Esther Taylor lead the way with 908,000 chips. Play resumes at noon PT. The winner will earn $150,637 and all championship team members receive a gold bracelet.
Ryan Laplante, a 2016 bracelet winner who has represented CardsChat in a few events, made the final table with his teammate Sam Cohen (407,000).
Stream On
Tuesday also saw the start of a $1,500 no-limit hold’em event with 1,729 entries. That tournament is close to the bubble, with 275 players remaining, 265 of whom will get paid. Ben Heath has the chip lead (160,800). Dan Heimiller (109,000), Andy Frankenberger (87,000), and Jared Jaffe (40,000) all made Day Two.
A $1,500 2-7 no-limit lowball draw also got underway Tuesday, with 266 bracelet hopefuls registering. WSOP gold bracelet dreams were still alive for 50 players by the end of the poker business day. Alex Foxen, with 147,850 chips, is the only player above 100,000 going into Day Two.
The $1,500 events continue throughout the week, with Event #14, $1,500 HORSE, beginning Wednesday at 11 am.
But most eyes will likely be on Event #15, the $10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Championship. This exciting format will be streamed live (with a 30-minute delay) on the PokerGO app, providing a trial run for upcoming Main Event live coverage.
Cards go in the air at 3 pm, with action that should keep phones buzzing as brackets busting. It’s still not clear whether Daniel Negreanu will be able to enter this event having either just won or just lost his most recent run at WSOP bracelet glory.
