Chris Klodnicki: / /
Sergey Rybachenko: / /
Matthew Ashton: / /
We picked up the action on fifth street when Matthew Ashton paired queens and fired out a bet. Both Chris Klodnicki and Sergey Rybachenko called, and then the same action occurred on sixth. All three players proceeded to check sixth and Rybachenko showed the . Ashton then tabled the for both a flush and a low.
Klodnicki mucked, Rybachenko followed suit and the table wondered aloud why Ashton didn't bet the river.
The players are in their seats and cards are in the air here in the Tan Section of the Amazon Room. The tournament staff has drawn for the starting game, and each table will begin with a round of Stud Hi-Lo.
Welcome back to the 2013 World Series of Poker Event #29 $5,000 H.O.R.S.E. Yesterday, 261 players took to the felt and created a prize pool of $1,226,700. After eight one-hour levels of play, just 151 remain in contention for the $318,955 first-place prize. Today, 119 of those player will go home empty handed, which means 32 will make the money. Chris Klodnicki is the favorite to earn a payday as he begins the day as the chip leader with 65,100.
The other man to keep an eye on is France’s Fabrice Soulier, who begins the day third in chips with 61,100. Soulier won this very event back in 2011 (the buy-in was $10,000 back then) when he defeated 239 other players, including Shawn Buchanan in an epic heads-up battle, to win the championship bracelet and $609,130. Can Soulier, who obviously has some H.O.R.S.E. chops, with the title for the second time in three years?
If he does, he’ll have to clear a field that still includes mixed-game specialist Adam Friedman (61,000); former November Niner Eric Buchman (50,100); Argentina’s pride Nacho Barbero (48,000); current Player of the Year leader Daniel Negreanu (45,000); eight-time bracelet winner Erik Seidel (41,100); Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi (29,500); thirteen-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth (29,500); and Dan Kelly (24,000), who has already cashed seven times at the 2013 WSOP!
Action will recommence at 14:00 PST, and the plan for the day is to play ten levels, break the money bubble and get as close to the final table as possible. Join us then as we bring you all the latest and greatest for the summer’s premiere H.O.R.S.E. tournament.
In the meantime, check out Sarah Grant’s June 16 Update from the 2013 WSOP: