A huge field of 2,541 players turned out today for the last low buy-in event of the 2013 World Series of Poker. After 11 levels of play, only 297 remained, led by Joe Froehle with 144,200 in chips. Froehle’s lead is far from safe, however. Malek Kalayli is right on his heels with 143,000. Lauren Kling (123,300) and Ben Yu (107,500) are also close behind the chip leaders.
Also near the top of the leader board is Nate Silver, noted political analyst, blogger, and statistician famous for correctly predicting recent national elections in the U.S. His website, fivethirtyeight.com, is one of the country’s most sought-after sources for political prognostication. Silver has 134,600 in chips.
Many notables turned out for this event, but did not make it to the end of the day. Jonathan Little, Mike Leah, Jen Shahade, Jake Balsiger, Jason Koon, Shane Schleger, Matt Waxman, Dan Heimiller, Elisabeth Hille, and Lex Veldhuis, among others, have already made their exits. Several other well known players are still in the running, including Calvin Anderson (75,000), Melanie Weisner (61,300), Bill Chen (22,200), Bryan Micon (17,200), and Jeremy Ausmus (11,100).
Play resumes Saturday at 1 p.m. in the Brasilia Room. Stay with us here at PokerNews as we bring you live updates throughout Day 2.
Among the more than 2500 competitors today is political statistician and blogger Nate Silver, most famous for his website FiveThirtyEight.com. Silver’s mathematical approach to politics helped him to correctly predict the winner of all 51 states in last fall’s Presidential election, as well as 31 out of 33 senate races.
Silver added a few chips to his stack in a recent hand. A late position player raised to 1,700, and the button flat called. Silver then pushed all in from the big blind for about 25,000. Both other players folded, and Silver added the chips to his stack. He now sits with 30,000.
We’ll keep an eye on Silver to see how well his background in statistics and analysis serves him in this tournament.
We went in search of Ben Yu when we saw a tweet that said he was the chip leader. When we found him he was involved in a hand with the flop was showing and a bet of 1,600 in front of Yu. The player in the big blind called the bet and then checked the turn. Yu continued for 3,600 and after a solid two minutes, his opponent folded.
Ben had collected all the green chips for the table, so he had quite the impressive tower going. While not the chip leader at this time, he is a close second and has two more levels to claim the lead.
We came upon the board and watched as Adrienne Rowsome check-raised to 450. Her opponent called and the turn was dealt. Rowsome led for 2,300 and her opponent moved all in. Rowsome called and the hands were tabled.
Rowsome:
Opponent:
Rowsome turned the flush and her opponent flopped a set. Rowsome just needed to avoid a pairing card on the river, which she did when the was dealt. The flush held up and Rowsome eliminated a player from the tournament.
We heard rumors of T.J. Cloutier and Shannon Shorr in the field but we weren't able to find them until now. There are eight tables left in the yellow section of Pavilion and Cloutier was sitting at one of them. He seemed in a friendly mood even calling us over to tell us his chip count.
As we were walking back into the Brasilia room, we noticed Shannon Shorr sitting down with a healthy stack and caught him in the middle of a hand where the flop read . He called the 750 bet of the player in middle position, as did the player in the big blind.
Both players checked to Shorr on the turn and Shorr led for 2,100. The big blind released his hand and the middle position player called. Shorr's opponent check-called a 6,500 bet on the river. Shorr tabled for a straight and his opponent sent his cards into the muck.
In the span of a couple hands, Jen Shahade went from average stack to the rail. In the first, she raised preflop to 300, and Andris Resevskis three-bet to 750. Shahade tanked for a minute, then re-raised all in. Resevskis called and tabled . Shahade held and would need some help. The board ran out , and Resevskis's pocket queens won the pot. Resevskis had 3,925 in chips to start the hand, and he doubled up. Shahade had him outchipped by just a few hundred.
A few hands later, Shahade made a stand in the big blind. Resevskis opened the preflop action with a raise to 225, Shahade pushed all in, and Resevskis called. He turned over , and Shahade held . The board ran came , missing Shahade, and Resevskis won the hand with a full house.
Resevskis now has double his starting stack and Shahade, noted chess expert and author of Chess Bitch: Women in the Ultimate Intellectual Sport, has been eliminated.
Dana Castaneda was trying to parlay her win from Event #54 into another gold bracelet, unfortunately, right after she received her gold bracelet in today's ceremony, she busted the tournament. No one likes to bust a tournament, but if you are forced to leave the tournament floor, what better way than with a new gold bracelet on your arm?
Her dad, Danny, is also playing the tournament today and still has chips. Castaneda can now return the favor and rail her dad as he strives to make them the first father/daughter gold bracelet winners. As she was leaving the tournament area, she told us she was sending some of her run good to her dad today and saving the rest of it for the Main Event.
It was less than two weeks ago that Jared Hamby earned his first gold bracelet in Event #40 and he is apparently after some more jewelry. We just caught him all in for 2,550 on a board with about a 4,000 pot. His opponent was in the tank for quite a bit but ended up releasing his hand. Maybe he caught on to Hamby's recent run good. The question is, can it continue?
Today marks the last low buy-in of the 2013 World Series of Poker schedule. Last year, the last low buy-in event was a $1,000 tournament and attracted 4,620 players. Expect many familiar faces, as well amateurs in the field today. Many of them will be using this tournament as a primer for the Main Event, which has one more starting day scheduled after this event concludes.
The cards will be in the air at noon today and eleven levels will be played in both Brasilia and Pavilion Rooms. Players will begin with 4,500 in chips and you can expect a flurry of action early on as players work to build a big stack. We will make sure and make note of the notable players in the field and bring you live reports from the tournament floor. Keep it on PokerNews for our live coverage and all the latest news from the WSOP.
While you are waiting for the event to get underway, get caught up to date with Lynn Gilmartin who has your July 5th Update.
and a bet of 1,600 in front of Yu. The player in the big blind called the bet and then checked the 
turn. Yu continued for 3,600 and after a solid two minutes, his opponent folded.
and watched as Adrienne Rowsome check-raised to 450. Her opponent called and the 
was dealt. The flush held up and Rowsome eliminated a player from the tournament.
. He called the 750 bet of the player in middle position, as did the player in the big blind.
turn and Shorr led for 2,100. The big blind released his hand and the middle position player called. Shorr's opponent check-called a 6,500 bet on the 
river. Shorr tabled 
. Shahade held 
and would need some help. The board ran out 
, and Resevskis's pocket queens won the pot. Resevskis had 3,925 in chips to start the hand, and he doubled up. Shahade had him outchipped by just a few hundred.
, and Shahade held 
, missing Shahade, and Resevskis won the hand with a full house.
board with about a 4,000 pot. His opponent was in the tank for quite a bit but ended up releasing his hand. Maybe he caught on to Hamby's recent run good. The question is, can it continue?
