After playing into the early hours of the morning, Day 1 of Event #20: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout has come to a close. A total of 389 players came out for this event and by the end of the night just 40 players bagged up to return for Day 2. Each of these players was the last one standing at their starting table and will come back to do it all over again tomorrow.
Each returning player is guaranteed a payday of at least $7,805. The final 40 will return to play 10 four-handed tables. That means that just three competitors stand in each player's way of making the official final table of ten on Day 3.
The day saw several notable players defeat their respective tables and advance onto the second round. Some of the players who are still in contention for the $254,891 and the gold WSOP bracelet are Sorel Mizzi (88,800), Taylor Paur (88,800), Dimitar Danchev (88,700), Christophe de Meulder (88,700), Faraz Jaka (86,600), Alexander Venovski (88,600), David Tuthill (88,300), Eric Wasserson (88,300), Eric Froehlich (88,200), Jake Cody (88,100), John Dolan (87,800), Phil Galfond (80,600), Tamer Kamel (80,500), Humberto Brenes (80,300), Josh Brikis (80,300), and Erik Seidel (80,300).
While these players all advanced, others were not as fortunate. Calvin Anderson, for example, saw an exit from the tournament within the first minutes of the tournament, running a large pocket pair into an Hal Lubarsky's pocket aces. Lubarsky, however, also fell to his opponents by the end of the day. Other players to hit the rail include Jason Somerville, Todd Terry, Galen Hall, Annette Obrestad, David Vamplew, David Williams, Sam Trickett, Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, Scott Baumstein, Joe Kuether, Jason Koon, and Erick Lindgren.
Main event champions Joe Cada and Greg Merson drew the same table, but neither player was able to advance. Cada fell in fourth and Merson was eliminated in third. The table was eventually won by Dylan Linde. Reigning Main Event champion Ryan Riess also participated, but was eliminated in third place at his table.
Some notable players experienced the greatest heartbreak a shootout can offer - making it to heads up play only to find elimination. Players like Josh Arieh, Griffin Benger, 2010 World Series of Poker champion Jonathan Duhamel, and Matt Salsberg all made it to heads up at their tables but were unable to seal the deal.
Play resumes at 2 p.m. on Sunday in the Tan section of the Amazon room. Here the players will attempt to win their four-handed table to clinch a seat at Monday's final table. As always, be sure to check out PokerNews for all of the latest updates from this and every other exciting bracelet event!
Tags:
Erik SeidelGreg MersonHal LubarskyHumberto BrenesJake CodyJoe CadaRyan Riess
