Ryan Scully, Scott Fitzhugh, and Rodney Spriggs each put in bets on the 10♠3♥K♠ flop, Spriggs leaving himself just one chip behind.
The turn came the J♦ and Spriggs got his last chip in as Scully and Fitzhugh each put in bets.
The river came the 9♦ and Scully fired out into the side pot. Fitzhugh open-folded AxAx as Scully turned over A♣J♥K♥6♣ for two pair. Spriggs had 10♦9♣5♠4♠ for a missed flush draw and was eliminated.
Shaun Deeb was also eliminated from the tournament shortly after returning from break.
Shortly after his encounter with Chris Vitch, James Obst was involved in another big pot as two players were all in by the turn.
The board was showing 6♣7♠10♦7♥ as Joao Simao and a player on the button got their chips in the middle, with Obst having both of them well covered.
Simao had J♥A♣4♣2♦, the button 3♥9♦J♦A♦, and Obst A♠10♠8♦2♠. The river came the 9♠ and Obst made a straight to win the entire pot, knocking out the Brazilian bracelet winner and the button.
Ryan Leng was already all in as Arne Pederson and James Obst saw the turn on a board of 6♠Q♦5♣2♠. Pederson bet from the hijack and Obst called in the big blind.
The river came the J♥ and Pederson tossed out another bet. Obst took his time before he called.
"Queens up and and a lock low," Pederson confidentally said as he turned over A♠3♥5♥Q♣. Obst, though, turned over Q♠J♦ for a better two pair. Leng flashed A♦A♥ before mucking.
"You did not just call with that? How do I not scoop that pot," Pederson wondered as he and Obst chopped up Leng's stack. "You didn't like that call. You made it, but you didn't like it," he continued.
The record-setting field of 1,143 that began Event #17: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better at the 2023 World Series of Poker has been reduced to just 33 players, each with a chance to capture the bracelet on Day 3.
Kyle Burnside and Kyle Cartwright are the players with the best opportunity when play resumes at 1 p.m. local time on June 8. Burnside knocked out Jerry Wong and went on a hot run during the last level to finish up with a chip-leading stack of 2,345,000. Cartwright is right behind him with 2,310,000. It’s been nearly a decade since Cartwright won his World Series of Poker bracelet back in 2014, and he’s put himself in a position to add a second to his collection.
End of Day 2 Top 10 Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Kyle Burnside
United States
2,345,000
59
2
Kyle Cartwright
United States
2,310,000
58
3
Erik Perry
United States
1,935,000
48
4
Eric Varnado
United States
1,750,000
44
5
Qinghai Pan
United States
1,680,000
42
6
Ryan Scully
United States
1,300,000
33
7
Jim Collopy
United States
1,275,000
32
8
Tomomitsu Ono
Japan
1,270,000
32
9
Jeffrey Mitseff
United States
1,215,000
30
10
Mark Bixler
United States
1,205,000
30
Erik Perry (1,935,000), Eric Varnado (1,750,000), and Qinghai Pan (1,680,000) round out the top five. But the most noise on Day 2, literally, came from the table shared by Ryan Scully, Ben Vidal, James Obst, and “Crazy” Mike Thorpe.
Thorpe characteristically kept the table talking as they took turns poking fun at each other and cracking jokes. Scully finished as the leader at this table with 1,300,000, while Vidal bagged up 980,000. Obst, already with a bracelet on his resume and back at the WSOP after a four-year hiatus while he pursued a tennis career, ended up with 720,000 and Thorpe 600,000.
Day 2 began with 394 players divided up between the conference center and Event Center of the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, each trying to make it into the money. Mike Matusow, Barry Greenstein, and Alex Foxen had their day end early as only the top 172 finishers earned a payday.
Once the bubble burst, Shaun Deeb (145th), WSOP legend Perry Green (139th), Phil Hellmuth (127th), 2021 champion Connor Drinan (110th), and David Williams (53rd) all made the walk to the payout desk.
The plan for Day 3 is to play down to a champion. Action will pick up on Level 26 with blinds at 20,000-40,000 and limits of 40,000-80,000. Even in a limit game, pots can become massive and stack sizes swing widely on the bumpy road to the final table and onto the crowning of a new champion.
PokerNews will be back on June 8 from 1:00 p.m. local time, following all the action and providing updates until only one player remains out of this once-massive field.