The bubble looms as 55 players return for Day 2 of Event 13: $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw. Just 40 will walk away with a slice of the $359,100 prize pool. The man with the best shot at claiming the gold bracelet and top prize of $89,151 is Day 1 chip leader Alex Foxen.
Foxen carries a stack of 147,850 into play today and is miles ahead of his closest competitor, Georgii Belanin with 91,050. Jared Bleznick (71,000), Naoya Kihara (60,550), Benny Glaser (56,000), Michael Gathy (55,500) and Phil Hellmuth (46,225) are just some of the world-class competition standing in Foxen’s way.
Who will be left standing after another 10 one-hour levels is anyone’s guess. There are eight players still in the field who have won multiple bracelets totaling 33 among them. Many other players still in will be hunting for their second piece of hardware.
Day 2 will kick off at 2 p.m. inside the Brasilia room. Here’s a look at the blinds the players will face this afternoon.
As the players approach the money bubble, Anthony Zinno busted and Phil Hellmuth lost another big hand to a nine-seven after tanking for close to five minutes. Here's how it went down.
Naoya Kihara and Anthony Zinno both patted after a three-bet predraw. Kihara was first to act and went all in. Zinno called quickly and Kihara turned over a smooth nine, . Zinno also had a nine, but he lost the hand with a .
Adam Crawford opened to 2,500 and Rep Porter and Phil Hellmuth both called. Porter stood pat, Hellmuth and Crawford both drew one. Porter checked, Hellmuth bet 3,600 and Crawford raised to 14,000. Porter folded and Hellmuth debated his decision for roughly five minutes before he called. Crawford showed a nine-seven and Hellmuth mucked.
Michael Gathy has just over 12,000 chips and in two hands was eliminated from the tournament in 42nd place.
On the first hand, Gathy raised to 3,000. Alex Foxen and Frank Kassela both called. Kassela drew two while Gathy and Foxen both stood pat. Kassela led for 12,000. Gathy thought for close to two minutes before calling. Foxen folded and Kassela won the hand with a nine-seven.
In the second hand, Frank Kassela opened the button to 4,000 into Gathy's big blind. Gathy was all in for less than the blind and his ante. Ben Ponzio was in the small blind and went all in for around 30,000. Kassela folded face up and Ponzio won the side pot. Ponzio stood pat with and Gathy drew one but missed and was eliminated.
The tournament is now on the money bubble after the Gathy elimination and is hand-for-hand.
Jared Bleznick was debating a hand with 2009 WSOP Player of the Year Jeff Lisandro. Bleznick was telling Lisandro he played a hand poorly before James Woods stopped them for a moment.
"Guys, guys, I'm all in," Woods said and they paused their conversation.
Woods was heads up against Xavier Kyablue and both players drew one. Woods showed and drew a queen. Kyablue was drawing to a ten and paired so Woods won the hand.
"Let me ask you this Jared," said Woods. "I had a queen there. Am I supposed to draw one?"
"Yeah, you played it perfectly," Bleznick replied.
"See, Jeffrey. I played it perfectly and you played poorly," Woods said.
The players laughed as Woods stacked his winnings. Bleznick did say several times that Lisandro was an excellent player, the best player at the table even, but that the particular play they were discussing was a poor play.
James Woods and Max Kruse have been eliminated in consecutive hands and will take home $2,568 each. Woods is heading to the $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. tournament that started earlier today, and Kruse will likely be playing more events as the WSOP rolls on.
Here are the hands:
Woods was all in against Jeff Lisandro and both players were drawing one. Woods had a draw to an eight and drew a ten to make . Lisandro had a draw to a ten and drew a five to win the hand with , beating Woods' ten-eight with a ten-seven.
In the next hand, Kruse opened to 4,000 and Jared Bleznick went all in from the small blind. He had Kruse well-covered. Kruse thought for a little and then called. Bleznick had the better draw, drawing to a seven, but paired, making . Kruse couldn't dodge a pair and pulled a six, leaving him with .
Jared Bleznick is approaching 200,000 and just won two hands in a row, before Phil Hui outdrew him to stop the winning streak.
Bleznick opened to 5,500 from the cutoff and Adam Crawford reraised to 16,500. Bleznick took a moment to decice.
"You got a lot of chips," said Bleznick eyeing Crawford's remaining 61,000 stack.
Bleznick four-bet all in and Crawford folded.
In the next hand, Bleznick opened again to 5,500 and everyone folded.
On the third hand, Bleznick opened to 5,500 from middle position and Hui called from the big blind. Both players drew one and then checked. Hui won the hand with .
Below are the current counts for the other players at the table.
We arrived at the table to see a pile of chips in the middle and three-handed between Tom Schneider, Rep Porter, and Phil Hui, who was the player at risk.
Porter had patted and tabled a nine-seven low forcing Schneider to muck. Hui had outs having a nine-seven beat as long as his draw card was lower. It was, unfortunately, a ten, and Hui departed in 22nd place, setting up a final three table redraw.
JC Tran was happy to give us the info on his recent disposal of Steven Tabb, getting the best of him in two straight hands. In both hands, Tran patted with nine-eight, and both times, Tabb missed a draw.
Jared Bleznick opened to 9,000, and when action folded around to Marvin Karlins, he moved all in for 57,400. The player in the big blind folded, and Karlins, not noticing Bleznick's open, revealed his hand. David "ODB" Baker immediately jumped to the rescue, covering Karlins' holding.
Confused, Bleznick asked what was going on, and Baker informed him. Respectably, Bleznick stood up and turned his back so Karlins' hand could be covered. Bleznick sat back down, and after getting a count, called.
Both players stood pat, and Karlins flipped over his ten-eight low once more. Bleznick tabled a nine-eight low, ending Karlins' run in 17th place for $3,572.
Brad Helm shoved blind-versus-blind into Alex Foxen. Foxen called, putting Helm at risk.
Both players stood pat, and Helm tabled a pat jack. It wasn't good enough, as Foxen woke up with a pat eight. Helm fell in 14th place, taking home $4,387.
. Zinno also had a nine, but he lost the hand with a 
face up and Ponzio won the side pot. Ponzio stood pat with 
