At 11 a.m. local time, Day 1 of Event #14: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. will get underway at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. All players will receive 7,500 in chips to start and aim to spin them up and bag for the night after 10 levels of 60 minutes each. There will be a 20-minute break every two levels and a 90-minute dinner break after the end of Level 6, while the registration remains open until the cards are back in the air for Level 7 at approximately 7:10 p.m. local time.
The defending champion of this event is American poker pro Ian Johns. Last year Johns had a miracle comeback after starting Day 2 at the bottom of the counts to win his second World Series of Poker bracelet, defeating a 778-entry strong field. Johns topped Justin Bonomo heads-up for a payday of $212,604 and went on to add another golden bracelet in 2016 to his collection with a victory in the $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship. Johns has already been in action this year and finished 12th in Event #7: $2,500 Mixed Triple Draw Lowball.
Five different game types will be played during this tournament and change every orbit: limit hold'em, Omaha hi-lo, razz, seven-card stud and seven-card stud hi-lo. Some of the best mixed game players from near and far are expected to join the action and will determine the champion over the course of the next three days.
PokerNews has activated the My Stack App for this event, allowing you to directly adjust your chip counts in our live reporting blog using your iPhone or Android phone.
You can download the app for iPhone or Android now to get started. Then, create a new PokerNews account or update your current one to start updating your status immediately. Your followers can see all the live action that you're involved in.
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The PokerNews Live Reporting team will be on the floor to provide all the action, so make sure to tune back in regularly.
PokerNews has activated the My Stack App for this event, allowing you to directly adjust your chip counts in our live reporting blog using your iPhone or Android phone.
You can download the app for iPhone or Android now to get started. Then, create a new PokerNews account or update your current one to start updating your status immediately. Your followers can see all the live action that you're involved in.
Click here to download the My Stack app for iPhone, or click here to download the My Stack app for Android.
John Cernuto opened from the cutoff and called the button's three-bet. Cernuto check-called both the flop and the turn, then both players checked the river.
Abraham Laveaga: / /
Daham Wang: / /
Andre Akkari: / /
Ilya Dyment: / /
Picking up the action on fifth street, Abraham Laveaga bet and Ilya Dyment called, as did Daham Wang. Andre Akkari three-bet and Laveaga called before Dyment called as well. Wang moved all in for his last 50 more — 2,450 in total — and Akkari called all in for his last 1,375. Laveaga called and Dyment capped it to 3,000 to pick up a call.
On sixth street, Laveaga check-called a bet before doing so again on seventh street.
Dyment rolled over for a full, which Wang had beat with for the higher full. Akkari showed for the best low and Laveaga mucked for an 8-6 low. The result of the hand? Nobody busted, as Akkari survived and admitted he caught the last ace of the deck on seventh street.
Ismael Bojang: / /
Jason Stockfish: / /
Eric Crain: / /
A three-way pot saw Jason Stockfish take on short stacks Ismael Bojang and Eric Crain. The latter shoved on seventh street for his last 1,400, and Stockfish folded. Bojang just grinned with even fewer chips behind, and the entire table laughed. "I can beat queens and a bluff," he said before folding.
Crain flashed for said bluff, and Bojang let out an expletive. He folded the next two hands.
Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo
Ivan Zarate: / /
Jason Stockfish: / /
Opponent: / /
Shortly thereafter, Stockfish completed, and Ivan Zarate called. Bojang called all in for just 200 with a king showing before another player with a ten raised. Stockfish reraised, and Zarate moved all in for 3,600 total. The opponent called with some 1,600 chips behind, and Stockfish called, then also called the all in after fourth street with rolled up queens. Bojang didn't catch anything, nor did the other player in the hand, while Zarate caught a low, and Stockfish claimed the high half.
Zarate's luck didn't last long; he got it in three ways with Mihails Morozovs and Ashish Gupta. The former got the low half, Gupta the high, and Zarate was eliminated as Brandon Shack-Harris arrived at the table.
Day 1 of Event #14: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E is in the books with 167 players out of a total of 736 entrants remaining. Adam Dickson (180,300) bagged a massive chip lead that's almost double anyone else.
Followed behind Dickson are Richard Ashby (93,300), Chawki Fawaz (92,500), Helen Ellis (92,400), and Pete Linton (89,800).
Some notable players who moved on to Day 2 were John Monnette (62,500), Randy Ohel (56,600), Brandon Shack-Harris (50,800), Daniel Negreanu (43,000), and defending champ Ian Johns (41,500).
Players who busted before the end of the day were Mike Matusow, Scotty Nguyen, Robert Mizrachi, and Ted Forrest.
Day 2 resumes at noon Thursday so be sure to follow all of the updates at PokerNews.