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Welcome back to the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino and the 2017 World Series of Poker for Day 1 of the Event #17: $10,000 Dealers Choice 6-Handed Championship!
Yesterday saw the completion of the $1,500 buy-in installment of this event where David Bach topped a 364-player field to capture the $119,399 first prize and his second WSOP bracelet. Now it's time for the big dog to take center stage!
Mixed games have always been a staple on the WSOP schedule, but their rise in popularity over the past few years have seen more and more non-hold'em events be on offer for players. With the $50,000 Poker Players Championship being the one event a true high-stakes player loves to win, the Dealers Choice Championship is in the conversation as the second-most coveted title to earn due to its prestigious nature and the fact that it tests the true skills of a poker player over a variety of flop, draw and stud games.
In the inaugural year of this event back in 2015, Quinn Do captured his second WSOP bracelet when he topped a 108-player field to capture the $319,792 first prize. Do defeated Rep Porter heads-up on a final table that included Jeff Madsen and Adam Friedman, while David Benyamine, Paul Volpe, David Chiu and Ray Dehkharghani all reached the money.
In 2016 the field size would grow to 118 and it was Jean Gaspard capturing his first WSOP bracelet when he defeated Billy O'Neil heads up for the $306,621 first prize. Also on the final table was John Monnette, Randy Ohel, Michael Semenov and Vyacheslav Zhukov while a plethora of WSOP bracelet winners littered the in-the-money list including "the Chiu" who would register back-to-back cashes in this event.
Year
Champion
Country
Players
Prize Pool
First Prize
2015
Quinn Do
USA
108
$1,015,200
$319,792
2016
Jean Gaspard
USA
118
$1,109,200
$306,621
Play is set to begin at 3:00 p.m. (PDT) with the PokerNews Live Reporting Team providing continuous live updates of all the Dealers Choice Championship action — so stay tuned right here!
David "ODB" Baker raised to 1,600, and Felipe Ramos called in the small blind as both players drew two.
Ramos checked, and Baker bet 800. Ramos called and drew two again, as did Baker.
Ramos checked, and Baker bet 1,600, with Ramos calling and both players drawing one.
After the final draw, Ramos checked, and Baker bet 1,600, only to have Ramos check-raise to 3,200. Baker called quickly, and Ramos fanned his for an eight-eight.
Baker shook his head and acknowledged a scoop, as Ramos indicated he caught the last.
"Yeah I had you before that," announced Baker as he mucked his hand.
Three-time bracelet winner Benny Glaser was all in and drawing a card heading to the last draw against Jared Bleznick, who showed . Glaser had , so he was already finished before even turning over his .
Zachary Freeman opened to 2,500, and Stephen Chidwick three-bet the button to 8,700. Freeman called, and the flop landed . Freeman bet out 15,000, and Chidwick moved all in for his last 30,200. Freeman called, and the cards were tabled.
Freeman:
Chidwick:
With Chidwick in the lead with his overpair and nut flush draw, the on the turn changed little. When the completed the board on the river, though, Freeman made jacks up to send Chidwick tumbling to the rail.
Catching the action on the flop with both James Obst and Alexey Makarov committing 6,800 preflop, Obst bet 7,800. Makarov responded by raising all in for his last 33,900, and after some deliberation, Obst called.
Obst:
Makarov:
The turn and river came the and the , and Makarov rivered threes full to double to more than 80,000 in chips.
Roland Israelashvili raised to 4,000 from under the gun, and Jason Mercier three-bet to 6,000 from the cutoff. Quinn Do called in the small blind, as did Israelashvili.
Do drew two, Israelashvili drew one, and Mercier drew three.
Israelashvili bet out 2,000, and Mercier called all in for 500. Do check-called the full bet.
Do and Mercier drew three while Israelashvili stood pat.
Do checked, Israelashvili bet 4,000, and Do folded.
Israelashvili:
Mercier:
With Mercier drawing two again, the first card he squeezed was the , meaning that any diamond or low card below a ten that didn't pair him would see him scoop the pot.
Unfortunately for Mercier, he could only manage to find the and was forced to exit.
Adam Friedman opened to 3,000, and with the action on Daniel Negreanu on the button, he announced a pot raise and placed 10,800 into the middle. Friedman began deliberating, and after roughly two minutes, he called, leaving himself just 11,000 behind.
The dealer spread a flop, and Friedman checked to Negreanu, who dropped a stack of pink 5,000-denomination chips into the middle to effectively put Friedman all in.
As Friedman entered the tank, Negreanu spoke up, saying, "You see that? That's the face of someone that doesn't have a nine!"
A few minutes went by, and Friedman added, "I'm just trying to figure out if there is a way you don't have aces here."
Another minute or two went by, and Friedman called the clock on himself. The supervisor came over and gave Friedman 30 seconds to come up with a decision.
Eventually that decision was a fold.
"I'll make you sleep better tonight!" announced Negreanu as he showed Friedman his .
"I'm not sure how many people would fold in this spot," added Friedman. As both players continued to discuss the hand, Friedman hinted that he had .
David Bach opened for a raise in the cutoff, and James Obst made it 7,000 on the button. Bach came back with a repot, and they got it all in. Each player drew one, and Bach drew a second and third time while Obst stayed pat after his first card. Obst rolled over , and Bach showed .
"Eight or a seven," he said, sweating out his final card. It was a though.
Stacks were cut down, and Obst had 46,600. Bach had 100 more than that.
"A literal chip and a chair," Bach said with a laugh. Still, he appears to have hung on for a few minutes so far.
for an eight-eight.
. Kurtzman sat there for roughly a minute and then announced, "I bet the pot!"
, and at first glance, the table assumed it was a chop before David Benyamine tapped the three which gave Dehkharghani kings full.
for trip kings and made his exit from the tournament area.
. Glaser had 
.
on the turn changed little. When the 
completed the board on the river, though, Freeman made jacks up to send Chidwick tumbling to the rail.
flop, and Friedman checked to Negreanu, who dropped a stack of pink 5,000-denomination chips into the middle to effectively put Friedman all in.
.
