Just 15 players remain in contention in Event #51: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship, and storylines abound as the tournament heads to Day 3.
First off, there's Josh Arieh, who bagged the chip lead with a massive 1,695,000, giving him a wide lead over second-place Bruce Yamron (1,040,000).
Most famous for his third-place finish in the WSOP Main Event in 2004, Arieh already has two bracelets. He took down a $3,000 Limit Hold'em in 1999 and a $2,000 Pot-Limit Omaha in 2005. He's in prime position for his third after bagging more than 15 percent of the total chips.
Then there's Chris Ferguson, who finished with 486,000. The man once known as "Jesus" to the poker world has spent the past few years as persona non grata, only daring to show his face at the WSOP again in 2016. Ferguson put forth a strong effort that year and has followed it this year by piling up more cashes.
Those cashes have put him squarely in the WSOP Player of the Year race, where he sits in seventh at the time of writing, but the man atop the leaderboard also remains in this event. Ray Henson, who has a slight lead over Ryan Hughes — Hughes soft bubbled this tournament on Day 2 after a tough beat at the hands of Mark Herm — bagged a roughly average stack of 588,000.
The money bubble eventually did burst, but it took an extended level and some time putting off a break. Eventually, Ben Lamb went down in 33rd. Start-of-day leader Dario Sammartino, Phil Hui, John Monnette, Scott Clements and Fabrice Soulier were some of those making it into the money but failing to see bagging time.
The remaining players return to Brasilia Room at 2 p.m. Wednesday for Day 3, and a winner will be crowned who will take home over $500,000. Come back to PokerNews to see who it will be.
Damjan Radanov raised in the cutoff, John Monnette stuck in about 100,000 on a reraise for most of his stack, and Josh Arieh repotted in the big blind to chase away Radanov.
Monnette:
Arieh:
"How do you wake up with that?" Monnette wondered aloud.
The board ran out , no help to Monnette after he missed his flush draw.
According to Josh Arieh, Quentin Krueger opened for a raise with , and Dario Sammartino three-bet him with . Krueger responded with an all-in shove, and the Italian star got his stack of about 250,000 in.
The board ran out , giving Krueger a flush and a four-deuce low.
"Good luck," Sammartino said as he gathered his belongings.
David Baker opened with a pot-sized raise to 56,000 and Bruce Yamron called in the small blind.
The dealer spread a flop and Yamron checked to Baker who announced he was all in for his final 85,000. Yamron called, and the cards were tabled.
Yamron:
Baker:
The turn and river landed running deuces with the and to see Baker eliminated in 22nd place for a $16,675 payday as Yamron climbs to over 1.1 million in chips.
On a flop of , Millard Hale moved all in for his last 90,000. Dario Sammartino folded before Josh Arieh announced he was all in for roughly 600,000.
Chris King snap-called for roughly his last 300,000, and the cards were tabled.
King:
Hale:
Arieh:
With both Hale and King at-risk, King was in strong shape to more then double with his set an no low draws currently present.
The turn of the however would shift the short stacked Hale now into the lead before the dealer delivered the dagger of the on the river to put Arieh out ahead while simultaneously eliminating both Hale and King in the process.
As Arieh dragged the pot, he stacked it up to amount to roughly 1.2 million in chips.
Chris Ferguson raised to 20,000 under the gun. Only small blind Scott Clements gave him action. On the flop, Clements potted for 50,000. Ferguson thought for about 30 seconds and announced a re-pot, getting it in for 188,000. Clements called.
Clements:
Ferguson:
Ferguson already had the nut low, while Clements had two pair. The turn was a , changing little, but the river gave Ferguson a wheel for the whole pot.
Kate Hoang raised to 15,000 from middle position, and Ryan Hughes called. From the small blind, David Hunt raised to 66,000, and Hoang called. Hughes folded.
The flop fell , and Hunt pushed his last 75,000 into the middle. Hoang called, and the cards were tabled.
Hunt:
Hoang:
The turn and river gave Hoang the nut straight, and with neither player making a qualifying low, Hunt was eliminated.
, no help to Monnette after he missed his flush draw.
and both Engel and Roth checked to Radanov who bet 40,000. Engel moved all in for 87,000, and once Roth folded, Radanov called.
opened up outs for Radanov, and when the 
on the river completed his flush, Engel was eliminated in 17th place for a $16,675 payday.
and Kong bet out 88,000 before Hoang announced a raise. Kong pushed in his remaining 65,000 and the cards were tabled.
and Kong was eliminated in 19th place for a $16,675 payday as Hoang climbed back up to 700,000 in chips.
, and Dario Sammartino three-bet him with 
. Krueger responded with an all-in shove, and the Italian star got his stack of about 250,000 in. 
, Millard Hale moved all in for his last 90,000. Dario Sammartino folded before Josh Arieh announced he was all in for roughly 600,000.
and Zack turned a straight to send Lamb to the rail in 33rd place to become the tournament bubble boy.
