Day 34 of the 2024 World Series of Poker at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas had five in-play events, making it a little more relaxed for PokerNews‘ live reporters after the craziness of the past few days, where up to 12 events were simultaneously taking place at one stage!
The highlight of Day 34 was Event #72: $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship crowning its champion. The third and final day started with only nine of the 186 entrants vying for the bracelet and $411,041 top prize. Scott Seiver came out on top for his third bracelet of the summer, the first time anyone has bagged three in the same series in Vegas since Jeff Lisandro in 2009. George Danzer also won three in 2014 but one of his was in the WSOP Asia-Pacific series.
Although Seiver was the only person to collect some WSOP hardware, plenty was going on in the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.
Vincent Lee Shines Brightly on Day 1c of the Colossus
Day 1c of Event #70: $400 Colossus drew in 8,589 entrants, but only 1,057 made it through 17 action-packed levels. Vincent Lee fared the best on the third and final flight, bagging and tagging 1.470.000 chips, enough for the Day 1c chip leader and fourth place overall.
Lee has cashed in three large field events this series, receiving a payout slip in the $300 Gladiators of Poker, the $800 No-Limit Hold’em Deepstack, and the $1,500 Super Turbo Bounty.
William Wilkinson led the way for a large part of the day, but lost some ground late on, allowing Lee to leapfrog him in the counts.
Some of the other Day 1c survivors hoping to capture this event’s bracelet include Dinesh Alt (648,000), Max Kruse (625,000), Angela Jordison (523,000), $25K Fantasy Draft pick Matt Glantz (485,000), PokerNews Deepstack Championship winner Hector Berry (281,000), Martin Kabrhel (267,000), and Lara Eisenberg (188,000).
Play resumes on Day 2 at 10:00 a.m. local time on July 1, and 2,358 players are looking to complete another 15 levels.
Event #70: $400 Colossus Day 1c Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vincent Lee | United States | 1,470,000 | 123 |
| 2 | William Wilkinson | United States | 1,390,000 | 116 |
| 3 | Austin Alcala | United States | 1,287,000 | 107 |
| 4 | Wenguo Lin | China | 1,117,000 | 93 |
| 5 | Shawn Beaupre | Canada | 1,114,000 | 93 |
| 6 | Alan Helfenstein | Brazil | 1,084,000 | 90 |
| 7 | Joshua Welch | United States | 1,044,000 | 87 |
| 8 | Michael Byers | United States | 1,011,000 | 84 |
| 9 | Tamir Saidman | Israel | 1,000,056 | 83 |
| 10 | Mihaly Lukacs | United States | 987,000 | 82 |
Jamie Kerstetter Leads the Final Six in the Ladies Championship
Jamie Kerstetter (9,330,000) is in pole position in Event #71: $1,000 Ladies No-Limit Hold’em Championship, where only six of the 1,245 entrants remain in contention for the $171,732 top prize and the coveted gold bracelet.
Kerstetter came agonizingly close to capturing a bracelet in 2022, finishing second in the $1,000 Tag Team event behind the duo of Patrick Leonard and Espen Jorstad. Thetwo-time Global Poker Awards winner is now only five eliminations away from realizing her dream of becoming a WSOP champion.
Japan’s Shiina Okamoto (8,640,000) is second in chips at the restart. Okamoto was the runner-up in this event last year, so she hopes to go one place deeper in 2024.
Between them, Kerstetter and Okamoto have 225 big blinds while the other four ladies have 87; the gap between Okomato in second and Linda Durden (3,110,000) in third is a massive 69 big blinds.
Mor Kamber (1,755,000) returns in fourth, Cecile Ticherfatine (1,100,000) is fifth, representing France, with Ceci Liao (970,000) bringing up the rear but still in the hunt.
The fourth and final day starts at 3:00 p.m. local time on July 1, with PokerGO streaming the action. PokerNews‘ coverage will follow PokerGO’s delay, which is expected to be approximately 60 minutes.
Event #71: $1,000 Ladies No-Limit Hold’em Championship Final Day Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jamie Kerstetter | United States | 9,330,000 | 117 |
| 2 | Shiina Okamoto | Japan | 8,640,000 | 108 |
| 3 | Linda Durden | United States | 3,110,500 | 39 |
| 4 | Mor Kamber | Israel | 1,755,000 | 22 |
| 5 | Cecile Ticherfatine | France | 1,100,000 | 14 |
| 6 | Ceci Liao | United States | 970,000 | 12 |
$25,000 PLO High Roller Reaches Day 2 With 34 Players Remaining
Only 34 players remain in Event #73: $25,000 High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha, and as you would expect, the field is stacked top to bottom with elite-level stars.
Brian Rast (4,785,000) is one such player, and the man to catch going into Day 3. The six-time bracelet winner and Poker Hall of Famer bagged up a tournament-leading stack at the close of play.
Two other players finished Day 2 with more than four million chips: Maxi Lehmanski (4,500,000) and Billy Tarango (4,400,000).
That trio leads an all-star cast into battle for the penultimate day’s action. Eelis Parssinen (3,795,000), Michael Moncek (3,670,000), Joni Jouhkimainen (3,225,000), and Erick Lindgren (3,235,000) return with top ten chip stacks.
Lower down the current standings are such luminaries as Kahle Burns (2,480,000), Juha Helppi (2,210,000), Christian Harder (2,180,000), Joao Vieira (1,515,00), Sean Winter (700,000), and Alex Livingston (685,000).
Day 3 shuffles up and deals at 1:00 p.m. local time on July 1. The plan is to reduce the field down to only five players.
Event #73: $25,000 High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brian Rast | United States | 4,785,000 | 96 |
| 2 | Maxi Lehmanski | Germany | 4,500,000 | 90 |
| 3 | Billy Tarango | United States | 4,400,000 | 88 |
| 4 | Eelis Parssinen | Finland | 3,795,000 | 76 |
| 5 | David Eldridge | United States | 3,700,000 | 74 |
| 6 | Michael Moncek | United States | 3,670,000 | 73 |
| 7 | Tyler Stafman | United States | 3,635,000 | 73 |
| 8 | Joni Jouhkimainen | Finland | 3,255,000 | 65 |
| 9 | Erick Lindgren | United States | 3,235,000 | 65 |
| 10 | Matthew Kolibas | United States | 3,080,000 | 62 |
Bookmark this page! All you need to know about the 2024 WSOP is here.
Ali Eslami Leads After Day 1 of the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship
Day 1 of Event #74: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship saw the 143 entrants reduced to 74, although both numbers will increase as late registration remains open for the first hour of Day 2.
Regardless of how many fresh faces enter, they will have their work cut out to catch Ali Eslami because he finished Day 1 with 395,000 chips, almost 120,000 more (20 big bets) than Andrey Zhigalov (276,500) in second place. Eslami has previous in this format, having won his sole bracelet in a $1,500 edition of Stud Hi-Lo in 2022.
High-stakes specialist tournaments bring poker’s greats to the tables, and this event was no different. Allen Kessler (273,000), Brandon Shack-Harris (244,500), Nacho Barbero (215,500), Brad Ruben (205,500), and Rob Hollink (190,000) all progressed to Day 2 in the top ten.
Also through are such stars as Todd Brunson (187,500), Chris Vitch (181,000), Marco Johnson (135,000), Dario Sammartino (134,000), Anthony Zinno (120,500), Jeremy Ausmus (81,500), and recent addition to the seven-time bracelet club Scott Seiver (17,500)
Day 2 gets underway at 1:00 p.m. local time on July 1.
Event #74: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo Championship Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chips | Big Bets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ali Eslami | United States | 395,000 | 66 |
| 2 | Andrey Zhigalov | Russia | 276,500 | 46 |
| 3 | Allen Kessler | United States | 273,000 | 46 |
| 4 | Brandon Shack-Harris | United States | 244,500 | 41 |
| 5 | Hisashi Yamanouchi | Japan | 236,000 | 39 |
| 6 | Nacho Barbero | Argentina | 215,500 | 36 |
| 7 | Brad Ruben | United States | 205,500 | 34 |
| 8 | Maximilian Schindler | United States | 203,500 | 34 |
| 9 | Xixiang Luo | China | 203,500 | 34 |
| 10 | Rob Hollink | Netherlands | 190,000 | 32 |
What to Expect on Day 35 of the 2024 WSOP
We will discover who comes out on top in Event #71: $1,000 Ladies No-Limit Hold’em Championship and who is our first female WSOP champion of 2024.
The monster-sized Event #70: $400 Colossus will take up most of the available tables as 2,358 players return to their seats for Day 2. The plan is to play 15 levels, which should see the field decimated. Many eliminations are required, otherwise Day 3 on July 2 could be a lengthy battle.
Event #73: $25,000 High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha is scheduled to play down to its final five heroes, with Event #74: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship playing out its Day 2.
Three new events shuffle up and deal on Day 34 of the 2024 WSOP. Event #75: $1,000 Tag Team No-Limit Hold’em begins at 10:00 a.m. local, with Event #76: $10,000 Mystery Bounty No-Limit Hold’em kicks off at 12:00 p.m. local time.
Event #77: $2,500 Mixed Big Bet shuffles up and deals at 2:00 p.m. local time, a must-see event if you loved mixed games as seven are in rotation.