Phil Hellmuth is hunting for gold bracelet number 18 after making it through to day 3 of the Mixed Omaha tournament 6th in chips. The record-holding WSOP crusher is aiming to once again stretch his lead over nearest rival Phil Ivey.
Before we get to big Phil’s chances, a mention of the duo who actually bagged bracelets yesterday in Vegas. First up, Aussie pro James Obst, who bagged the coveted Event #42: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship title.
Obst was joined in the winner’s circle by Xixiang Luo who came out on top of Event #41: $1,500 Mixed No-Limit/Pot-Limit Omaha Double Board Bomb Pot.
Hellmuth Looking to Extend Bracelet Lead
The “poker brat” has been rather subdued this year so far when it comes to arguments, so the focus has been on his play – always a more pleasant aspect of the 17-time WSOP bracelet winner.
Hellmuth is currently deep in the “mix” of Event #43: $1,500 Mixed Omaha, which sees rounds of PLO Hi-Lo 8 or Better, Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better, & Big O (8-Handed).
End of Day 2 in @WSOP $1,500 3 game High/Low Split mix: PLO Hi-Lo 8/Omaha Hi-Lo 8/Big O. 853 started, 23 left (128 paid), I have 1,285,000, ave is 927K. Knocking on the door of that sweet Bracelet #18 whilst saying, “Hello WSOP 18, I’m here!!” #POSITIVITY pic.twitter.com/tl156XqulW
— phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth) June 18, 2024
First stop for Phil and the other 214 players yesterday was the money bubble and two bustouts cleared the logjam, Richard Davis one of the unfortunate duo, all-in and at risk in a hand of Big O…
Richard Davis: K♠ J♣ 8♠ 7♠ 7♦
Filippos Stavrakis: A♦ 9♣ 6♦ 4♠ 2♣
Board: Q♥ 2♥ A♥ 3♣ J♠
Hellmuth had a relatively trouble-free run to his top 10 chip count at the close of play, but he will have stiff opposition this evening as he tries for yet another WSOP victory.
Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chips |
| 1 | Ying Chu | USA | 1,865,000 |
| 2 | Dylan Lambe | USA | 1,845,000 |
| 3 | Stephen Hubbard | USA | 1,725,000 |
| 4 | Joshua Adcock | USA | 1,665,000 |
| 5 | Michael Rodrigues | Portugal | 1,470,000 |
| 6 | Phil Hellmuth | USA | 1,285,000 |
| 7 | Aleksey Filatov | USA | 1,220,000 |
| 8 | Magnus Edengren | Sweden | 1,185,000 |
| 9 | Nathan Gamble | USA | 990,000 |
| 10 | David Nepom | USA | 975,000 |
Monster Stack in the Money
There are plenty of big names still left in Event #38: $1,500 Monster Stack No-Limit Hold’em, the 8704-player field now down to 416 and in the money, with $1,098,220 up top for the eventual winner.
Four-time bracelet winner Kristen Foxen, Brazilian star Joao Simao, divisive Czech pro Martin Kabrhel, EPT founder John Duthie, and “J4o” star Robbi Jade Lew all bagged stacks but of course it’s far too early to call a winner yet.
Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chips | |
| 1 | Vinicius Lima | USA | 3,700,000 | |
| 2 | Catalin Pop | USA | 3,510,000 | |
| 3 | Bart Crego | USA | 3,400,000 | |
| 4 | Alexandros Dranovitsas | Greece | 3,345,000 | |
| 5 | Long Ma | USA | 3,265,000 | |
| 6 | Michael Murphy | USA | 2,900,000 | |
| 7 | Lukas Guenzel | Germany | 2,825,000 | |
| 8 | Joshua Payne | USA | 2,790,000 | |
| 9 | Tony Huang | USA | 2,730,000 | |
| 10 | Gregory Jensen | USA | 2,670,000 |
Main Event Champs On the Move
Former WSOP Main Event champs Ryan Riess (2013) and Koray Aldemir (2021) were among the 235 players who made it through day 1 of Event #44: $2,000 No-Limit Hold’em to bag a stack, though both trail far behind chip leader Jianfeng Sun.
Also making it through to the paid spots were comeback king Daniel Sepiol, English online beast Chris Moorman, and Dutch legend Marcel Luske.
Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chips | |
| 1 | Jianfeng Sun | China | 820,000 | |
| 2 | Jed Friedman | USA | 806,000 | |
| 3 | Narcis Nedelcu | Romania | 777,000 | |
| 4 | Damien Le Goff | UK | 751,000 | |
| 5 | Philip Wiszowaty | USA | 662,000 | |
| 6 | Yunkyu Song | USA | 650,000 | |
| 7 | Hiroto Watanabe | Japan | 637,000 | |
| 8 | Paraskevas Tsokaridis | Greece | 559,000 | |
| 9 | Wai Kiat Lee | Malaysia | 557,000 | |
| 10 | Ramaswamy Pyloore | USA | 527,000 |
Daniel Negreanu and Mike Matusow Take a Tumble in $10k HORSE
Event #45: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship is one of the most coveted titles at the WSOP but for Daniel Negreanu and Mike Matusow it was lean pickings as both fell on day 1.
Yesterday, the mix of Hold’em, Omaha Hi/Lo, Razz (Seven card stud low), Stud (Seven card stud high) and Eight-or-better (Seven card stud high-low) saw 152 players whittled down to just 87.
Phil Ivey, Maria Ho, Nick Schulman and John Hennigan all made it through, though none are troubling the leaderboard as yet, with registration still open until the end of level 10 tonight.
Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chips |
| 1 | Maxx Coleman | USA | 307,500 |
| 2 | Mike Leah | Canada | 282,500 |
| 3 | Clayton Mozdzen | Canada | 273,500 |
| 4 | Sergey Rybachenko | Russia | 266,500 |
| 5 | Peter Rouviere | USA | 247,000 |
| 6 | David Prociak | USA | 241,000 |
| 7 | Robert Wells | UK | 236,000 |
| 8 | Gary Bolden | USA | 215,000 |
| 9 | Daniel Strelitz | USA | 205,500 |
| 10 | Brandon Shack-Harris | USA | 199,000 |
Today’s new events are Event #46: $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold’em Championship, Event #47: $100,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold’em and Event #48: $1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha.
We’ll be back again tomorrow with all the bracelet action and the best of the rest from Las Vegas so be sure to check in!
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