An unusual headline for sure, but Richie Sklar, more famous for his incredible life as Las Vegas’ leading golf bettor, ended an exhausting day at the tables heads-up against Las Vegas financier Arash Ghaneian.
Event #74: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship
71-year-old Sklar and Iranian-born Ghaneian were two of the richest non-poker pros at the tables yesterday when 18 players returned for day 3.
Norman Chad’s hopes of a bracelet were dashed early, the famous commentator falling in 15th for $21k, while Todd Brunson, son of the late, great Doyle Brunson, finished 4th for $122,663.
Sklar has played golf with the world’s biggest and best poker players for huge money, Phil Ivey among them, but today he will try to match the superstar’s poker ability with a gold of his own.
Final table Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count |
| 1 | Richard Sklar | USA | 5,530,000 |
| 2 | Arash Ghaneian | USA | 4,495,000 |
Elsewhere in the Horseshoe and Paris casinos, Martin Alcaide took down gold in Event #70: $400 Colossus No-Limit Hold’em, while David Eldrige scooped Event #73: $25,000 High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha.
Event #75: $1,000 Tag Team No-Limit Hold’em
Day 2 started with a rush to the paid spots, some 216 teams from the 292 returning seeing some return on their $1k investment. Among those to cash, teams led by Chris Moorman, Josh Arieh, Martin Kabrhel, and Joe Salvaggi.
There will be 22 teams returning today for a shot at the Tag Team crown(s) and the $95,455 top prize.
Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player/Team | Country | Chip Count |
| 1 | Joan Perez/Javier Rodriguez | Spain | 3,730,000 |
| 2 | Joshua Hopkins/Charles Honkonen | Canada | 3,305,000 |
| 3 | Sheraton Hall/Malcolm Trayner | Australia | 2,545,000 |
| 4 | Julio Cacoilo/Christian Husou | Canada | 2,155,000 |
| 5 | Richard Ali/Patsy Altomari | USA | 1,570,000 |
| 6 | Aaron Thomas/Burcu Dagli | USA | 1,445,000 |
| 7 | Marcos Exterkotter/Henry Fischer | UK | 1,440,000 |
| 8 | Min Ji/Hang Xu | UK | 1,330,000 |
| 9 | Mark Bagin/Kevin Bagin | USA | 1,160,000 |
| 10 | Toby Boas/Angel Boas | USA | 1,155,000 |
Event #76: $10,000 Mystery Bounty No-Limit Hold’em (8-Handed)
It was a fast and furious day 2 in the $10k Mystery Bounty, one eye on advancing up the ladder and another on bagging potentially monster bounties.
Robert Heidorn did both excellently, a final table spot and at least 12 bounty “chests” to open, with a $100k and $75k among them, while Felipe Ketzer found the biggest bounty of all, pulling a splendid $250,000.
Those who left empty-handed included Daniel Negreanu and 2022 WSOP Main Event champ Espen Jorstad, but Johnny Chan, Ike Haxton and Maria Ho all made the paid spots.
The 236 players were reduced to just nine, with Damarjai Davenport leading the way with exactly 10million chips.
Final table Chip Counts
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count |
| 1 | Damarjai Davenport | USA | 10,000,000 |
| 2 | Tuan Naves | Brazil | 16,300,000 |
| 3 | William Jia | Australia | 2,125,000 |
| 4 | Simas Karaliunas | Lithuania | 6,875,000 |
| 5 | Matthew Lambrecht | USA | 9,900,000 |
| 6 | Vladimir Minko | Russia | 7,475,000 |
| 7 | Robert Heidorn | Germany | 1,975,000 |
| 8 | Andrei Konopelko | Belarus | 1,775,000 |
| 9 | Eshaan Bhalla | USA | 1,675,000 |
Event #77: $2,500 Mixed Big Bet
There were 468 entries for this seven-game beast, producing a $1,041,300 prizepool, with 71 players in the money. Hong Kong’s Wing Liu leads the chip counts, but Alex Foxen looms ominously on his shoulder.
Foxen was responsible for Phil Hellmuth’s late exit – naturally accompanied by a rant – after calling the Poker Brat’s all-in. With Hellmuth standing pat, Foxen drew one card and sent his unhappy opponent to the rail.
“If I always have a pat hand, you’re always 30%,” complained Hellmuth, with Foxen replying: “If you’re only shoving when you’re pat there, that’s pretty bad.”
“Motherfucker…Nice call Alex,” was Hellmuth’s parting shot, multiple f-bombs littering his exit.
Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chips |
| 1 | Wing Liu | Hong Kong | 2,387,000 |
| 2 | Alex Foxen | USA | 2,243,000 |
| 3 | Allan Le | USA | 1,500,000 |
| 4 | Xixiang Luo | China | 1,370,000 |
| 5 | Chris Klodnicki | USA | 1,053,000 |
| 6 | Craig Hartman | USA | 1,048,000 |
| 7 | Hye Park | USA | 937,000 |
| 8 | Denis Strebkov | Russia | 842,000 |
| 9 | Andy Black | Ireland | 756,000 |
| 10 | David Lin | USA | 657,000 |
Event #78: $1,000 Mini Main Event No-Limit Hold’em
Some 6,093 entries were whittled down to 486 players on day 1 of the Mini-Main, producing a prizepool of $5,361,840 with those surviving already in the money.
India’s Paawan Bansal leads the way, with three-time bracelet winner Ryan Hughes the only multiple gold medalist left in the field.
Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count |
| 1 | Paawan Bansal | India | 2,825,000 |
| 2 | Jamie Dwan | UK | 2,700,000 |
| 3 | James Carroll | USA | 2,700,000 |
| 4 | Connor Rash | USA | 2,505,000 |
| 5 | Gustavo Kamei | Brazil | 2,300,000 |
| 6 | Shay Rozenbaum | Israel | 2,300,000 |
| 7 | Remi Derossi | France | 2,250,000 |
| 8 | Maher Al Mouselly | Canada | 2,202,500 |
| 9 | Marcello Del Grosso | Canada | 2,200,000 |
| 10 | Dragos Trofimov | UK | 2,155,000 |
Event #79: $50,000 High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha (8-Handed)
The biggest buy-in PLO event of the WSOP kicked off yesterday, and it is Jason Mercier making the early running.
Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, and Stephen Chidwick all failed to make it through day 1 but this year’s hatrick hero, Scott Seiver, did, along with Ike Haxton.
Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count |
| 1 | Jason Mercier | USA | 1,575,000 |
| 2 | Jared Bleznick | USA | 1,470,000 |
| 3 | Santhosh Suvarna | India | 1,360,000 |
| 4 | Michael Moncek | USA | 1,290,000 |
| 5 | Tim Van Loo | Germany | 1,280,000 |
| 6 | Isaac Kempton | USA | 1,250,000 |
| 7 | Chase Steely | USA | 1,240,000 |
| 8 | Jonathan Azoulay | USA | 1,235,000 |
| 9 | Veselin Karakitukov | Bulgaria | 1,185,000 |
| 10 | Bryce Yockey | USA | 1,135,000 |
It’s Main Event time!
Starting today we have Event #80: $800 Independence Day Celebration No-Limit Hold’em but also the one everyone has been waiting for, the opening flight of Event #81: $10,000 WSOP Main Event World Championship.
There are four Day 1s over the next four days, lettered a-d, and Day 2abc and Day 2d also allows players to late reg directly in. The field merges on Day 3 on July 9th, with the final table scheduled for July 16th and 17th.
We will, of course, be bringing you daily updates of all the best of the action, so be sure to check in regularly!
- Get the best rakeback deals
- See the best poker promotions
- View the latest poker news
- Get the best No Deposit Poker Bonuses
- Benefit from the biggest poker bonus
- Calculate your rakeback with the rakeback calculator
Terms and conditions apply. New customer offer and 18+ only. Should you require help regarding your betting pattern, please visit www.begambleaware.org.
