More than 12 hours of play weren’t enough to crown a champion on Day 2 of Event #3: $100,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Super High Roller as Ben Tollerene and Lautaro Guerra have to wait until tomorrow for a shot at their first World Series of Poker Paradise bracelet.
With the clock approaching 3 a.m. at Atlantis Paradise Island Bahamas, play was called for the night with Tollerene leading with 29,800,000 to Guerra’s 23,000,000. They’ll return at 2 p.m. local time tomorrow to play down to a champion.
Day 2 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ben Tollerene | United States | 29,800,000 | 30 |
| 2 | Lautaro Guerra | Spain | 23,000,000 | 23 |
A bracelet is the one thing missing from Tollerene’s already legendary career. One of the biggest winners in online history playing as “Ben86,” Tollerne has proven adept in the live arena as well with nearly $18 million in career earnings. He finished second in the $250,000 Super High Roller at the 2024 WSOP this summer, earning a career-best $3.5 million, and also won a Triton Series event in Monte Carlo last month for $1,070,000. Guerra is making his first WSOP final table in this event and has already secured his largest career score to add to his $2.8 million in career earnings.
Day 2 action
Day 2 began with 26 new arrivals joining the 26 survivors from Day 1 to create a total field of 88 entries. Daniel Negreanu got off to a good start when he flopped a set of queens to crack Stephen Chidwick’s aces and score an early knockout, climbing above 2,000,000. Negreanu then lost most of his stack when he missed a flush draw against Pascal LeFrancois, and Chidwick, who had quickly reentered, finished him off.
Other players to fall short of the money included Chidwick, Chance Kornuth, Jesse Lonis, Bryn Kenney, Shaun Deeb, and Dylan Weisman. Josh Arieh was eliminated three spots off the money when Tollerene rivered trips to crack Arieh’s kings. Start-of-day chip leader Jason Mercier then ran kings into LeFrancois’ aces to bust, while Chris Brewer was eliminated on the money bubble when he jammed for 1,290,000 with two kings but LeFrancois woke up with aces again.
The remaining 13 players were in the money and guaranteed at least $213,590. Jason Koon rivered a set of jacks to crack Nick Schulman’s kings and bust the five-time bracelet winner in 13th. Biao Ding then made the nut flush to bust Isaac Haxton in 12th place.
Ding climbed up over 5,000,000 with that bustout but then doubled up Dirk Gerritse to take a big hit to his stack. Ding finally got his last 1,310,000 in with two aces against Guerra who made trip queens on the river as Ding was sent to the rail in 11th.
Veselin Karakitukov's kings earned him a double up to nearly 8,000,000 off Guerra, Jared Bleznick made the nut flush to double off new Poker Hall of Famer Patrik Antonius, while Sorel Mizzi doubled off Tollerene twice in short succession. Koon and Karakitukov both climbed above 10,000,000 and led the field with 10 players remaining. Karakitukov then added more when he rivered the nut flush to bust Gerritse in 10th.
Guerra doubled up off Jeremy Ausmus with two kings, knocking the six-time bracelet winner down to just 600,000. Ausmus was eliminated on the final table bubble the next hand when Karakitukov picked up two aces.
Karakitukov led at the start of the eight-handed final table with 15,000,000, nearly double his closest challenger. Tollerene doubled up off Bleznick with two kings early at the final table, while LeFrancois spiked a set of tens on the river to double off Karakitukov. Mizzi became the first casualty of the final table when he jammed for 2,600,000 and Guerra snapped him off with two aces, sending Mizzi out in eighth place.
Bleznick hit a running straight to crack Koon’s aces for a double up, while Tollerene flopped a full house and called for his last 2,900,000 when Guerra jammed the river to double up. “You’re the f**king best,” Bleznick declared. Antoninus then folded to Tollerene to leave himself with just 50,000. He moved all in the next hand and LeFrancois reshoved for 2,800,000. Karakitukov called to put both players at risk. Antonius and LeFrancois both had aces, but Karakitukov flopped two pair to take the lead and rivered a full house to score the double knockout.
Karakitukov flopped the nut flush to bust Koon in fifth place as he climbed over 20,000,000. Guerra doubled off Tollerene when both players showed down aces, but Guerra rivered a flush to win the pot. Tollerene earned a massive double up off Karakitukov by flopping top set, taking over the chip lead and knocking Karakitukov down to 8,000,000. Tollerene finished him off with two queens as Karakitukov had to settle for a fourth-place finish.
Tollerehe had a clear lead to start three-handed play with 33,000,000. Bleznick was poised to go heads-up as he had Guerra all in with two pair, but Guerra turned the nut flush to double up to 18,000,000. Bleznick was eliminated shortly after when Tollerene rivered a straight to bust Bleznick in third place.
Tollerene led Guerra 36,000,000 to 17,000,000 at the start of heads-up. Guerra took the first few pots of heads-up to take the chip lead, but Tollerene had moved back in front by the time play was called for the night.
Final Table payouts
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $2,126,770 | ||
| 2 | $1,577,660 | ||
| 3 | Jared Bleznick | United States | $1,170,360 |
| 4 | Veselin Karakitukov | Bulgaria | $868,220 |
| 5 | Jason Koon | United States | $644,070 |
| 6 | Pascal LeFrancois | Canada | $477,800 |
| 7 | Patrik Antonius | Finland | $354,440 |
| 8 | Sorel Mizzi | Canada | $277,230 |
The action tomorrow picks up on Level 28 with blinds of 500,000-1,000,000 and a 1,000,000 big blind ante. Both players have already secured $1,577,660, while the champion earns $2,126,770 and the WSOP gold bracelet.
Stay tuned as PokerNews returns tomorrow to provide updates from the heads-up match until a champion is crowned.
