Phil Hellmuth Chasing 15th Bracelet in Event #3: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em SHOOTOUT
The first round of matches are complete in Event #3: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em SHOOTOUT, which saw 363 entrants battle it out at the tournament tables of the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino. A total of 50 players won their table and moved on to Day 2. Phil Hellmuth is headlining the remaining field and is in the hunt for bracelet number 15.
Hellmuth already boasts 131 WSOP cashes for winnings of $14,046,072 and will be adding one more at the end of this event. Hellmuth had a tough table draw but managed to eliminate Brandon Cantu and Tony Dunst to move on to Day 2. The "Poker Brat" got heads up with Dunst, making short work of him when the latter pushed all in with an open-ended straight and flush draw and ran into Hellmuth's two pair.
The field had many notable players that advanced onto Day 2 such as Joe McKeehen, Eli Elezra, Chris Moorman, Adam Owen, Alexander Lynskey, and Jan-Eric Schwippert. Notable players that did not make it through include last year's champion Upeshka De Silva, Georgios Sotiropoulos, Niall Farrell, Maurice Hawkins, Shaun Deeb, Danny Wong, Rainer Kempe, and Kristen Bicknell.
Elezra played very conservatively to start the day and it was not until he was heads-up with Dylan Linde that he started to really throw his chips around. Linde was the favorite after just busting Michael Cooper with his pocket nines, giving him a commanding chip lead going into heads-up play. Elezra took control of the tempo of play, overcoming Lynds chip lead and securing his seat on Day 2.
Lynskey was the second player to take down his table and it was not at ease as he was heads-up against 2016 Wsop Main Event Champion Qui Nguyen. The two would battle it out for just over one round of play before Lynskey made a great call with his queens on a king high board and eliminated Nguyen from the tournament.
Prizepool and Payouts
When the action resumes for Day 2 all players will be guaranteed $6,302 and those that move on will see a pay increase on Day 3.
| Place | Prize |
|---|---|
| 1 | $226,218 |
| 2 | $139,804 |
| 3 | $101,766 |
| 4 | $74,782 |
| 5 | $55,480 |
| 6 | $41,559 |
| 7 | $31,435 |
| 8 | $24,013 |
| 9 | $18,526 |
| 10 | $14,437 |
| 11-50 | $6,302 |
The action will resume with ten tables of five, playing down to a final table of ten. The blinds will resume at 400/800 with a 100 ante and will be restarting at 12 p.m. There will be a 15-minute break after every three rounds of play and an added 60-minute dinner break after the ninth level.
ThePokerNews team will be bringing you coverage of all events of the WSOP throughout the summer.