With four bets in three-ways preflop to the K♠Q♦3♠ flop, Eddie Blumenthal was all-in for 12,000 and called by Nacho Barbero. Koray Aldemir then raised to 16,000 and Barbero called as they created a small side pot. On the 2♥ turn, Barbero bet and he earned a call by Aldemir, who was then left with 10,000 behind to the 5♦ river.
Barbero bet again and Aldemir tanked for two minutes to sigh-fold.
Blumenthal tabled the A♦K♥8♥3♦ and won half the pot as Barbero had the A♣Q♥6♥2♦ for inferior two pair but superior low. Aldemir revealed that he had won half the pot, after which Blumenthal joked "thank you". The last two chips of the 2021 WSOP Main Event champion vanished shortly after.
A short-stacked Jake Schwartz was all-in and at risk against two players, Mack Lee and Sovann Pen. The board ran out 8♠3♠2♥K♥5♥ and Schwartz tabled his A♣A♦9♠2♣ for a pair of aces without a low. Lee showed his A♠7♦5♠4♦ for the wheel to scoop it all as Pen's A♥K♠K♦6♦ was no good either.
At 1 p.m. local time, the 2023 World Series of Poker at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas will see at least 102 players return to their seats for Day 2 of Event #25: $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship. So far, the tournament has attracted a total of 188 unique players and accumulated a prize pool of $1,748,400 but both figures are subject to change as the late registration remains open until the cards go back in the air. One year ago, the very same tournament attracted 196 entries and that may very well be surpassed.
Connor Drinan leads the way with 340,000 in chips followed by Damjan Radanov (299,000) and David Williams (293,000), who are separated by fewer than one full big bet. The overnight top ten also include Bryce Yockey (270,000) as well as Event #10: $10,000 Dealer's Choice Championship third place finisher Zachary Freeman. Mixed game specialist Yuri Dzivielevski (181,000) and 2021 sixth place finisher George Wolff (177,000) are just outside of the top.
Top 10 Chip Counts After Day 1
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
Big Bets
1
Connor Drinan
United States
340,000
85
43
2
Damjan Radanov
United States
299,000
75
37
3
David Williams
United States
293,000
73
37
4
Jason Daly
United States
286,000
72
36
5
Bryce Yockey
United States
270,000
68
34
6
Kyle Ray
United States
255,000
64
32
7
Steve Chanthabouasy
United States
237,000
59
30
8
Zachary Freeman
United States
231,000
58
29
9
Alan Sternberg
United States
225,000
56
28
10
Ilkka Heikkila
Finland
211,000
53
26
The four Poker Hall of Fame members Erik Seidel, John Hennigan, Todd Brunson, and Jen Harman are all in contention, as are mixed game specialists and four-card aficionados from all over the world. Defending champion and 2022 WSOP Player of the Year Daniel Zack returns with 77,000 in chips, which puts him in the bottom half of the Day 1 survivors.
Defending champion Daniel Zack
The action will recommence in the purple section of the Grand Ballroom at the Paris Hotel. All late entrants receive 60,000 in chips, starting their journey with 15 big blinds and 7.5 big bets in level 11, which features blinds of 2,000-4,000 and limits of 4,000-8,000. As of Day 2 and for the remainder of the tournament, the levels will last 90 minutes each with a break every level and a 60-minute dinner break foreseen upon completion of level 14 today.
Whether or not the paid places will be reached during that time remains to be seen, but stay tuned right here on PokerNews to find out who gets one step closer to the coveted gold bracelet in Las Vegas.
