The six-figure buy-in tournament attracted 95 entrants on Day 1, with registration still open entering Wednesday's Day 2 session. At the end of play, Henrik Hecklen bagged the largest stack, while Nick Petrangelo, Jared Bleznick, and Jeremy Ausmus were among the 44 who made it through the session with chips.
After an open by Yasheel Doddanavar to 160,000, Edgard Saliba moved all in and Yasheel Doddanavar snap-called to put him at risk.
Edgard Saliba: A♦Q♦
Yasheel Doddanavar: K♦K♥
"Good luck," Doddanavar wished to Saliba, but the flop of K♠5♠3♥ left him drawing slim and the turn 6♠ left him dead in the water. The board completed with the 10♠ and Saliba exited as the 14th-place finisher.
Jon Glendinning raised to 160,000 from the button, Ali Shahni three-bet jammed for 615,000 from the small blind and Glendinning called.
Ali Shahni: A♦7♥
Jon Glendinning: A♥10♣
The board ran out 8♠J♦K♦5♠5♣; neither player's kicker played and the pot was a chop. However, this didn't stop Shahni from getting up out of his seat and ready to say his goodbyes, before a neutral player at the table, pointed out he was in fact still alive.
Life Outside Poker is a new podcast for PokerNews hosted by Connor Richards that seeks to pull back the curtain on poker players and allow viewers and listeners to get to know them on a personal level.
In the eighth episode, Connor speaks with legendary UFC ring announcer Bruce Buffer in an exclusive in-depth interview after Buffer's deep run in the 2024 World Series of Poker (WSOP) $50,000 High Roller. Buffer, a longtime poker player, finished in eighth place for a career-best $212,423 after kicking off Day 3 with his trademark "it's time" introduction.
Buffer talked about finding his long-lost half-brother, Michael Buffer, and becoming his manager, the early days of the UFC, the similarities between poker and martial arts, his relationships with Joe Rogan and Dana White and the time he injured himself in a poker tournament before announcing the biggest UFC fight in history.
This interview was filmed at the 2024 WSOP inside Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.
Edgard Saliba opened to 160,000 and then Jared Kingery three-bet to 450,000. Action folded back to Saliba who thought about it for a few seconds before he made the call.
The flop came out J♦3♣6♠ and both players checked through to the turn Q♣.
Saliba checked again but Kingery tossed out a bet of 400,000. After a lengthy staredown, Saliba slid in his cards and the pot was pushed to Kingery.
Juan Carlos Vecino opened to 160,000 from the hijack and action folded to Michael Berk in the big blind who three-bet to 615,000.
The action was then on Huihan Wu in the big blind who sat there for a good while before he announced he was all in, which resulted in a quick fold from Vecino.
"Good luck," Berk said as he quickly made the call to produce a massive pot.
Michael Berk: A♠K♥
Huihan Wu: A♥A♣
Berk looked up at the ceiling and shook his head in disgust at the cooler, and the runout of 8♥5♠5♦K♦4♣ secured the win for Wu.
After the official count, it was discovered that Wu covered Berk by a bare 15,000 to send him to the rail in 16th place.
