Bleznick and Racener Among the Big Stacks in $1,500 The Closer No-Limit Hold'em
Day 2 of Event #98: $1,500 The Closer No-Limit Hold'em at the 2024 World Series of Poker at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas gets underway at 11 a.m.
Over two flights, a prize pool of $3,205,335 was generated from the 3,215 entries, with just 361 advancing to Day 2 today. Players will play 30-minute blind levels throughout until a winner has been crowned.
Leading the pack is Martin Stausholm from Denmark, who amassed an impressive 2,035,000 chips on Day 1b, making him the only player to surpass the two million chip mark. A deep run in this event could push Stausholm's live tournament earnings beyond $3,000,000. Despite this, he has only reached one WSOP final table, finishing seventh in the Crazy Eights event back in 2018.
Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Martin Stausholm | Denmark | 2,035,000 | 102 |
| 2 | Daniel Rezaei | Austria | 1,830,000 | 92 |
| 3 | Gal Naim | Israel | 1,610,000 | 81 |
| 4 | Timur Khamidullin | Russia | 1,550,000 | 78 |
| 5 | Jared Bleznick | United States | 1,540,000 | 77 |
| 6 | Mario Colavita | Italy | 1,525,000 | 76 |
| 7 | Aaron Mermelstein | United States | 1,500,000 | 75 |
| 8 | Robert Nemeskerikiss | United States | 1,435,000 | 72 |
| 9 | Kazuhiko Yotsushika | Japan | 1,335,000 | 67 |
| 10 | John Racener | United States | 1,295,000 | 65 |
Coming in second in chips is Daniel Rezaei of Austria, who bagged the Day 1a chip lead with 1,830,000 chips. Rezaei came close to winning a gold bracelet in 2022 during the online version of this event, finishing as the runner-up. Now, coming in second in chips, he has positioned himself perfectly to go one step further and claim a coveted WSOP bracelet today.
Jared Bleznick won his first bracelet just a few days ago in Event #92: $50,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em. He defeated a star-studded field of absolute crushers to become the champion and will be oozing with confidence. He managed to bag the fifth biggest stack for today with 1,540,000 chips.
Rounding out the top ten is two-time bracelet winner John Racener with 1,295,000 chips. Racener has enjoyed a very successful summer at the 2024 WSOP, securing a bracelet in Event #19: $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship (8-Handed) and making three additional final tables, the most recent being Event #91: $3,000 H.O.R.S.E. (8-Handed), where he finished second. Although he hasn't had a deep run in a No-Limit Hold'em event this summer, it's worth noting that he was the runner-up in the 2010 Main Event, earning over $5,500,000. Racener is definitely a player to watch as this event progresses.
Further down the chip counts, but still definitely in contention to become this event's champion, are players such as Joey Couden (1,270,000), Joey Weissman (1,065,000), Andrew Kelsall (915,000), Daniel Smiljkovic (805,000), David Coleman (750,000), Yuval Bronshtein (720,000), and six-time bracelet winner Brian Hastings (630,000).
Cards will be in the air at 11 a.m. local time in the Horseshoe Ballroom, and play will continue until a winner is crowned. The action starts at Level 21, with blinds at 10,000/20,000 and a 20,000 big blind ante. There will be a 15-minute break after every four levels and a dinner break scheduled before the final table.
Stay tuned right here as PokerNews provides live updates throughout the day until a champion is crowned.