Seniors and Colossus Players Take Over WSOP Day 30
For the second day in a row, the World Series of Poker awarded no bracelets. Of course, this is only due to timing. Day 30 still offered lots of action, from the Seniors Championship to the Colossus and from Hold’em to mixed games.
More players have made their way to the World Series in Las Vegas as well. As the series just crossed the halfway mark this week, more players have navigated the pandemic restrictions in various countries to make their way to the Rio. From Australia, which arguably has some of the most onerous restrictions, 2005 WSOP Main Event champion Joe Hachem and 2019 WSOP Player of the Year Robert Campbell arrived. Lukas Robinson and April Facey made it across the border from Canada. And many more are arriving and will continue to do so as the Main Event nears.
This recap may not include any bracelet winner announcements, but stay tuned. The WSOP excitement is still building.
Event 52: $1K Seniors NLHE Championship
As the first-flight survivors combined to play Day 2, the majority of them made it into the money. Play moved along at a fairly rapid clip, leaving fewer than 150 at the end of the night when the dust settled. Names like Barry Greenstein and Eli Elezra remained holding solid chip stacks, but only two players bagged more than 2M chips each: David Kluchman and April Facey.
| Event 52: Day 2 of 5 | $1K buy-in | Seniors NLHE Championship (1RE) |
| Total entries: | 5,404 | |
| Registration still open? | no | |
| Total prize pool: | $4,809,560 | |
| Players paid: | 811 | |
| Minimum payout: | $1,601 | |
| Winner payout: | $561,060 | |
| Chip leader: | David Kluchman | |
| Players remaining: | 148 | |
| Restart: | 10am Saturday |
Event 53: $25K PLO High Roller
It took almost a full day to play from 25 to five players, but they did it, as Bryce Yockey and Joao Vieira bowed out early. Jeremy Ausmus ended up finishing in 14th place for $57,741, and Tommy Le bubbled the final table in ninth. The final table continued as Charles Sinn took eighth and Ben Lamb exited in seventh place. David Benyamine busted in sixth for $205,655. The final five return on Saturday to play for the win with Ka Kwan Lau in the lead.
| Event 53: Day 3 of 4 | $25K buy-in | PLO High Roller (1RE) |
| Total entries: | 212 | |
| Registration still open? | no | |
| Total prize pool: | $5,008,500 | |
| Players paid: | 32 | |
| Minimum payout: | $40,966 | |
| Winner payout: | $1,351,860 | |
| Chip leader: | Ka Kwan Lau | Ka Kwan Lau = 10.75M chips |
| Players remaining: | 5 | John Beauprez = 8.725M chips |
| Restart: | 4pm Saturday | Maxx Coleman = 5.73M chips |
| Shaun Deeb = 3.64M chips | ||
| Veselin Karakitukov = 2.745M chips |
Event 54: $2,500 Nine-Game Mix 6-Handed
Some call it the mini version of the Poker Players Championship; others call it that $50K tournament’s practice session. Either way, a strong field set its prize pool early on Day 2 and played into the 48 money spots. Andrew Barber and Andrew Kelsall were two of the former bracelet-winning players who cashed early. Others who followed as the evening progressed included Kevin Gerhart, Jim Collopy, Carol Fuchs, Frankie O’Dell, and Naoya Kihara. Maria Ho exited in 23rd place for $6,142, and only 17 players made the final day. Nicholas Julia leads the pack, but players like Joe Hachem and Robert Mizrachi are just waiting for their opportunity to strike.
| Event 54: Day 2 of 3 | $2,500 buy-in | Nine-Game Mix 6-Handed |
| Total entries: | 319 | |
| Registration still open? | no | |
| Total prize pool: | $709,775 | |
| Players paid: | 48 | |
| Minimum payout: | $4,064 | |
| Winner payout: | $168,608 | |
| Chip leader: | Nicholas Julia | |
| Players remaining: | 17 | |
| Restart: | 2pm Saturday |
Event 55: $400 NLHE Colossus
One of the most popular tournaments of the entire WSOP is the Colossus, with its very reasonable $400 buy-in and potentially massive prize pool. The first of two starting days delivered more than 4,200 entries, and the top 632 players already made it into the money. Those payouts are not clear yet, though, because the prize pool won’t be final until registration closes after the second flight. It will be another busy day in the Rio, as the staff tries to seat thousands of players yet again.
| Event 55: Day 1A of 4 | $400 buy-in | Colossus NLHE (1RE/flight) |
| Total entries: | 4,217 | |
| Registration still open? | yes | |
| Total prize pool: | TBD | |
| Players paid: | TBD | |
| Minimum payout: | TBD | |
| Winner payout: | TBD | |
| Chip leader: | Hiep Tran | |
| Players remaining: | 484 | |
| Day 1B start: | 10am Saturday |
Event 56: $10K NLHE 6-Handed Championship
Registration remains open in this championship-labeled event, but more than 300 players bought in for $10K for a single shot at this bracelet. More can enter before the start of Day 2, making for a predictably impressive prize pool. Abhinav Iyer finished the night with more than the 100+ players remaining, but Kenny Hallaert isn’t far behind, nor is Matt Berkey.
| Event 56: Day 1 of 3 | $10K buy-in | NLHE 6-Handed Championship |
| Total entries: | 306 | |
| Registration still open? | yes | |
| Total prize pool: | TBD | |
| Players paid: | TBD | |
| Minimum payout: | TBD | |
| Winner payout: | TBD | |
| Chip leader: | Abhinav Iyer | |
| Players remaining: | 113 | |
| Restart: | 2pm Saturday |
Highlight of the Day
Greg Goes All In, who is one of our very personal favorite content creators, posted quick video clip on Twitter yesterday. Sure, it was an advertisement for GGPoker, but it was also hilarious and contained a special cameo appearance.
https://twitter.com/GREGGOESALLIN/status/1454088540543864835?s=20
