Lee Davy brings you up to speed with all the news from the 20th day of the 46th Annual World Series of Poker including a second bracelet for Phil Galfond, and Hoyt Corkins taking the chip lead into the fourth day of action in the Monster Stack.
Phil Galfond has won Event #29: $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball Championship. It’s his second World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet victory. His first came seven years ago in a Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO) event. He earned $224,383 
for his win, a sum of money that he wins and loses in a single hand of online cash game action. But money is not the motivating factor here. It’s all about the gold.
I would like to say that Galfond did it the hard way, but with only 77 players entering the event, and fewer weak spots than a Terminator, it was always going to be tough. Most $10,000 Championship events are.
Of the final 14-players in this event, six were multiple bracelet winners. Nick Schulman was amongst that group, having won this very event on two different occasions. Erik Seidel was another two-time winner of this event. Galfond overcame a 3:1 heads-up chip deficit against Schulman thus preventing him from becoming the first player to win it thrice.
“This is the purest form of poker that I am aware of,” Galfond told the WSOP after his win, “It’s a zero-sum game where they either have it or they don’t.
Galfond has it.
It was his 15th WSOP cash, and 6th final table.
Galfond definitely has it.
Final Table Results
1st. Phil Galfond – $224,383
2nd. Nick Schulman – $138,665
3rd. Dan Smith – $87,898
4th. Erik Seidel – $59,532
5th. Jon Turner – $42,298
6th. Eli Elezra – $31,463
7th. Adam Owen – $24,457
8th. Bernard Lee – $19,824
Hoyt Corkins Leads the Final 29 in the Monster Stack
There are 29 players entering a fourth day of action in The Monster Stack, and it’s a legend of the game that holds the chip lead.
Hoyt Corkins has won two WSOP bracelets in a career that spans over a quarter of a century. He has already cashed twice this year, included a 41st place finish in the Millionaire Maker. He may be getting on, but he still has the endurance to wade through huge fields. His last big WSOP run came in 2012 when he finished 4th in the senior’s event.
Top Five Chip Counts
1st. Hoyt Corkins – 9,300,000
2nd. Kevin Kung – 8,580,000
3rd. Jonathan McCann – 5,610,000
4th. Asi Moshe – 5,545,000
5th. Eric Place – 5,410,000
Other notables still left in the field include Edward Leahy (4,390,000), Jacob Bazeley (2,200,000), and Maurice Hawkins (1,440,000).
They are playing for a $1.2m first prize
Kai Yang Leads Event #30: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em
Kai Yang may be leading the final 21-players in Event #30: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em, but what a cast waiting in the wings to take over should he slip up.
Considering 2,150 players entered this event, the caliber of the final 21 players is quite outstanding: Chris Moorman (966,000), Bertrand Grospellier (471,000), Jason Koon (299,000) and Antonio Esfandiari (249,000) could still yet produce was of the most interesting final tables of the series.
Fingers crossed.
Top Five Chip Counts
1st. Kai Yang – 1,350,000
2nd. Artur Rudziankov – 1,090,000
3rd. Chris Moorman – 966,000
4th. David Chase – 954,000
5th. Koray Aldemir – 699,000
Mike Gracz Leads Event #31: $3,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better
Event #31: $3,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better has rode into Day 2. Mike Gracz has the lead with 17-players remaining. There is $301,413 up top and the likes of Jeff Madsen (561,000), David “ODB” Baker (469,000) and Robert Mizrachi (291,000) are still in contention. Mizrachi is searching for this second bracelet of the series.
Top Five Chip Counts
1st. Mike Gracz – 901,000
2nd. Richard Tucker – 683,000
3rd. John O’Shea – 662,000
4th. Spencer Chen – 660,000
5th. Jeremy Harkin – 657,000
Simon Deadman Leads Event #32: $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em 6-Handed
Another reg-heavy $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em event sees Simon Deadman leading the way at the end of Day 1. 550 players entered, and at the time of writing 132 remain.
Top Five Chip Counts
1st. Simon Deadman – 232,100
2nd. Alberto Fonseca – 226,300
3rd. Tuan Le – 225,000
4th. Niklas Astedt – 208,000
5th. Jennifer Tilly – 195,400
Other notables at the top end of the counts include Chris Hunichen (169,200), Adam Bilzerian (167,800), Scott Baumstein (158,600), and Benjamin Pollak (152,000).
The prize pool stands at $2,585,000, with a rather juicy looking $633,357 top prize. Last year Kevin Eyster defeated 541 players to win this event. The numbers have held strong.
Greg Raymer Leads Event #33: $1,500 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball
Former WSOP Main Event champion Greg Raymer was the chip leader at the end of the first day on action in Event #33: $1,500 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball.
388 players entered the event, to create a prize pool of $523,800, and there are 78 remaining in the hunt for the $136,215 first prize.
Top Five Chip Counts
1st. Greg Raymer – 71,400
2nd. Sergey Rybachenko – 62,400
3rd. Yegor Tsurikov – 58,400
4th. Jordan Cossette – 56,000
5th. Brian Yoon – 55,300
Other notables at the right end of the chip counts include Jon Turner (49,200), Brian Hastings (49,100) and Allen Cunningham (41,000).
