Running the numbers
The Main Event for the 2017 World Series of Poker has exceeded most expectations in terms of field size, with the third largest ever field of 7,221 assembling itself across three starting days in the Rio.
The largest ever field was 8,773 in 2006, which was outlasted by champion Jamie Gold. Jonathan Duhamel’s victory over 7,319 runners in 2010 was the second largest. Day 1a of this year’s event saw 795 entries. Day 1b saw 2,164, and day 1c attracted a huge 4,262 entries.
This generated a $67,877,400 prize pool, with $8,150,000 set aside for 1st place. The grand total of players who cash this year will be 1,084, with the minimum payout set at $15,000. Final tablists will be guaranteed at least $1 million. There will be no ‘November Nine’ this time, with the idea having now been scrapped. The champion will be crowned on July 22nd.
Monster stacks
Morten Mortensen topped day 1A and will be bringing the overall chip-lead into the second day with 276,000. He will be followed on the leader board by day 1b chip-leader Richard Dubini with 254,500, with day 1c leader Jerome Brion bagging the third biggest stack overall with 247,900.
Asian counts
Bagged 220700 for the day2 of the main event!!
Really nice last level, 76k to 220k! pic.twitter.com/SC9M2Cr9Vi— Naoya Kihara 木原直哉 (@key_poker) July 10, 2017
Asian players have been making good progress in the Main Event so far, with Naoya Kihara looking particularly strong on the leaderboard with a huge stack of 220,700. He is joined by fellow Japanese players Jun Obara, who is sitting on a nice stack of 165,700 and Iori Yogo, who has 88,500. Other Japanese hopefuls Tanaka Shinobu and Takao Shimizu have 137,300 and 115,000 respectively.
Taiwanese hopes rest on Hungtu Wang (120,200), Kitty Kuo (100,900) and James Chen (107,400).
Australian pro Alex Lynskey is looking very healthy with 116,500. He will have compatriot and former champion Joe Hachem for company in the field though, as he sits with 62,500. Other Australian notables include Jeff Lisandro (98,200), Matthew Wakeman (96,400) and Stevan Chew (61,000).
Vietnamese player Thi Nguyen will bring 215,000 into play on the second day, with fellow Vietnamese player Vi Khoa Duong carrying 91,000 forward.
Indian players Satchit Kapur (99,000) and Adda52 sponsored Nikita Luther (30,000) will be joined by Aditya Agarwal (150,900) on day 2.
Chinese hopefuls Weizhou Zha (115,600), Quan Zhou (103,400),Xixiang Luo (171,200) and Dong Guo (51,000) have also survived the first day.
Phillippines pro Marc Rivera carries 72,100 into day 2, HKPPA President Park Yu Cheung brings 40,500 and Korean player Yohwan “Boxer” Lim brings 25,200 into the second day.
Other notable names
Defending champion Qui Nguyen has a comfortable 96,700 stack coming into day 2, and Jonathan Little is looking extremely powerful with 211,300. The same can be said of Barry Greenstein who has 146,800 and three-time WSOP Adrian Mateos, who has 129,000.
Doug Polk will be looking to spin his 42,700 up during the second day, as will Jonathan Duhamel (67,500) and Erik Seidel (53,400). They will be joined by the likes of Billy Baxter (94,800), Randy “Nanonoko” Lew (90,900) and Mike Matusow (94,000).
Others to keep an eye on include Faraz Jaka (119,800), Brian Rast (126,900) and Scotty Nguyen (108,400) among others.
Phil Ivey did not make an appearance this year, Vanessa Selbst busted early in a spectacular way and 1989 champ Phil Helmuth is still in the hunt with 87,400. Johnny Chan is also looking very strong with 120,600.
Top Set Turned Sick Cooler – Vanessa Selbst
Article By Craig Bradshaw
