WSOP: Glantz Leading $10K Omaha Hi-Lo but Mercier Lurking
Don’t look but Jason Mercier is heading to his fourth consecutive Day 3 of a $10,000 Championship event at the 2016 World Series of Poker. The current WSOP Player of the Year front runner is among the final 16 players in the $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo Championship. He’s going to have to overcome a group of talented players, including chip leader Matt Glantz, if he plans to win his third bracelet of the summer on Tuesday.
While Mercier was chasing WSOP history, Monday’s action also featured two players winning the first bracelets of their careers, including one player who overcame a record field to win over half a million dollars.
Event #27: Johnnie Craig Wins Record-Breaking Seniors Event
It took an extra day of play, but Johnnie Craig won the largest WSOP Seniors event ever, beating out Jamshid Lofti heads up to win the bracelet, the Golden Eagle trophy and $538,204.
“I can’t even describe this feeling. It’s amazing,” Craig said.*“I had the feeling I was going to win, and it worked out.”
Craig, who served in both Irag and Afghanistan, finished 140th in this event in 2014.
“I felt really good coming into the final table.*I was fourth in chips,” Craig said.*”I lost a pretty big hand off the bat, but I was still in the middle of the pack.*From that point on, I decided I wasn’t going to make any big moves unless I had a really big hand.*I started to chip away and got the chip lead, then once I did that I began to apply pressure.”
The 4,499-player field was the largest ever Seniors Event, beating out the 2014 event by 74 players.
Final Table Payouts
- Johnnie Craig – $538,204
- Jamshid Lotfi – $332,413
- Roger Sippl – $245,389
- Joseph Somerville – $182,536
- Wesley Chong – $136,829
- Paul Runge – $103,366
- Eugene Solomon – $78,699
- Mike Lisanti $60,392
- Alan Cutler – $46,713
Event #29: Two Players Remain in $1,500 No Limit Hold’em
Monday was supposed to be the final day of play in the $1,500 No Limit Hold’em event, but Jens Grieme and Alexander Ziskin played 215 hands of heads-up poker before having to bag up for the night. Grieme, who had Ziskin down to one big blind at one point, finished with 7,790,000 chips and a slight lead. Ziskin finished with 5,690,000.
Among the 29 players who busted on Monday were Justin Young (18th – $15,490), Matt Stout (14th – $19,457) and WSOP bracelet winner and MasterChef contestant David Williams (12th – $24,718).
Grieme and Ziskin resume their heads-up battle at Noon PT.
Heads Up Chip Counts
- Jens Grieme – 7,790,000
- Alexander Ziskin – 5,690,000
Event #30: Viatcheslav Ortynskiy Wins $3,000 Six Max Pot Limit Omaha Bracelet
Prior to Monday Viatcheslav Ortynskiy had made three WSOP final tables in his career, never finishing better than third. On Monday however, he chased those demons away, beating out Rafael Lebron heads-up to win the $3,000 Six Max Pot Limit Omaha event and the first bracelet of his career.
Lebron had to settle for $212,779. Finishing third was Randy Ohel for $141,187. The mixed game specialist now has four cashes at the 2016 WSOP and all are top ten finishes.
Final Table Payouts
- Viatcheslav Ortynskiy – $344,327
- Rafael Lebron – $212,779
- Randy Ohel – $141,187
- Matthew Humphrey – $95,623
- George Wolff – $66,134
- Joshua Gibson – $46,727
Event #31: Fred Berger Leads Final 14 of Super Seniors
Just over 14 years ago Fred Berger beat Chris Ferguson to win the first WSOP bracelet of his career. He’s had a few close calls since, including four final tables, but on Monday he put himself in position to finally grab the second bracelet of his career after bagging up the Day 2 chip lead in the Super Seniors event with just 14 players remaining.
Just two days ago Berger finished 45th in the Seniors Event. Right behind Berger is Eugene Spinner. He finished 114th in this event in 2015.
The shortest remaining stack belongs to Maureen Feduniak, who has just 112,000 (7 BBs) to work with.
Defending Champion Jon Andlovec started Day 2 with the chip lead but eventually busted out in 20th place, earning $6,955.
The remaining players return at 11 AM PT.
Top Ten Chip Counts
- Fred Berger1,751,000
- Eugene Spinner – 1,175,000
- Charles Barker – 806,000
- Arthur Loring – 518,000
- Charles Rinn – 496,000
- James Moore – 477,000
- James Parrott – 449,000
- James Ciotti – 408,000
- Steven Krupnick – 351,000
- David Forsberg – 287,000
Event #32: Matt Glantz Leads $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo, Jason Mercier Still in the Hunt
Matt Glantz was the only player to finish Day 2 of the $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo event with a seven-figure but, as has been the case for last 10 days, the story really is more about Jason Mercier.
Mercier finished Day 2 with 444,000 – slightly below the 509,000 average – with just 16 players remaining. This marks the fourth consecutive $10,000 buy-in event that Mercier has cashed in. For his part, Glantz finished with 1,066,000 which puts him ahead of Grzegorz Trelski (945,000), Daniel Alaei (828,800), Todd Brunson (745,000) and Eli Elezra (715,000).
Mercier might have finished with a less-than-average stack, but his confidence remains high.
Bagged 444k in the 10k Omaha8 heading to day 3… 16 players left. Just below avg stack but loving my chances #AnotherDayAtTheOffice
— Jason Mercier (@JasonMercier) June 21, 2016
Alaei won this event last summer for his fifth career bracelet.
The final 16 players return at 2 PM PT to play down to a winner.
Top Ten Chip Counts
- Matt Glantz – 1,066,000
- Grzegorz Trelski – 945,000
- Daniel Alaei – 828,800
- Todd Brunson – 745,000
- Eli Elezra – 715,000
- Douglas Lorgeree – 650,000
- Benny Glaser – 461,000
- Jason Mercier – 444,000
- Andrew Brown – 390,000
- Robert Campbell – 372,000
Event #33: Bruno Vendramini On Top of Summer Solstice
Being indoors playing poker on the longest day of the year was just fine for Bruno Vendramini. The Brazilian finished Day 1 of the $1,500 Summer Solstice event with 105,900 chips, edging out Ronald Lee for the end of day chip lead. Lee bagged up 104,825.
The event, which has 90 minutes levels instead of the standard 60, drew 1,840 players, down slightly from the 1,914 that played the event in 2015. Just 445 players advanced to Day 2 including some familiar names and faces.
Former November Niner Antoine Saout finished with 84,150 – the fourth biggest stack. Olivier Busquet ended up just behind him with 83,575. 2014 WSOP APAC Main Event winner Scott Davies, Ray Henson, Matt Haugen, Adrian Mateos and Jamie Kerstetter also advanced to Day 2.
Top Ten Chip Counts
- Bruno Vendramini – 105,900
- Ronald Lee – 104,825
- Jason Helder – 96,025
- Antoine Saout – 84,150
- Olivier Busquet – 83,575
- Idan Raviv – 82,150
- Austin Hughes – 81,000
- Dmitrii Shchepkin – 80,300
- Andrew Moreno – 79,700
- Shashank Jain – 79,650
Event #34: Bart Lybaert Leads $1,500 Deuce to Seven Triple Draw
Prior to this summer, Belgian poker pro Bart Lybaert had just four WSOP cashes. He’s already recorded seven cashes this year and may be on his way to another one after finishing with the Day 1 chip lead in the $1,500 Deuce to Seven Triple Draw.
Lybaert finished with 113,100, putting him just ahead of Lawrence Berg’s 110,200.
Just 65 of the 358 entrants advanced to Day 2 including Matt Waxman, Terrence Chan, Vanessa Selbst, Greg Raymer, Chris Klodnicki and arguably the greatest lowball player of all time, Billy Baxter.
The top 54 players will get paid with the eventual champion earning $117,947.
Top Ten Chip Counts
- Bart Lybaert – 113,100
- Lawrence Berg – 110,200
- Christopher Kaltenbach – 105,300
- Jameson Painter – 97,500
- David Snobl – 96,500
- Iakov Onuchin – 82,400
- Clemens Manzano – 79,700
- Matt Waxman – 78,800
- Gleb Kovtunov – 76,200
- Patrice Biton – 74,000