WSOP: Koral Wins Stud Bracelet, Clements Leads $10K PLO Finale
Yet another busy day is in the books at the2017 World Series of Poker. There’s just the one new bracelet to tell you about from Friday, but it set up some exciting play for tomorrow. Saturday will see a final table take place in the$10,000 PLO 8-handed Championship, plus a lot more. Here’s a full run through Friday’s action.
Tom Koral Takes own $1,500 Seven Card Stud for First Bracelet
The only man to enter the winner’s circle Friday was Tom Koral, a 33-year old pro from Chicago. He’s been playing at the WSOP for more than a decade now, and has been at five final tables in that time. But he finally claimed his first bracelet last night, taking down the $1,500 Seven Card Stud for $96,907.
“Honestly, I still think it’s going to take a little bit to soak in,” said Koral after the tournament. “I’ve been coming here since 2005, so 13 years I’ve been at the World Series and cashing events. I don’t know. Finally, it happened…. I love poker, I love the game, so it’s really a blessing to finally have a World Series bracelet. I know after a 13-year journey how hard it is to get one.”
A total of 298 players began this tournament three days ago, but Koral seemed destined for a final table all the way through. He finished with a top 10 stack on Day 1, and was chip leader after Day 2.
When he got to heads-up play against Tsong Lin, Lin held a 17:1 chip lead. However, Koral managed to double up in the very first hand, and from there battled back to even and eventually to the win.
Koral added: ”You’re going to have to get pretty lucky at some point, and you really have to just trust your reads all the way through, because the second you stop trusting your reads is when you’re gonna get run over by an aggressive player.”
Final table payouts:
- Tom Koral – $96,907
- Tsong Lin – $59,894
- Yueqi Zhu – $41,349
- Alexander Freund – $29,102
- Todd Bui – $20,888
- Cheryl Denzik – $15,297
- Daniel Mogavero – $11,433
- Chris Tryba – $8,726
Scott Clements Leads Final 8 in $10K Pot Limit Omaha
Just eight players remain in the coveted $10,000 PLO Eight Handed Championship event, and it’s Scott ‘BigRiskky’ Clements who has the final table chip lead.
The other notable name joining the two-time Omaha bracelet winner is Ireland’s 2011 November Niner Eoghan O’Dea, who sits third in the chip counts.
This prestigious event attracted 428 players, with 39 remaining at the beginning of Friday’s play. Clements led the way then, and still does. Some of those we lost throughout the day include Christopher Frank (39th, for $19,500), Dermot Blain (36th for $19,500), Bobby Oboodi(35th for $19,500), Mike Gorodinsky (23rd for $26,167), Johnny Lodden(19th for $26,167), John Racener (17th for $26,167), Ben Lamb (15th for $31,337), and John Monnette (14th for $38,347).
There’s $938,732 for the eventual champ – can Clements win bracelet #3?
Final table chip counts:
- Scott Clements – 5,480,000
- Tommy Le – 4,065,000
- Eoghan O’Dea – 2,895,000
- Hani Mio – 2,720,000
- Jason DeWitt – 2,560,000
- Chris Lee – 2,135,000
- Miltiadis Kyriakides – 1,275,000
- Murat Tulek – 425,000
Big Names Remain in $5K No Limit Hold’em
The 623 starting field of Event #56, the$5,000 No Limit Hold’em, has been whittled down to just 32 after Friday’s Day 2. Ari Engel, Dietrich Fast, Juha Helppi and Mike Sowers all remain with top-10 chip counts, which you can find below.
Also still in contention are Damian Salas(481,000), Ravi Raghavan (467,000), Mike Watson(445,000), Matt Stout (389,000), Barny Boatman (361,000), Pierre Neuville (320,000), Matt Affleck (304,000), Aditya Agarwal(201,000), Andy Spears (197,000), and Darren Rabinowitz (174,000).
Play resumes on Saturday, with $618,285 going to the winner.
Top 10 chip counts:
- Marton Czuczor – 1,352,000
- Norberto Korn – 1,098,000
- Donis Agnelli – 980,000
- Ari Engel – 977,000
- Simon Lam – 785,000
- Mike Vanier – 709,000
- Yaron Zeev Malki – 681,000
- Dietrich Fast – 672,000
- Juha Helppi – 658,000
- Mike Sowers – 652,000
Luneau, Bleznick, Greenstein Seek Mixed-Game Bracelet
Saturday will be an exciting day for mixed-game fans as the $2,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better/Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Mix will play down to a winner.
Just 14 of the 405 entrants still remain and again, there are some big names still looking for the win. Alex Luneau and Jared Bleznick, two online cash game legends, sit first and second in the counts and both are seeking their first bracelet.
Meanwhile, in fifth sits WSOP Hall of Famer and three-time bracelet winner Barry Greenstein is hunting bracelet #4.
Play resumes at 2pm Saturday with $215,902 up top.
Final 14 chip counts:
- Alex Luneau – 783,000
- Jared Bleznick – 679,000
- Smith Sirisakorn – 548,000
- Larry Tull – 418,000
- Barry Greenstein – 417,000
- Chad Eveslage – 414,000
- Bonnie Rossi – 365,000
- John Sorgen – 295,000
- Jameson Painter – 257,000
- Mikhail Semin – 249,000
- Esther Taylor – 189,000
- Naoya Kihara – 185,000
- Samoeun Mon – 165,000
- Abdel Hamid – 121,000
Kabrhel and Negreanu Have Great Day 1s
Two new events got started on Friday: Event #58: $1,500 No Limit Hold’em, and Event # 59: $2,500 Big Bet Mix.
In the former, the Czech Republic’s Martin Kabrhel bagged up the chip lead, topping the 265 who made it through to Day 2.
In total, 1,763 players entered, but some of those who couldn’t survive include James Woods, Kristen Bicknell, Allen Cunningham, Dominik Nitsche, Phil Hellmuth, and Paul Wasicka.
However, it was a better day for the likes of Kenny Hallaert, Chance Kornuth, Asi Moshe, Phil Laak and Andre Akkari, all of whom with return on Saturday.
The winner of this one will bank $395,918.
Top 10 chip counts:
- Martin Kabrhel – 235,000
- Artur Rudziankov – 173,400
- Andreas Christoforou – 152,000
- Denis Timofeev – 151,800
- Felipe Leme – 145,200
- Ricardo Hernandez – 136,900
- Arash Ghaneian – 135,000
- Mario Prats – 131,300
- Kenny Hallaert – 130,600
- Giovanniluigi Zarcone – 127,800
Meanwhile in the $2,500 Big Bet Mix, it was a great day for Daniel Negreanu. He finished second in the chip counts, behind only Iraj Parvizi.
179 players began this event on Friday, but when the chip bags were brought out just 55 remained. Among the survivors are Jerry Wong (98,275), David “ODB” Baker(130,200), Jason Mercier (43,250), Calvin ‘cal42688’ Anderson(94,250), Mike Matusow (40,875), Ryan Hughes(126,025), and Brandon Cantu(75,300).
First place will win $112,232, and coming back Saturday they’re just seven off the money.
Top 10 chip counts:
- Iraj Parvizi – 210,000
- Daniel Negreanu – 165,025
- David “ODB” Baker – 130,200
- Brian Rast – 126,750
- Ryan Hughes – 126,025
- Andrew Kelsall – 108,525
- Jerry Wong – 98,275
- Michael Laake – 97,000
- Calvin ‘cal42688’ Anderson – 94,250
- Tuan Le – 89,000