Home

2010 May 31

Action Picks Up On Day 3 of 2010 WSOP

Eli Elezra

By: Geoff Fisk

The first weekend of the 2010 WSOP has come to an end and it's certainly been a thrilling three days.

Sunday saw the cards go in the air for the first Omaha event of the year and 1,755 players took to the felt for Day 1b of the $1k No-Limit.

The prestigious $50k Players Championship is almost to the money and the final table is looming.

Here's a look at the day:

Event 2 - $50k Players Championship

The playing area was small but the tension was thick, as the $50k Players Championship played down to three tables.

Almost every member of the surviving 21 players is a well-known poker pro.

Michael Mizrachi appears to be heading into Day 4 as the chip leader with 1.4 million chips, but he's got a murderer's row of top-flight competition breathing down his neck.

Russian Alexander Kostritsyn has a large stack and will be looking to replicate some of the magic that won him the 2008 Aussie Millions.

Eli Elezra, Erik Seidel, Kirk Morrison and Andy Bloch are all still in the field, along with Robert Mizrachi.

With 16 spots in the money, the bubble will burst tomorrow. Every player who makes it to 16th place or beyond will earn $98,330, making the bubble a painful one.

Action resumes at 3 p.m. PST Monday.

Event 3 - $1k No-Limit Hold'em

Despite a lower than expected turnout, Day 1b still packed 1,755 players into the Rio's Pavilion Room.

The bustouts happened at a lightning pace for the second straight day.

UB pro Phil Hellmuth busted out within an hour of being seated while other big-name busts included Jeff Shulman, Jason Mercier and Erick Lindgren.

Jon "FatalError" Aguiar was amongst the notables that survived the day and Aguiar comes back for Day 2 tomorrow with 35k in chips.

Men "The Master" Nguyen made his first appearance of the 2010 WSOP a memorable one, making himself the center of attention while rolling through to Day 2.

483 players come back for Day 2, playing for 441 money spots.

Day 2 kicks off at 2:30 p.m PST Monday.

Event 4 - $1,500 Omaha 8-or-Better

The first Pot-Limit Omaha event for 2010 drew an all-star laden field of 818 players into the Amazon Room.

Amongst the notable entrants are Phil Ivey, Barry Shulman, Gavin Smith, Ted Forrest, Mike "The Mouth" Matusow and Huck Seed, with many other big names in the field.

The top-heavy field yielded some great matchups, and spectators standing in the right place were treated to prop bet discussion from tablemates Barry Greenstein and Tony G.

The total prize pool for the event is $1,104,300, and play resumes at 5 p.m. PST Monday.