June 11 was a light day at the 2014 WSOP. There were no final tables, only two restarting tournaments, and one new event.
The excitement came at the end of the night. The two tournaments that wrapped were filled with great players, including Erik Seidel, who leads Event 25 with only 18 players remaining. In that same event, Mike Matusow was working hard to make a deep run and launched into an epic celebration after winning a big hand, one that took him around the tournament room and included quite an amount of loud exclamations. All of it was quickly determined to be “excessive celebration,” which warranted a one-round penalty. Upon his return to play, he lost ground and chips, ultimately exiting in 19th place.
Many others in the tournament claimed the penalty was unwarranted, but the floor stood by its decision. Matusow has been around long enough to know the rules. As for having learned to control his emotions, that seems to be another story.
Event 24: $5K NLHE Six-Handed (Day 2 of 3)
With a bigger turnout than this same event in 2013, the $5K NLHE Six-Handed started with these solid numbers:
Entries: 541
Prize pool: $2,542,700
Places paid: 60
First place prize: $622,998
Day 2 brought 129 players back to the tables, and it took quite some time to burst the money bubble. Raymond Dandrea was the first player to cash for $8,746, and notables who followed him to the cashier cage included Dan O’Brien, Josh Brikis, Scott Seiver, Kevin Saul, Bertrand Grospellier, David Pham, Freddy Deeb, Matt Salsberg, Benny Chen, and Chris Hunichen.
Play stopped with 17 players in action and big names like Greg Merson, Kory Kilpatrick, and Amanda Musumeci still holding chips. The top five on the leaderboard were:
1. Matt Jarvis (1,373,000)
2. Jeremy Kottler (815,000)
3. Bryn Kenney (612,000)
4. David Borrat (574,000)
5. Andrew Lichtenberger (530,000)
Event 25: $2,500 Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi/Low Split-8 (Day 2 of 3)
This tournament also did much better than the same buy-in Omaha/Stud event last year, and these were the final registration numbers:
Entries: 470
Prize pool: $1,069,250
Places paid: 48
First place prize: $267,327
Day 2 started with 129 players in their seats, and it was late in the evening when the field was reduced to 50 players. Dustin Leary and Chris Klodnicki then exited on the bubble at separate tables, meaning they split 48th place money of $4,694. Other players who exited in the money going forward included Tom Koral, George Danzer, Vanessa Selbst, Jon Turner, and Humberto Brenes.
The 19th place elimination of Mike Matusow ended play, but some of the recognizable faces bagging chips included Matt Glantz, Allyn Jaffrey Shulman, and Tom Schneider. The top five were:
1. Erik Seidel (444,000)
2. Mike Leah (374,000)
3. John Kabbaj (326,000)
4. Chris Reslock (243,000)
5. Fu Wong (224,000)
Event 26: $1,500 NLHE (Day 1 of 3)
The only tournament to start on June 11 was a $1,500 NLHE, which produced solid numbers, as usual. This one showed:
Entries: 1,594
Prize pool: $2,151,900
Places paid: 171
First place prize: $408,953
The huge field was whittled down to just 178 players on Day 1, a few spots away from the money. Big names like Phil Hellmuth, Maria Ho, Allen Kessler, Michael Mizrachi, and Jason Mercier made it through the night. Official chip counts were not released, but these five were listed at the top of the counts available:
1. Mark Dube (160,300)
2. Dan Smith (132,800)
3. Travell Thomas (88,000)
4. Martin Finger (85,700)
5. Mike McDonald (81,900)
On Tap for June 12
Events 24 and 25 will play to and through their final tables.
Event 26 will attempt to reach its final table.
Event 27 ($1,500 HORSE) will begin at noon, and Event 28 ($10K PLHE) will kick off at 4pm this afternoon.
Editor’s Note: Cardschat.com reporter Jennifer Newell is on site in Las Vegas, and will be offering daily news recaps throughout World Series of Poker 2014. Check back here daily for a detailed accounting of events, exclusive interviews, and anything of interest regarding WSOP.
