Only one gold bracelet was awarded on Day 21 of the 2016 World Series of Poker, and it came in Event #31, the $1,000 Super Seniors, a tournament that drew 1,476 players over the age of 65. After three days of play, physician and radiologist James Moore of New Hope, Pennsylvania, who hit the age requirement right on the head, walked away with the $230,626 first-place prize.
“This is an unbelievable thrill for me,” Moore told WSOP officials after the win. “I had absolutely no expectations. It’s every poker player’s dream, and mine just came true.”
The win marked just the second cash of Moore’s WSOP career, with his previous best being 149th in the 2013 Seniors Event for $3,411.
“I was feeling really good about this tournament and my chances entering Day Three,” Moore continued. “I had lost a lot of my stack on Day Two. But today I felt good. Things seemed to work better for me. It wasn’t a cakewalk. But things worked out.”
Moore defeated 75-year-old Charles Barker in heads-up play. Barker, who earned his ninth WSOP career cash, took home $142,461 for his impressive performance.
Mercier’s Chase for Third Bracelet Comes Up Short
Day Three of Event #32, the $10,000 Omaha Hi-Low 8 of Better Championship, saw the final 16 of a 163-player field return to action with the plan of playing down to a winner, but a fourth day will be needed, as three players still remained late in the evening.
The triumvirate still in contention (and their chip stacks) for the $407,194 top prize and bracelet are Benny Glaser (3.225 million), Doug Lorgeree (3.095 million), and Matt Glantz (1.85 million).
Glaser is less than a week removed from winning Event #26, the $1,500 Omaha Hi-Low 8 of Better for $244,103, which was his second career bracelet, having taken one down last summer as well. Can Glaser follow in the footsteps of Jason Mercier and Ian Johns, who’ve both already won two bracelets this summer?
This year’s Series motto could well be: “Don’t try this at home, we’re professionals,” as the latter group seem to be scooping up bracelets like robbers in a jewelry store.
Speaking of Mercier, his amazing bracelet run came up short, as he busted in eighth place for $39,269. Others to fall on Day Three were Shaun Deeb (13th/$20,561), Eli Elezra (10th/$24,954), and Todd Brunson (7th/$50,872).
The final three players will return at 2 pm PT on Wednesday to play down to a winner.
Meanwhile, it appears the talk of the Mercier/Selbst prop bet being put to bed was a bit precocious. Seems that Vanessa simply hedged her bet and now has others on board bearing some of the risk. We are currently enrolled in a Ph.D. class in Advanced Sports Betting, just trying to grasp the complexities of it all.
Summer Solstice Now Down to 91 Players
Day 2 of Event #33, the inaugural $1,500 Summer Solstice, a tournament that originally began with 1,840 runners, played down to the final 91 on Tuesday night, with Austria’s Koray Aldemir and his stack of 677,500 leading the way.
Others still vying for the $409,171 first-place prize are the recently grabbed-up-by-888-pro Chris Moorman (411,500), Jason Wheeler (352,500), and Kathy Liebert (132,000). Day Three of the five-day event will get underway at noon PT on Wednesday.
$1,500 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball Gets Final
Event #34, the $1,500 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball (Limit), a tournament that attracted 358 players and created a $483,300 prize pool, is down to the final nine now, with Jameson Painter and his stack of 715,000 out in front.
Others still competing for the $117,947 first-place prize are Alexsandr Vinskii (493,000), Guy Hareuveni (460,000), Adam Spiegelberg (354,000), Andrey Zaichenko (282,000), Andrii Nadieliaiev (152,000), Daniel Zack (149,000), Andrew Kelsall (42,000), and Sebastian Schulz (30,000).
Among the big-name players to earn a payday on Day Two were Jared Bleznick (14th/$4,706), Billy Baxter (27th/$3,204), former Main Event champ Greg Raymer (34th/$2,780), and Erik Seidel (35th/$2,780).
Plenty of Pro Power Left in $5k Six-Max
One of two new events on Tuesday, Event #35, the $5,000 Six-Handed No-Limit Hold’em, drew 541 entries and created a $2,542,700 prize pool. After 10 levels of play, just 197 players remained with 2013 November Niner Sylvain Loosli leading the way with 230,000.
Others bagging and tagging were 14-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, two former Main Event winners in Joe Hachem and Jamie Gold, and the infamous Chris Ferguson. Just 82 players will get paid, meaning 115 will leave empty-handed after action resumes at noon PT on Wednesday.
The other new tournament on Tuesday was Event #36, the $2,500 Mixed Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better, which drew 384 players and created an $896,350 prize pool. By the end of the night, 125 were still in the game, with Yen Wu and his stack of 114,200 on top of the heap.
Oh, and remember Mercier and his quest for three bracelets? Those hopes are still alive in this event, as Jason bagged up a healthy 47,700. He’s neck-in-neck with Robert Mizrachi and Mike Matusow, by the way.
Day Two for this event will kick off at 2pm PT on Wednesday, as the remaining contenders play 10 more levels, with the money going to the top 60.
Two New Events on Tap
On Wednesday, two new events will kick off in Event #37, the $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha (a three-day tournament) and Event #38, the $3,000 Six-Handed Limit Hold’em (ditto) at 11am and 3pm PT respectively.
