Defending Champion Frank Kassela Bags on $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Day 1; James Alexander Leads
Last year's $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball champion Frank Kassela safely navigated his way through ten levels on Day 1 of Event #14 $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball, and at the end of it bagged 30,225.
The field of 260 fell just six short of matching the mark from last year, but generated a prize pool of $351,000. When registration closed the payouts were confirmed, with a total of 39 places paid and a min-cash worth $2,276. A total of 54 players made it through to Day 2.
However, it is the $87,678 top prize, as well as the prestigious gold bracelet, that will be captivating the attention of the remaining players. There are still some of the WSOP's top mixed game players in action, including former champions Steven Wolansky, Christian Pham, Ryan D'Angelo as well as the aforementioned Kassela.
Of these four players just Kassela and D'Angelo (8,450) would bag, along with bracelet winners Shaun Deeb (77,400), Michael Gathy (59,500), Robert Mizrachi (47,900), Mike Wattel (39,475), Jesse Martin (34,825) Greg Raymer (17,575), and Anthony Zinno (14,000).
However, the man leading the charge is currently the USA's James Alexander, who bagged up 80,850 at the close of play. Joining Alexander in the Day 2 field of 54 is Andrew Kelsall (70,225), Maria Ho (42,500), Jon Turner (29,550), Roland Israelashvili (24,425), Jameson Painter (11,675), and Joao Vieira (8,775).
It wasn't a good start for Kassela, as he became the first elimination of the day after failing to beat the nine-low of former Main Event Champion Ryan Riess. Despite Kassela using up his single re-entry within the first level of the day, he would rally to bag at the end of the night.
Following Kassela's early elimination, it would be Riess who would set the pace early on, tangling with Barry Greenstein among others. Jameson Painter was also going well, sending Galen Hall to the rail to move up the chip counts.
After the first break, the field grew with the additions of Randy Ohel, David "ODB" Baker, David Bach, Christopher Kruk and Felipe Ramos. Eight levels of late registration were plenty, with players continuing to register throughout the night.
Some of the notable bustouts who failed to make the Day 2 cut included Erik Seidel, John Monnette, Adam Owen, Rep Porter, Marcel Vonk, Benny Glaser and Konstantin Puchkov.
The money bubble is expected to burst midway through Day 2, with the tournament playing down to a winner on Day 3 on Thursday, 7 June.
Day 2 resumes at 2pm on Wednesday, 6 June, with blinds recommencing on Level 11 at 500/1,000 with a 250 ante. A further ten 60-minute levels are scheduled, with 15-min breaks every 2-hours and a 60-minute dinner break at the end of Level 16 at approximately 8.30pm. The PokerNews live reporting team will be on hand to bring you all the highlights of the action so join us then as we see who can successfully circumnavigate the tournament minefield and make the money spots.