Calvin Anderson Leads Last 13 in Stacked Line-Up of Event #56: $10,000 Razz Championship
Day 2 of the 2018 World Series of Poker Event #56: $10,000 Razz Championship is in the books and just 13 hopefuls are still in contention for the top prize of $309,220 and the coveted gold bracelet that comes along with it. The registration remained open until the cards got back in the air and seven further entries boosted the field to 119 in total, creating a prize pool of $1,118,600.za
Best-positioned to join the WSOP bracelet winner's circle once more is Calvin Anderson with 962,000 followed by John "World" Hennigan (841,000) and Alex Balandin (833,000). Anderson has one bracelet to his name already while Hennigan won his 5th bracelet earlier this summer. Julien Martini also bagged up a big stack with 712,000 and the Frenchman is making a name for himself at the 2018 WSOP with one victory in Event #4: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better and another four cashes to date.
The other survivors for Day 3 include Mike Leah (594,000), Dzmitry Urbanovich (592,000), Jerry Wong (529,000), Frank Kassela (252,000), Allen Kessler (238,000) and Paul Volpe (222,000). The three shortest stacks that will be under immediate pressure upon restart of level 21 with limits of 12,000/24,000 and an ante of 3,000 are Ismael Bojang (99,000), Ted Forrest (48,000) and Eric Rodawig (31,000).
All remaining 13 hopefuls have $17,706 locked up thus far and will return to the feature tables of the Brasilia room on Friday, June 29, 2018, as of 2 p.m. in order to try and play down to a champion. The PokerCentral Twitch stream will run on a security delay of 30 minutes and the PokerNews live reporting team will be there to provide all the action.
Seat Assignments for Day 3
| Seat | Table 1 | Chip Count | Big Bets | Table 2 | Chip Count | Big Bets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mike Leah | 594,000 | 25 | Ted Forrest | 48,000 | 2 |
| 2 | John Hennigan | 841,000 | 35 | Ismael Bojang | 99,000 | 4 |
| 3 | Calvin Anderson | 962,000 | 40 | Jerry Wong | 529,000 | 22 |
| 4 | Allen Kessler | 238,000 | 10 | Alex Balandin | 833,000 | 35 |
| 5 | Eric Rodawig | 31,000 | 1 | Dzmitry Urbanovich | 592,000 | 25 |
| 6 | ||||||
| 7 | Julien Martini | 712,000 | 30 | Frank Kassela | 252,000 | 11 |
| 8 | Paul Volpe | 222,000 | 9 |
Action of the Day
Among those to bust within the first two levels of the day were Ryan Riess, Event #50: $1,500 Razz champion Jay Kwon, Anthony Zinno and Shaun Deeb. They were followed by Dan Zack, James Woods, Phil Hellmuth, Robert Mizrachi, Chris Klodnicki and Andre Akkari, all who were felted before the money.
Woods lost most of his chips after being forced out of a pot by eventual chip leader Calvin Anderson and failed to get there against the seven-six of Dzmitry Urbanovich. Anderson sent Hellmuth to the rail when he got there with a nine-five on his last card, and Akkari also fell victim to the hot run of Anderson.
On the money bubble, it was 2017 WSOP Player of the Year Chris Ferguson that became the last player to leave empty-handed. Within two hands, Julien Martini took all of Ferguson's remaining chips and that ensured a payday of $15,256 to all remaining 18 players. Daniel Ospina and Scott Seiver became the first two casualties, and defending champion James Obst bowed out in 16th place after having previously escaped from elimination several times.
Cary Katz grinded his short stack for quite some time and ended up in 15th place, while Per Hildebrand bowed out in the final level of the night to make the pay jump and take home $17,706.
Whether or not a winner will be crowned within the 10 levels of one hour each on Day 3 or an extra day will be required remains to be seen, as the field size eclipsed the one from 2017 by 22 entries. Stay tuned and check back tomorrow to find out will end up a step closer to glory in Las Vegas.