Freek Scholten Leads the Final Eight in Event #82: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Double Stack
Day 2 of Event #82: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Double Stack ended with six players looking to become the first champion of this new event. The remaining players are guaranteed a minimum of $56,850 but all have their sights on the $530,164 top prize and the coveted gold bracelet.
It’s the Dutch player Freek Scholten who returns in pole position on, Sunday, July 15, for Day 3. Scholten bagged up a stack of 26 million in chips. Scholten, with $356,711 in total live earnings, has cashed four WSOP events this summer and will be a serious contender for the gold bracelet.
Scholten surged to the top of the chip counts with some late wins, including a few pots against Adam Hendrix. He is followed by Darren Rabinowitz (20,050,00), and the two-time bracelet winner Barry Shulman completes the podium with 18,450,000. The rest of the table is represented by Kunal Punjwani (15,500,000), Hendrix (15,350,000), Philip Scaletta (13,575,000), winner of the 2017 $1,500 Seven Card Stud event Tom Koral (10,550,000), and Kalyan Cheekuri (9,925,000).
There were 360 players that began the day from a field of 2,591 initial entries. Some bracelet winners and notables faces were lost along the way today such as Brian Green (358th, $2,324), Tim Reilly (336th, $2,424), Kristen Bicknell (325th, $2,424), Max Pescatori (303th, $2,642), Jason Wheeler (293th, $2,642), Ismael Bojang (177th, $3,244), Dominik Panka (156th, $3,244), Orson Young (123th, $$3,654), three-time bracelet winner Asi Moshe (105th, $3,654) and Ryan Laplante (43th, $11,284).
End of The Day Action
The action was fast and furious and only 41 players made it to the dinner break. The tournament was down to the last two tables less than two hours after the play restarted. Steven van Zadelhoff was eliminated in 12th place after he four-bet all-in with ace-queen against Hendrix who held pocket jacks. Zadelhoff lost the flip and collected a $34,138 payday. He was followed a few minutes later by Kristopher Burchfield and Hye Park, setting the final table.
Shulman quickly doubled up versus Koral when he found a set of sevens on the turn on an eight-high board and Koral called his all-in bet with pocket queens. Koral doubled himself a few minutes later with pocket nines against Pablo Fernandez with ace-queen offsuit. The latter, nursing a short stack, jammed from the small blind the hand after doubling up Koral with king-three offsuit and got called by Punjwani who held pocket threes. The board brought no surprises and Fernandez ended his run in 9th place for $43,847.
The action will pick up again at Noon local time Sunday, will be live streamed, and will play down to a winner. There will be a 15-minute break every three levels until a new champion is crowned.
Final Table Draw and Chipcounts
| Table | Seat | Player | Chip Counts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 419 | 1 | Darren Rabinowitz | 20,050,000 |
| 419 | 2 | Philip Scaletta | 13,575,000 |
| 419 | 3 | Adam Hendrix | 15,350,000 |
| 419 | 4 | Tom Koral | 10,550,000 |
| 419 | 5 | Kalyan Cheekuri | 9,925,000 |
| 419 | 6 | Freek Scholten | 26,000,000 |
| 419 | 7 | Barry Shulman | 18,450,000 |
| 419 | 8 | empty seat | |
| 419 | 9 | Kunal Punjwani | 15,500,000 |
PokerNews will provide hand-for-hand coverage of the final table, so be sure to come back and enjoy the action!