Glaser Leads the Final Nine in Event #2: $25,000 H.O.R.S.E.; Hellmuth Chases 16th Bracelet
The second day of the 2021 World Series of Poker at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino was packed with poker action from start to finish as the first two bracelet winners have been crowned. Another tournament is just one step away from determining a winner and that's Event #2: $25,000 H.O.R.S.E., which has been whittled down to the final nine players out of 78 total entries.
The finalists have all locked up a portion of the $1,842,750 prize pool and will pad their bankroll with at least $52,211 for the efforts. However, all eyes are set on the coveted gold bracelet and the top prize of $552,182 that comes along with it.
Best-positioned after ten full levels on Day 2 is the UK's mixed game specialist Benny Glaser, who soared to the top spot in the final stages. The three-time WSOP bracelet winner cemented his top spot with the double elimination of Roland Israelashvili and Daniel Negreanu in the final hand of the night. He claimed 2,590,000 to his name, followed by four contenders closely bunched together.
Jesse Klein advanced with 1.8 million and Chad Eveslage advanced with just shy of 1.7 million. David Benyamine staged a major post bubble comeback and bagged up 1.68 million. Furthermore, Phil Hellmuth is looking to claim an unprecedented 16th victory and follows fewer than half a big bet behind with 1.64 milllion. The stacked final table line-up also includes Philip Sternheimer, Ben Yu, Matt Glantz, and DJ Buckley.
Final Table Line-Up Event #2: $25,000 H.O.R.S.E.
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds | Big Bets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Matt Glantz | United States | 410,000 | 8 | 4 |
| 2 | Ben Yu | United States | 830,000 | 17 | 8 |
| 3 | David Benyamine | France | 1,680,000 | 34 | 17 |
| 4 | Phil Hellmuth | United States | 1,640,000 | 33 | 16 |
| 5 | Chad Eveslage | United States | 1,695,000 | 34 | 17 |
| 6 | DJ Buckley | United States | 160,000 | 3 | 2 |
| 7 | Benny Glaser | United Kingdom | 2,590,000 | 52 | 26 |
| 8 | Jesse Klein | United States | 1,800,000 | 36 | 18 |
| 9 | Philip Sternheimer | United Kingdom | 865,000 | 17 | 9 |
Besides Israelashvili and Negreanu, Cary Katz was the only other player in the money. Scott Bohlman came up short two spots of a min-cash and Yuval Bronshtein was eliminated on the bubble. A slate of ore than a dozen WSOP bracelet winners in a row fell outside of the money to showcase how stacked the field in the first high-stakes contest of the festival really was.
Six players entered prior to the start of Day 2 and among them was also Yu, who made it all the way to the final nine. Jean Gaspard, who entered the penultimate day with a big stack, jumped into the top spot early on but eventually found his master in Sternheimer. It was also Sternheimer, who has an American and British passport but lived several years in Germany, who knocked out Chris Vitch and left Benyamine very short. Benny Glaser then took over the lead after scoring several knockouts including Adam Friedman and Marco Johnson while Matusow ran out of chips close to the money in an unfortunate Razz runout.
Once the bubble burst at the start of the final level, the tides changed rapidly with rising big bets and the nine-handed final table was reached in the very last hand. All remaining nine contenders will be back at 2pm local time on the secondary feature table to play down to a winner. The blinds continue at 25,000-50,000 and the big bets will be double of that.
Stay tuned who claims the gold bracelet as the PokerNews team will provide conclusive updates in what shapes up to be one of the highlights of the entire in-person festival in Las Vegas.
