Sixteen Remain as John Smith Looks for Another Deep Run in $25,000 Heads-Up Championship

Dan O'Hair

Yesterday's initial field of 64 has been narrowed down to the final 16 here at Event #6: $25,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship inside Horseshoe and Paris in Las Vegas.

Among them is 77-year-old fan favorite John Smith, who is somewhat of an enigma in a field largely dominated by younger poker professionals. Smith, who regularly competes in the event, is best known for his back-to-back runner-up finishes in 2016 and 2017. Smith also placed 11th in the event in 2014.

"I keep winning and I play the best players. I seem to do well at it," Smith replied when asked what it was about heads-up action that keeps him coming back. Smith explained that while he only plays in tournaments about five times a year, he keeps his skills sharp by playing in home games often.

Other notables still in contention include Faraz Jaka, Sam Soverel, Kane Kalas, and Artur Martirosian — who will be chasing his second heads-up World Series of Poker bracelet (and third bracelet overall) after winning a $10k online championship event last year.

Here's a look at the completed and upcoming matches thus far:

Updated Live Bracket and Round 3 Matches

Player 1		Player 2
Cary Katz	vs.	Artur Martirosian
Patrick Kennedy	vs.	Michael Steele
Darius Samual	vs.	Matthew Wantman
Weston Mizumoto	vs.	John Smith
Nikolai Mamut	vs.	James Gorham
Marko Grujic	vs.	Joseph Miller
Faraz Jaka	vs.	Sam Soverel
Owen Messere	vs.	Kane Kalas

Matches will take place at 12 p.m. and 5 p.m. with breaks between matches. Players will begin with the 600,000 in chips they carried over from Day 1 and blinds will start at 1,000-2,500. Levels will continue to last 20 minutes each and everyone who wins in Round 3 will lock up a min-cash of $86,000. The semi-finals and grand finale will take place Saturday on Day 3.