Besiktasliyan Soars on Day 1 of Event #52: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em
Level 10
: 500/1,000, 100 ante
Day 1 of Event #52: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em drew a big field of 1,580 contestants, creating a total prize pool of $2,133,000. 246 of them made their way to Day 2, nine spots away from the money. All players in the money will receive at least $2,254, but all eyes will be on the coveted gold WSOP bracelet and first place prize of $364,438, which will be awarded on Thursday night.
Kework Besiktasliyan ended the day as the runaway chip leader with 177,400, followed by Kyle Muelrath (131,500) and Parker Drew (119,300). Besiktasliyan won a massive pot during the last level of the day to claim the chip lead. Holding pocket eights, the Maltese resident saw an ace-eight-five flop appear. Besiktasliyan check-raised the flop, bet the ten on the turn and check-called a big bet on the five river. His opponent held ace-king and had to part with a large portion of his stack.
Other big stacks after Day 1 include Denny Crum (102,000), Will Molson (96,600), Kelly Minkin (94,700), Rainer Kempe (93,600), Cary Katz (88,200), and Alexandre Reard (75,500). Four-time bracelet winner Jeff Madsen (55,700) and five-time bracelet winner Jason Mercier (40,300) also made their way to Day 2, as did three-time bracelet winner Barry Greenstein (19,700). Greenstein is on his way to score his 10th cash of this WSOP, a fantastic accomplishment by the poker legend.
The day started off with a slew of familiar faces, but many of them failed to reach the second day. Bart Lybaert had one of the most brutal bustouts of the day, when his pocket queens got cracked by ten-deuce on a jack-nine-four flop. His opponent made a runner-runner flush to send the Belgian to the rail in improbable fashion.
Other notables that missed out on Day 2 include 888Poker ambassadors Sofia Lovgren, Natalie Hof, Chris Moorman and Bruno Politano, Martin Staszko, Dzmitry Urbanovich, Christopher Frank, Paul Volpe, Justin Bonomo, Matt Affleck, Men Nguyen, Pierre Neuville, Ole Schemion, Loni Harwood, Maria Ho and Ryan Riess.
Day 2 will commence at 12:00 p.m. local time on Wednesday and the blinds will start at 600 - 1,200 with a running ante of 200. The tension will be high from the start as the money bubble looms right around the corner.
Day 2 Seat Draw
| Room | Table | Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Miranda | 600 | 1 | Spencer Champlin | United States | 15,000 | 13 |
| Miranda | 600 | 2 | Ivan Luca | Argentina | 14,600 | 12 |
| Miranda | 600 | 3 | Christian Pereira | Argentina | 28,000 | 23 |
| Miranda | 600 | 4 | Sergi Reixach | United Kingdom | 21,400 | 18 |
| Miranda | 600 | 5 | Jesse Cohen | United States | 63,500 | 53 |
| Miranda | 600 | 6 | Mark Cadle | United States | 8,500 | 7 |
| Miranda | 600 | 7 | Robert Nehorayan | United States | 74,500 | 62 |
| Miranda | 600 | 8 | Dan Heimiller | United States | 65,800 | 55 |
| Miranda | 600 | 9 | Jean-Pascal Savard | Canada | 108,600 | 91 |
| Miranda | 601 | 1 | Antonio Gonzalez Miranda | Spain | 54,400 | 45 |
| Miranda | 601 | 3 | Florencio Bunal | United States | 81,800 | 68 |
| Miranda | 601 | 4 | Jorge Espinoza | Venezuela | 87,500 | 73 |
| Miranda | 601 | 5 | Euugene Schindler | United States | 10,900 | 9 |
| Miranda | 601 | 6 | Jiong Li | United States | 39,600 | 33 |
| Miranda | 601 | 7 | Craig Mason | United States | 92,600 | 77 |
| Miranda | 601 | 8 | Ravi Raghavan | United States | 16,200 | 14 |
| Miranda | 601 | 9 | Peter Murphy | Ireland | 10,500 | 9 |
| Miranda | 602 | 1 | Haisheng Ma | China | 18,100 | 15 |
| Miranda | 602 | 2 | Likith Govindaiah | United States | 28,600 | 24 |
| Miranda | 602 | 3 | Jeff Madsen | United States | 56,700 | 47 |
| Miranda | 602 | 4 | Sara Hall | United States | 62,500 | 52 |
| Miranda | 602 | 5 | Yuya Fukui | Japan | 1 | 0 |
| Miranda | 602 | 6 | Lgbs Kamei | Brazil | 72,000 | 60 |
| Miranda | 602 | 7 | Senovio Ramirez III | United States | 93,000 | 78 |
| Miranda | 602 | 8 | JJ Liu | United States | 32,900 | 27 |
| Miranda | 602 | 9 | Luke Marquis | United States | 17,400 | 15 |
| Miranda | 603 | 1 | Mark Dube | United States | 31,600 | 26 |
| Miranda | 603 | 2 | Zahari Petrov | Bulgaria | 84,200 | 70 |
| Miranda | 603 | 3 | Alan Reyf | United States | 60,500 | 50 |
| Miranda | 603 | 5 | Joshua Hillock | United States | 28,200 | 24 |
| Miranda | 603 | 6 | John Bousfield | United Kingdom | 12,800 | 11 |
| Miranda | 603 | 7 | Lorne Wechsler | Canada | 50,100 | 42 |
| Miranda | 603 | 8 | Doyle Elliott | United States | 52,800 | 44 |
| Miranda | 603 | 9 | Ralph Massey | United States | 17,700 | 15 |
| Miranda | 604 | 1 | John Kim | United States | 16,200 | 14 |
| Miranda | 604 | 2 | Long Tran | United States | 28,700 | 24 |
| Miranda | 604 | 3 | Ben Greenberg | United States | 27,200 | 23 |
| Miranda | 604 | 4 | Alan Myerson | United States | 13,200 | 11 |
| Miranda | 604 | 5 | Bryan Gwin | United States | 14,200 | 12 |
| Miranda | 604 | 6 | Laurent Manderlier | Belgium | 71,900 | 60 |
| Miranda | 604 | 7 | Eugene Katchalov | Ukraine | 53,200 | 44 |
| Miranda | 604 | 8 | Alex Goulder | United Kingdom | 17,000 | 14 |
| Miranda | 604 | 9 | Robert Hankins | United States | 18,100 | 15 |
| Miranda | 605 | 1 | Karim Musani | United States | 92,100 | 77 |
| Miranda | 605 | 2 | Alexandre Reard | France | 75,500 | 63 |
| Miranda | 605 | 3 | Felix Vandeput | Belgium | 15,400 | 13 |
| Miranda | 605 | 4 | Edmund Oberti | United States | 5,200 | 4 |
| Miranda | 605 | 5 | John Phan | United States | 24,800 | 21 |
| Miranda | 605 | 6 | Nikolai Sears | United States | 27,700 | 23 |
| Miranda | 605 | 7 | Jeffrey Krusinski | United States | 59,000 | 49 |
| Miranda | 605 | 8 | Kent Roman | United States | 62,600 | 52 |
| Miranda | 605 | 9 | Eric Haenschen | United States | 43,500 | 36 |
| Miranda | 609 | 1 | Joseph Elpayaa | United States | 61,300 | 51 |
| Miranda | 609 | 2 | Bryan Jimenez | United States | 30,800 | 26 |
| Miranda | 609 | 3 | Jason Mercier | United States | 40,300 | 34 |
| Miranda | 609 | 5 | Jack Allen | United Kingdom | 41,000 | 34 |
| Miranda | 609 | 6 | Carlos Hey | Brazil | 69,900 | 58 |
| Miranda | 609 | 7 | Charles Barker | United States | 93,000 | 78 |
| Miranda | 609 | 8 | Ryan Colley | United States | 12,600 | 11 |
| Miranda | 609 | 9 | San Pang | China | 33,000 | 28 |
| Miranda | 610 | 2 | Akash Malik | India | 74,300 | 62 |
| Miranda | 610 | 3 | Jia Liu | United States | 75,700 | 63 |
| Miranda | 610 | 4 | Yanki Koppel | United States | 68,300 | 57 |
| Miranda | 610 | 5 | Kory Jarvis | United States | 43,000 | 36 |
| Miranda | 610 | 6 | Christopher Boylan | United States | 29,300 | 24 |
| Miranda | 610 | 7 | Marcos Fernandez | Spain | 21,500 | 18 |
| Miranda | 610 | 8 | Benny Chen | Canada | 55,500 | 46 |
| Miranda | 610 | 9 | Jarod Einsohn | United States | 50,000 | 42 |
| Miranda | 611 | 1 | Jesse Yaginuma | United States | 22,600 | 19 |
| Miranda | 611 | 2 | Pellegrino Marotta | Australia | 61,200 | 51 |
| Miranda | 611 | 3 | Andreas Olympios | United Kingdom | 40,000 | 33 |
| Miranda | 611 | 5 | John Myung | United States | 64,700 | 54 |
| Miranda | 611 | 6 | Daniel Thomas | United States | 35,700 | 30 |
| Miranda | 611 | 7 | Joe Hindry | United States | 24,700 | 21 |
| Miranda | 611 | 8 | Henry Zou | United States | 20,600 | 17 |
| Miranda | 611 | 9 | Andrey Pateychuk | Russia | 73,600 | 61 |
| Miranda | 612 | 1 | Dominique Terzian | France | 86,800 | 72 |
| Miranda | 612 | 2 | Phachara Wongwichit | Australia | 84,100 | 70 |
| Miranda | 612 | 3 | [Removed:264] | United States | 43,000 | 36 |
| Miranda | 612 | 4 | Jesse Sylvia | United States | 37,600 | 31 |
| Miranda | 612 | 5 | John Cynn | United States | 50,900 | 42 |
| Miranda | 612 | 6 | Shui Tian | Canada | 56,300 | 47 |
| Miranda | 612 | 7 | Daniel Hill | United States | 56,700 | 47 |
| Miranda | 612 | 8 | Dayane Kotoviezy | United States | 30,200 | 25 |
| Miranda | 612 | 9 | Robert Tinnion | United Kingdom | 22,300 | 19 |
| Miranda | 613 | 1 | Cristopher Lasco | United States | 27,600 | 23 |
| Miranda | 613 | 2 | Kun Tong | United States | 23,900 | 20 |
| Miranda | 613 | 3 | Kevin Saul | United States | 60,000 | 50 |
| Miranda | 613 | 4 | Nicholas Stowell | United States | 13,500 | 11 |
| Miranda | 613 | 5 | Josh Tharayil | Canada | 44,500 | 37 |
| Miranda | 613 | 6 | Kristopher Clarke | Canada | 7,500 | 6 |
| Miranda | 613 | 7 | Michael Comisso | United States | 24,400 | 20 |
| Miranda | 613 | 8 | Martin Zamani | United States | 12,900 | 11 |
| Miranda | 613 | 9 | Lizzy Harrison | United States | 30,100 | 25 |
| Miranda | 614 | 1 | [Removed:172] | Austria | 86,500 | 72 |
| Miranda | 614 | 2 | Phil Collins | United States | 38,700 | 32 |
| Miranda | 614 | 3 | Alexis Fleur | France | 60,800 | 51 |
| Miranda | 614 | 4 | Tom Schneider | United States | 10,000 | 8 |
| Miranda | 614 | 5 | Brian Beggs | Canada | 36,100 | 30 |
| Miranda | 614 | 6 | Justin Kruse | United States | 23,400 | 20 |
| Miranda | 614 | 7 | Tony Dunst | United States | 64,000 | 53 |
| Miranda | 614 | 8 | Andy Frankenberger | United States | 51,000 | 43 |
| Miranda | 614 | 9 | Bre Mahr Manning | United States | 63,700 | 53 |
| Miranda | 618 | 1 | Ralph Bourland | United States | 49,000 | 41 |
| Miranda | 618 | 2 | Noah Vaillancourt | Canada | 27,800 | 23 |
| Miranda | 618 | 3 | Janet Fitzgerald | United States | 37,000 | 31 |
| Miranda | 618 | 4 | Stan Jablonski | United States | 41,200 | 34 |
| Miranda | 618 | 5 | Stefan Huber | Switzerland | 69,900 | 58 |
| Miranda | 618 | 6 | Terry Fan | Taiwan | 39,500 | 33 |
| Miranda | 618 | 7 | Alexander Elias | United Kingdom | 70,500 | 59 |
| Miranda | 618 | 8 | Corey Kennel | United States | 74,600 | 62 |
| Miranda | 618 | 9 | Andrew Misovec | United States | 75,300 | 63 |
| Miranda | 619 | 1 | Zhiwei Zhou | Belize | 30,600 | 26 |
| Miranda | 619 | 2 | Andreas Uribe | Colombia | 18,500 | 15 |
| Miranda | 619 | 3 | Michael Bernard | Canada | 29,700 | 25 |
| Miranda | 619 | 4 | Jie Xu | China | 46,900 | 39 |
| Miranda | 619 | 5 | Rainer Kempe | Germany | 93,600 | 78 |
| Miranda | 619 | 6 | Bryden Baxter | United States | 43,700 | 36 |
| Miranda | 619 | 7 | JR Garcia | United States | 71,100 | 59 |
| Miranda | 619 | 8 | Matthew Moss | United Kingdom | 72,000 | 60 |
| Miranda | 619 | 9 | Dan Wirgau | United States | 15,400 | 13 |
| Miranda | 620 | 1 | Vedat Levi | Turkey | 91,800 | 77 |
| Miranda | 620 | 2 | Bobby Cisneros | United States | 11,400 | 10 |
| Miranda | 620 | 3 | Maksim Reshetov | Russia | 58,500 | 49 |
| Miranda | 620 | 4 | Parker Drew | United States | 119,300 | 99 |
| Miranda | 620 | 5 | Sumit Asrani | United States | 27,000 | 23 |
| Miranda | 620 | 6 | Hon Cheong Lee | Hong Kong | 28,300 | 24 |
| Miranda | 620 | 7 | Kelly Minkin | United States | 94,700 | 79 |
| Miranda | 620 | 8 | Andrew Dean | United States | 21,400 | 18 |
| Miranda | 620 | 9 | Ian Steinman | United States | 48,000 | 40 |
| Miranda | 621 | 1 | Zhong Wang | United States | 93,100 | 78 |
| Miranda | 621 | 2 | Matt Stout | United States | 47,000 | 39 |
| Miranda | 621 | 3 | Dominik Wagner | Germany | 67,100 | 56 |
| Miranda | 621 | 4 | Finn Zwad | Germany | 113,700 | 95 |
| Miranda | 621 | 5 | James Florence | Canada | 59,200 | 49 |
| Miranda | 621 | 6 | Christian Rudolph | Germany | 66,100 | 55 |
| Miranda | 621 | 7 | Jason Deutsch | United States | 14,500 | 12 |
| Miranda | 621 | 8 | Kyle Muelrath | United States | 131,500 | 110 |
| Miranda | 621 | 9 | Jonathan Kramer | United States | 76,000 | 63 |
| Miranda | 622 | 1 | Samuel Phillips | United States | 48,000 | 40 |
| Miranda | 622 | 2 | Georgios Sotiropoulos | Greece | 84,900 | 71 |
| Miranda | 622 | 3 | Emil Ekvardt | Sweden | 96,500 | 80 |
| Miranda | 622 | 4 | James Reutgen | United States | 24,100 | 20 |
| Miranda | 622 | 5 | Michael Falk | United States | 93,600 | 78 |
| Miranda | 622 | 6 | Robert Spano | Australia | 38,800 | 32 |
| Miranda | 622 | 7 | Toby Joyce | Ireland | 59,700 | 50 |
| Miranda | 622 | 8 | Justin Conley | United States | 34,500 | 29 |
| Miranda | 622 | 9 | Jacobo Milhem | Venezuela | 69,800 | 58 |
| Miranda | 623 | 1 | Wenlong Jin | China | 22,400 | 19 |
| Miranda | 623 | 2 | Joshua Hatfield | United States | 59,600 | 50 |
| Miranda | 623 | 3 | Eddy Sabat | United States | 59,900 | 50 |
| Miranda | 623 | 4 | Paul Hofer | Austria | 77,000 | 64 |
| Miranda | 623 | 5 | Eric Harnish | United States | 59,500 | 50 |
| Miranda | 623 | 6 | Owen Guest | Australia | 72,800 | 61 |
| Miranda | 623 | 7 | Gaurav Raina | United States | 50,000 | 42 |
| Miranda | 623 | 8 | Scott Horvath | United States | 34,000 | 28 |
| Miranda | 623 | 9 | Joshua Abady | United States | 21,000 | 18 |
| Miranda | 627 | 1 | Adam Geyer | United States | 67,400 | 56 |
| Miranda | 627 | 2 | Benjamin Ector | United States | 36,000 | 30 |
| Miranda | 627 | 3 | Brandon Ageloff | United States | 104,700 | 87 |
| Miranda | 627 | 4 | Ran Ilani | Israel | 61,000 | 51 |
| Miranda | 627 | 5 | Mark Darner | United States | 48,000 | 40 |
| Miranda | 627 | 6 | Mackenzie Fulton | United States | 37,300 | 31 |
| Miranda | 627 | 7 | Anh Tran | Canada | 17,200 | 14 |
| Miranda | 627 | 8 | Dylan Hortin | United States | 97,300 | 81 |
| Miranda | 627 | 9 | Marty Healy | United States | 2,800 | 2 |
| Miranda | 628 | 1 | Thomas Cromer | United States | 20,000 | 17 |
| Miranda | 628 | 2 | Jack Sinclair | United Kingdom | 73,200 | 61 |
| Miranda | 628 | 3 | Gregory Fishberg | United States | 20,500 | 17 |
| Miranda | 628 | 4 | Krzysztof Stybaniewicz | United States | 33,500 | 28 |
| Miranda | 628 | 5 | Andrii Novak | Ukraine | 76,200 | 64 |
| Miranda | 628 | 6 | Griffin Malatino | United States | 116,500 | 97 |
| Miranda | 628 | 7 | Kevin Palmer | United States | 92,400 | 77 |
| Miranda | 628 | 8 | Kevin Le | United States | 56,700 | 47 |
| Miranda | 628 | 9 | Max Gruvaeus | Sweden | 47,700 | 40 |
| Miranda | 629 | 1 | Cary Katz | United States | 88,200 | 74 |
| Miranda | 629 | 3 | Marquetti Salazar | Brazil | 61,000 | 51 |
| Miranda | 629 | 4 | David Rosenbloom | United States | 45,500 | 38 |
| Miranda | 629 | 5 | Kayhan Molaci | Turkey | 43,400 | 36 |
| Miranda | 629 | 6 | Alyssa Hennager | United States | 25,400 | 21 |
| Miranda | 629 | 7 | Jeffrey Lennon | United States | 76,700 | 64 |
| Miranda | 629 | 8 | Tomas Soderstrom | Sweden | 23,400 | 20 |
| Miranda | 629 | 9 | Dan Murariu | Romania | 24,200 | 20 |
| Miranda | 630 | 1 | Pratik Ghatge | United Kingdom | 101,000 | 84 |
| Miranda | 630 | 2 | Dieke Meyer | Germany | 65,000 | 54 |
| Miranda | 630 | 3 | Andy Spears | United States | 42,400 | 35 |
| Miranda | 630 | 4 | John Pierce | United States | 55,100 | 46 |
| Miranda | 630 | 5 | Sixiao Li | China | 41,600 | 35 |
| Miranda | 630 | 6 | Bernardo Da Silveira Dias | Brazil | 66,300 | 55 |
| Miranda | 630 | 7 | Joseph Holzhauer | United States | 12,500 | 10 |
| Miranda | 630 | 8 | Cesar Alexander Ver | Canada | 26,500 | 22 |
| Miranda | 630 | 9 | Richard Seymour | United Kingdom | 83,700 | 70 |
| Miranda | 631 | 1 | Friedrich Meyer | Germany | 83,300 | 69 |
| Miranda | 631 | 2 | Samuel Taylor | United States | 19,100 | 16 |
| Miranda | 631 | 3 | Brett Feder | United States | 69,100 | 58 |
| Miranda | 631 | 4 | Larissa Metrannascente | Brazil | 64,900 | 54 |
| Miranda | 631 | 5 | Lander Lijo | Spain | 11,700 | 10 |
| Miranda | 631 | 6 | Joseph Teanotoga | France | 34,100 | 28 |
| Miranda | 631 | 7 | Will Molson | Canada | 96,600 | 81 |
| Miranda | 631 | 8 | Lauren Roberts | United States | 79,700 | 66 |
| Miranda | 631 | 9 | Denny Crum | United States | 102,000 | 85 |
| Miranda | 632 | 1 | Mikhail Rudoy | Russia | 84,000 | 70 |
| Miranda | 632 | 2 | Justin Foster | United States | 10,900 | 9 |
| Miranda | 632 | 3 | Igor Zektser | United States | 24,300 | 20 |
| Miranda | 632 | 4 | Christopher Chabris | United States | 76,900 | 64 |
| Miranda | 632 | 5 | Travis Case | United States | 30,900 | 26 |
| Miranda | 632 | 6 | Jun Ong | Singapore | 31,300 | 26 |
| Miranda | 632 | 7 | Mohsin Charania | United States | 44,800 | 37 |
| Miranda | 632 | 8 | Roy Thung | United States | 25,500 | 21 |
| Miranda | 632 | 9 | Jeremy Wien | United States | 43,200 | 36 |
| Miranda | 636 | 1 | Jesus Martinez | Spain | 22,900 | 19 |
| Miranda | 636 | 2 | Kenneth Pitts | United States | 13,300 | 11 |
| Miranda | 636 | 3 | Jason Darland | United States | 73,900 | 62 |
| Miranda | 636 | 4 | Radu Catoiu | Romania | 12,900 | 11 |
| Miranda | 636 | 5 | Terrance Eischens | United States | 73,700 | 61 |
| Miranda | 636 | 6 | Pedro Cabeca | Portugal | 38,600 | 32 |
| Miranda | 636 | 7 | Milan Simko | Czech Republic | 32,900 | 27 |
| Miranda | 636 | 8 | Warne Young | United States | 35,700 | 30 |
| Miranda | 636 | 9 | Barry Greenstein | United States | 19,700 | 16 |
| Miranda | 637 | 1 | Manig Loeser | Germany | 14,700 | 12 |
| Miranda | 637 | 2 | Ross Mcleod | United Kingdom | 52,500 | 44 |
| Miranda | 637 | 3 | Barry Seidman | United States | 35,800 | 30 |
| Miranda | 637 | 4 | Shouan Dabiri | United States | 45,300 | 38 |
| Miranda | 637 | 5 | Joseph Cappello | United States | 65,000 | 54 |
| Miranda | 637 | 6 | Sebastien Zanolini | United States | 80,700 | 67 |
| Miranda | 637 | 7 | Daniel Murphy | United States | 42,300 | 35 |
| Miranda | 637 | 8 | John Strzemp | United States | 52,600 | 44 |
| Miranda | 637 | 9 | Mathieu Selides | United States | 80,900 | 67 |
| Miranda | 638 | 1 | Tom Koral | United States | 23,500 | 20 |
| Miranda | 638 | 2 | Gregory Yeager | United States | 36,200 | 30 |
| Miranda | 638 | 3 | Aurelien Guiglini | France | 36,600 | 31 |
| Miranda | 638 | 4 | Alexander Pope | Canada | 53,600 | 45 |
| Miranda | 638 | 5 | Tonio Roder | Germany | 16,300 | 14 |
| Miranda | 638 | 6 | Pantelis Joakim | Cyprus | 37,100 | 31 |
| Miranda | 638 | 7 | Farzad Tafti | United States | 28,300 | 24 |
| Miranda | 638 | 8 | Julius Malzanini | Germany | 45,000 | 38 |
| Miranda | 638 | 9 | Arne Kern | Germany | 49,000 | 41 |
| Miranda | 639 | 1 | Robert Flowers | United States | 5,100 | 4 |
| Miranda | 639 | 2 | Aditya Agarwal | India | 49,100 | 41 |
| Miranda | 639 | 3 | Kework Besiktasliyan | Malta | 177,400 | 148 |
| Miranda | 639 | 4 | Adrian Attenborough | Australia | 49,700 | 41 |
| Miranda | 639 | 5 | Aymon Hata | United Kingdom | 46,200 | 39 |
| Miranda | 639 | 6 | Lukas Moravec | Canada | 53,400 | 45 |
| Miranda | 639 | 7 | Paul W Lee | United States | 20,800 | 17 |
| Miranda | 639 | 8 | Steven Snyder | United States | 26,500 | 22 |
| Miranda | 639 | 9 | Kaan Becer | Canada | 11,800 | 10 |