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The 2018 World Series of Poker (WSOP) has seen numerous spectacular runs as 20 events have already awarded bracelets this year. Team India has registered several deep runs throughout the series but Raghav Bansal’s (cover image) 21st place finish in the MILLIONAIRE MAKER for $40,898 (~₹27.64 Lakhs) is the best run by an Indian so far this year. Bansal, who holds the title of being the first Indian to reach the WSOP final table in 2015, previously placed 1,025th in the COLOSSUS for $1,118 (~₹75,437).
But Bansal wasn’t the only Indian to feature among the winners in the MILLIONAIRE MAKER. Kunal Patni and Anil Adiani also cashed in, with Patni placing 196th for $6,654 (~₹4.48 Lakhs) and Adiani finishing 746th for $2,808 (~₹1.89 Lakhs).
Another Indian, Dilip Ravindran played well to build a sizeable stack of 143,000 in the MARATHON event, but regrettably bust out on the bubble. He was also a part of Event #17 – $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em 6-Handed where he finished 18th for $19,469 (~13.13 Lakhs).
Paawan Bansal and Adiani had carried through to Day 2 of the MARATHON but hit the rails in 250th place and 455th place respectively empty handed.
With the forthcoming Event #28: $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em 6-Handed and Event #29: $1,500 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw, there is much action soon to get underway.
What had started as an event of 7,361 participants, has come down to only 17 survivors at the end of Day 3. Boasting of a top prize of $1,173,223, the MILLIONAIRE MAKER had attracted the attention of several prominent poker players including Team India’s Kunal Patni (196th place for $6,654) and Anil Adiani (746th place for $2,808), while PokerStars Team pro Aditya Agarwal unfortunately hit the rails before reaching the money bubble. But it was Raghav Bansal’s stellar run that had kept India’s hopes of winning a WSOP gold bracelet alive.
Bansal started Day 3 of the $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em MILLIONAIRE MAKER with a stack of 588,000. As Aaron Messmer led the survivors with 1,089,000, with only 155 players remaining, Bansal was up against the likes of former WSOP Main Event winners Joe McKeehen and Greg Merson.
Early on in the day, Edward Oconnell went all-in from the button with . Bansal called from big blind with . The board ran giving Bansal a pair of jacks thereby eliminating Oconnell and increasing Bansal’s stack to 670,000.
A few hours later, Bansal had increased his stack by 895,000 to accumulate a total of 1,565,000 in chips. He then went head-to-head against Kyle Hartree. After the board cards had been tabled, Bansal bet 205,000 from under the gun into a pot that had about 250,000. Hartee who was the only other player in the hand, tanked for a bit but eventually called from middle position. Bansal then revealed the for a broadway straight while Hartee revealed one card – Kx as he mucked. Bansal’s stack grew to 1,950,000 after this hand.
Bansal then ended David Mock’s run with pocket kings against the latter’s . Bansal clipped a three-of-a-kind kings when the rundown showed that sent Mock to the rails while he fattened his stack to 3,500,000.
Bansal then ran into a tough hand when his couldn’t match up to Michael Souza’s pocket eights. The pot reached 450,000 on the flop giving both players a set. Souza bet 200,000 from the big blind and Bansal called from cutoff, prompting Souza to move all-in. Bansal called but the turn and river made no difference. Souza won the set overset pot and doubled up while Bansal’s stack was reduced to 1,500,000.
But it didn’t take long for Bansal to get back his lost chips. When Souza raised to 100,000 from early position with pockets kings, Raghav Bansal re-raised to 360,000 from small blind with . Souza shoved all-in with 4,000,000 and Bansal immediately called with his remaining stack of 1,635,000. Even though Souza was in the lead, the board favored Bansal with pair of aces and he accelerated up to 3,350,000 in chips.
Right after Josh Bergman’s elimination in 22nd place (for $40,898), Bansal opened with 130,000 from the middle position. Manig Loeser raised to 410,000. Bansal jammed all-in with , forcing Loeser to call with . The showdown didn’t affect either player, but Bansal lost the pot to Loeser’s stronger hand, bringing his chip count down to 920,000.
In the following hand, Richard Dixon opened from middle position for 130,000, with Raghav Bansal calling from big blind along with Ralph Massey. The flop ran prompting Bansal to check, while Dixon bet 220,000 and Massey called. Bansal decided to go all-in with his remaining chips, resulting in Dixon and Massey calling the action. Massey won the pot with his pocket rockets, sadly ending Bansal’s spectacular run in 21st place for $40,898.
As the day wrapped up, James Mackey (18th place $51,188), Anthony Profeta (19th place $40,898) and Marco Palacios (20th place $40,898) were sent packing and Chad Hahn emerged as the chip leader with 6,525,000.
1. Chad Hahn – 6,525,000
2. Sean Marshall – 6,160,000
3. Manuel Ruivo – 5,900,000
4. Ralph Massey – 4,435,000
5. Michael Souza – 4,400,000
6. Joe McKeehen – 4,210,000
7. Justin Liberto – 3,337,000
8. Manig Loeser – 3,040,000
9. Sam Razavi – 2,935,000
10. Michael Finstein – 2,450,000
With 1,637 entrants, $3,860,046 in prize money and a top prize of $653,581, the MARATHON – $2,620 No-Limit Hold’em truly is a marathon! The second day started with Joshua Smith in the chip lead with 234,800, followed closely by Pablo Fernandez Campo with 230,900 and Indian-origin player Sanjay Dulabh with 230,200.
Dilip Ravindran, who was a surprise addition, had started the day with 124,500 chips but was sadly eliminated and became the bubble boy. Ravindran had a good start winning the pot from opponents Matt Berkey and David Kluchman early on in the day and he had managed to increase his stack to 143,000. Not long thereafter, he went all-in with pocket kings against Bart Lybaert’s . The flop fell converting Lybaert’s pair of deuces to three-of-a-kind. The turn gave Ravindran hope for hitting a flush draw but the river crushed his hopes, leading to his departure.
Indian poker players Anil Adiani and Paawan Bansal had made it to the second day with 47,400 and 34,400 in chips respectively, however, by the end of the day they were busted with Bansal leaving in 250th place and Adiani in 455th place.
Other notable players who were eliminated before the money bubble included Neil Blumenfield, Cliff Josephy, Jeff Boksi, Matt Berkey, Christian Soto, Cory Waaland, and Jaren Griener.
1. Walter Fisher – 641,500
2. Scott Einiger – 636,000
3. Daniel Colpoys – 598,500
4. Bart Lybaert – 569,500
5. Joseph Pietrafesa – 524,500
6. Yaniv Peretz – 496,500
7. Faraz Jaka – 491,500
8. Spencer Champlin – 486,000
9. Marcos Antunes – 480,000
10. Martin Kozlov – 465,000
The 72 players who had returned for Day 2 were led by Trent Gundrum who had a stack of 72,000.
Frankie O’Dell, Timothy Frazin, Scott Bohlman and Brian Hastings all made it to the last five tables but failed to carry through to the final three tables.
Other notable eliminations included Peter Janicki (24th place) for $4,899, Scott Gullett (26th place), Alan Myerson (28th place), Timothy Batow (29th place) and 4-time bracelet winner Mike ‘The Mouth’ Matusow (30th place) for $4,132.
The end of Day 2 boasted of 23 survivors which included two experienced poker giants Barry Greenstein and Eli Elezra, along with bracelet winners Jesse Martin, Georgios Sotiropoulos and actor James Woods, with Benjamin Dobson (595,000) leading the chip counts.
1. Benjamin Dobson – 595,000
2. Barry Greenstein – 349,000
3. Jesse Martin – 335,000
4. Eli Elezra – 334,000
5. Nicholas Kiley – 276,000
6. James Nelson – 249,000
7. Tim Finne – 246,000
8. Georgios Sotiropoulos – 231,000
9. Joel Tushnet – 212,000
10. James Woods – 210,000
Day 1 of WSOP Event #26 saw a filed of 986 participants decline to 100 as the day came to an end. With Ryan Goindoo (196,000) leading the chip counts, several big names are vying for the WSOP bracelet in this event including Felipe Ramos, Christian Harder, Joe Cada, Martin Finger, Mikhail Semin and Shannon Shorr.
After the money bubble burst, many players were eliminated such as Justin Young (104th place for $1,564), Sandeep Pulusani (111th place for $1,564), Martijn Gerrits (116th place for $1,564) and Bryce Yockey (134th place for $1,503).
Several eminent players like Mike Sexton, Erik Seidel, Cliff Josephy, Ryan Laplante and 888poker ambassador Vivian Saliba, as well as, defending champion Tyler Groth busted before reaching the money bubble.
1. Ryan Goindoo – 196,000
2. Ivaylo Sivinov – 192,900
3. Clinton Monfort – 173,900
4. Thayer Rasmussen – 142,000
5. Richard Tuhrim – 141,700
6. Filippos Stavrakis – 141,500
7. Arthur Morris – 133,000
8. Uri Reichenstein – 100,000
9. Roman Valerstein – 98,100
10. Sean Troha – 90,800
The $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. event began with 157 players on Day 1 with a prize pool of $1,475,800. 2-time WSOP bracelet winner Shaun Deeb spearheaded the survivors with 234,500, with Michael McKenna and Robert Mizrachi hot on his heels with 215,500 and 212,500 respectively.
Numerous poker biggies participated in this event including Daniel Negreanu, Randy Ohel and David “Bakes” Baker and James Obst. John Hennigan jumped into the event mid-way after finishing in seventh place in the Event #23: $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship. Brian Rast and Mike Wattel, the winner and runners-up of Event#23, are also expected to participate.
The opening day also witnessed several eliminations which included defending champion David Bach and runners-up Eric Rodawig, along with John Racener, Nick Schulman, Adam Friedman, Ben Yu and Paul Volpe.
1. Shaun Deeb – 234,500
2. Michael McKenna – 215,500
3. Robert Mizrachi – 212,500
4. Brock Parker – 199,500
5. Ryan Miller – 198,000
6. Iraj Parvizi – 192,000
7. Aditya Prasetyo – 191,000
8. Andrew Kelsall – 187,500
9. Randy Ohel – 185,500
10. John Hennigan – 175,000
Content & image courtesy WSOP.com.
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