WSOP 2018: Team India’s Paawan Bansal & Aditya ‘Bitti’ Agarwal Make Day 2 in Event #43 – $2,500 NLHE

WSOP 2018
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  • PG News June 23, 2018
  • 8 Minutes Read

Just as veteran Indian challenger Aditya Agarwal bowed out of Event #43: $2,500 No-Limit Hold ‘em at the 2018 World Series of Poker (WSOP), holding the banners for Team India are two other strong contenders Aditya ‘Bitti’ Agarwal (119,700) and Paawan Bansal (72,500), both of whom have progressed to Day 2 in the event.

On the other hand however, Naman Madan who had made it to Day 2 in Event #42 : $2,500 PLO 8-Handed High Roller was eliminated out in 118th place without making it in the money.

Co-owner of MIPL team, Jaipur Jewels, Aditya ‘Bitti’ Agarwal is one of the early breed of poker players from Kolkata with huge scores both online and in live tournaments. Though this is the first WSOP trip for Aditya ‘Bitti’ Agarwal, he is quite active in the domestic poker circuit. He was also the Player of the League in Match IPL Season 1 and represented Team India in the first IFMP Nation’s Cup last year.

For Bansal, this is going to be yet another event where he will be gunning for a bracelet. Bansal has made numerous deep runs in the events he has competed in, till now. He finished 13th in Event #7: Colossus- $565 NLHE where he pocketed $35,087 (~₹23.7 Lakhs) and 74th in Event #34: $1,000 Double Stack NLHE for $6,803 (~₹4.61 Lakhs).

As Day 2 of Event #41: $1,500 Limit Hold’em rolled in, only 19 players remain with Matthew Woodward, Jeffrey Scheibner and Robert Nehorayan leading the chip counts. Day 3 will hopefully crown a winner.

Out of the 230 players who entered Event #42: $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Handed High Roller, only 35 players now remain and Ben Yu is chip leading (3,695,000) the remaining players coming into Day 3.

Even as 1,248 entrants fielded through the Day 1 of Event #43: $2,500 No-Limit Hold ‘em, 297 players are carrying forward including Indian pros, Bansal and ‘Bitti’ Agarwal and with Ashwin Sarin as the chip leader (166,200).

The start of Event #44: $10,000 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw Championship signaled the end of the 2-7 variant in the WSOP. With 41 of the opening 100 players making it to the end of the Day 1, there is still a lot of action left to unfold.

WSOP 2018 Coverage

Event #41: $1,500 Limit Hold’em

174 players returned on Day 2 from a field of 596 entrants who had started in Event #41: $1,500 Limit Hold’em. That number was further brought down to 19 by the end of the day. Leading them into Day 3 will be Matthew Woodward (438,000) along with Jeffrey Scheibner (427,000), Robert Nehorayan (418,000), Matt Russell (361,000) and Brad Albrinck (323,000) taking up the top five slots.

Some of the notable eliminations of the day included Svetlana Gromenkova (30th for $3,974), Philip Tom (46th for $3,010), along with Indian-origin players Sunil Nair (60th for $2,705) and Varadarajan Iyengar (65th for $2,485).

Phil Goatz (90th for $2,246) was the last player to make it into the money.

Richard Fuller (20th for $4,711) was the last elimination on Day 2. He went up against Kevin Song with pocket jacks but was defeated by Song’s with the rundown favouring the latter with a flush.

With WSOP gold bracelet and first-place prize money of $173,568 up top, the remaining survivors will continue their fight on Day 3.

Matthew Woodward
Matthew Woodward

 

Top 10 Chip Counts At The End of Day 2

  1. Matthew Woodward – 438,000
  2. Jeffrey Scheibner – 427,000
  3. Robert Nehorayan – 418,000
  4. Matt Russell – 361,000
  5. Brad Albrinck – 323,000
  6. Oleg Chebotarev – 312,000
  7. Brian Vollick – 286,000
  8. Matt Grapenthien – 238,000
  9. Michael Jex – 232,000
  10. Michael Lipner – 219,000

 

Event #42: $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Handed High Roller

With a buy-in as high as $25,000, the Event #42: $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Handed High Roller saw participation from many reputed high-stakes poker professionals who jumped into the player field taking the participation to 230, and creating a prize pool of $5,462,500. Now, after a second consecutive day’s run, only 35 players remain in the tournament.

Indian high-stakes pro Naman Madan who resumed the battle on Day 2 with 272,500 in chips has been eliminated from the event. Madan finished his run in 118th place and since only the top 35 places were to be paid in the event, he missed the money bus. Earlier on Day 1, two-time Bracelet winner Nipun Java who got to satellite his way into the event also busted out.

Naman Madan
Naman Madan

 

In all, there were 181 unique players and 49 re-entries in the event. The bubble burst on the final hand of the night with 35 remaining to return the next day.

Heading the 35 survivors into Day 3 is Ben Yu who has 3,695,000 in his bag. After him the top stack holders are Jason Koon (2,540,000), Ryan Tosoc (2,220,000), Shaun Deeb (2,120,000) and Scotty Nguyen (2,010,000).

Notables including Jason Mercier (1,905,000), Robert Mizrachi (1,005,000), Erik Seidel (725,000), defending champion James Calderaro (705,000), Mike Leah (660,000), bracelet winner Craig Varnell (625,000), Sam Soverel (380,000) and Paul Volpe (370,000) are all still in the running.

Ben Yu
Ben Yu

 

Top 10 Chips Counts At The End of Day 2

  1. Ben Yu – 3,695,000
  2. Jason Koon – 2,540,000
  3. Ryan Tosoc – 2,220,000
  4. Shaun Deeb – 2,120,000
  5. Scotty Nguyen – 2,010,000
  6. Jason Mercier – 1,905,000
  7. Jonathan Depa – 1,180,000
  8. Luis Velador – 1,045,000
  9. David Prociak – 1,020,000
  10. Robert Mizrachi – 1,005,000

 

Event # 43: $2,500 No-Limit Hold ‘em

The Brasilia poker room at the Rio All Suite Hotel & Casino bore the look of a grand event underway, with huge crowds gathered around tables and the noise filtering out to the corridors creating an exciting ambience of competitive spirit. It was Event #43: $2,500 No-Limit Hold ‘em that began with an impressive participation of 1,248 players. After an entire day of play on the felts, only 297 remain and they have bagged their chips for Day 2 of battle, with Ashwin Sarin who holds a stack of 166,200 in the chip lead.

From Team India, Paawan Bansal, team PokerStars India pro Aditya ‘Intervention’ Agarwal and Match IPL pro Aditya ‘Bitti’ Agarwal entered the event. Both Bansal and ‘Bitti’ Agarwal survived the day’s play and have progressed to Day 2. Currently, Bansal’s stack stands at 72,500 and he is placed 71st in chip counts while ‘Bitti’ Agarwal is placed 15th in the chip counts with 119,700 in his bag.

It wasn’t a good day for Aditya ‘Intervention’ Agarwal however, who went out of the play in Day 1. He tweeted his progress in the play through the event.

He subsequently lost several pots to see his stack dwindle down to 3550 when the play reached blinds of 150-300 with an ante of 50.

Much to the disappointment of his many fans, Agarwal announced his elimination from the event.

Meanwhile, Sarin who’s WSOP profile shows he has cashed at the WSOP four times till now, with the latest coming in Event #28: $3,000 NLHE 6-Handed where he finished 45th to pocket $7,558 has a total of $117,011 in WSOP earnings.

Second to Sarin in stacks is Stephen Foutty (156,300) followed by John Bergman (145,000).

The battle on the poker felts is moving to an exciting stage as many poker heavyweights are going to be seen in action. This includes Dylan Linde (81,100), Ryan Laplante (49,500), Joe Schulman (42,800),Tony Dunst (41,400), John Racener (37,300) and Chris Ferguson (20,500).

On the other hand, many former WSOP champions including Phil Helmuth, Alex Foxen, Joe McKeehen, Michael Gagliano and Barry Greenstein failed to make the cut.

The payouts have been announced and 188 places will bank a minimum assured $3,743 out of the total prize pool of $2,808,000 with the winner taking home a payday of $507,274.

Ashwin Sarin
Ashwin Sarin

 

Top Ten Chip Counts At The End Of Day 1

  1. Ashwin Sarin – 166,200
  2. Steve Foutty – 155,800
  3. Josh Bergman – 145,000
  4. Markus Gonsalves – 143,700
  5. David Peters – 140,500
  6. Andrew Brokos – 140,100
  7. Kainalu Mccue-Unciano – 131,800
  8. Chris Hunichen – 131,500
  9. Brett Shaffer – 130,900
  10. Mark Dube – 130,300

 

Event #44: $10,000 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw Championship

The final installment of 2-7 variant, Event #44: $10,000 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw Championship, started its first day at the 2018 WSOP with a prize pool of $940,000 and player count of 100. The remaining 41 contenders will return on Day 2 to win the prestigious gold bracelet that is on the line.

Spearheading the chip counts is Michael Noori (335,000), with Max Kruse (282,000), Christopher Kruk (247,500), Luke Schwartz (197,000) and Lawrence Berg (171,000) building up healthy stacks by the end of the day.

There were numerous big names who couldn’t make it in the money which included Daniel Negreanu,John Hennigan, Michael Mizrachi, Stephen Chidwick, John Monnette, Jean Robert-Bellande, James Obst and David “ODB” Baker.

Scott Seiver was the last elimination of the day when he bet his remaining 4,300 and was met with a raise from Nicholas Seiken even as the remainder of the table folded. Seiver drew one on the final draw as Seiken patted. Both players tabled their cards with Seiver holding 7x6x5x3x and Seiken showed 8x7x6x3x2x. Seiver unveiled the card he had drawn i.e. 5x which brought him a pair and with that he exited.

Some big names still in the running for the bracelet include Eli Elezra (155,500), Farzad Bonyadi (143,000), Vanessa Selbst (120,000), Randy Ohel (95,000) and Jesse Martin (88,500).

Michael Noori
Michael Noori

 

Top 10 Chip Counts At The End of Day 1

  1. Michael Noori – 335,000
  2. Max Kruse – 282,000
  3. Christopher Kruk – 247,500
  4. Luke Schwartz – 197,000
  5. Lawrence Berg – 171,000
  6. Brant Hale – 171,000
  7. Andrey Zhigalov – 170,500
  8. Quek Sheng – 161,500
  9. Chris Vitch – 159,500
  10. Benny Glaser – 156,000

 

WSOP 2018 Coverage

Content & image courtesy WSOP.com

Keep following the latest updates from WSOP 2018 right here on PokerGuru!

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