2021 WSOP Day 28: Stars Turn Out For $25K PLO High Roller; Deeb Flying High

The 28th day of the 2021 World Series of Poker (WSOP) was extremely busy with four players getting their hands on coveted gold WSOP bracelets, and two other events concluding their respective Day 1s.

Brian Rast secured his fifth bracelet by taking down Event #51: $3,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em while poker veteran Farzad Bonyadi became a four-time bracelet winner with victory in Event #49: $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship.

Darrin Wright was victorious in Event #50: $600 No-Limit Hold’em/Pot-Limit Omaha with poker philanthropist Gershon Distenfeld winning Event #48: $1,500 Shootout No-Limit Hold’em for $204,063 and donating his entire winnings to charity.

Elsewhere, Day 1a of the $1,000 Seniors event drew in a bumper crowd, and a whole host of stars turned out in force for the $25,000 PLO High Roller.

Kurtzman Leads Stacked $25K PLO High Roller

Event #53: $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller kicked off on October 27 and saw 170 players buy in. Some 107 of those made it through to Day 2 and the overnight chip counts reads like a who’s who of the poker world. The overall attendance should increase because late registration remains open for the first two levels of Day 2.

Eric Kurtzman (773,500) finished Day 1 with a substantial chip lead. Seven of the top ten are former bracelet winners – they have 13 bracelets between them – including Joseph Cheong (592,000), Yuval Bronshtein (580,000), Shaun Deeb (566,500), and Chance Kornuth (547,000).

Dozens of other household names also progressed to Day 2, including Paul Volpe (331,000), $10,000 PLO Championship winner Tommy Le (237,500), Daniel Negreanu (213,000), and five-time WSOP champion Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi (201,000).

Day 2 commences at 2:00 p.m. on October 28 and ten levels are on the agenda. As always, PokerNews’ live reporting team will be with you every step of the way.

Event #53: $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller Top 10 Chip Counts

"Miami" John Cernuto Bag Big on Day 1a of Event #52: $1,000 Seniors Championship

The Seniors Championship is always a well-attended event on the WSOP schedule and the 2021 edition was no different. Some 2,432 over 50s bought into Event #52: $1,000 Seniors Championship, but the tournament ended prematurely for all but 486 of those entrants.

George Bronstein (585,000) was the chip leader when the dust settled, he was the only player to cram more than half a million chips into his overnight chip bag. "Miami" John Cernuto enjoyed himself at the felt and finished with a 355,500 stack, enough for fourth place at the restart. Cernuto is a three-time bracelet winner, although his last piece of poker jewelry was acquired in 2002. Cernuto won a $470 Omaha Hi-Lo tournament at Aria last week so is in good form.

Others to look out for in the PokerNews updates on Day 2 include high-stakes regular Giuseppe Iadisernia (330,500), poker legend Jack McClelland (175,000), women’s Hall of Fame member JJ Lui (170,000), David Pham (139,500), and four-time champion Eli Elezra (112,500).

Day 1b shuffles up and deals at the early time of 10:00 a.m. on October 28 and should see another couple of thousand poker veterans enter the fray.

Event #52: $1,000 Seniors Championship End of Day 1a Top 10 Chip Counts