2021 WSOP Day 17: Phil Hellmuth Hunting for 16th Bracelet with 10 Remaining in $1,500 NL 2-7 Lowball

Day 17 of the 2021 World Series of Poker (WSOP) featured another full day of poker action at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in sunny Las Vegas with Oct. 16 featuring five bracelet events.

Dylan Weisman snagged the first WSOP bracelet of his poker career after winning Event #28: $1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha for $166,461.

Meanwhile, Chance Kornuth claimed his third bracelet after winning Event #29: $10,000 Short Deck No-Limit Hold'em for $194,670.

Three events on Saturday resulted in players bagging chips into Sunday including Phil Hellmuth making another strong run for his 16th WSOP bracelet as he is just behind three-time bracelet winner Rep Porter with 10 players remaining in Event #31: $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball. Rob Wazwaz bagging the Day 1b chip lead in Event #30: $1,500 Monster Stack No-Limit Hold’em and WSOP bracelet winner Vincas Tamasauskas leads the way in Event #32: $3,000 H.O.R.S.E.

Wazwaz, Plesuv, and Leng Among Chip Leaders after Day 1b of Monster Stack

Event #30: $1,500 Monster Stack No-Limit Hold’em featured another wild day of poker action with 1,972 entries Day 1b to create a total field of 3,520 entries when combined with those players who entered Day 1a for a $4,699,200 prize pool.

At the end of Day 1b, there were 701 players left standing. Those survivors combined with the 518 at the end of Day 1a created a remaining field of 1,219 who will converge on Sunday for Day 2.

Brooklyn's Rajaee Wazwaz (510,500) emerged as the Day 1b chip leader in Event #30: $1,500 Monster Stack No-Limit Hold’em after he bagged 515,000 in chips, closely followed by well-known Moldovan high roller Pavel Plesuv (483,000) and Ryan Leng (475,000), who recently shipped Event #23: $1,500 Eight Game Mix 6-Handed for $137,969.

Monster Stack Day 1b Top 10 Chip Counts

Several other players bagged as well and will continue on to Day 2 including Andrew Neeme (304,500), Nate Silver (200,500), Jesse Sylvia (129,000), and Bin Weng (64,000) who had a large stack most of the day but dropped significantly before play was halted.

While many players are advancing to Day 2, the majority were not so fortunate and found the rail rather than a bag, such as; Maria Ho who was eliminated early in the day, Kathy Liebert who was taken out when her opponent flopped two-pair to crack her aces, and Mustapha Kanit who was dramatically felted by quads when he had flopped top full boat in one of the hands of the day.

Day 2 will commence tomorrow at 10 a.m. local time with the 1,220 returning players. It will be a full day of action as there is still quite a bit of play before the money bubble hits with the top 528 players guaranteed at least a $2,404 min-cash with all players having their eyes on the $610,347 top prize and the coveted gold bracelet.

Hellmuth Only Behind Porter with 10 Remaining in Event: 31: $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball

Day 2 of Event #31: $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball has been played to completion with three-time WSOP champion Rep Porter leading the way after bagging 1,129,000 in chips.

Porter, a native of Washington State, already has three gold bracelets to his name and is in prime position to take down a fourth. Porter was able to knock out Rok Gostisa shortly before play ended for the day to secure his chip lead.

Day 2 began with 84 players and by the end, only ten remained. Among the survivors are WSOP Main Event Champion Ryan Riess, WSOP bracelet winners Chris Vitch, Kevin Gerhart, and of course, Phil Hellmuth.

Hellmuth, who has already made the final table in three events so far during the 2021 WSOP, will be in a strong position to capture his 16th gold bracelet with the second-most chips going into Day 3.

Final Ten Player Chip Counts of Event 31: $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball

Day 3 is set to begin at 2 p.m. local time and play down to a winner. The final table will be played seven-handed. Play will begin on level 21 (10,000/20,000 with a 30,000 big blind ante) and players will get a 15-minute break after every two 60-minute levels.

Vincas Tamasauskas Leads Event #32: $3,000 H.O.R.S.E.

Day 1 of Event #32: $3,000 H.O.R.S.E. attracted 282 runners to generate a prize pool of $752,940. The winner will take home $173,823 and the WSOP gold bracelet.

Lithuania's Vincas Tamasauskas is an accomplished online player that won his first WSOP gold bracelet this summer at GGPoker. He will return as the Day 1 chip leader after going on a late run to steal the top spot.

Among the other chip leaders at the end of Day 1 are Maria Ho, Brian Hastings, David Williams, and John Fahmy. Ho will look to win her first WSOP title, while Williams and Hastings are former WSOP champions that are looking to add their second and fifth bracelets, respectively. Fahmy hails from Hopkinton, Massachusetts, and he is looking for his second career WSOP cash after breaking through in the 2013 $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo event.

Final Payouts

Other players in the hunt for their first bracelet include Adam Owen, Allen Kessler, and actor James Woods, who bagged a healthy stack and will return for Day 2.

Daniel Negreanu will return with just under 100K and a chance to go on a run to qualify for Day 3. Negreanu's day was back-and-forth, but he went on a late run to bag a decent stack for Day 2. Other notable bracelet-winners that will return for Day 2 include Anthony Zinno, David “ODB” Baker, Ari Engel, Brandon Shack-Harris, and Max Pescatori.

Day 2 will resume with Level 11 and play for ten levels. Limit blinds will be 1,300/2,500 and stud blinds are 700/2,500 with a 500 ante. Limits will be 2,500/5,000. Day 2 restarts on Sunday, October 17 at 2 p.m.