2021 WSOP Day 30: Ka Kwan Lau On Course For $25K PLO Bracelet

The 30th day of the 2021 World Series of Poker (WSOP) saw the tournament areas of the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino full to bursting with five huge events filling almost every table in the building.

Day 2 of the $1,000 Seniors Championship saw its monster-sized field whittled to a more manageable 148 players, while the $400 Colossus attracted 4,217 hopefuls to the tables. Only 484 remained at the close of play.

Some of the best mixed game specialists came and went in the $2,500 Nine-Game Mix, with 306 short-handed specialists fighting it out in the $10,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em Championship.

The other event running was the $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller where only five players remain in contention for the tournament’s gold bracelet, and the not-so-small matter of a $1,251,860 top prize.

Lau Leads But Deeb Lurking in the $25K PLO

Twenty-five players returned for Day 3 of Event #53: $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller on October 29 and all but five bit the dust before the curtain came down on proceedings. Ka Kwan Lau was sat behind the biggest stack when the dusted finally settled.

Lau, a high-stakes PLO cash game specialist, finished Day 3 with a tournament-leading stack of 10,750,000, and is the only player armed with an eight-figure stack going into the final day’s action. Lau , known as "kaju85" online, climbed to the top of the chip counts with two tables left and continued his momentum.

He may hold a commanding lead but Lau will not have matters his own way when play resumes at 4:00 p.m. on October 30. This is because Lau’s four opponents are superb poker players in their own right.

Second-placed John Beauprez (8,725,000) already has a bracelet to his name, having won poker gold back in 2013 in a $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em event. Then there is Maxx Coleman (5,730,000) who has five 2021 WSOP cashes already, before you find Shaun Deeb (3,640,000) in fourth-place. Deeb is a four-time WSOP champion, who won this very event in 2018.

Bringing up the rear is Bulgaria’s Veselin Karakitukov (2,745,000) who is another PLO crusher.

PokerGO is streaming the action from this event, so be sure to tune into their superb live stream while following live and exclusive written updates from the PokerNews Live Reporting team.

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

Elezra Seventh in Chips in the Seniors Championship

Event #52: $1,000 Seniors Championship completed its Day 2 by decimating its 1,107 field to a more manageable 148 players. Losing almost 1,000 players over the course of ten hours of poker tells you all you need to know about how fast and frantic Day 2 of this event was.

David Kluchman (2,745,000) was the senior who emerged from the carnage with a tournament leading stack. Kluchman banked a career-best $128,384 when he finished 63rd in the 2012 WSOP Main Event. Finishing fifth or better in this tournament would see him best that sum.

Canada’s April Facey (2,330,000) was the only other player to bag up more than two million chips.

Slightly further down the overnight chip counts you find the legendary figure of Eli Elezra (1,515,000), who is in the hunt for his fifth bracelet. Other bracelet winners still in the hunt for the Seniors Championship title include Barry Greenstein (810,000), Pat Lyons (745,000), Adrian Moreno (530,000), Antonin Teisseire (470,000), and Tony Ma (255,000).

Day 3 shuffles up and deals at 10:00 a.m. on October 30 and the schedule states there are ten 60-minute levels to complete. This should be enough to whittle the field down towards the final handful of tables.

Event #52: $1,000 Seniors Championship Top 10 Chip Counts

Nicholas Julia Secures Huge Lead in the $2,500 Nine-Game Mix

The 136 players who made it through to Day 2 of Event #54: $2,500 Nine-Game Mix 6-handed were reduced to only 17 over the course of ten 60-minute levels on October 29. Those 17 survivors are lead by Nicholas Julia, who bagged up a massive chip lead as play ended for the night.

Phoenix native Julia finished Day 2 of this tournament with 2,150,000 chips, more than twice as many chips as any of the remaining players. This is the deepest run in a WSOP event for Julia; he finished 45th in a $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em event in 2012 and 34th in the 2018 WSOP $2,500 Mixed Triple Draw Lowball event.

Robert McLaughlin (1,013,000) is the only other player armed with a seven-figure stack. This is McLaughlin’s first cash of the 2021 WSOP and he is determined to go all the way and become a bracelet winner for the first time.

Seven former WSOP champions are among the final 17 competitors. Kenny Hsiung (822,000), Justin Liberto (715,000), Marco Johnson (603,000), and Poker Hall of Fame nominee Mike Matusow (559,000) all bagged up top ten stacks.

John Racener (495,000), Bradley Ruben (437,000), and Robert Mizrachi (423,000) also punched their Day 3 tickets. Play resumes at 2:00 p.m. on October 30, and continues until a champion is crowned.

Event #54: $2,500 Nine-Game Mix 6-Handed Top 10 Chip Counts

Platt Among Host Of Stars Progress From the Colossus Day 1a

Event #55: $400 Colossus lived up to its name with 4,217 players buying in while Day 1a’s late registration remained open. Only 484 of those players navigated their way through the flight, with Hiep Tran (1,308,000) finishing Day 1a with the title of chip leader.

Tran was one of nine players to turn their starting stack into seven figures over the course of 17 levels. Hogyun Kang (1,297,000), Vincas Tamasuskas (1,241,000), Martin Ryan (1,178,000), Charbel Kanterjian (1,118,000), Lucas Tabarin (1,116,000), Joseph Malebranche (1,098,000, Erikas Laugzemys (1,048,000), and Michael Marder (1,018,000) were the others in the millionaire’s club.

PokerGO’s Jeff Platt progressed to Day 2 with a healthy stack of 582,000. Such luminaries as Kevin Song (689,000), three-time WSOP champion Barbara Enright (411,000), and fellow bracelet winners Chris Wallace (309,000), Gary Benson (241,000), Pete Chen (231,000), and Robert Varkonyi (175,000) were among the 484 survivors from the opening flights.

Day 1b commences at 10:00 a.m. on October 30 and the same 17 levels are scheduled to be played. As always, PokerNews’ live reporting team with be with you every step of the way.

Event #55: $400 Colossus Top 10 Chip Counts

$10K 6-Max Field Halved; Iyer Leads From Hallaert

A whole host of stars were among the 306 entrants in Event #56: $10,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em Championship, but only 113 players had chips in front of them when it came to bagging and tagging.

India’s Abhinav Iyer bagged up the biggest stack (483,500) after being at or near the top of the counts during the latter part of the day. Belgian grinder Kenny Hallaert (468,000) made a late charge for the lead towards the end of Day 1 but fell short of claiming the chip lead.

Matt Berkey (394,000) has done his goal of winning a WSOP bracelet no harm by finishing the day third in chips, while the likes Ian Steinman (360,500), and Giuseppe Iadisernia (340,000) finished Day 1 with top ten stacks.

Further down the counts you find stellar names such as Nacho Barbero (274,000), Nick Yunis (266,000), Niklas Astedt (265,500), JJ Liu (236,000), Adrian Mateos (232,000), and Nick Schulman (216,500) among others. Seriously, check out the overnight chip counts and they read like a who’s who of the poker world.

Late registration remains open until the start of Day 2, which happens at 2:00 p.m. on October 30.

Event #56: $10,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em Championship Top 10 Chip Counts