2021 WSOP Day 45: Aldemir Claims Main Event Chip Lead After Day 5

Day 45 of the 2021 World Series of Poker (WSOP) is in the books, and what a day of poker it was. The $10,000 buy-in Main Event saw its field whittled to a much more manageable 96, while the $888 Crazy Eights completed another of its starting flights.

The $1,500 Mixed No-Limit Hold’em/Pot-Limit Omaha event reached its final eight, with the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship completing its Day 1.

Two more players became WSOP bracelet winners. Scott Ball was crowned the champion of Event #68: $1,111 Little One for One Drop, while Mourad Amokrane walked away with the top prize and gold bracelet from Event #71: $1,500 Bounty Pot-Limit Omaha.

Korey Aldemir Leads Stack Main Event After Day 5

Germany's Koray Aldemir leads 96 players heading into Day 6 of Event #67: $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event Championship at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino as part of the 2021 World Series of Poker. Day 5 began with 292 players looking for Main Event glory and wrapped up after ten hours of play, with Aldemir bagging the chip lead with a stack of 14,325,000.

The German grinder, who has over $3 million in WSOP lifetime earning and is after his first bracelet, leads other big stacks Ramon Colillas (12,000,000), Jonathan Dwek (10,125,000) and Zachary Mcdiarmid (9,700,000). All of them are also on the hunt for a first bracelet.

Day 5 Action

A few of poker’s biggest stars survived the day, including one-time bracelet winner Stephen Chidwick, who ended the day with 3,710,000 in chips after doubling late in the evening with ace-jack against the ace-king of George Holmes. Other big names still in contention include Chance Kornuth (5,920,000), Stephen Song (2765000) and Yuri Dzivielevski (2,030,000).

Pennsylvania grinder Nicholas Rigby made quite a stir on social media from the main feature table with his unorthodox playing style, best demonstrated in two separate hands where he got involved in big pots against all-in opponents while holding deuce-three.

"Rigby is like Happy Gilmore! Everyone loves Happy Gilmore. Everyone loves Rigby. Rigby! Rigby!" a member of Rigby's rail shouted toward the end of the night. "Give him a sponsorship!"

Rigby's play worked in his favor, and he ended the day with a stack of 5,212,000.

A New World Champion Will Emerge

Chris Moneymaker and Qui Nguyen were both looking to defend their Main Event titles but came up short on Day 5. Nguyen, the 2016 Main Event champion, outlasted the 2003 champ but was eliminated when he moved in with ace-queen and couldn't pull ahead of the pocket eights of Jesse Lonis, who ended the day with 8,995,000 chips.

Other notable players who made it to the fifth day of play but weren’t fortunate enough to survive to see Day 6 included Jason Koon, Matt Berkey, Marle Spragg, Conrad Simpson, Ken Aldridge and Joey Weissman.

Day 6 of the WSOP flagship event begins on Sunday, Nov. 14 at noon Pacific Time, kicking off with Level 26 with blinds at 40,000/80,000/80,000.

Event #67: $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event Top 10 Chip Counts

Arnwine Is The Crazy Eights Day 1c Chip Leader

Day 1c in Event #70: $888 Crazy Eights No-Limit Hold’em had come to an end. Day 1c drew a total of 1,907 entrants with 287 players making the money with a minimum payout being $1,421 After a long fourteen hours of play, only 87 players remain.

Among the top stacks are Justin Arnwine (3,280,000), Paul Fehlig (1,880,000), Alex Visbisley (1,775,000), John Jenkins (1,740,000) and Natalie Hof (1,700,000).

Two-time bracelet winner Eric Baldwin (2,825,000) bagged up the second-largest stack in the room, while popular Irishman David Lappin (1,940,000) finished Day 1c third in chips.

This event drew a few other notables such as three-time bracelet winner and Hall of Famer Barry Greenstein, Bracelet winner Kevin Song, Women Hall of Famer Allyn Shulman, Popular YouTube content creator and online bracelet winner Ethan Yau, and the 2004 Main Event Champion Greg Raymer.

Players who bagged Day 1c will return for Day 2 on November 15th at 12:00 p.m in the Amazon room at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino.

Day 1d, the final flight of this event, shuffles up and deals at 12:00 p.m. local time on November 14, and those entrants will battle out over 22 levels.

Event #70: $888 Crazy Eights Day 1c Top 10 Chip Counts

Rafael Mota Is In Pole Position For Glory in the $1,500 NLHE/PLO Mix

A total of 126 players returned for battle on Day 2 of Event #72: $1,500 Mixed No-Limit Hold'em/Pot-Limit Omaha returned to the Amazon room at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino, and after ten levels of play only eight hopefuls remain.

Leading the way heading towards the gold bracelet is Rafael Mota with 7,515,000, almost double the next closest Motoyoshi Okamura with 3,835,000. Nick Yunis is right on Okamura's tail with 3,190,000.

The day was action-packed right from the get-go as 126 remaining players turned into just 50 players in the first couple of hours of play. Mota had gotten chips early as he made it to the final three tables with a total of 2,700,000 and managed to keep climbing, reaching the final two tables with 4,560,000.

World Series of Poker bracelet winner Mike Takayama is also still in contention, looking to claim his second bracelet with a total of 1,900,000 in chips. Takayama won his bracelet in 2018, taking down the 2,065 player field in Event #59: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em Super Turbo Bounty. With this victory, he claimed the grand prize of $198,568.

Not all champions were lucky enough to survive through Day 2, though, including Andrew Donabedian finishing in 24th place, four-time bracelet winner Josh Arieh in 40th place, Manig Loeser in 45th Place, and Joao Vieira in 50th.

Day 3 will resume at 2:00 p.m. with the eight remaining players having $20,737 locked up and playing for the grand prize of $209,716. Play will continue until there is a new champion is crowned. Blinds will resume at 30,000/60,000 with a 60,000 big blind ante.

Event #72: $1,500 Mixed No-Limit Hold’em/Pot-Limit Omaha Top 10 Chip Counts

Benson Is The Man To Catch in the Stud Hi-Lo Championship

Day 1 of Event #73: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship has concluded.

This first day of this championship event drew 136 entries with 80 returning for the penultimate day on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. local time (PST). Expect that number to rise slightly as late registration is open until the start of Day 2.

The first day of this championship event played as expected, with many notables bagging and tagging up for Day 2.

Leading this star-laced field is Gary Benson who bagged up 331,000 chips and will look to use that ammunition to position himself at the finale of this championship event.

Still in the hunt and always a factor is bracelet owners Shaun Deeb, Erik Seidel, Brandon Shack-Harris, and Yuval Bronshtein. These players will each be looking to secure a spot at this WSOP championship final table in search of that coveted gold bracelet along with the first-place cash.

Those that were not as fortunate include Daniel Negreanu, Allen Kessler, Phil Hellmuth, Felipe Ramos, and John Esposito who all hit the rail before the day’s end.

The players will return for Day 2 on Sunday afternoon to play seven 90-minute levels with a ten-minute break at the end of each level, and a 60-minute dinner break at the end of level 14 (~8:30 p.m.).

Event #73: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship Top 10 Chip Counts