Welcome to Day 2 of the Stud Hi-Lo Championship; Ali Eslami Leads 68 Survivors
Welcome back to the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino and the 2019 World Series of Poker (WSOP) for Day 2 of Event #67: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship.
The last mixed game championship of the WSOP attracted a total of 134 players on Day 1 with registration still open through until the start of play where late entrants will start with 60,000 in chips and be playing 4,000-8,000 limits.
A plethora of talented poker players and seasoned veterans survived into Day 2, but it would be Ali Eslami finishing the day as chip leader with 275,500 after a making a late run up the leaderboard. Eslami was once a mainstay at the WSOP and has a total of 24 cashes, six final tables and $736,533 in lifetime tournament winnings beginning back in 2004. However, since Eslami cashed in the 2014 Main Event, he doesn't have a recorded cash on his poker resume, but his return to the felt in the Stud Hi-Lo Championship has been a great decision as he is the top dog heading into Day 2.
Sitting on the heels of Eslami are Yueqi Zhu (272,000), Andres Korn (266,500), Eli Elezra (264,000), and Harvey Goldstein (242,500) rounding out the top five chip counts. Zhu was heads-up for a WSOP bracelet in the $1,500 Omaha Mix Event just hours before jumping into this event before he inevitably fell in second-place. His momentum from that run has seen him soar up the leaderboard into second place overall after jumping in the field late.
Elezra won his fourth WSOP bracelet in the $1,500 Seven Card Stud event earlier this series, and he'll be looking to use his hot start on Day 1 to catapult him into a position into winning this event which he won in 2007.
Also surviving into Day 2 are multi-time WSOP bracelet winners Anthony Zinno, Jason Mercier, Jeff Lisandro, Ryan Hughes, Frankie O'Dell, Brandon Shack-Harris, Mike Matusow, Jesse Martin, Erik Seidel, Chris Bjorin, Mike Wattel, Adam Friedman, Robert Mizrachi, David Singer, Steve Zolotow, and Paul Volpe.
Registration is open until play begins, and once play is underway, levels will be 90-minutes in duration. Players will be playing seven levels today with a 15-minute break after every level, and a 60-minute dinner break after the fourth level of the day; approximately 8:30 p.m. (PDT).
Play is set to begin at 2 p.m. (PDT) with the PokerNews Live Reporting Team providing continuous live updates of all the Event #67 action. So stay tuned right here to PokerNews.com for all the Event #67 coverage from start to finish, along with all the remaining live updates from the 2019 World Series of Poker.