One of the most prestigious events of the summer saw a total of 181 players enter, creating a prize pool of $1,683,300. Only 28 players saw any of that money, and the final 17 came to play this morning, each with the hope of being named the next $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Champion. From that starting field, there were just five remaining players by the end of the day at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, home of the 2024 World Series of Poker.
Leading the way is five-time bracelet winner Benny Glaser, who sits with 3,675,000. Glaser is known as one of the best all-around players in the world, and his success at the WSOP is a testament to that. With five bracelets in three different disciplines over the course of eight years, his record speaks for itself as he sits atop one of the most stacked final tables of the summer as he looks to extend his lead over all-time bracelets in the United Kingdom.
End of Day 3 Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chips | Big Bets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Benny Glaser | United Kingdom | 3,675,000 | 22 |
| 2 | Maksim Pisarenko | Russia | 3,375,000 | 21 |
| 3 | Lawrence Brandt | United States | 1,955,000 | 12 |
| 4 | Steve Zolotow | United States | 1,500,000 | 9 |
| 5 | Mike Leah | Canada | 340,000 | 2 |
Sitting behind Glaser is a familiar face on the mixed game circuit, Maksim Pisarenko, who sits with 3,375,000. The Russian player went on a very swingy run to the final table today, as he fluctuated between chip leader and shortest stack through many levels of the day. Recently, Pisarenko won a title at PokerGO studio in H.O.R.S.E. for $117,450. With nine cashes this summer already, mostly in mixed games, Pisarenko looks to use his wealth of mixed-game experience to make a run at this first bracelet.
Lawrence Brandt sits in third place with 1,955,000. He made his mark two years ago at the WSOP and won two bracelets in the same summer. The Texas native already has a victory in H.O.R.S.E. at the WSOP and looks to use his considerable skills in mixed games to join the smaller list of players with three bracelets. He now has what is his deepest run of this summer and he looks to make it an even deeper run.
What can be said about Steve Zolotow that hasn’t already been said? With cashes at the WSOP dating back to 1985, this veteran of the game sits in fourth place with 1,500,000 and looks to conquer his second WSOP bracelet. Zolotow has already made two final tables this year in PLO and Triple Draw and with his large wealth of knowledge, he looks to become the oldest bracelet winner yet this year.
Sitting in last but certainly not least is Canadian bracelet winner Mike Leah. Leah has been a staple of the poker world for the last couple of decades, with his bracelet win coming in 2014. With 350,000, he sits as the shortest stack, but throughout the day, Leah always bounced back from being the shortest to right back into the mix. He looks to carry that momentum into the final sunrise of one of the most prestigious tournaments of the summer.
Day 2 Action
The day started with the elimination of Michael Parizon at the hands of Glaser in Stud Hi-Lo. Parizon got in holding ace-queen high on third street with Glaser holding ace-jack high. Glaser paired up his ace on sixth street and no improvement was brought to Parizon, who collected $21,000 for his 17th place finish. With his elimination, the players were brought down to the final two tables.
Next to go was Dario Alioto in 16th place. His final game ended up being Razz, as he got involved in a multi-way pot between himself, Robert Wells, and Greg Mascio. He was all in and made it to seventh street with Mascio with a nine, but it was no good against Mascio’s seven, and he collected $21,000 for his finish.
Esther Taylor was next to go as she ended up losing a big Razz pot to Leah and shortly after getting involved in a three-way all in with Leah and Nacho Barbero. She was eliminated in 15th place when her eight couldn’t beat Leah’s seven and Barbero was left very short thanks to Leah. Barbero got his final chips in the following Stud round with jack-nine against Maria Ho’s kings, and he was unable to find any improvement. Per Hildebrand got short and got in his split jacks against Lawrence Brandt’s ace-high, but the board ran out to give Brandt eights full of tens and Hildebrand’s jacks-up were second best.
After that, Brandon Shack-Harris fell to the shortest stack after losing a couple of pots to Maria Ho. He got his final chips in Stud Hi-Lo against Glaser with split aces on fifth against Glaser’s wired threes. Seventh street gave Glaser tens-up, and Shack-Harris did not improve, leaving him to bust in twelfth place. Each one of them collected $23,738 for their efforts.
Dave Stann managed to survive and ladder up a few times as the shortest stack, but his final hand would be in Razz. He started with one, two, king up against Brandt and Mascio, with only Brandt making it to seventh street with him, and Brandt made a six while Stann could only muster up an eight and he exited the tournament, bringing the field down to the final table bubble. After that, it was the start of day chip leader Christopher Chung who was on the chopping block against Zolotow. Chung was unable win any pots and his last chips went in on the turn with top pair in Omaha Hi-Lo, but Zolotow had made a straight to leave Chung drawing dead. They both collected $27,694 for their efforts, and the final table was set.
Final Table Action
The final table started with Zolotow holding a sizable lead, but two significant hands happened prior to the dinner break. The first was a Stud Hi-Lo pot in which Ho and Leah chopped up a pot in which Leah held a seven low, and Ho held jacks full. This brought Ho and Zolotow to neck-and-neck in the chip lead.
The second pot happened right before the dinner break when Mascio got his final chips in with wired aces, but Wells held rolled up fives to win some chips off of Patrick Moulder and Leah. At the conclusion of the hand, Wells had risen to third place after the pot. Lead and Moulder were left short and Mascio ended his run in the tournament in ninth place, good for $33,313.
Both Moulder and Leah were left critically short after that encounter with Wells and they both had a lot of work to do to be back in the running for the tournament. Leah found it as he managed to triple and double up to put himself into contention for the title as he rose and Wells fell down the counts. The other stack that saw major shifts was Pisarenko, who rose very quickly through the chip counts.
Eventually Wells lost a sizable pot against Ho to leave him short and near even in the counts with Moulder. In the waiting game between them, it was Moulder who fell first. His second final table of a $10,000 championship event this summer ended in Razz when he made a jack-nine against Ho’s eight-seven, and he took home $41,281 for his efforts.
Wells would be next to go. When they came back from break, he ended his run in stud, where he completed and went all in with a pair of tens, and Leah looked him up with a pair of queens. He made a flush on sixth street, (Wells was left drawing dead) to scoop the pot. Wells finished his third final table run of the 2024 WSOP in sixth place for $52,651.
The six-handed play saw lots of shifting in the chip counts. Pisarenko rose up the chip counts while Glaser fell down, but then he bounced back after taking a few pots from Zolotow. Brandt and Leah tussled back and forth, and eventually, Leah became the shortest stack.
Leah was able to double up through Ho in a pot in Limit Hold’em where he flopped three jacks to leave Ho with just one big blind. Once the game rotation switched to Omaha Hi-Lo, Ho moved all in from first position for her last chips, which was called by three players. By the river, she had made the second nut-low, but Glaser held the nut-low and a flush, and Ho became the final casualty of the night. She collected $69,093 for her efforts.
Players will return tomorrow at 1 p.m. with 36 minutes left in Level 23. A 20,000 ante, with a 20,000 bring-in, and blinds at 40,000/80,000 with betting limits at 80,000/160,000. A ten-minute break will occur at the conclusion of every level, and play will continue until a winner is crowned.
Stay tuned to PokerNews for all updates on the 2024 WSOP.
