Six tournaments and two bracelet winners — it’s starting to become what an average day looks like at the Rio. Tuesday was no different. Event #21: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em came to a close, playing down from 17 players, to just one — Michael Gathy. Randy Ohel walked away victorious over the nine returning players in Event #22: $2,500 2–7 Triple Draw Lowball. Only 18 players will return Wednesday for Event #23: $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em Six Handed and leading them all is Artem Metalidi. In Event #24: $5,000 Omaha Hi-Low Split 8-or-Better, Mike Matusow and Phil Ivey decided to make deep runs again. Fifty players moved on in Event #25: $1,500 Limit Hold’em Shootout. Lastly, in Event #26: $3,000 Pot-Limit Omaha, 138 players will move on to day 2, and leading the way is Joseph Ressler.
Event #21: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em
When Event #21 began there were 2,779 players. Only 227 players survived the first day, and only 17 survived the second. At the end of Day 3, Michael Gathy was walking away with the bracelet. At the beginning of the day seven players were eliminated to bring us down to an unofficial final table. It was there that Dan Smith was eliminated in 10th place as the final table bubble boy.
Noah Vaillancourt held the chip lead with 2,401,000 chips when final-table play began. Jamie Armstrong not far behind with 2,249,000 chips and Eric Baldwin had a seat at the final table with 701,000 chips.
Baldwin hit the rail in fifth place when he four-bet all in preflop with pocket queens and was called down by Noah Vaillancourt’s 
. The board ran out 
and just like that Baldwin was on the rail, but not before picking up his $101,948 paycheck for his finish.
When players reached three-handed play, Vaillancourt, Gathy, and Armstrong were all about even in chips. Vaillincourt was the first to go. First, he lost a flip to Gathy when his 
couldn’t outrun 
. This left him on a short stack, and shortly after he got his money in with 
against Armstrong’s 
and was unable to catch up when the board ran out 
. Vaillancourt received $193,089 for third place, a hefty consolation prize.
Heads-up play lasted over two levels, and the chip lead was passed back and forth several times. But on the final hand of the night, Gathy got it all-in with the chip lead holding 
against Armstrong’s 
. The board ran out 
and it was good enough to give Gathy the win, the bracelet, and the $440,820 first prize. Armstrong received $273,776 for second place.
Event #21 Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael Gathy | $440,820 |
| 2 | Jamie Armstrong | $273,776 |
| 3 | Noah Vaillancourt | $193,089 |
| 4 | John Esposito | $139,457 |
| 5 | Eric Baldwin | $101,948 |
| 6 | Eric Davis | $75,422 |
| 7 | Jean-Louis Santoni | $56,453 |
| 8 | Jason Manggunio | $42,749 |
| 9 | Joshua Field | $32,748 |
To check out more action from Event #21, check out the live reporting blog.
Event #22: $2,500 2–7 Triple Draw Lowball
Only nine players made it back for the final day of Event #22, but only one would walk away a winner. Early in the day, Josh Arieh and Layne Flack were eliminated in ninth and eighth respectively.
Arieh was very short stacked to start the day, and it was not long before he was eliminated by Shawn Buchanan. Arieh and Buchanan got to showdown, and Buchanan showed an eight-six low, and Arieh mucked. He hit the rail in ninth place and collected $10,970. Flack was next to go when he was called all-in on the third betting round by Von Altizer. Altizer showed 
and Flack mucked, looking rather disappointed. He hit the rail in eighth and took home $14,725.
Shawn Buchanan and David Baker, found their way to the final table, but the two fell short of the win and were eliminated in sixth and third respectively. Buchanan was up and down in the chip counts all day, but he was eliminated by Benjamin Lazer when he got all his money in before the last draw and paired up. Baker was eliminated by Randy Ohel in third place when his 
caught a pair on the river against Ohel’s
Heads-up between Benjamin Lazer and Randy Ohel lasted nearly six hours. Both players had nearly 90 percent of the chips in play at multiple times. At the end of the night, Lazer found himself down to just one big blind and he couldn’t muster a comeback. On the final hand, Ohel stood pat with a low, and Lazer drew one with 
and ended up making a pair. Lazer received $89,714 for second, and Ohel walked away the champion, taking home $145,247 and the bracelet.
Event #22 Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Randy Ohel | $145,247 |
| 2 | Benjamin Lazer | $89,714 |
| 3 | David Baker | $59,925 |
| 4 | Farzad Bonyadi | $40,987 |
| 5 | Jason Lavallee | $28,585 |
| 6 | Shawn Buchanan | $20,332 |
| 7 | Von Altizer | $14,725 |
| 8 | Layne Flack | $14,725 |
| 9 | Josh Arieh | $10,970 |
To see all the action from the final table, make sure you check out the live reporting blog.
Event #23: $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em Six Handed
At the start of the day there were 141 players in contention for the bracelet still, but at the end of play, only 18 remained. Among those not to make it to the final day were Jason Mercier, David Benyamine, Dan O’Brien, Galen Hall, Liv Boeree, Will Failla, Brad Booth, Gavin Smith, and William Reynolds. Returning on Wednesday with the chip lead is Artem Metalidi who finished the day with 1,523,000. Eugene Katchalov, Betrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Andrew Lichtenberger, and 2008 Novemember Niner Scott Montgomery will also be returning for Day 3.
Katchalov is returning with a short stack — 84,000. On one of the last few hands of the night, he called Simon Charette’s all-in with but was far behind Charette’s {Q}. The board ran out 
and Katchalov was forced to ship over 173,000 to Charette.
The final 18 players will return Wednesday to play down to a winner and will meet back up at 1300 PDT (2100 BST).
To make sure you don’t miss a single hand from Wednesday’s action, make sure you’re keeping an eye on thelive reporting blog.
Event #24: $5,000 Omaha Hi-Low Split 8-or-Better
On Day 2 of Event #24, 184 players returned. At the end of the day, Phil Ivey had emerged at the top of the chip counts. On Tuesday, players played down to the money bubble and were able to surpass it when James Dempsey was eliminated in 28th place.
Dempsey got his money in nearly drawing dead against Bart Hanson. Dempsey could only chop the pot with a running low. The board fell 
, and Hanson was holding the 
. There would be no miracle runner low for Dempsey and he hit the rail in 28th place.
Among those players who did not make it through the day were Michael and Robert Mizrachi, Allen Bari, John Racener, Phil Hellmuth, Jason Mercier, Mike Sexton, Justin Smith, John-Robert Bellande, and Shannon Shorr.
Mike Matusow was sick for most of the day with food poisoning, but was able to focus and build a healthy chip stack going into Day 3. Toward the end of the night, Matusow was able to eliminate Shannon Shorr. Matusow was holding and Shorr held 
. The board ran out 
and trip eights were enough for Matusow to lock up the knockout.
Play will resume Wednesday at 1400 PDT (2200 BST) when the remaining 27 players will play down to a winner.
To make sure you don’t miss any of Wednesday’s action packed final day. Follow the PokerNews live reporting blog for up to the minute updates.
Event #25: $1,500 Limit Hold’em Shootout
There we’re 50 tables playing out on Tuesday in the Brasilia room for Event #25, meaning 50 players will return on Wednesday. Victor Ramdin, Scott Seiver, Greg Mueller, J.J. Liu, Mike Leah, Justin Bonomo, Ari Engel, and Brock Parker were among those who advanced to the money and to the second day play. Among those not to make it through the day were Daniel Negreanu, Jennifer Harman, Antonio Esfandiari, Phil Hellmuth, Brandon Cantu, Marcel Luske, and Joseph Cheong.
Some of the players who were able to make it down to heads-up play at their respective tables, but weren’t able to seal the deal were Barry Greenstein, Bryan Devonshire, McLean Karr, Maria Ho, and Viktor Blom.
Blom hit the rail when he became short-stacked against Leah in a trips against trips cooler. Leah’s trips turned into a straight and Blom was left crippled. On the next hand, Blom got all the chips in the middle with 
and Leah called with 
. The board ran out 
and Blom will have to wait another day for his second World Series of Poker cash this year.
Wednesday, the final 50 players will play 10 five-handed tables down to just one 10 handed final table. Action will resume at 1300 PDT (2100 BST).
To make sure you see all the winners from Wednesday’s action, make sure you follow our live reporting blog.
Event #26: $3,000 Pot-Limit Omaha
By the end of the day in Event #26, the 589-player starting field had been reduced to 138. Leading the way heading into Day 2 is Joseph Ressler, with 122,100 chips. Matt Perrins, Scott Clements, Chance Kornuth, John Racener, Tex Barch, Nacho Barbero and Robert Williamson III will also be headed to Day 2.
There were plenty of notables to hit the rail Tuesday though, including Daniel Negreanu, Lex Veldhuis, Huck Seed, David Williams, Phil Hellmuth, and Jason Mercier. Mercier was eliminated by Scott Clements when they got their money all-in on a flop. Clements was holding 
for middle set, and Mercier was holding for an overpair and a flush draw. The and were both bricks for Mercier and he was eliminated.
Action will return at 1400 PDT (2200 BST) Wednesday with players playing down past the money bubble on their way to a final table. Defending champion Sam Stein is still in the field and has a chance to go back-to-back. Phil Ivey still has chips headed into Day 2, but he’s down to a stack of 700 because he let himself blind the entire tournament.
To make sure you don’t miss anything from the action packed pot-limit omaha tournament, make sure you’ve got the live reporting blog open for constant updates.
On Tap
On Wednesday, Event #23: $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em Six Handed will play down from 18 players to a champion, starting at 1300 PDT (2100 BST). Event #24: $5,000 Omaha Hi-Low Split 8-or-Better is also scheduled to play down from 27 player to a winner and will begin at 1400 PDT (2200 BST).
In Event #25: $1,500 Limit Hold’em Shootout, players will return at 1300 PDT (2100 BST) and play 10, five-handed tables down to just one final table of 10 players. Event #26: $3,000 Pot-Limit Omaha will begin at 1400 PDT (2200 BST) and will play down past the money bubble to the final few tables.
Event #27: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E will kick off on Wednesday at 1200 PDT (2000 BST).
To keep track of how all your favorite players are doing make sure you stayed tuned in to our live reporting blog.
Video of the Day
Sarah Grant calls the clock on Jennifer “Jennicide” Leigh. Grant presses “Jennicide” with the tough questions, like who she’d fight in the poker world, and who the hottest poker player is.
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