Benny Glaser Leads Final 15 in WSOP Poker Players Championship
Phil Ivey and Phil Hellmuth survived a 47-hand bubble in the $50,000 mixed-games showcase
The $50,000 Poker Players Championship got down to 15 players on Day 3, with Benny Glaser finishing in front at 4,705,000 chips after edging Paul Volpe. The event, often called the mixed-games Main Event, drew 108 entries and built a $5,130,000 prize pool, with $1,343,764 reserved for the winner.
Only 39 players came back to the feature stage area to start Day 3, and the field was already down to 24 by dinner. Early exits included Yuri Dzivielevski, Jared Bleznick, Gus Hansen and Brian Rast, the last former champion still alive in the event. James Tilton's Razz loss to Maksim Pisarenko set the final five tables.
PokerNews reported that the money bubble turned into a marathon, lasting 47 hands before it finally burst. Bryce Yockey became the bubble boy when he was forced all-in from the big blind and fell to Nick Guagenti, leaving him with 15,000 chips, less than a third of a big blind.
Robert Wells had the roughest near-miss, going out two spots before the money in 7-Card Stud after starting with rolled-up trip sixes against Roy Thung and Paul Volpe. Volpe got Thung to fold on fifth street, then filled up with jacks and eights when an 8 on sixth street ended Wells' run. Dara Taherpour locked up the min-cash at $100,934, while Matt Glantz followed out with $102,474.
Phil Ivey and Phil Hellmuth both survived to Day 4, and the two Phils now have 28 bracelets between them. Ivey ended the night with the seventh-largest stack, while Hellmuth was second-shortest on 545,000. The title has still eluded both, even though Ivey is back at the final table for his record sixth time cashing the event and PokerOrg later said Glaser had stretched his lead to 8,610,000 chips heading into the final table.
