We’ve just crossed the first half of these series and the bracelet harvest continues!
| # | Buy-in | Event | Player | Prize |
| 48 | $1,500 | Event #48: SHOOTOUT No-Limit Hold’em | 🇺🇸 Gershon Distenfeld | $204,063 |
| 49 | $10,000 | Event #49: No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship | 🇺🇸 Farzad Bonyadi | $297,051 |
| 50 | $600 | Event #50: Mixed No-Limit Hold’em/Pot-Limit Omaha Deepstack 8-Handed | 🇺🇸 Darrin Wright | $127,219 |
| 51 | $3,000 | Event #51: 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em | 🇺🇸 Brian Rast | $474,102 |
Event #48: SHOOTOUT No-Limit Hold’em
Gershon Distenfeld has won his first bracelet in the $1,500 Shootout event and $204k, which Distenfeld pledged to donate various charities, as he did last year when he finished 8th in the $10k WSOP.com No-Limit Hold’em Main Event.
Distenfeld tries to inspire more players to do so: “I’d love to offer a challenge to every bracelet winner to give away 1% of their money to the charity of their choice. There’s no lack of needs out there. If I could have a lasting impact in the poker community, it would be that.”
Event #49: No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship
Farzad Bonyadi probably smelled something when he decided to play his first tournament this year and enter event #49. The player could not hope for better as he’s now joining the closed club of 4-times bracelet winners, now at the 43rd place in the WSOP bracelet rankings!
Bonyadi after the win: “We used to play this game 20 years ago and there was no drawing to the ten or jack. Like any other game, the young blood is changing this game too. I kinda like it. I used to play the same way 20 years ago. You can say I’m an action player. I’m definitely not tight. Maybe they think I’m old and that I can’t play [aggressively]. I’m very satisfied with the way I played.”
His previous success was 16 years ago when he won a $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em for $594k. The Iranian born player now has more than $4,5M in live earnings.
Event #50: Mixed No-Limit Hold’em/Pot-Limit Omaha Deepstack 8-Handed
Recreational Chicago player Darrin Wright punched his way to victory to win the $600 tournament yesterday and win $127k. Wright only live cash until then was a 20th place for $503 two years ago on the WSOP circuit.
“I just felt it. You know how sometimes you can feel something and you can feel it in your stomach, they say that’s your gut. I felt it in my gut,” Wright said, adding: “I was crashing them. If you had seen me, it was like, I knocked out so many players.”
Event #51: 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em
Poker legend Brian Rast won his 5th bracelet in the $3,000 event! He now sits 19th in the WSOP rankings and is 26th in the all time live earnings list with more than $21M. Brian last bracelet was in 2018 when he won the Event #23: $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship.
Rast had words about how he sees himself in the poker hall of fame: “I turn 40 in a couple weeks and it was on my mind to make the Poker Hall of Fame. I think I have a pretty good claim. I’ve played the biggest cash games in the world for over a decade and I’ve done a lot in tournaments as well. I just don’t think there are too many people. I wanted to come back here this year to the WSOP and show myself that I can still play great poker and be around and enjoy it and hopefully add more.”
Here are some cashes from our favorites pros:
| Player | Place | Earnings | # | Event |
| 🇫🇷 Julien Martini | 6th | $54,359 | 49 | $10,000 Event #49: No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship |
| 🇨🇦 Daniel Negreanu | 8th | $32,162 | 49 | $10,000 Event #49: No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship |
| 🇺🇸 Anthony Zinno | 10th | $25,280 | 49 | $10,000 Event #49: No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship |
| 🇺🇸 Shaun Deeb | 12th | $20,165 | 49 | $10,000 Event #49: No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship |
| 🇺🇸 Mike Gorodinsky | 14th | $20,165 | 49 | $10,000 Event #49: No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship |
| 🇺🇸 John Racener | 16th | $24,160 | 51 | $3,000 Event #51: 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em |
Things will probably calm down for a few days as only two events are currently underway: the $1,000 SENIORS No-Limit Hold’em Championship and the $25k High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha (8-Handed). See you!
source: www.wsop.com, www.thehendonmob.com