Kassela Thrives in Biggest $1,500 NL 2-7 Lowball Draw Event in WSOP History
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When the Event #13: $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw kicked off at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, only a few dozens of players were at the tables. But the field kept growing and many players used the benefit of a long late registration to enter the tournament at later stages.
This year's edition would eventually see the biggest turnout for a $1,500 NL 2-7 single draw event in WSOP history with 296 entries. They created a $399,600 prize pool which will be shared by the top 45 finishers.
There are only 63 players coming back for Day 2 so the bubble can be expected to burst during the next few hours of play. The field is, however, full of seasoned pros who won't be aiming for anything less than the $96,278 top-prize.
One of the players who took his seat before the buzzer was Frank Kassela, who had been playing Day 2 of the Dealers' Choice event most of the evening, busting before midnight. While Kassela spent only two levels in the deuce event, he was still able to spin his stack up to 136,000. Kassela eclipsed the likes of Michael Gathy (116,000), Jon Turner (113,600), and Shaun Deeb (104,500) who all looked to be battling it out for the lead, but eventually it was Steve Tabb who emerged as the overall chip leader with 185,400.
Kassela has already won a bracelet from the $1,500 NL 2-7 Lowball Draw event. He did that in 2016 when he topped a 266-entry field for an $89,151 payday. Fellow former winners Ryan D'Angelo (67,500) and reigning champ Daniel Ospina (40,600) are also still in the mix.
The remaining field also features some of the iconic WSOP stars such as Daniel Negreanu, Chris Ferguson, and Ryan Riess. The lineup promises an entertaining Day 2 so make sure to come back for more PokerNews live updates on Wednesday, June 5. The tournament resumes at 2 p.m. local time.
, beating his opponent's eight-seven.
to finish with the nut eight. That huge double propelled Hall to more than 17,000 while Elias dropped to around 2,300.
