Shen Leads the Way; Shak, Kornuth and Koon Bag Big in Event #29: $10,000 Short Deck No-Limit Hold'em
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The latest high-stakes contest of the 2021 World Series of Poker at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino reeled in some of the biggest names in the world of poker for Event #29: $10,000 Short Deck No-Limit Hold'em. Upon completion of eight levels of 60 minutes each, the tournament attracted a field of 59 entries and 19 players bagged up chips for the night.
At least one further player has already bought in and the late registration remains open until the start of Day 2 at 2pm local time on Friday, October 15. With fewer than two dozen contenders in the mix so far, it's very likely to see several notables jump in at the last minute with a fresh stack of 60,000.
Leading the way at the end of Day 1 is China's Ye Shen with a stack of 361,400, who is closely followed by Young Ko (340,000), Chad Campbell (326,300) and Dan Shak (320,500). Other big stacks include the 2019 finalist Chance Kornuth (262,000) and freshly minted GGPoker ambassador and WSOP bracelet winner Jason Koon (235,400).
Another five WSOP champions advanced including Joao Vieira, Dan Zack, Stephen Chidwick, Daniel Negreanu, and Ben Yu.
Top 10 Counts After Day 1 in Event #29: $10,000 Short Deck No-Limit Hold'em
| Position | Player | Chip Count | Antes for Day 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ye Shen | 361,400 | 301 |
| 2 | Young Ko | 340,000 | 283 |
| 3 | Chad Campbell | 326,300 | 272 |
| 4 | Dan Shak | 320,500 | 267 |
| 5 | Chance Kornuth | 262,000 | 218 |
| 6 | Moshe Gabay | 251,100 | 209 |
| 7 | Jason Koon | 235,400 | 196 |
| 8 | Thomas Kysar | 231,000 | 193 |
| 9 | Joao Vieira | 199,100 | 166 |
| 10 | Daniel Zack | 125,800 | 105 |
Among the notables to bust throughout an incredibly fast and action-paced day were Dario Sammartino, Cary Katz, Sergi Reixach, Erik Seidel, Eric Kurtzman, Peter Jetten, Giuseppe Iadisernia, GGPoker Short Deck Squad member Denys Chufarin and Jake Daniels.
Daniel Negreanu late-registered in the final level of the night and went zero for five in his first five flips, utilising the strategy to invest one stack of 20,000 at a time. The six-time WSOP bracelet winner then doubled twice during the final hands of the night to ensure a playable stack for Day 2.
During the final stages it appeared to be a close race for the overnight lead as Young Ko was pacing the pack. He was involved in some of the most memorable hands including a three-way all-in with set-over-set in which he made quads and a four-way all-in during which he scooped it all. However, he lost some chips at the very end and that propelled Ye Shen into the top spot.
Shen's biggest pot came in a double-up through Dario Sammartino when he made the nut flush against a ten-high flush, an improbable setup in Short Deck poker. He knocked out Sammartino on the first entry soon after to further rise on the leaderboard.
Chris Brewer dominated the early stages and won a large three-way all-in when he turned a flush to leave Brandon Delnano drawing dead with aces full while Gabe Patgorski had one out with trips jacks. However, the run-good stopped soon after and Brewer lost multiple showdown pots to end the day below the average.
Day 2 will recommence with a running ante of 1,200 and a button double ante of 2,400. The field size will certainly increase as the late registration remains open until the cards are in the air for level nine. On the penultimate day, the tournament is slated to play down to the final five players for the live-streamed showdown.
The PokerNews live reporting team will be back then to provide all the action from one of the most exciting poker variants.