The top of the field heading to Day 2 of Event #40: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. will be tightly packed, but Qinghai Pan vaulted above everyone in the last two levels of the night to take the biggest of the big stacks into Thursday’s play with 373,000 chips.
Several others were in contention for the chip lead before Pan soared past the field including Scott Seiver (261,000), Andrew Yeh (229,500), Randy Ohel (219,500), David Benyamine (219,000), and Brett Richey (215,000).
Pan started his run to the top earlier in the day by eliminating Daniel Negreanu in a hand of Razz. He’ll be looking to improve on his recent 7th place finish in the $3,000 version of this discipline in Event #32.
Wednesday’s event drew 139 entries through the first 10 levels of play, with 71 surviving, and late registration still open until Day 2.
Adam Friedman and Phil Hellmuth could be among the last entrants after they did battle in Event #36: $10,000 Dealer’s Choice, with Friedman defeating Hellmuth to become a three-time defending champion of that event.
Top 10 Chip Counts After Day 1
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Qinghai Pan | United States | 373,000 |
| 2 | Scott Seiver | United States | 261,000 |
| 3 | Andrew Yeh | United States | 229,500 |
| 4 | Randy Ohel | United States | 219,500 |
| 5 | David Benyamine | France | 219,000 |
| 6 | Marco Johnson | United States | 218,000 |
| 7 | Jerry Wong | United States | 217,500 |
| 8 | Brett Richey | United States | 215,500 |
| 9 | Jesse Klein | United States | 199,500 |
| 10 | Nate Silver | United States | 197,000 |
Elite Field Shows Up
The $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship always draws an elite field of mixed-game superstars, and this year was no exception, with 2019 WSOP Player of the Year Robert Campbell (181,500), Scott Bohlman (180,000), Max Pescatori (125,500), Yuri Dzivielevski (100,000) and defending champion Greg Mueller (30,500) among those surviving the day.
Others such as Eli Elezra, Daniel Negreanu, Brian Rast, Matt Glantz, David “ODB”, Baker, and David “Bakes” Baker were not as fortunate.
The atmosphere in the room was generally light as well, with plenty of conversation and an interesting table involving mixed-games star Brandon Shack-Harris (177,500) keeping things playful in the early stages of this battle for a bracelet.
Business will get far more serious Thursday however, as the players battle into the money, beginning at 2:00 pm local time with level 11, which comes with limits of 4,000 and 8,000. The levels also move from 60 minutes to 90, and the players will take a 60-minute dinner break after level 14.
Stay tuned to PokerNews for continued coverage of this and every World Series of Poker Event live from the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino.
and turn 
saw Elezra and Shack-Harris both check, before a bet and call on the river 
. 
, which was good enough to scoop the pot as Shack-Harris and Williams mucked.
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