Juha Helppi raised to 2,000 from early position and was called by four other players. The flop came and the action was checked to Helppi who bet 3,500. The button was the only player to call and they were heads up to the turn.
The came on the turn and Helppi led out for 10,500. His opponent took some time to think before showing face up but mucked the rest of his hand. Helppi finally got everyone out of the way after continuing to bet his hand.
Players are heading on their last 15-minute break of the day. There will be two levels remaining when they return and the money bubble will be approaching quickly.
After arriving at the table to see a pile of chips being counted, it happened to be those of Jessica Dawley. The board read and Dawley's hand was still face up showing for a set of tens. The dealer pushed the pot towards Dawley and she stacked her 74,000 plus chips. "I wasn't even going to play this event," Dawley said while she continued piling up her new chips. It would appear she should start planning for a Day 2 of this event with only two levels remaining in the day.
The prizepool information has been made official with a total of 1,058 entries making up a prizepool of $1,428,300. There will be 159 places being paid with a min-cash being worth $2,252. The eventual champion will be taking home $268,555 and a WSOP gold bracelet.
Chris Ferguson and John Racener are tied with 14 cashes each this summer — the current record. Racener won his first WSOP gold bracelet this year and currently holds the number one spot on the WSOP's Player of the Year leaderboard. Ferguson is second.
There was an error last night and, for a brief time, it showed Ferguson as the leader. That prompted a reaction from some people on social media.
Hey @Ray_Henson @angryjmonnett @barrygreenstein @JamesObst @AdiAgarwal_int @GoLeafsGoEh @RealKidPoker, step it up p… https://t.co/Ep4hStclpH
— Remko Rinkema (@RemkoRinkema)
Ferguson received double points for his latest cash and the error has been fixed. A lot of people have strong opinions about their feelings toward Ferguson possibly winning the POY title, and some have just been cheering for his opposition, for instance, Racener, John Monnette, or Ray Henson, who was the leader last week.
No matter your feelings, the five-time bracelet winner is a force to be reckoned with. Of his five bracelets, four are from different poker disciplines and he has finished second or better in eight different games.
This event might not be worth a ton of points, but with over 1,000 people in the field and a first-prize of $268,555, a deep run in this tournament would put Ferguson in a solid position heading into the home stretch of the 2017 WSOP.
And he at least has one fan cheering for him on social media.
@RemkoRinkema @Ray_Henson @angryjmonnett @barrygreenstein @JamesObst @AdiAgarwal_int @GoLeafsGoEh @RealKidPoker Go Chris!