Perry Friedman Holds Commanding Lead Over Final Seven in Stud Championship
The penultimate day of Event #72: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship has come to a close at the 2017 World Series of Poker with Perry Friedman leading the final seven players heading into Day 3.
Saturday begin with 29 players all eyeing the coveted WSOP gold bracelet in one of the smallest tournaments of the series. Play began at a furious pace as a multitude of players headed to the rail prior to the first break. However the next two hours of play would yield just two eliminations before a long bubble followed, which would also include the extension of the level before Ryan Miller became the tournament bubble boy when opponent Shaun Deeb made a flush on sixth street to render Miller drawing dead after all the money went in on fifth street.
With the remaining 14 players in the money and guaranteed a $14,667 payday, Shirley Rosario (14th), Todd Brunson, (13th), and Dan Zack (12th) all were eliminated in a matter of minutes as Chris Ferguson took the chip lead from Perry Friedman, who had held it for the majority of the day. The eliminations of Jason Mercier (11th) and Randy Ohel (10th) set up the unofficial final table before Harry Thomas was eliminated in 9th when he was unable to improve against Friedman's pair of jacks on fourth street as the players headed on their final break of the evening.
Once play resumed, David Benyamine fell in 8th place when Friedman's aces-up was the best hand at the completion of each player's boards. Chips bounced around between the final seven for the majority of the final level, and Friedman eventually bagged the overwhelming chip lead with 1,737,000.
Second in the standings is Chris Ferguson, who will be looking to use a strong result here to cement his position in the Player of the Year standings. Also still in contention include multiple bracelet winners John Monnette and Shaun Deeb, as well as Mike Wattel, Bryce Yockey, and Sean Mirrasouli. Here is how the final seven players will line up on Sunday:
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Bets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sean Mirrasouli | United States | 580,000 | 19 |
| 2 | Bryce Yockey | United States | 392,000 | 13 |
| 3 | Chris Ferguson | United States | 853,000 | 28 |
| 4 | --empty-- | -- | -- | -- |
| 5 | Shaun Deeb | United States | 39,000 | 1 |
| 6 | Perry Friedman | United States | 1,737,000 | 58 |
| 7 | Mike Wattel | United States | 511,000 | 17 |
| 8 | John Monnette | United States | 289,000 | 10 |
The PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be back on the floor on Sunday for Day 3 of Event #72: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship from 2 p.m. (PDT) to provide all the live updates as we play down to the next 2017 WSOP gold bracelet winner. Be sure to join us on Sunday for all the exclusive 2017 WSOP coverage from both this event, and the last few remaining on the schedule including the Event #73: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em MAIN EVENT!