Lakhov Pushing for Lead, Riess Eliminated Late on Day 2 of WSOPE Main Event
Alexander Lakhov nearly nabbed a bracelet, the last domestic one of the year, when he got second in this year's World Series of Poker Global Casino Championship. Unfortunately for the accomplished Russian, he fell heads-up to Sean Yu and had to settle for a payout of $183,527. Despite more than $3.2 million in cashes, Lakhov has yet to claim his first piece of WSOP gold.
It seems he's flown back across the pond hungrier than ever to finish what he came so close to accomplishing. At the close of Day 2 of the 2017 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event, Lakhov bagged 424,000, putting him squarely in the top five.
Despite his hefty count though, Lakhov still trails overall chipleader Vishal Maini. The British player finished with a monstrous 651,500 at the close of the six levels of Day 2 play. He's got a few cashes totalling a little over $73,000, so the first-place prize of €1,115,207 here would represent quite the windfall for him.
With the close of registration at the start of play — and the customary last-minute entries of numerous high rollers, from the likes of Phil Hellmuth to a gaggle of German crushers — the prize pool was finalized early in the day. The aforementioned payout is of greatest interest of course, but it's also notable that the tournament did manage to inch past the €5 million guarantee with 529 entries, creating a total prize pool of €5,025,500.
Some of the players still in contention for the €1.1 million include bracelet winners Mike Leah, Kristen Bicknell, David Peters, Niall Farrell and Anthony Zinno, as well as defending champ Kevin MacPhee. Team 888poker is also well-represented with Vivian Saliba, Natalie Hof, Parker Talbot and High Roller for One Drop winner Dominik Nitsche making it through.
Former Main Event champ Ryan Riess, tabbed as a player to watch coming as he closes out a smoking-hot 2017, fell near the end of play. He lost most of his stack in a huge flip with jacks against the ace-king of Julian Stuer about an hour before players bagged up.
Others going bust included the aforementioned Hellmuth, as well as Adrian Mateos, Chris Moorman, Nick Petrangelo and John Racener. The elimination of the latter meant Chris Ferguson became the WSOP Player of the Year.
Day 3 play kicks off at noon on Tuesday with blinds at 1,500/3,000 and a running ante of 500, so come back to PokerNews as the tournament marches toward the money bubble.
Day 2 Top 10 Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vishal Maini | United Kingdom | 651,500 |
| 2 | Milad Oghabian | Netherlands | 463,500 |
| 3 | Alexander Lakhov | Russia | 424,000 |
| 4 | Jens Lübbe | Germany | 419,000 |
| 5 | Roman Herold | Germany | 412,000 |
| 6 | Gianluca Speranza | Austria | 408,500 |
| 7 | Michael Mrakes | Czech Republic | 408,500 |
| 8 | Stoyan Obreshkov | Bulgaria | 386,000 |
| 9 | Goran Mandic | Croatia | 377,500 |
| 10 | Anatoliy Zyrin | Russia | 376,000 |
2017 WSOPE Main Event Day 3 Seat Draw
| Table | Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Andrei Siandzevich | Czech Republic | 39,000 | 13 |
| 1 | 2 | Natalie Hof | Germany | 80,000 | 27 |
| 1 | 3 | Matas Cimbolas | Lithuania | 264,000 | 88 |
| 1 | 4 | Kai Münster | Germany | 83,500 | 28 |
| 1 | 5 | Chi Zhang | United Kingdom | 101,500 | 34 |
| 1 | 6 | Razvan-Andrei Dumea | Romania | 125,000 | 42 |
| 1 | 7 | Liwei Sun | China | 260,000 | 87 |
| 1 | 8 | Pavel Plesuv | Moldova | 209,500 | 70 |
| 2 | 1 | Ramin Hajiyev | Azerbaijan | 363,000 | 121 |
| 2 | 2 | Chun Ho Law | United Kingdom | 257,000 | 86 |
| 2 | 3 | Julian Stuer | Germany | 180,500 | 60 |
| 2 | 4 | Aleksandar Tomović | Serbia | 55,000 | 18 |
| 2 | 5 | Ioannis Angelou-Konstas | Greece | 170,000 | 57 |
| 2 | 6 | Goran Mandic | Croatia | 377,500 | 126 |
| 2 | 7 | Clement Richez | France | 79,500 | 27 |
| 2 | 8 | Philipp Gruissem | Germany | 273,000 | 91 |
| 3 | 1 | Paul Coughlan | United Kingdom | 44,000 | 15 |
| 3 | 2 | Mark Roberts | United Kingdom | 283,000 | 94 |
| 3 | 3 | Grzegorz Gosk | Poland | 90,000 | 30 |
| 3 | 4 | Neil Slater | United Kingdom | 79,500 | 27 |
| 3 | 5 | David Hudson | United Kingdom | 252,000 | 84 |
| 3 | 6 | Erik Sens | Netherlands | 274,500 | 92 |
| 3 | 7 | Franz Ditz | Germany | 110,000 | 37 |
| 3 | 8 | Thomas Hueber | Austria | 35,000 | 12 |
| 4 | 1 | Dominik Nitsche | Germany | 42,000 | 14 |
| 4 | 2 | David Peters | United Kingdom | 293,500 | 98 |
| 4 | 3 | Mike Leah | Canada | 324,000 | 108 |
| 4 | 4 | Stieven Razab | Netherlands | 102,000 | 34 |
| 4 | 5 | Asi Moshe | Israel | 287,500 | 96 |
| 4 | 6 | Kristen Bicknell | Canada | 296,000 | 99 |
| 4 | 7 | Simon Higgins | United Kingdom | 211,500 | 71 |
| 4 | 8 | John Leslie | United Kingdom | 189,000 | 63 |
| 5 | 1 | Aaron Duczak | Canada | 56,500 | 19 |
| 5 | 2 | Kevin MacPhee | United States | 135,000 | 45 |
| 5 | 3 | Julian Thomas | Austria | 300,000 | 100 |
| 5 | 4 | Vlado Banicevic | Montenegro | 211,000 | 70 |
| 5 | 5 | Alexander Lakhov | Russia | 424,000 | 141 |
| 5 | 6 | Markus Dürnegger | Austria | 244,000 | 81 |
| 5 | 7 | Ole Schemion | Germany | 173,000 | 58 |
| 5 | 8 | Alexandre Viard | France | 125,000 | 42 |
| 6 | 1 | Maximilian Lehmanski | Germany | 251,000 | 84 |
| 6 | 2 | Robert Schulz | Germany | 125,000 | 42 |
| 6 | 3 | Lee Lawrenson | United Kingdom | 129,000 | 43 |
| 6 | 4 | Ivan Luca | Argentina | 169,500 | 57 |
| 6 | 5 | Michal Mrakeš | Czech Republic | 408,000 | 136 |
| 6 | 6 | Marc MacDonnell | Ireland | 251,000 | 84 |
| 6 | 7 | Peter Smyth | United Kingdom | 223,500 | 75 |
| 6 | 8 | Maria Ho | United States | 51,000 | 17 |
| 7 | 1 | Luis Rodriguez Cruz | Spain | 228,500 | 76 |
| 7 | 2 | Vishal Maini | United Kingdom | 651,500 | 217 |
| 7 | 3 | Norbert Madaras | Hungary | 85,000 | 28 |
| 7 | 4 | Oleh Haisiuk | Ukraine | 255,500 | 85 |
| 7 | 5 | Nicky Romanello | United Kingdom | 297,000 | 99 |
| 7 | 6 | Anthony Gardner | United Kingdom | 60,000 | 20 |
| 7 | 7 | Pierre Neuville | Belgium | 220,000 | 73 |
| 7 | 8 | Mirza Nezirevic | Sweden | 42,500 | 14 |
| 8 | 1 | Milad Oghabian | Netherlands | 463,500 | 155 |
| 8 | 2 | Mohamed Mamouni | France | 73,500 | 25 |
| 8 | 3 | William Liang | Canada | 100,000 | 33 |
| 8 | 4 | Sam Grafton | United Kingdom | 60,000 | 20 |
| 8 | 5 | Diego Ventura | Peru | 192,000 | 64 |
| 8 | 6 | Marius Gierse | Germany | 146,500 | 49 |
| 8 | 7 | Lauren Render | United Kingdom | 125,500 | 42 |
| 8 | 8 | James Keith Walker | United Kingdom | 84,000 | 28 |
| 9 | 1 | Stephen Ayres | United Kingdom | 261,500 | 87 |
| 9 | 2 | Markus Steger | Germany | 170,500 | 57 |
| 9 | 3 | László Bujtás | Hungary | 361,000 | 120 |
| 9 | 4 | Dmitry Ivanov | Russia | 275,000 | 92 |
| 9 | 5 | Ante Varnica | Croatia | 159,500 | 53 |
| 9 | 6 | Niall Farrell | United Kingdom | 240,000 | 80 |
| 9 | 7 | Eugene Katchalov | Ukraine | 117,500 | 39 |
| 9 | 8 | Anatoliy Zyrin | Russia | 376,000 | 125 |
| 10 | 1 | Stoyan Obreshkov | Bulgaria | 386,000 | 129 |
| 10 | 2 | [Removed:172] | Germany | 250,000 | 83 |
| 10 | 3 | Ben Farrell | United Kingdom | 60,000 | 20 |
| 10 | 4 | Sebastian Langrock | Austria | 213,000 | 71 |
| 10 | 5 | Usman Siddique | United Kingdom | 71,500 | 24 |
| 10 | 6 | Tomasz Chmiel | Poland | 288,500 | 96 |
| 10 | 7 | Andrei Demidov | Russia | 189,500 | 63 |
| 10 | 8 | Norson Sahi | Brazil | 68,500 | 23 |
| 11 | 1 | Ismael Bojang | Austria | 212,500 | 71 |
| 11 | 2 | Thomer Pidun | Germany | 298,000 | 99 |
| 11 | 3 | Lander Lijo | Spain | 327,000 | 109 |
| 11 | 4 | Roberto Romanello | United Kingdom | 55,000 | 18 |
| 11 | 5 | Roman Herold | Germany | 412,000 | 137 |
| 11 | 6 | Connor Hogarty | Ireland | 83,500 | 28 |
| 11 | 7 | Ihar Soika | Belarus | 91,000 | 30 |
| 11 | 8 | Jan-Peter Jachtmann | Germany | 261,500 | 87 |
| 12 | 1 | Anatoly Filatov | Russia | 241,500 | 81 |
| 12 | 2 | Henry Tran | Canada | 112,000 | 37 |
| 12 | 3 | Omid Mojaverian | Iran | 261,000 | 87 |
| 12 | 4 | Max Altergott | Germany | 68,000 | 23 |
| 12 | 5 | Michaël Goossens | Belgium | 170,000 | 57 |
| 12 | 6 | Stephen Shayler | United Kingdom | 154,000 | 51 |
| 12 | 7 | Dominik Panka | Poland | 202,000 | 67 |
| 12 | 8 | Leo Worthington-Leese | United Kingdom | 265,500 | 89 |
| 13 | 1 | Leo Nash | United Kingdom | 82,000 | 27 |
| 13 | 2 | Robert Bickley | United Kingdom | 195,000 | 65 |
| 13 | 3 | Gilbert Diaz | France | 91,500 | 31 |
| 13 | 4 | Andrei Boghean | Romania | 315,000 | 105 |
| 13 | 5 | Haroldo Da Silva | Brazil | 114,500 | 38 |
| 13 | 6 | Christian Stoyanov | Germany | 370,500 | 124 |
| 13 | 7 | Jens Lübbe | Germany | 419,500 | 140 |
| 13 | 8 | Vlad Darie | Romania | 186,500 | 62 |
| 14 | 1 | Evgeny Kafelnikov | Russia | 98,000 | 33 |
| 14 | 2 | Davidi Kitai | Belgium | 121,000 | 40 |
| 14 | 3 | Anthony Zinno | United States | 179,000 | 60 |
| 14 | 4 | Steffen Sontheimer | Germany | 57,000 | 19 |
| 14 | 5 | Stepan Osinovski | Russia | 251,500 | 84 |
| 14 | 6 | Eusebiu Jalba | Romania | 165,000 | 55 |
| 14 | 7 | Stefan Schillhabel | Germany | 183,000 | 61 |
| 14 | 8 | Christian Rachel | Germany | 318,000 | 106 |
| 15 | 1 | Abdelhakim Zoufri | Netherlands | 275,000 | 92 |
| 15 | 2 | Marti Roca De Torres | Spain | 148,500 | 50 |
| 15 | 3 | Kyle Oak | Canada | 41,000 | 14 |
| 15 | 5 | Javier Zarco | Spain | 303,500 | 101 |
| 15 | 6 | Jack Salter | United Kingdom | 345,000 | 115 |
| 15 | 7 | Parker Talbot | Canada | 83,500 | 28 |
| 15 | 8 | Pavel Ignatov | Russia | 58,500 | 20 |
| 16 | 1 | James Ablott | United Kingdom | 116,500 | 39 |
| 16 | 2 | Alexandru Papazian | Romania | 158,000 | 53 |
| 16 | 3 | Maria Lampropulos | Argentina | 101,000 | 34 |
| 16 | 4 | Lucas Gomes Silva | Brazil | 205,500 | 69 |
| 16 | 5 | Angelo Milioto | United Kingdom | 48,000 | 16 |
| 16 | 6 | Osman Mustanoglu | United Kingdom | 260,000 | 87 |
| 16 | 7 | Mathijs Jonkers | Netherlands | 367,500 | 123 |
| 16 | 8 | Gianluca Speranza | Austria | 408,000 | 136 |
| 17 | 1 | Rainer Kempe | Germany | 330,500 | 110 |
| 17 | 2 | Vivian Saliba | Brazil | 226,500 | 76 |
| 17 | 3 | David Lopez | Spain | 177,000 | 59 |
| 17 | 4 | Mikhail Surin | Russia | 318,500 | 106 |
| 17 | 5 | Neil Ryder | United Kingdom | 60,000 | 20 |
| 17 | 6 | Antoine Saout | France | 151,000 | 50 |
| 17 | 7 | Mustapha Kanit | Italy | 151,000 | 50 |
| 17 | 8 | Will Kassouf | United Kingdom | 91,500 | 31 |
. Julian Stuer called with 
from mid-position. Mikhail Surin found 
in the small blind and called.
, Surin checked, Riess shoved for 1,700, Stuer called and Surin called too.
, both Surin and Stuer checked.
, Surin checked and so did Stuer. Surin won with a pair of threes and eliminated Riess from the main event.
flop. Both players checked. Farrell checked the 
and Bujtas bet 20,000. Farrell called. The river brought a 
and another check from Farrell. Bujtas moved in for what turned out to be 79,200 effective. Farrell called about 15 seconds later.
, both Luca and Gleissner checked, Madaras bet 4,000. Luca called, Gleissner folded.
, now Luca bet 4,000 but Madaras raised to 20,000. Luca looked at his cards and called.
, Luca checked, Madaras shoved with a bigger stack than Luca. Luca went into the tank. After about two to three minutes the player in the hijack called the clock on Luca. The floor came over and gave Luca 30 seconds to make a decision. Luca got up from his chair and then grabbed a stack of chips to make the call and put them over the betting line.
. Luca had him beat with 
. The player in the cutoff had set him in for 38,200, about the size of the pot. Hajiyev decided to call it off and his opponent smiled and showed 
. Hajiyev had him outkicked with 
after missing a flush draw and he took the pot.
and his opponent hemmed and hawed a bit then flicked in a chip. "ElkY" turned up 
and Peters needed a few minutes to think this one over. Finally, he flicked in a chip to call.