Just over a week ago, Shaun Deeb joined an exclusive list of poker legends by winning his sixth World Series of Poker bracelet. Now he’s back trying all over again.
Deeb is in fourth place with 1,490,000 among the 33 remaining players when Day 3 of Event #45: $1,500 Mixed Omaha Hi-Lo begins at 1 p.m. local time. A victory today would make Deeb only the ninth player in WSOP history to win seven gold bracelets.
But first, he’ll have to outlast a star-studded field that is all that remains from the 1,091 entries that began the tournament. WSOP bracelet winner Joey Couden built up a commanding lead with 2,885,000, while another bracelet winner, Nick Kost, won two massive pots on Day 2 to bring 2,010,000 into the day, as he looks for redemption after a runner-up finish earlier in this series.
Chris DeMaci (1,455,000) has WSOP cashes going back more than 15 years and two top-three finishes but has yet to capture his elusive first bracelet. Alex Livingston is also in the top ten to begin the day with 1,340,000. So is William Kerkaert, who was down to just 8,000 at one point yesterday but survived to take 1,030,000 into Day 3 as he looks to write an incredible chip-and-chair story.
Raj Vohra, who first made a WSOP final table in 2008, finally won a bracelet last year and will try to now make it two years in a row as he starts Day 3 with 1,020,000. Martin Zamani was the first player to crack 1,000,000 but slid down the leaderboard to end up with 625,000.
Day 3 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joey Couden | United States | 2,885,000 |
| 2 | Nick Kost | United States | 2,010,000 |
| 3 | Carlos Guerrero | United States | 1,606,000 |
| 4 | Shaun Deeb | United States | 1,490,000 |
| 5 | Chris DeMaci | United States | 1,455,000 |
| 6 | Alex Livingston | Canada | 1,340,000 |
| 7 | Allan Le | United States | 1,290,000 |
| 8 | William Kerkaert | United States | 1,030,000 |
| 9 | Zhen Cai | United States | 1,025,000 |
| 10 | Raj Vohra | United States | 1,020,000 |
The action on Day 3 picks up on Level 26, with blinds of 10,000-20,000 and limits of 40,000-80,000. The 33 surviving players have already locked up $7,279, but will all be chasing the $253,651 top prize and the bracelet.
It will be a long, hard road to the final table and the crowning of a champion today and PokerNews will be following along the entire way and providing updates until there is just one player left standing.