The 2018 World Series of Poker (WSOP) $1,000 Senior No-Limit Hold ‘em event drew a record-setting field of 5,918 entries, easily breaking the previous record of 5,389 entries set in 2017. As a result, the prize pool swelled to $5,326,200 this year, with its lion’s share going to Matthew Davis. The 50-year-old teacher from Dublin, California earned $662,676 along with his first bracelet. Davis holds two more cashes dating back to 2007 and 2009 for a total of $7,459, but this was his biggest cash.
It was the first year for the 50 year-old Davis that he became eligible to compete in this WSOP tournament, which requires participants to be 50 years of age or older. The oldest player taking part in this event was 83-year old Andreas Dassopoulos, who finished 101st for $4,345.
The final table was set after Thad Smith was eliminated in the ninth place for $59,074. Davis entered the final table as the third biggest stack with 6,010,000. The final eight players returned to battle it out for the title, with Gary Friedlander leading in chips. Davis ran really well and took the lead by knocking out Bill Bennett in fifth place. Davis flopped the nut flush to win the pot from Bennett.
Later, Friedlander lost a few key pots and was busted in fourth place when his A-5 lost to Stabler’s A-J. Later, Stabler busted Scott Hamilton-Hill in third place to move into heads-up with Matthew Davis. Stabler took a 4-to-3 lead by the time the final 2 players went for a dinner break.
However, Davis regained the lead and extended it to over 3-to-1 before the final hand arose. On the last hand, Davis held K♦ 8♦and Stabler had 3♠ 5♥. The board was 6♦ 2♦ 3♥ 6♣ 8♣. Davis had rivered a higher pair to win the bracelet and send Stabler home with $409,387 in prizemoney.
Final Table Results (USD)
- Matthew Davis – $662,983
- Bill Stabler – $409,456
- Scott Hamilton-Hill – $303,859
- Gary Friedlander – $227,111
- Bill Bennett – $170,973
- Rachel Delatorre – $129,648
- Frank Berry – $99,032
- Joseph Schulman – $76,204
Paawan Bansal & Nipun Java Make Day 3 of Event #34: $1,000 Double Stack NLHE
The WSOP 2018 Double Stack Event is currently underway and there are only 162 players remaining out of 5,700. Leading the final 162 into Day 3 is Daniel Colpoys, who ended as overnight chipleader with 1,405,000. David Kaiura is in the 2nd place with 1,237,000, followed closely by Yosuke Sekiya with 1,208,000 in chips, and Steven Tymms in fourth holding 1,062,000. With $224,281 in live earnings, Colpoys who is cashing his fourth WSOP event will be trying to catch his first gold bracelet.
The four players among the final 162 hold over a million chips. All are already guaranteed at least $4,215, but the eyes will be on the six-figure first place prize of $644,224 and much-coveted bracelet.
Four Indian challengers made Day 2 of the Double Stack Event, including the Adda52 Team Pro Nikita Luther, Paawan Bansal, Akash Malik and Nishant Sharma along with Indian-origin player Nipun Java. Unfortunately for Sharma, Luther, and Malik, they all got busted on the second day itself, but they managed to cash. Sharma finished 365th for $2,508 (INR 1.70 Lac), Luther went out in 525th place for $2,038 (INR 1.38 Lac) and Malik went out in 664th place for $1,717 (INR 1.17 Lac).
Paawan Bansal and Java are still there in the mix battling it hard among the final 162 survivors. Bansal holds 269,000 and is 82nd among the final 162 players, while Java is 30th in the mix with 498,000 in chips. Bansal already has one live cash at WSOP 2018, finishing 13th in the Colossus Event for $35,087, while Java has a cash of just $975. Given below are the top chip counts:
| Player | Chip Count |
| Daniel Colpoys | 1,405,000 |
| David Kaiura | 1,237,000 |
| Yosuke Sekiya | 1,208,000 |
| Osman Ihlamur | 1,067,000 |
| Steven Tymms | 1,062,000 |
| Tomas Teran Paredes | 1,009,000 |
| Stevan Chew | 998,000 |
| Mike Takayama | 963,000 |