2018 WSOP: Action Roundup of Starting Week

On Thursday, May 29th, the 49th World Series of Poker kicked-off at the Rio Las Vegas, and as of Sunday a total of three events are now in the bag. As traditional, the $565 Casino Employees event launched the prestigious tournament series, with Jordan Hufty, a card dealer at the Aria, eventually besting the 566 player field to walk away with a first place prize worth $61,909.

Since then, two more events have been completed, both of which were won by former WSOP Main Event champions, namely Elio Fox who picked up a second-career bracelet after taking down Event #2 $10,000 NL Super Turbo Bounty for $393,693, and Joe Cada, who increased his bracelet tally to three following victory at Event #3: $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em SHOOTOUT for $226,218.

$565 Casino Employees

Going into the $565 Casino Employees event, Jordan Hufty had just two live tournament cashes worth $1,938. The Michigan native, who had previously dealt on the TV program Poker After Dark, then went on to reach Event 1’s final table, eventually defeating Jodie Sanders in a four-hour long heads-up marathon to claim the title. Commenting upon what the victory means to him, Hufty stated:

“I’ve thought about winning a bracelet about every day of my life for the past 15 years. So, to actually have it come through today is pretty special.”

Fox Wins $10k Super Turbo Bounty

In 2011, Elio Fox won the WSOP Europe €10,400 Main Event for €1.4 million ($1,927,660). On Wednesday, the New York pro and 242 other players then paid $10,000 each to enter the Bounty Turbo No-Limit Hold’em Event, and amongst the notable pros seeing a return on their money was John Racener in 16th ($14,300), Bryn Kenney in 10th ($21,734), Joe Cada in 9th ($27,582), Alex Foxen and in 5th ($63,042), and Paul Volpe in 3rd ($169,195).

Elio Fox started heads-up holding a commanding 7-to-1 chip lead against Adam Adler, and despite his opponent staging an impressive comeback, Fox had regained control of the game by the time the deciding hand was played. All the money went to the center of the table preflop with Fox’s pocket two up against Adler’s A-10, and winning in style Fox made a full house from the 6-5-3-2-6 board to bring the event’s one day of action to a close.

“I’m really happy about this one because I haven’t won a live poker tournament in a really, really long time, so it feels good,” explained Fox. “And I think the first one was just such a shock that I wasn’t really that excited about it in the moment, but I’m really happy about it now. It’s a great way to kick off a summer.”

Final Table Result

1: Elio Fox $393,693
2: Adam Adler $243,323
3: Paul Volpe $169,195
4: Danny Wong $119,659
5: Charles Yohannan $86,096
6: Alex Foxen $63,042
7: David Eldridge $46,993
8: Taylor Black $35,671
9: Joseph Cada 27,582

Joe Cada Wins $3k NLHE Shootout

Back in 2009, Joe Cada made his way past a field of 6,494 players at the $10,000 WSOP Main Event to claim a top prize of $8,547,044, while in 2014 he topped a 264 player field at the $10,000 WSOP NLHE Six Handed event for $670,041. The US pro has subsequently lost no time making waves at this year’s WSOP, and after making the final table of Event #2 $10,000 NL Super Turbo Bounty he then went on to take down Event #3: $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em SHOOTOUT to complete a hat-trick of career bracelets.

By the time three-handed play had been reached, Cada still faced formidable opposition in the guise of Canada’s Sam Phillips and the 2015 WSOP main Event champion Joe McKeehen. Cada sent the latter to the rail in 3rd, however, to take an almost 7-to-1 chip lead into heads-up play, and before long the deciding hand was played with Phillips re-raising all-in holding A-4 and Cada (6-6) making the call.

The 10-9-4-Q-2 board that ensued sealed the victory for Cada, who now boasts three career gold bracelets, as well as a massive $10,770,288 in lifetime earnings.

“I’m feeling great; it’s tough to win any no-limit tournament,” commented the 30 year-old pro. “It means a lot to win my third bracelet. I have loved the WSOP ever since being a kid, I watched it all the time on TV. Winning these bracelets, it’s unreal. You’ve got to just run good and I’m lucky to run better than everyone else. I like shootouts because you have to adjust constantly.”

Final Table Result

1: Joseph Cada $226,218
2: Sam Phillips $139,804
3: Joseph McKeehen $101,766
4: Jack Maskill $74,782
5: Harry Lodge $55,480
6: Ihar Soika $41,559
7: Anthony Reategui $31,435
8: Taylor Wilson $24,013
9: Joshua Turner $18,526

Other Events being Played

Two more events are due to play down to a winner tonight. This includes Event #4: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better, which currently has just four players remaining. Leading the way is France’s Julien Martini, followed by three US players in hot pursuit, namely Kate Hoang, William Kopp and Mack Lee.

Meanwhile, Event #5: $100,000 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller has also reached its final table, and furthermore five of its 10 player line up are past WSOP bracelet winners, including the likes of Adrian Mateos, Elio Fox, Nick Petrangelo, Bryn Kenny and Fedor Holz. Rounding off a final table jam packed with pros is also Stephen Chidwick, Jason Koon, and Andreas Eiler.

Finally, the $2,500 Mixed Triple Draw Lowball event is due to reach its final table today, while other tournaments schedule to kick-off later on Sunday include the $565 COLOSSUS, $365 PLO Giant, $365 WSOP Online NL, $10k Omaha Hi-Lo Championship.