2008 WSOP Event #10, $2,500 Omaha-Stud Hi/Low Day 1: Jordan Rich Tops Bunched Field
388 runners took to the felt for the $2,500 Mixed Omaha-Stud Hi/Low tournament at the Rio, including some of the biggest superstars in poker. Among the competitors in Event #10 of the 2008 World Series of Poker were 2004 World Champion Greg Raymer, Todd Brunson, Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi, Daniel Negreanu and Mike "The Mouth" Matusow. As Day 1 drew to a close, it was Jordan Rich at the top of the pack, with a host of other poker stars in striking distance of the chip lead.
The format of the mixed Omaha/Stud hi/lo tournament was unique, with eight hands of each game being played in rotation. This led to different games being played on different tables, as the competitors played at differing speeds. The limit format of the event led to a very slow start, with a flurry of bustouts each time the limits increased as players suddenly found themselves with less than ten big bets after an increase in level.
One of the first to go on Day 1 was Shannon Elizabeth, busting after making two pair one street before her opponent made a straight. Other notable early eliminations included Josh Arieh, Alex Kravchenko and Daniel Negreanu. In the last of several hands with Chris Reslock, Negreanu got the last of his chips in the middle on sixth street with [3?6?] 4?Q?7?-K to Reslock's [2?2?] 3?5?9?10?. The Q? on seventh street did nothing to help Reslock, and the J? that Negreanu caught sent Reslock to the rail.
The media was out in force for Event #10, most notably ESPN commentator Norm Chad. Chad ran into a big problem with Bart Hanson's big hand when Hanson made a seven-high straight flush to send Chad to the rail. Other media types in the field on Day 1 included Allyn Shulman, part of the Shulman publishing family, and David Sklansky of 2+2 fame.
As the evening wore on and the limits increased, the bustouts came more and more frequently. Other notable players eliminated on Day 1 included Gavin Griffin, Stuart Paterson, Justin "ZeeJustin" Bonomo, Cyndy Violette and Kristy Gazes. Barry Greenstein met his demise at the hands of Gary Benson, who hit a Broadway straight on fifth street to send Greenstein packing and earn his copy of Greenstein's book, Ace on the River. Mike Matusow, John Juanda and Max Pescatori all joined Greenstein on the rail as Day 1 drew to a close.
As the players bagged chips and Day 1 drew to a close, the top of the leaderboard was littered with poker's biggest names. Michael Mizrachi (whose name must come up in discussions of "best player never to win a bracelet") Greg Raymer, "Miami" John Cernuto, Todd Brunson, Steve Z and Jeff Lisandro all latched onto spots near the top of the chip mountain, but it was Jordan Rich above all others at the end of Day 1. 108 players survived to see Day 2 action. The top ten chips stacks looked like this:
Jordan Rich 45,800
Daniel Mowczan 45,200
Farzad Rouhani 44,500
Robert Sherer 41,800
Ming Reslock 40,400
Gary Benson 39,900
Greg Pappas 36,400
Michael Mizrachi 35,600
James Van Alstyne 35,100
Steve Zolotow 35,000
Join PokerNews tomorrow at 3PM for Day 2 of the $2,500 Mixed Omaha-Stud Hi/Lo championship.
