Justin Oliver from Toronto and Daniel Idema from Vancouver kept the Northern presence strong winning bracelets 8 and 9 this summer for Canada. Oliver's bracelet was his first while Idema grabbed his second.
WSOP hero Allen Cunningham, fresh from his runner-up finish earlier in the series, is back in contention for his sixth bracelet and notables Griffin Benger, Yevgeniy Timoshenko and Matt Matros all made big moves on a big Sunday in Vegas.
Oliver and Idema Continue Canadian Dominance
The running joke is the freezing temperatures inside the Rio have made them more comfortable, but whatever the cause Canadian poker players have put their stamp all over the 2013 WSOP.
Coming into the series with 34 total bracelets as a country nine more have now been added to the tally topped off by Justin Oliver and Daniel Idema taking home bracelets yesterday.
Oliver, who won his first, took down Event #38, $2,500 No-Limit 4-Max, while Idema, a bracelet winner in 2011, earned his second in Event #39, $1,500 Seven-Card Stud.
Oliver earned $309,071 for his title and Idema took home $184,590. Results below:
Event #38, $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em Four-Handed
Event #39, 41,500 Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo 8-or-Better
1. Daniel Idema $184,590 2. Joseph Hertzog $114,109 3. Raul Paez $71,736 4. Matt Vengrin $51,488 5. Mike Leah $37,552 6. Tony Gill $27,834 7. Fei Chu $20,964 8. Artie Cobb $16,037Cunningham, Benger, Scott, Timoshenko on Cusp of FTs
Two more events played down to the brink of final tables with some very notable names on the short list of players on to Day 3.
In Event #40, $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em, Chile's Nicolas Fierro leads the final 21 into play today but a couple of heavy threats lay in wait.
WSOP icon and Norman Chad favorite Allen Cunningham, already a runner-up this year, is back in the hunt for his sixth bracelet and sits in fifth overall.
Former CounterStrike champ and Easy Game subject Griffin Benger is right behind him in sixth. PokerListings Battle of Malta host Kara Scott also made it through to Day 3 just outside the top 10.
In our feature coverage event, $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha, Steve Gross leads the final 22 but Yevgeniy Timoshenko, Trevor Pope and Sorel Mizzi sit just off the pace.
Daniel Negreanu, who had a big stack early in this event and looked primed for a deep run, fizzled out in 34th for a $10,960 cash.
Check out all of the day's highlights in our WSOP Live Updates and tune in at 2 pm today for playdown to the bracelet. Top 10s below:
Event #40, $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em
Event #41, $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha
1. Steve Gross 526,000 2. Jesse Rockowitz 476,000 3. Salman Behbehani 456,000 4. Alex Manzano 450,000 5. Ville Mattila 392,000 6. Yevgeniy Timoshenko 352,000 7. Joseph Leung 348,000 8. Viacheslav Zhukov 340,000 9. Tony Gargano 291,000 10. Gary Bolden 289,000Matros, Anderson Take Early Leads
Two more events at opposite ends of the spectrum got underway yesterday with two very predictable candidates out strong on Day 1.
Matt Matros, a bracelet winner in each of the past three years, got off to a flying start in Event #42, $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em.
Matros grabbed the lead very early in the day and bagged up 145,000 when the day was through. 2012 October Niner Jake Balsiger also got off to a good start with 129,100.
In the more exclusive $10k 2-7 No-Limit Lowball event just 87 players bought in with 55 making it through to Day 2.
World-class grinder Calvin "cal42688" Anderson snagged the overnight lead with 134,700.
Paul "paulgees81" Volpe, Tom Schneider, Layne Flack and Naoya Kihara all bagged up Top 5 stacks.
Players return at 1 pm in Vegas to play down to a final table. Check our WSOP News section for all the latest results each day.
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