Showing he hasn’t lost his ability to fade a big field, Cada outlasted over 2,809 players in Event 31, $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em, but couldn't get past the 2,810th - Carter Phillips - who edged him out for the title.
Meanwhile David “Bakes” Baker scooped the $10k HORSE bracelet from a star-studded final table, David Benyamine popped up on the radar again with the Day 1 lead in Event 34 and Andre Akkari got off to a good start in Event 35.
Phillips Edges Cada for $1,500 No-Limit Bracelet
It’s been awhile since 2009 WSOP Main Event champ Joe Cada gave his fans a good WSOP sweat but he delivered one last night before falling just short in Event 31, $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em.
Beginning the day as the chip leader with 19 left, Cada dropped all the way down to the short stack at one point before rebounding.
Playing in front of a rambunctious crowd of supporters at the final table, Cada made it to heads-up play against Carter Phillips before finally succumbing.
Phillips, who won his first bracelet in 2010 and also has an EPT Barcelona title to his credit, picked up his second career gold bracelet and an impressive $664,130 for the win.
Cada collected $412,424 for his runner-up finish - by far his largest cash since his $8.5 million win in 2009.
Also of note was former HPT host Cherish Andrews, who picked up her sixth career WSOP cash and first final table, finishing fourth for $210,083.
The top nine and payouts:
1. Carter Phillips $664,1302. Joe Cada $412,4243. Tom Chambers $290,8754. Cherish Andrews $210,0835. Najib Kamand $153,5786. Maximillian Lehmanski $113,6187. Michael Aron, $85,0438. Jonathan Poche $64,3999. Huy Quach $49,333Baker Wins $10k HORSE, Benyamine Back On Top in $5k PLO
While David “Bakes” Baker was busy making an impressive comeback to top Phil Ivey and Phil Helmuth for the $10k HORSE bracelet, another David was making a comeback of his own.
Former Full Tilt Pro David Benyamine, once a very high-profile member of the poker world who’s kept a low profile over the last couple of years, made his way to the top of the leaderboard in Event 34, $5k Pot-Limit Omaha Six-Handed.
A popular tournament that drew 419 runners – most of them top pros – Benyamine had to avoid a lot of tough spots to top the final 72 with 248,300 heading into Day 2.
Right behind Benyamine is Shaun Deeb with 231,000 while Scott Bohlman, Kevin MacPhee, Chris De Maci and Joe Cheong are also in the top 10.
Also surviving to see Day 2 were Jason DeWitt, Tom Marchese, Aubin Cazals, Erick Lindgren, Adam Junglen, Davidi Kitai and Brock Parker.
PokerListings.com focused its Day 1 coverage of this event on the top UK stars in the field including JP Kelly and Sam Trickett, but only Karim Jomeen made it to Day 2.
The top 10 and chip counts:
1. David Benyamine 248,3002. Shaun Deeb 231,0003. Scott Bohlman 226,9004. David Colin 202,5005. Kevin MacPhee 173,5006. Tommy Le 173,3007. Adam Kornuth 165,4008. Chris De Maci 164,0009. Joseph Cheong 162,60010. Karim Jomeen 159,800We'll pick up with coverage of the full field starting at 1 pm today in Las Vegas. Follow along here.
Stout in Final 14 of Event 33, Akkari Out Fast in Event 35
In other ongoing events at the Rio, veteran pro Matt Stout is on to the final 14 players in Event 33, $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em.
Stout will come into the day tenth in chips with 462,000 and will be going for his first WSOP bracelet when play resumes at 2 pm today.
Also still alive are 2012 WSOP bracelet winner Vincent Van Der Fluit, Dylan Hortin, Max Steinberg and Justin Zaki.
Meanwhile in Event 35, PokerStars Pro Andre Akkari will lead dozens of notable players into Day 2 of the $2,5000 Mixed Hold'em event.
Akkari has the chip lead with 108,700 and 88 players left.
David Williams, Frank Kassela, Isaac Baron, Bryan Devonshire and James Dempsey are just a few of the big names chasing.
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