World Series of Photos: Prelims Done, Time(x) for the Main Event

Throughout the summer, PokerGO will bring fans across the globe exclusive access to World Series of Poker final table streams and Poker Central will be following all the WSOP action. Each day, “World Series of Photos” will tell the daily stories from the Rio, so you don’t miss any of the sights of the WSOP.

Event #72 – $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship

After Day 1B of the Main Event wrapped up, the entire poker world’s attention seemed to collectively turn to the final table of the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship. That was where Mike Wattel was locked in a heads up battle with Chris Ferguson, who was chasing his 6^th-career bracelet. It was a back and forth affair but eventually, Wattel did enough to claim the win for his first WSOP triumph in over a decade.

Event #73 – $10,000 World Series of Poker Main Event

The rest of the preliminary WSOP events are over, which means we are full stream ahead on the Main Event. Get it? Full stream ahead, that is because PokerGO and ESPN will be live streaming action from the Main Event each day until a champion is crowned on July 22. Today, the feature table is headlined by Daniel Negeranu and Jason Mercier but the Mike McDonald, pictured top, is the biggest name at one of the outside feature tables.

While Day 1C of the Main Event is young, Day 1B concluded yesterday and had tons of big names from past Main Events. One of those names was a player that is perhaps most synonymous with the November Nine era, Dennis Phillips. The 2008 bronze medalist has certainly performed since that breakout podium finish, in the first year the November Nine was introduced, recording multiple WSOP final tables over the last few years. He’ll have to wait another year to get back to the Main Event final table though, as Phillips was unable to bag chips yesterday.

One of the last Niners, Kenny Hallaert, fared much better than his 2008 counterpart. The Belgian has eight WSOP cashes this summer and he could be heading towards a 9^th after bagging a few starting stacks during yesterday’s Day 1B flight. Hallaert finished 6^th last year, for a career-best $1.4 million result and has proved that was no fluke this year, thanks to two more final table runs in large-field No Limit Hold’em tournaments.

Follow all the WSOP action on Poker Central and watch exclusive WSOP live streams on PokerGO.