WSOP 2016 One Drop High Roller Down to 13 with Dan Smith Leading the Way

The biggest buy-in event of this year’s Series is slowly approaching the climax. There are only thirteen players remaining in the $111,111 WSOP 2016 One Drop High Roller from the original 183, battling it out for the bracelet and the first prize just shy of $5,000,000.

WSOP 2016 One Drop High Roller Early Exits

It goes without saying that this event attracted all the biggest names in the industry. The mix of big prizes, prestige, and charitable contributions make this tournament a must-play for all high-profile pros.

The total number of players once the registration was closed amounted to 183, which was significantly higher than the last year’s 135.

There were exactly three ladies in the field and none of them made it through to Day 2 as Liv Boeree, Brigette Lau, and Kathy Lehne were all sent to the rail. Accompanying them were Daniel Negreanu, John Juanda, 2013 Main Event winner Martin Jacobson, and a few others.

When it was all said and done, there were 88 players still in with a shot.

Jason Mercier misses on the third bracelet

One man who filled the headlines of this year’s Series was Jason Mercier. With a huge number of cashes as well as two bracelets won during the summer, WSOP 2016 One Drop High Roller was the last (realistic) chance for the PokerStars pro to try and seize his number three.

The rumor has it that third bracelet stood to make Jason a truly sick amount of money in side bets and there is no doubt that many pros were sitting on the edges of their chairs as he bagged his chips for the Day 2 of the tournament.

However, it wasn’t meant to be for the young pro as he was sent to the rail by the current world champion Joe McKeehen after his Ace-King couldn’t improve against Joe’s pocket Eights. Mercier was thus eliminated and many could finally breathe a sigh of relief. Of course, there is still the Main Event, but WSOP 2016 One Drop High Roller was the last tournament with a manageable field.

Busted one drop with 55 players left. Lost AK vs 88 for my 16 bb stack. The dream isn’t over… It has only just begun. Day 1c main in 2days

— Jason Mercier (@JasonMercier) July 10, 2016

Regardless, there is little reason to believe that Mercier will be disappointed about this year’s Series, especially after the latest announcement shared by the PokerStars Blog.

Romance at the Rio as @JasonMercier pops the question to @natashabarbour. (She said yes.) https://t.co/91IejUr0vk pic.twitter.com/j42j38awVs

— PokerStarsBlog (@PokerStarsBlog) July 9, 2016

Star-studded field remaining

Looking at the list of remaining thirteen players, it is really hard to pick a favorite to win. Dan Smith will be returning with a significant chip lead tonight, but  he will face anything but an easy task on his way to victory.

Jack Salter is second in chips and he represents the immediate danger for Smith’s lead. Salter has more than $3.3 million in live tournament earnings and a lot of experience, so he is a force to be reckoned with.

Apart from Salter, there are also Joe McKeehen, Antonio ‘The Magician’ Esfandiari, Fedor Holz, Scott Seiver, Brandon Steven, Niall Farell, and a few more names, all of whom certainly know how to play some poker.

Probably the least famous in the bunch is Koray Aldemir, with total winnings of $561,000, which pales in comparison to the results of those who are going to keep him company at the table tonight.

Unless there are some unexpected developments, we will have WSOP 2016 One Drop winner tonight and another bracelet will be awarded.

After that, there will be the final table of the $1,000 WSOP.com event on Monday and we will be all out of WSOP bracelets for this year, at least until November when a new poker champion will be crowned.