Matusow In The Mix As WSOP Seven Card Stud Event Heads For Home

It has not been a good first week for some of the biggest names in poker, as amateurs have ruled the early tournaments at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. Mike Matusow, one of the most notable players ever, is trying to change that.

Matusow is a middle chip stack in Event #13, a Seven Card Stud Hi-Low Split-8 or Better tournament. Matusow is sitting with 381,000 chips, with only six players left. The dinner break has arrived here at the Rio, and David Baker holds the chip lead with 875,000.

Event #14, a No-Limit tourney with a $1,500 buy-in, is also heading for home, with only 54 players left. Blake Bohn has a slight chip advantage over Patrick Kubat. Jonathan Taylor is the only other player over 400,000 in chips. John Gutierrez has been staving off elimination, and sits at 11,400 chips.

The first H.O.R.S.E. event began on Friday, and Dario Alioto is the early chip leader. Of the 862 players that entered the tournament, more than half have already been eliminated. Among the notable bust outs are Greg Raymer, Barry Greenstein, Mike Sexton, and Daniel Negreanu.

One of the largest buy-in events of the series also began Friday, a Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em tournament with a $10,000 buy-in. There were 162 players that entered. Negreanu, Michael Mizrachi, and Joe Cada are among the final 32 players remaining. Kenny Tran, Jonathan Duhamel, and Phil Ivey have all been sent to the rail.

The latest winner came late Friday evening when Lev Rofman outlasted Allen Cunningham in a heads-up battle during Event #12, a Pot-Limit Hold'em tournament. Rofman took home $166,136 for his efforts, and Cunningham walked away from the $1,500 buy-in event with $102,819.

Three events are scheduled to begin the rest of the weekend. On Saturday, a $1,500 buy-in No-Limit tourney begins. Sunday, two tournaments, a $1,000 buy-n No-Limit tourney and a $5,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em event will start. All three weekend starting tournaments will be three day events.

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