Elio Fox Wins First Bracelet of 2018 World Series of Poker

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The 2018 World Series of Poker is officially underway at the Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Doors opened on Tuesday for cash games and satellites but the first two bracelet events kicked off on Wednesday.

As is customary at the World Series of Poker, the Employees Event kicked off the nearly two-month series. The evening event was the $10k NL Bounty Turbo Event. Many of the biggest names in poker presently in Las Vegas took their seats in the evening event with Elio Fox coming out on top of the $10k Super Turbo Bounty Event to win the first WSOP bracelet of 2018.

Jodie Sanders Leads Employees Event After Day 1

The first event of the 2018 WSOP was the $565 Casino Employees Event. Only those employed in casino industry are eligible to play in this event. As such, many overlook this event outside of the hardcore fans or those following certain “celebrity” industry members.

This year’s event drew a field of 566 entries and a total prize pool of $283,000. The eventual winner will take home $61,909 and the first bracelet of the year. Several well-known players took to the field in this event, including last year’s winner Bryan Hollis. Unfortunately, Hollis did not survive Day 1 and there will be a new champion this year.

Other players in the field on Day 1 included Jon Friedberg, Mo Fathipour, Chis Wallace, WSOP Czar Kevin “Kevmath” Mathers and former event winner Chad Holloway.

The final 85 players will receive a payday from this event. Among the players making the money in this event were WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart who finished 52nd. WSOP bracelet winner Chris Wallace also made the money, finishing 44th.

Day 1 concluded with 13 players left. Jodie Sanders will return as chip leader on Thursday with 509,000. Play will continue on Day 2 until a bracelet is awarded.

Elio Fox Wins $10k Super Turbo Bounty for First Bracelet of 2018 WSOP

The evening event on the opening day of the 2018 WSOP is the $10k NL Hold’em Super Turbo Bounty Event. This tournament featured 20-minute rounds and a $3,000 bounty for every player eliminated.

Like all Super Turbos, this is a one-day event with the first bracelet scheduled to be awarded. This event drew a field of 243 entries with 37 of those receiving a payday. A min-cash was worth $10,192 with the winner receiving $393,693.

Being a $10k event and the first open NL event of the series, a laundry list of top players took to the field. Among those that were in this event included Phil Hellmuth, Fedor Holz, Rainer Kempe, Jason Somerville, Stephen Chidwick, Kristin Bicknell, Mike Leah, Erik Seidel, and Jonathan Duhamel.

Unfortunately, none of those players managed to make the money of the event. Some of the players that made the money but fell short of the final table included Ben Heath, Nam Le, Antoine Saout, Kenny Hallaert and John Racener.

The final table saw some major star power attempt to take down the first bracelet of 2018. Former Main Event Champion Joe Cada made the final along with Paul Volpe, Elio Fox, Alex Foxen and David Eldridge. Bryn Kenney bubbled the final table, finishing in 10th.

Ultimately, it was Elio Fox that came out on top after a roller coaster heads-up battle. In the final hand, Adam Adler was all-in with Ad-10s against pocket deuces for Fox. Fox turned a set of deuces and rivered a full house for the win and his first WSOP bracelet.

In addition to his bracelet win, Fox earned $393,693 in prize money.

NL Shootout and $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo Highlight Thurday’s Events

Two new events will kick off on Thursday. The early event is the $3,000 NL Hold’em Shootout. The concept is simple. Win your first table and make the money. Win the second table and make the final table. Win the last table and win a WSOP bracelet.

The evening event will be the first non-Hold’em event of the series. The $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo Event will draw a legion of Omaha fans to the WSOP and this should prove a solid mix of amateur and pro players.

We’re gearing up for the weekend with the $100k High Roller kicking off on Friday and the COLOSSUS starting on Saturday.