Kristen Foxen, Chance Kornuth Headline WPT Choctaw Final Table
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The WPT Choctaw Main Event is leaving Durant, Oklahoma for a trip to Las Vegas on May 26 as the final table of six has been achieved. Some big name pros, including Chance Kornuth and Kristen Foxen, are still alive in the chase for the $486,600 first place prize.
Monday's Day 3 session began with 36 players out of the original 787 who started the $3,800 buy-in no-limit hold'em tournament at Choctaw Casino this past weekend.
One Past Champion Remains
Two of the players who advanced from Day 2 — Dapo Ajayi and James Mackey — are past champions in this same tournament. Both had an opportunity to become just the second player in World Poker Tour history to win the same Main Tour event twice (Brian Altman won the Lucky Hearts Poker Open in 2014 and 2020).
Ajayi, the defending champ, busted in 14th place for $31,000. Mackey, on the other hand, bagged 5,050,000 (34 big blinds), and will travel to Las Vegas next week in hopes of winning his second WPT title in his third final table appearance.
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Mackey entered the day second in chips and extended his stack into the chip lead midway through the 10-hour session. But he hit a rough patch late in the day and faded back to the pack.
The WPT Choctaw final table at the Luxor's HyperX Esports Arena will not be live streamed, but it will be filmed for television and air on Bally Sports at an unknown future date.
Good Day, Bad Day for Foxens
Both Alex Foxen and his wife Kristen made it through to Day 3 with big stacks, but only one is still standing. Alex, the 2018 and 2019 GPI Player of the Year recipient, lost the biggest race of the day to Kornuth for a pot worth approximately 100 big blinds.
Kornuth's 10x10x held up against AxQx and Foxen was eliminated in 21st place for $21,000. His wife, however, advanced to the final table but with just 15 big blinds (2,175,000). Ray Qartomy (9,400,000) and Kornuth (9,025,000) bagged the two largest stacks. James Hundt is right behind them (9,000,000).
Foxen stuck around afterwards to support his wife at the unofficial final table, along with the family dog.
Kornuth has been the most consistent performer in this tournament since Day 1b. After failing to bag on Day 1a, he reentered the following day and built up one of the top stacks. The Chip Leader Coaching founder would do the same on Days 2 and 3, consistently remaining at or near the top of the leaderboard.
The night concluded when Anees Puri lost his final two big blinds to Mackey, and he bubbled the TV final table in seventh place for $78,000. Each of the remaining six players are guaranteed at least $101,000. Mackey is the only past World Poker Tour champion still in it.
Final Table Chip Counts
| Player | Chips |
|---|---|
| Ray Qartomy | 9,400,000 |
| Chance Kornuth | 9,025,000 |
| James Hundt | 9,000,000 |
| James Mackey | 5,050,000 |
| Steve Buckner | 4,700,000 |
| Kristen Foxen | 2,175,000 |
*Images courtesy of WPT/Hayley Hochstetler
