WSOP Day 46: Main Event Reaches Finale, Eibinger Leads $50K High Roller
In a summer full of memorable days, Day 46 will be the most remembered by history as today is the day the 2018 World Series of Poker Main Event champion will be crowned. Just three remain with a chance at the title, with Tony Miles returning to a big chip lead over John Cynn and Michael Dyer.
Elsewhere on Saturday, three other "postlims" will be playing out. The ever-expanding Event #75: The Closer - $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em will move on to a third Day 1 flight, Event #76: $3,000 H.O.R.S.E. will reach a conclusion with Brian Hastings currently leading the final 19, and the second and last day of Event #77: $50,000 No-Limit Hold'em High Roller (Big Blind Antes) will take place where Mattian Eibinger is in front with 31 players left.
Event #65: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em MAIN EVENT - World Championship
They started with 7,874 players, and now just three remain in poker's most prestigious tournament, the $10,000 WSOP Main Event.
After knocking out 2009 WSOP Main Event champion Joe Cada in fifth place last night, Tony Miles subsequently catapulted to the chip lead and will begin today's final day of play well in front with 238.9 million (149 big blinds) versus John Cynn's 128.7 million (80 BBs) and Michael Dyer's 26.2 million (16 BBs). Read a full recap of all that happened yesterday right here.
Besides the most coveted bracelet of them all, the trio is also playing for some big money, with $3.75 million going to the first to bust tonight in third, $5 million going to the winner, and $8.8 million reserved for the champion.
Play resumes for Day 10 at 5:30 p.m., with delayed coverage on both ESPN and PokerGO starting a half-hour after that. Meanwhile PokerNews will continue to deliver updates on every hand right up until the last, with photos, chip counts, videos, and more.
Event #75: The Closer - $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em (30 minute levels) - $1 Million Guarantee
After Bertrand "Elky" Grospellier bagged the Day 1a chip lead in The Closer with 583,000, Jeffrey Tanouye did the same at the end of Day 1b yesterday, edging ahead of everyone to take the current overall lead with 601,000.
Aaron Mermelstein (327,000), Barry Hutter (302,000), Tristan Wade (264,000), Artur Koren (233,000), and David Baker (206,000) were also among the Day 1b players making it to the bagging stage.
Each Day 1 flight reaches the money before play concludes, and in fact 69 players have already made the money so far (for min-cashes or a little more) in The Closer. There were 502 entries on Day 1a from which 54 players survived, while Day 1b saw 947 entries with 96 players advancing.
A reminder — in The Closer players begin with 15,000 chips and play 30-minute levels, with late registration and unlimited re-entries available for 12 levels. Today will be the last of the three starting flights (each of which lasts 18 half-hour levels), with the tournament scheduled to play down to a winner once the field combines for Day 2 on Sunday.
Day 1c of The Closer will be the first event kicking off today with cards going in the air at 11 a.m., and PokerNews will be there all day and night to find out with you just how big the field for this event turns out to be.
Event #76: $3,000 H.O.R.S.E.
From a 354-entry starting field just 19 players remain in the $3,000 H.O.R.S.E. where the largest pieces of the $955,800 prize pool and $233,202 first prize are still up for grabs.
Last night Brian Hastings ended Day 2 in grand fashion, bagging 667,000 to enjoy the overnight chip lead. Hastings will be gunning for his fourth career bracelet today.
Nearest Hastings in the counts at present is Tim Marsters (572,000), followed by four-time bracelet winner Jeff Madsen (416,000), and Bruno Fitoussi (382,000).
Recent Poker Hall of Fame inductee John Hennigan is still in the mix as well with 361,000, with Dutch Boyd (347,000), Ray Henson (315,00), Lee Markholt (267,000) also remaining in the hunt, and Scott Abrams (178,000), Carol Fuchs (132,000), and Jeff Lisandro (51,000) among the short stacks.
Play resumes at 2 p.m. today with a plan to play down to a winner, and, of course, the intrepid PokerNews reporting team will be there until the last bet and showdown.
Event #77: $50,000 No-Limit Hold'em High Roller (Big Blind Antes)
This two-day $50K High Roller kicked off mid-afternoon yesterday and played into the wee hours with Matthias Eibinger ending play by bagging a leading stack of 2.12 million.
With 128 entries total for this one, the prize pool is a hefty $6,144,000 with $1,650,773 going to the winner. Eibinger leads a remaining field of 31 players, with Jake Schindler (2,050,000) not far behind him in the counts and Isaac Haxton (1,955,000) and Elio Fox (1,875,000) helping comprise a close and formidable chase pack. Stefan Schillhabel (1,570,000), Nick Petrangelo (1,500,000), and Jason Koon (1,450,000) are also inside the current top 10.
With 40-minute levels and the shot clock in use, this one is scheduled to play down to a winner tonight. Play resumes at 2 p.m., so stick close to PokerNews to see who from the remaining field emerges as the next WSOP high roller champion.
And speaking of, don't forget there's still one more event left to go this summer, and it's a big one — literally — as the three-day Event #78: The Big One for One Drop - $1,000,000 No-Limit Hold'em will play out Sunday through Tuesday.
