Daniel Zack limped the small blind, Eric Wasserson raised, and Zack called.
Zack check-called a bet on the A♦10♣3♠ flop.
On the 7♠ turn, Zack led and Wasserson called.
Zack led again on the 8♥ river and Wasserson quickly called. Zack tabled 5♥3♥3♣2♥ which was good enough for the scoop in one of the final hands of the night.
Mike Gorodinsky dreaded returning for Day 3 as the short stack and begged his opponents to eliminate him. "Please Josh, deliver me from this tournament," he said as he raised into Josh Arieh's big blind. "Please for the love of God don't fold."
"You get very religious when you're tired," said Eric Wasserson.
Arieh called and they saw a flop of 2♥8♣7♠. Gorodinsky bet and Arieh raised to put him all in. No way was Gorodinsky folding.
Mike Gorodinsky: A♣Q♥8♠5♦
Josh Arieh: K♣9♣6♠3♥
The board finished out Q♠A♠ and the two chopped the pot with Arieh taking the low and Gorodinsky getting the high, hardly the desired result.
"That was the worst possible outcome," Gorodinsky said.
What was scheduled to be the final day of Event #5: $25,000 Dealers Choice Championship at World Series of Poker Paradise wrapped up in the early morning hours with four players remaining with three former WSOP Player of the Years looking for their seventh and fourth bracelets.
2021 POY Josh Arieh and 2022 POY Daniel Zack will have to overcome the chip lead of Eric Wasserson as the Pennsylvanian looks for his first bracelet, as will 2015 POY Mike Gorodinsky, who will be looking to spin up a short stack that he was desperate to rid himself of late in Day 2.
$25,000 Dealers Choice Championship Payouts
Place
Player
Country
Prize (In USD)
1
$353,340
2
$262,090
3
$194,430
4
$144,230
5
John Racener
United States
$107,000
6
Benny Glaser
United Kingdom
$79,370
7
Nacho Barbero
Argentina
$60,040
Hellmuth & Negreanu; Royal Flush for Nacho
There were 16 players who advanced to Day 2, but they were joined by a handful of new entries including reigning WSOP POY Scott Seiver and 17-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, who took a seat next to fellow Poker Hall of Famer Daniel Negreanu.
Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth
The table pairing caught the attention of seemingly everyone with a camera in Paradise and climaxed with Hellmuth taking a trademark bite out of a tableside sandwich. For more footage of the bite, stay tuned for Negreanu's next vlog.
Both legendary players fell in similar fashion as they had aces cracked while playing Omaha. Negreanu got it all in against Seiver in a PLO hand where both players held aces, but Seiver runner-runner paired his danglers to put a nasty beat on Kid Poker.
In a later Omaha Hi-Lo orbit, Hellmuth's aces ran into a set and he couldn't improve on a combo draw to be eliminated ahead of the money. Others who fell ahead of the money included Mike Watson, Jared Bleznick, Michael "Texas Mike" Moncek, and Arieh's Team Lucky teammateShaun Deeb.
Four-time bracelet and 17-time Circuit ring winner Ari Engel fell on the money bubble ahead of the eliminations of five-time bracelet winner Benny Glaser and Nacho Barbero, who despite complaining about how he was running poorly managed to flop a Royal Flush for the first time in his long poker career.
Nacho Barbero
Action slowed down during five-handed play but the players made the most of it by cracking jokes, playing props and discussing one another's tanking strategies. Arieh called it "by far the most fun I've had at a (WSOP) final table."
Josh Arieh
Shortly after Racener fell in fifth, the four remaining players bagged for the evening. They will return for Day 3 on Dec. 11 at 2 p.m. local time and will play to a winner, who will earn $353,340 and the gold bracelet.
Stay tuned as PokerNews will be back on-site tomorrow to see out the remainder of the $25,000 Dealers Choice Championship.
