Hughes Leads Final 37 Players in Event #49: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship
A record-breaking 476 players took to the felt in Event #49: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship, but just 37 will return for Day 3 action at 2 p.m. local time. All those remaining are guaranteed a payday of at least $21,028, but all eyes are on the top prize of $1,018,336 and coveted gold bracelet.
Leading the way is Ryan Hughes, who began Day 2 as the chip leader and bagged a sizable 2,366,000-chip stack 10 swingy levels later. But with a whole slew of highly accomplished players still in the mix, the path to victory won't be easy for anybody. Three-time bracelet winner Rep Porter sits in the second spot on the leaderboard with 1.7 million; Brandon Shack-Harris (1.2 million), famed poker YouTuber Joey Ingram (749,000), and previous November Niner Matt Giannetti (586,000) are all still in the hunt, as well.
Here's a look at the seating chart and chip counts for the start of Day 3:
| Room | Table | Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon | 430 | 1 | Scotty Nguyen | United States | 897,000 | 45 |
| Amazon | 430 | 2 | Loren Klein | United States | 514,000 | 26 |
| Amazon | 430 | 3 | Ryan Hughes | United States | 2,366,000 | 118 |
| Amazon | 430 | 4 | Martin Kozlov | Australia | 309,000 | 15 |
| Amazon | 430 | 5 | Jerry Wong | United States | 500,000 | 25 |
| Amazon | 430 | 6 | Anton Morgenstern | Germany | 480,000 | 24 |
| Amazon | 430 | 7 | Robert Paddock | Canada | 751,000 | 38 |
| Amazon | 430 | 8 | Bogdan Capitan | Romania | 490,000 | 25 |
| Amazon | 431 | 1 | Tim Marsters | Australia | 398,000 | 20 |
| Amazon | 431 | 2 | Richard Gryko | United Kingdom | 347,000 | 17 |
| Amazon | 431 | 3 | Brandon Shack-Harris | United States | 1,200,000 | 60 |
| Amazon | 431 | 4 | Joey Ingram | United States | 749,000 | 37 |
| Amazon | 431 | 5 | Dario Sammartino | Italy | 589,000 | 29 |
| Amazon | 431 | 6 | Tim Seidensticker | United States | 249,000 | 12 |
| Amazon | 431 | 7 | Ardit Kurshumi | United States | 103,000 | 5 |
| Amazon | 431 | 8 | Daniel Aharoni | United States | 657,000 | 33 |
| Amazon | 438 | 1 | William Kopp | United States | 1,600,000 | 80 |
| Amazon | 438 | 2 | Mike Leah | Canada | 269,000 | 13 |
| Amazon | 438 | 3 | Daniel Harmetz | United States | 460,000 | 23 |
| Amazon | 438 | 4 | Aaron Duczak | Canada | 371,000 | 19 |
| Amazon | 438 | 5 | Mack Lee | United States | 850,000 | 43 |
| Amazon | 438 | 6 | David Wang | Australia | 274,000 | 14 |
| Amazon | 438 | 8 | Nicholas Aranda | United States | 914,000 | 46 |
| Amazon | 439 | 2 | Lautaro Guerra | Spain | 212,000 | 11 |
| Amazon | 439 | 3 | Alexey Makarov | Russia | 294,000 | 15 |
| Amazon | 439 | 4 | LaDarren Banks | United States | 336,000 | 17 |
| Amazon | 439 | 5 | Andjelko Andrejevic | United States | 490,000 | 25 |
| Amazon | 439 | 6 | Mark Davidoff | United States | 539,000 | 27 |
| Amazon | 439 | 7 | Ryan Laplante | United States | 672,000 | 34 |
| Amazon | 439 | 8 | Richard Lyndaker | United States | 967,000 | 48 |
| Amazon | 447 | 1 | Scott Bohlman | United States | 457,000 | 23 |
| Amazon | 447 | 2 | Rep Porter | United States | 1,700,000 | 85 |
| Amazon | 447 | 3 | Mark Herm | United States | 348,000 | 17 |
| Amazon | 447 | 4 | Henri Koivisto | Finland | 348,000 | 17 |
| Amazon | 447 | 5 | Matt Giannetti | United States | 586,000 | 29 |
| Amazon | 447 | 6 | Max Lehmanski | Germany | 344,000 | 17 |
| Amazon | 447 | 7 | Anson Tsang | Hong Kong | 1,463,000 | 73 |
Blinds will be 10,000/20,000 when play resumes. The remainder of the field is scheduled to play down to a winner on Day 3. There will be a 15-minute break every two levels and a one-hour dinner break after six levels (at approximately 6:30 p.m.). Keep it here for continuing coverage of Event #49: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship and throughout the 2018 World Series of Poker from the PokerNews Live Reporting team.