Who Will Reach The 2018 World Series of Poker Main Event Final Table?
Johnny Moss. Doyle Brunson. Johnny Chan. Stu Ungar. Legendary names that echo across every poker room in the world. They all have one thing in common: winning the World Series of Poker Main Event multiple times (Moss, Ungar three times, Brunson, Chan two times). With 26 players remaining in the 2018 Main Event, Joe Cada has a shot to etch his name in poker history alongside these greats, as the 2009 champion will be back on Day 7 to win it all once more nine years after becoming the youngest Main Event champion of all time at just 21 years and 11 months of age.
To achieve the improbable, Cada — now an experienced veteran — has a steep mountain to climb. When action resumes at 12 p.m. local time to the Amazon room in the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino, The Michigan resident will return with 8,850,000 in chips in his quest for poker glory and the first place prize of $8,800,000. Cada sports half the average stack, still more than 40 big blinds at this point, giving him some room to work with.
Boasting five times Cada's stack, as well as the overall chip lead, is Aram Zobian (41,585,000). Zobian had a monster day six that saw him eliminating players left and right to claim the top spot. Despite the chip lead, Zobian suffered a big setback on Day 6 when he lost a massive all-in confrontation with kings against the ace-king of Artem Metalidi (30,845,000), who will start second in chips.
After the day, Zobian said he wasn't too distraught after the hand, and he rebounded from it. His mantra is simple: "Stay cool, confident and try to play my best," he said after Day 6. Zobian's best cash to date is $47,000 at 2018 $1,650 NLHE MegaStack Challenge in Foxwoods and no matter what happens today this amount will be absolutely shattered.
While Zobian may come without a pedigree, the aforementioned Metalidi knows what it's like to win big. The Ukranian sports more than $2 million in lifetime winnings, including a second place in the 2012 $3K No-Limit Hold'em 6-Max for $350,806. Metalidi started Day 6 with just 11 big blinds, but finds himself in second place at the end of it.
Other highly experienced players with more than seven figures in lifetime winnings remaining are Alex Lynskey (22,045,000), bracelet winner Yueqi Zhu (19,245,000), two-time bracelet winner Eric Froehlich (15,285,000), Frederik Jensen (12,100,000), Sylvain Loosli (11,635,000), bracelet winner Ivan Luca (8,820,000), Bart Lybaert (3,825,000) and Barry Hutter. Hutter, who also has a piece of jewelry around his wrist, will start as the absolute short stack with 2,250,000 in chips.
For the first time in many, many years, play at the final table will continue the day directly after Day 7. Last year, the November Nine concept was shelved, but players had two days off to prepare for the biggest final table of their career. Stamina, always an important factor during the grueling grind that is the Main Event, will become an even more important factor as precious sleep hours will be limited throughout.
The plan on Day 7 is to play down to the final nine, which happened during Level 36 last year. Here's the blind schedule for today:
| Level | Duration | Small Blind | Big Blind | Ante |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 | 10 minutes | 100,000 | 200,000 | 30,000 |
| 32 | 120 minutes | 120,000 | 240,000 | 40,000 |
| 20-minute break | ||||
| 33 | 120 minutes | 150,000 | 300,000 | 50,000 |
| 60-minute break | ||||
| 34 | 120 minutes | 200,000 | 400,000 | 50,000 |
| 20-minute break | ||||
| 35 | 120 minutes | 250,000 | 500,000 | 75,000 |
| 20-minute break | ||||
| 36 | 120 minutes | 300,000 | 600,000 | 100,000 |
| Break when 9 players remain |
2018 WSOP Main Event Streaming Day 7
The streaming schedule for today is as follows:
| PokerGO | 11:30 a.m. | 9:30 p.m. |
| ESPN2 | 9:30 p.m. | end |
2018 WSOP Main Event Day 7 Seat Draw
| Room | Table | Seat | Player Name | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon | 1 | 1 | Nirath Rean | United States | 4,950,000 | 25 |
| Amazon | 1 | 2 | Frederik Jensen | Denmark | 12,100,000 | 61 |
| Amazon | 1 | 3 | Artem Metalidi | Ukraine | 30,845,000 | 154 |
| Amazon | 1 | 4 | Aram Zobian | United States | 41,585,000 | 208 |
| Amazon | 1 | 5 | Joe Cada | United States | 8,850,000 | 44 |
| Amazon | 1 | 6 | Nicolas Manion | United States | 17,630,000 | 88 |
| Amazon | 1 | 7 | Eric Froehlich | United States | 15,285,000 | 76 |
| Amazon | 1 | 8 | Sylvain Loosli | France | 11,635,000 | 58 |
| Amazon | 1 | 9 | Ryan Phan | United States | 9,545,000 | 48 |
| Amazon | 2 | 1 | Bart Lybaert | Belgium | 3,825,000 | 19 |
| Amazon | 2 | 2 | Michael Dyer | United States | 26,515,000 | 133 |
| Amazon | 2 | 3 | Konstantin Beylin | United States | 8,305,000 | 42 |
| Amazon | 2 | 4 | Alex Lynskey | Australia | 22,000,045 | 110 |
| Amazon | 2 | 5 | Paulo Goncalves | Brazil | 15,230,000 | 76 |
| Amazon | 2 | 6 | Hari Bercovici | Israel | 12,775,000 | 64 |
| Amazon | 2 | 7 | Ivan Luca | Argentina | 8,820,000 | 44 |
| Amazon | 2 | 8 | John Cynn | United States | 14,750,000 | 74 |
| Amazon | 2 | 9 | Kao Saechao | United States | 18,985,000 | 95 |
| Amazon | 3 | 1 | Martijn Gerrits | Netherlands | 17,790,000 | 89 |
| Amazon | 3 | 2 | Barry Hutter | United States | 2,250,000 | 11 |
| Amazon | 3 | 4 | Yueqi Zhu | China | 19,245,000 | 96 |
| Amazon | 3 | 5 | Jeff Trudeau | United States | 5,090,000 | 25 |
| Amazon | 3 | 6 | Ming Xi | China | 7,550,000 | 38 |
| Amazon | 3 | 7 | Tony Miles | United States | 14,945,000 | 75 |
| Amazon | 3 | 8 | Antoine Labat | France | 28,445,000 | 142 |
| Amazon | 3 | 9 | Alexander Haro | United States | 12,940,000 | 65 |
Career Earning and More Stats for Final 27 Players
| Player | Country | Chip Count | WSOP Cashes | WSOP Bracelets | Career WSOP Earnings | Career Earnings | Biggst Cash | GPI Ranking | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aram Zobian | United States | 41,585,000 | 10 | 0 | $22,191 | $110,444 | 2nd 2018 $1,650 NLHE MegaStack Challenge | $47,000 | 1,946th |
| Artem Metalidi | Ukraine | 30,845,000 | 25 | 0 | $728,254 | $2,131,437 | 2nd 2012 WSOP $3K 6-max | $350,806 | 567th |
| Antoine Labat | France | 28,445,000 | 2 | 0 | $6,857 | $194,789 | 2nd 2010 Evian Poker Open | $52,842 | 13,662nd |
| Michael Dyer | United States | 26,515,000 | 2 | 0 | $5,610 | $95,020 | 8th 2009 WSOP $2k NLHM | $65,905 | 179,657th |
| Alex Lynskey | Australia | 22,045,000 | 14 | 0 | $556,389 | $1,769,666 | 2nd 2017 WSOP The Marathon | $426,663 | 525th |
| Yueqi Zhu | China | 19,245,000 | 76 | 1 | $1,456,884 | $1,523,586 | 3rd WSOP 2010 $10K Omaha Hi/Lo | $225,325 | 1,164th |
| Kao Saechao | United States | 18,985,000 | 8 | 0 | $67,253 | $589,448 | 2nd 2018 Goliath Phamous Poker Series $600 | $78,440 | 1,226th |
| Martijn Gerrits | Netherlands | 17,790,000 | 6 | 0 | $82,233 | $313,082 | 3rd 2018 WSOP $10K Heads Up | $73,179 | 503th |
| Nicolas Manion | United States | 17,630,000 | 1 | 0 | $5,769 | $16,739 | 21st 2018 MSPT Michigan | $9,850 | 32,585th |
| Eric Froehlich | United States | 15,285,000 | 38 | 2 | $1,559,294 | $2,312,873 | 1st 2005 WSOP $1,500 NLHM | $303,908 | 18,222th |
| Paulo Goncalves | Brazil | 15,230,000 | 3 | 0 | $64,195 | $101,776 | 3rd 2016 WSOPC Sao Paulo | $47,042 | 15,300th |
| Tony Miles | United States | 14,945,000 | 5 | 0 | $17,539 | $54,333 | 3rd 2011 $300 WPT Regional Jacksonville | $18,000 | 16,766th |
| John Cynn | United States | 14,750,000 | 16 | 0 | $739,416 | $944,786 | 11th 2016 WSOP Main Event | $650,000 | 3,926th |
| Alexander Haro | United States | 12,940,000 | 3 | 0 | $7,306 | $151,693 | 1st 2012 $2,500 Deep Stack Extravaganza | $142,503 | 54,154th |
| Hari Bercovici | Israel | 12,775,000 | 2 | 0 | $218,137 | $290,524 | 34th 2016 WSOP Main Event | $216,211 | 8,422nd |
| Frederik Jensen | Denmark | 12,100,000 | 13 | 0 | $197,627 | $3,897,790 | 2nd 2010 Aussie Millions | $1,015,257 | 1,230th |
| Sylvain Loosli | France | 11,635,000 | 12 | 0 | $3,075,627 | $6,648,418 | 4th 2013 WSOP Main Event | $2,792,533 | 251st |
| Ryan Phan | United States | 9,545,000 | 27 | 0 | $192,746 | $452,622 | 2nd 2016 WSOP Circuit Council Bluffs | $69,962 | 591st |
| Joe Cada | United States | 8,850,000 | 33 | 3 | $10,340,058 | $10,779,041 | 1st 2009 WSOP Main Event | $8,546,435 | 849th |
| Ivan Luca | Argentina | 8,820,000 | 11 | 1 | $487,898 | $5,755,393 | 3rd 2016 PCA $50k High Roller | $494,080 | 214th |
| Konstantin Beylin | United States | 8,305,000 | 12 | 0 | $147,460 | $153,663 | 17th 2018 WSOP $25k PLO | $46,190 | 4,456th |
| Ming Xi | China | 7,550,000 | 0 | 0 | $0 | $32,276 | 8th 2016 WPT National China | $30,560 | 7,2481st |
| Jeff Trudeau | United States | 5,090,000 | 34 | 0 | $410,950 | $875,028 | 1st 2017 WSOPC Cherokee | $63,599 | 195th |
| Nirath Rean | United States | 4,950,000 | 4 | 0 | $9,912 | $173,841 | 2nd 2015 CPPT Jacksonville | $82,826 | 10,193rd |
| Bart Lybaert | Belgium | 3,825,000 | 28 | 0 | $630,345 | $2,088,158 | 3rd 2017 PokerStars National Championship Barcelona | $432,856 | 29th |
| Barry Hutter | United States | 2,250,000 | 36 | 1 | $1,285,339 | $4,357,777 | 2nd 2018 WSOP $3k NLHM | $323,019 | 73rd |
and Trudeau showed 
. The flop came 
, giving Labat a pile of outs.
turn, but Labat picked up even more outs as a queen would now counterfeit Trudeau's pair. The river: 
, pairing Labat for the win.
and Xi picked up a flush draw to go with his two overcards. The turn brought the 
on the river completed the board and Hutter was sent to the rail in 25th place.
, but Cynn was in the lead with 
.
turn was a good start for Lybaert, but the 
and Lynskey was still well in the lead. The 
and Froehlich headed to the payout desk in 23rd place.
which changed nothing. The river was the 
and that wasn't what Rean needed to stay alive and he was eliminated in 22nd place.
, Goncalves bet 1,100,000, Dyer raised to 3,625,000 and Goncalves reraised to 7,350,000. Dyer reraised to about 19,000,000 and Goncalves called all in for about that amount after some thought.
to give Dyer a winning flush.
flop to give Luca outs to a flush to go along with his two over cards. Luca however had two clubs that he would need to fade as it would give Dyer a straight flush.
board brought him nothing and he did indeed take his leave in 19th, shaking hands with his tablemates on his way out.
and both players checked to see the 
which gave a flush draw to Dyer who still had outs to an ace as well. The turn was the 
