Sam Laskowitz Holds Massive Lead at Final Table of the Colossus
The penultimate day of Event #51: $400 Colossus No-Limit Hold’em has come to an end with the final seven players set, and the top of the leaderboard is occupied by a player with no reported cashes.
Sam Laskowitz of New York seized the chip lead by shoving the turn in a big pot against bracelet winner David Jackson and never looked back, finishing Day 3 with 206,500,000 and a huge chip advantage over the rest of the final table.
Laskowitz increased his lead by busting Paul McMullin in 13th and Ryan McPherson in 12th. Once the final table began, he went all in on the river against former chip leader Jordan Pelon. He’s never cashed in a live tournament before but has already secured himself at least $66,670, and with his chip lead his eye will be firmly on the $414,490 top prize tomorrow.
Behind him is Paul Hizer of Britain, who busted Jackson in 11th place with a queen on the river and finished the day with 132,000,000. In contrast to Laskowitz, Hizer has $474,000 in live earnings, including a 31st place finish in the Millionaire Maker earlier this series.
There was a time on Day 3 when it looked like the Frenchman Pelon was unstoppable. He began the day as the massive chip leader and kept up that advantage for the better part of the day before losing that pot to Laskowitz. He still ended up with 68,000,000 and in third place for Tuesday’s final table.
Event #51: $400 Colossus Final Table Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sam Laskowitz | United States | 206,500,000 | 52 |
| 2 | Paul Hizer | United Kingdom | 132,000,000 | 33 |
| 3 | Jordan Pelon | France | 68,000,000 | 17 |
| 4 | Jeff Loiacono | United States | 56,000,000 | 14 |
| 5 | Luong Quach | United States | 38,500,000 | 9 |
| 6 | Anthony Ruttler | United States | 32,000,000 | 8 |
| 7 | James Scott | United Kingdom | 13,500,000 | 3 |
The final table is rounded out by Jeff Loiacono (56,000,000), Luong Quach (38,500,000), Anthony Ruttler (32,000,000), and short stack James Scott (13,500,000). They will return to play at 4 p.m. local time tomorrow on the main feature table inside the Bally’s Thunderdome, with action being streamed on a one-hour delay on PokerGo. There are 20 minutes remaining on Level 43, with blinds at 2,000,000-4,000,000 and a 4,000,000 big blind ante. The average stack at the final table is only 19 big blinds, with three players below 10 big blinds.
They’ve already outlasted an enormous field of 13,565 players, and by the end of the day tomorrow, there will be only one holding up the World Series of Poker bracelet. PokerNews will be on hand providing all the updates as they play down to a Colossus champion.
securing the knockout on the turn with aces-full and William Gian was eliminated in 8th place.
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to send him out in ninth place.
. Jordan Pelon in the small blind checked to Sam Laskowitz in the big blind who bet 16,500,000 which was called. 
and Pelon checked again. This time Laskowitz put the maximum pressure on by moving all in for 130,000,000, covering Pelon's stack. Pelon went deep in the tank, thinking for several minutes. Eventually Pelon released his hand and the massive pot was shipped to Laskowitz, increasing his lead even more.
hit the turn and Jackson only needed to fade the queen. The river came the 
and the flush of Laskowitz took the pot, eliminating McMullin in 13th.
and it was the end of the road for Downing as he exited in 14th place.
