Hoenig Back on Top as Final Three Need Overtime to Crown $10,000 Dealers Choice Champion
Stud Games: 20,000 Ante, 20,000 Bring-In, 80,000 Completion 80,000-160,000 Limits
No-Limit & Pot-Limit: 40,000/60,000 Ante, 20,000-40,000 Blinds
An early whistle blew on Day 3 of Event #18: $10,000 Dealers Choice with Ryan Hoenig finding himself in an all-too familiar position: atop the chip counts.
Hoenig bagged the chip lead for the third straight day as three players will need an extra day to crown a champion. Hoenig finished with 4,995,000, while Dylan Smith (2,220,000) and Philip Sternheimer (1,910,000) will try to track him down once play resumes tomorrow at 1 p.m. local time.
Day 3 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Bets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ryan Hoenig | United States | 4,995,000 | 25 |
| 2 | Dylan Smith | United States | 2,220,000 | 11 |
| 3 | Philip Sternheimer | United Kingdom | 1,910,000 | 10 |
All three players are seeking their first World Series of Poker bracelet. Hoenig has come the closest, finishing runner-up in the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo event in 2023. Smith has three previous WSOP final tables, including fourth place in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship last year, while Sternheimer has lasted this far in a WSOP event in 2013, when he finished third in the $2,500 10-Game Mix event.
Day 3 began with 14 players remaining out of a starting field of 152. Danish poker legend Gus Hansen was in search of his first WSOP final table since 2011 but was the first to fall, getting his short stack in against Nick Guagenti in Pot-Limit Omaha as Guagenti made a flush to bust Hansen in 14th place. Hoenig then made an 8-5 to bust Allan Le in 13th and bring the field down to the last two tables.
Guagenti (12th) and Bariscan Betil (11th) were the next to head to the payout desk, while Andrew Kelsall, who at one point yesterday was forced all in blind on the money bubble, had his chip-and-a-chair story end in tenth place. Dan Zack was eliminated in ninth when Smith scooped a Badeucy pot, while Jon Turner fell in eighth to set the seven-handed final table.
Smith had taken the chip lead at the start of the final table with 1,800,000, followed by Sternheimer with 1,790,000 and Hoenig at 1,430,000. It took nearly three hours and two full levels before the final table witnessed its first bustout, and it happened to be three-time WSOP champion Adam Friedman. Friedman got in his last chips in playing Stud Hi-Lo against Matthew Vengrin, who had trip fives that were good enough to win the pot and bust Friedman in seventh place.
Smith made an 8-5-3-2-A in Razz to bust two-time bracelet winner Brandon Cantu in sixth, while Hoenig flopped trip eights in Big O to send Vengrin to the rail in fifth.
Dario Alioto, who was left short-stacked after a Stud Hi-Lo confrontation with Hoenig, doubled up once but then got his last 375,000 in against Sternheimer in Big O. Sternheimer hit two pair on the flop and Alioto couldn’t catch up as the Italian bracelet winner finished in fourth place.
Sternheimer made an 8-5 against Smith to leave Smith on a short stack, but Smith then managed to crack Sternheimer’s aces by flopping trips to double up to more than 1,500,000. On the last hand of the night, Hoenig picked off Sternheimer’s 500,000 river bet with a set of fives to win a massive pot and end up atop the leaderboard yet again.
Final Table Results/Remaining Payouts
| Place | Player | Country | Earnings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $354,444 | ||
| 2 | $230,374 | ||
| 3 | $154,460 | ||
| 4 | Dario Alioto | Italy | $106,935 |
| 5 | Matthew Vengrin | United States | $76,525 |
| 6 | Brandon Cantu | United States | $56,671 |
The action picks up Friday on Level 25 with no-limit blinds of 25,000/50,000 and limits of 100,000/200,000. The three remaining players are guaranteed $154,460, while the champion takes home $354,444.
PokerNews will be back following all the action as the Dealers Choice final table goes into overtime tomorrow until a new mixed-game master is crowned.