Samuel Stranak bet 175,000 on the flops from early position. Yang Wang called in the hijack, and chipleader Xixiang Luo check-called under the gun. After a second check by Luo, Stranak upped the ante to 700,000 on the turns.
Wang then moved in his stack of around 1,800,000, folding out Luo. Stranak quickly called, however, revealing the cards.
Yang Wang: A♦Q♦7♥5♣
Samuel Stranak: K♠6♣5♦3♦
Wang was scooping with a straight on both boards but the bottom river bailed Stranak out somewhat, making him the same straight as Wang.
Stranak cut out half of Wang's stack from his own, seeing it being shipped to his opponent.
Just 13 players remain in the hunt for gold from the 1452-player field as Event #24: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Double Board Bomb Pot at the 2025 World Series of Poker plays down to a winner today at Horseshoe and Paris, Las Vegas. Each of them is now guaranteed a five-figure payout of $14,748 from the $1,927,530 prize pool, but all eyes are on the $290,400 top prize and a prestigious WSOP gold bracelet.
Final day chip leader is Xixiang Luo (5,630,0000) who is a seasoned professional with two WSOP bracelets and over $4,000,000 in live earnings and with multiple deep runs on poker’s biggest stage, he’s once again in contention and looking to add another gold bracelet to his growing WSOP legacy. Luo captured a bracelet in the $1,500 NLHE/PLO Bomb Pot last year and now he’s coming for another world championship just in a slightly different format.
Just behind Luo by 60,000 chips is Slovakian PLO specialist Samuel Stranak (5,570,000), having made his mark with a WSOP bracelet win in the 2021 in the $1,000 PLO event for $116,056. Although he only has $400,000 in earnings he is known for his methodical approach and ability to navigate complex multi-way pots, and with a deep understanding of the four-card game Stranak will be looking for his second bracelet and a new all-time high score.
Completing the front runners is Brian Smith (5,195,000) from the United States who will be looking for his first bracelet and new high score. Although Smith has less than $100,000 in earnings do not underestimate his experience as his first cash was recorded in 2010. Smith will be looking to lean on his experience competing in international fields to navigate his way to the final table then to glory of being crowned WSOP champion.
Brian Smith
Day 3 Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
1
Xixiang Luo
China
5,630,000
2
Samuel Stranak
Slovakia
5,570,000
3
Brian Smith
United States
5,195,000
4
Ian Matakis
United States
3,470,000
5
Robert Klein
United States
3,150,000
6
Yang Wang
China
2,630,000
7
Robert Nehorayan
United States
2,235,000
8
Georgios Tsoupras
Greece
1,870,000
9
Bjorn Verbakel
Netherlands
1,845,000
10
Jacob Baumgartner
United States
1,590,000
11
Danny Wong
United States
1,375,000
12
Matthew Tamura
United States
1,290,000
13
Arvan Sahakian
United States
460,000
Remaining Payouts
Place
Prize
Place
Prize
1
$290,400
8
$30,756
2
$193,517
9
$23,735
3
$137,805
10
$18,576
4
$99,413
11
$18,576
5
$72,664
12-13
$14,748
6
$53,824
7
$40,410
The final 13 players will return to the felt at 12 p.m. local time on Sunday, where play will begin at Level 26 with a 60,000 ante per player. Levels will continue to be 60 minutes in length, and action will continue until a winner is crowned.
Be sure to stay tuned to PokerNews for full coverage of this and every WSOP bracelet event here in Las Vegas.
