It was a sign that Marco Johnson was in for a magical night on Day 3 of Event #44: $10,000 Big O Championship when he made the rarest hand in poker.
Johnson’s day included rivering a Royal Flush for a bustout as the two-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner rose to the top of the chip counts over the remaining five players. It’s been nearly a decade since Johnson won the last of his WSOP bracelets, but he’s the player to catch tomorrow as he brings 5,950,000 into the event’s final day at 1 p.m. local time.
Right behind him is a poker legend who’s already enjoyed a fruitful series. Viktor Blom finished second in the $10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship just two days ago. While he was denied his first bracelet then, Blom quickly jumped right into this tournament and is back at it for another shot, ending up in second place with 5,095,000.
Start-of-day chip leader Veerachai Vongxaiburana is in third place with 4,910,000, followed by Shawn Rice (4,865,000) and Phil Hui (3,400,000).
Final Table Seat Draw
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Veerachai Vongxaiburana | United States | 4,910,000 | 49 |
| 2 | Shawn Rice | United States | 4,865,000 | 49 |
| 3 | Marco Johnson | United States | 5,950,000 | 60 |
| 4 | Viktor Blom | Sweden | 5,095,000 | 51 |
| 5 | Phil Hui | United States | 3,400,000 | 34 |
While Johnson and 2019 PPC champion Hui have tasted WSOP success, the other three will all be in search of their first crowning moment. Rice has made 20 WSOP Circuit final tables, including finishing runner-up in the Tournament of Champions last month, but his last WSOP final table came more than two decades ago when he was second in a $2,000 No-Limit Hold’em event in 2004. Blom, the online phenom known as "Isildur1", is already at his fourth final table of the year, while Vongxaiburana is making his deepest run yet in a WSOP event.
Day 3 Action
Day 3 began with 26 players remaining out of 402 entries. Vongxaiburana was the chip leader with 2,330,000, followed by Hui (1,970,000) and Blom (1,570,000).
David Williams turned a queen-high straight on one of the first hands of the day, but Hui had made a king-high straight to send Williams quickly to the payout desk. Christopher Costa was eliminated in 25th place to set the final three tables.
James Chen (24th), Sean Troha (22nd), Quan Zhou (21st), and Arthur Morris (20th) soon followed, while Nick Schulman ran into Blom’s flopped full house to fall in 23rd. Jeff Madsen (19th) and Ben Yu (18th) also made their way to the payout desk in short succession.
Hui had received the bulk of a massive four-way all in to climb above 4,000,000 and into the chip lead. Johnson, meanwhile, was riding a short stack but began his ascent when he scooped an all-in pot against Dylan Weisman to double up. He then eliminated Matthew Beinner in 17th to move up past 2,000,000.
Johnson scored another knockout when he rivered a full house to send Calvin Anderson to the rail in 16th. Hall of Famer Erik Seidel fell in 15th, while Weisman (14th) and Tomasz Gluszko (13th) were the next to fall. Johnson then tangled with Matthew Woodward in a pot as Johnson made a Royal Flush on the river to bust Woodward in 12th. Dylan Wilkerson lost the bulk of his chips when he paid off Hui’s 1,200,000 bet on the river, then fell in 11th soon after.
Blom cracked Justin Liberto’s aces with two pair and a low to scoop a double up and leave Liberto a short stack. Liberto lasted only a few more hands until Blom finished him off in 10th. Johnson then made a wheel to scoop a big pot off Brian Battistone and eclipse 6,000,000, while Blom eliminated Edward Jackson Spivack on the final table bubble as the remaining eight players took their seats.
Johnson led 6,750,000 at the start of the final table, followed by Hui (4,850,000) and Blom (3,900,000). Battistone began in the middle of the pack but soon had his last 1,900,000 in the middle against Johnson. Johnson showed two aces against Battistone’s kings, and Battistone found no help on the board as he busted in eighth.
Johnson also eliminated Noah Kelley when he made the nut flush and a wheel to scoop the pot as Kelley had to settle for a seventh-place finish. Rice turned a straight against Blom’s set of jacks to double up, then brought the night to a close as Johnson potted to 1,400,000 and Christopher Demaci called off his last chips on the button, while Rice also called in the small blind. Rice reshoved on the flop and Johnson laid down two aces. Rice had flopped a full house and Demaci got no help on the turn and river on his way to a sixth-place finish.
The schedule called for play to end at the final five, but tournament officials gave the players the option to continue if the vote was unanimous. Rice was the lone dissenting vote and they bagged up their chips for the night.
Final Table Results/Remaining Payouts
| Place | Player | Country | Earnings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $784,353 | ||
| 2 | $522,878 | ||
| 3 | $360,711 | ||
| 4 | $253,276 | ||
| 5 | $181,069 | ||
| 6 | Christopher Demaci | United States | $131,841 |
| 7 | Noah Kelley | United States | $97,806 |
| 8 | Brian Battistone | United States | $73,950 |
Day 4 at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas will pick up at 1 p.m. local time with 10 minutes remaining in Level 27 with blinds of 50,000/100,000 and a 100,000 big blind ante. The final five have each locked up $181,069 for making it this far, while the champion tomorrow will take home $784,353.
PokerNews will be back tomorrow following all the action and providing live updates until a new Big O champion is crowned.
