The final day of Event #67: $300 Gladiators of Poker No-Limit Hold'em begins on Monday afternoon at 1 p.m., with just 13 players left from the 24,629 that entered across four Day 1 flights. They will be returning to Horseshoe and Paris, Las Vegas for a third time to fight for a share of the whopping $4,017,179 prize pool that has been generated from said entries, with $420,680 being handed out to the eventual victor.
Each player has already locked up a score of $30,120, which is a career-high live cash for the majority of the returning players. That includes chip leader Yuanzhi Cao (106,300,000), who will certainly be aiming to lock up more than six figures by putting his 42 big blinds to use. Just behind him, Manuel Reyes(101,500,000) will also be going home with a new personal best live cash, which will improve with each player that he outlasts.
That being said, the biggest name left in the field is none other than Roland Israelashvili (34,000,000), a man that the other players in the field will certainly have to be wary of. Israelashvili is currently third in the list of all-time WSOP cashes, and with this tournament included, he inches all the closer to the star-studded top two, Phil Hellmuth and Daniel Negreanu. Will Israelashvili’s experience and longevity help him to double his bracelet tally, or will the chip deficit be too much to overcome?
Only a single Day 1 chip leader remains in contention on Day 3. Joseph Butler (IN), who came out on top at the end of Day 1c, has bagged up 97,000,000 chips following Day 2, meaning he’ll come into the last day third in chips, with just under 39 big blinds. Ramond Takhsh (27,500,000) could be considered as somewhat of an underdog, as even if he his the first to vacate, he will have more than octupled his career live earnings. If he manages to take his 11 big blinds further than that, he can multiply them by well over 100, as well as take down the bracelet.
Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yuanzhi Cao | United States | 106,300,000 | 43 |
| 2 | Manuel Reyes | United States | 101,500,000 | 41 |
| 3 | Joseph Butler (IN) United States | 97,000,000 | 39 | |
| 4 | Sang Sim | United States | 91,000,000 | 36 |
| 5 | Santiago Moises | Argentina | 62,000,000 | 25 |
| 6 | Timothy Thorp | United States | 61,000,000 | 24 |
| 7 | Albert Felarca | United States | 42,200,000 | 17 |
| 8 | Jesus Rodriguez (CA) | United States | 36,000,000 | 14 |
| 9 | Roland Israelashvili | United States | 34,000,000 | 14 |
| 10 | Ken Takayama | Japan | 28,500,000 | 11 |
The remaining competitors will take their seats in Horseshoe Gold as play begins at Level 41, with blinds at 1,000,000/2,500,000, alongside a 2,500,000 big blind ante. Play will not end until a winner is confirmed, meaning one of the remaining 13 hopefuls will be going home with a new golden bracelet before the day is up. Action will be streamed by PokerGO when just 7 players remain.
Stay tuned to PokerNews as live updates are offered from the moment a card is dealt, through to the champions being crowned.
