Kevin MacPhee Looking for Back-to-Back WSOP Europe Main Event Wins, Maria Ho Leads, Restart at Noon
There are 12 players remaining in the WSOP Europe Main Event including defending champion Kevin MacPhee. MacPhee will have some work to do entering the day as the second shortest stack (1,060,000) when play resumes at noon Thursday.
Maria Ho leads the way with 3,850,000 and is seeking her first WSOP gold bracelet and major title. She spent the middle portion of the tournament griding a medium to short stack and found her footing after she made a controversial fold against Niall Farrell.
Ho had pocket tens in the big blind and the action before her was pretty intense. Rainer Kempe opened from the hijack and Kristen Bicknell called from the button. Farrell three-bet and Ho called from the big. Kempe and Bicknell both called as well. The flop was jack high all hearts and Ho flopped a set. She folded after Farrell went all in for about 1,000,000. Ho's fold seemed to catapult her through to the end of the night as she continued to climb and almost bag a chip lead of almost half a million.
Farrell was the one who closed the gap at the end of the night earning a double elimination. He got all in against two players, each of them held an ace. Farrell had the bigger ace and when each player failed to improve, Farrell won the hand.
Below is the seating chart for play today. The current plan is to play until six players today and return tomorrow to complete the tournament. Each of the remaining players is guaranteed €58,455 and the winner will take home €1,115,207 and the WSOP Europe Main Event title along with the WSOP gold bracelet.
2017 WSOPE Main Event Day 5 Seat Assignments
| Table | Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40 | 1 | Gianluca Speranza | Italy | 1,070,000 | 27 |
| 40 | 2 | Jack Salter | United Kingdom | 2,125,000 | 53 |
| 40 | 4 | Robert Bickley | United Kingdom | 2,885,000 | 72 |
| 40 | 6 | Luis Rodriguez | Spain | 2,020,000 | 51 |
| 40 | 7 | Andrei Boghean | Romania | 1,900,000 | 48 |
| 40 | 8 | Mathijs Jonkers | Netherlands | 1,850,000 | 46 |
| 41 | 2 | Marc MacDonnell | Ireland | 505,000 | 13 |
| 41 | 4 | Marti Roca De Torres | Spain | 3,260,000 | 82 |
| 41 | 5 | Kevin MacPhee | United States | 1,060,000 | 27 |
| 41 | 6 | Maria Ho | United States | 3,850,000 | 96 |
| 41 | 7 | Stepan Osinovski | Russia | 2,360,000 | 59 |
| 41 | 8 | Niall Farrell | United Kingdom | 3,575,000 | 89 |