World Series of Poker Main Event Final Table: Nguyen Leads Final Three, Ruzicka and Ruane Eliminated
The second day of the 2016 World Series of Poker Final Table got underway with five remaining players and the objective to get down to three. All were guaranteed over $1.9 million at the time and the pay jumps got bigger every step of the way.
It wouldn't be short-stacked Michael Ruane first to go. Instead, Vojtěch Růžička saw a big three-barrel bluff fail and would go out in fifth place. Ruane followed a little over three hours later and play was halted some 12 hands later to make it one of the shorter days in WSOP Main Event history.
Qui Nguyen is the runaway chip leader after another action-packed day. A field of 6,737 has been whittled down to just three players who'll return on Nov. 1, to battle it out for the $8 million first-place prize and coveted WSOP bracelet.
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Qui Nguyen | United States | 197,600,000 | 165 |
| 2 | Cliff Josephy | United States | 50,000,000 | 42 |
| 3 | Gordon Vayo | United States | 89,000,000 | 74 |
Ruane started out as the shortest player battling it out, but that would soon all change. In the fourth hand of the day, Ruane found a double through start-of-day chip leader Nguyen. The two got it in before the flop in a button (Nguyen) versus big blind (Ruane) situation with the former holding pocket sixes while the latter had pocket eights. A board full of blanks later had Ruane double his chips to get right back in it.
Vojtěch Růžička Eliminated in 5th Place ($1,935,288)
While the chips were a bit more evenly divided after the double-up of Ruane, the action wouldn't slow down one bit after that. In fact, one of the biggest hands of the tournament took place three hands later as Růžička three-bet and three-barreled a board he entirely missed holding ace-king. Gordon Vayo had been the initial raiser and he called all three streets with a flopped set of eights as well to score a full double.
Růžička was down to under a single big blind after that 108-million pot and hit the rail the next hand. He got it in with ace-seven against the ace-queen of Nguyen, and while he picked up a ton of outs along the way, Růžička ultimately ended up short and made his exit in fifth place for $1,935,288.
Růžička said he was happy with his play on the final table and gracefully accepted praise on his reads on Day 1, though he jokingly admitted they didn't work all that much on the second day of play. Růžička said he was planning on playing a lot more tournaments going forward with, among others, plans to go to the WSOP Circuit at King's Casino Rozvadov, his first destination after returning home.
"That would be nice," he smiled as someone predicted he would win the WSOP Europe at that very same King's Casino next year.
Michael Ruane Eliminated in 4th Place ($2,576,003)
With Růžička out, the four remaining players didn't put on the brakes. If anything, they fired up the engine a bit more and big pots were seen just about every other hand. On top of that, the action was as quick as on Day 1, making for a very entertaining final table to watch, according to many of the railbirds tweeting along with the action.
Having doubled early on, Ruane would still be the next to go. After failing to improve in a big hand where he flopped a pair, gutshot and flush draw against a leading Cliff Josephy, Ruane was down to just 25 big blinds. He never got things going after that, eventually moving in with king-queen suited. Qui Nguyen called with ace-jack and the board brought nothing but blanks for Ruane to see him go out in fourth place.
While the initial plan was to halt play once down to three players, the three remaining players did continue on for some 12 more hands before play was done for the day. Nguyen, Vayo and Josephy return Nov. 1 at 4 p.m. local time to play down to a winner.
| Position | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $8,005,310 | ||
| 2 | $4,661,228 | ||
| 3 | $3,453,035 | ||
| 4 | Michael Ruane | United States | $2,576,003 |
| 5 | Vojtěch Růžička | Czech Republic | $1,935,288 |
| 6 | Kenny Hallaert | Belgium | $1,464,258 |
| 7 | Griffin Benger | Canada | $1,250,190 |
| 8 | Jerry Wong | United States | $1,100,076 |
| 9 | Fernando Pons | Spain | $1,000,000 |
* Photos courtesy of Jayne Furman, WSOP.com
