Maria Ho Bags Chip Lead Again with Six Remaining in WSOPE Main Event
There are six players remaining in the 2017 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event and Maria Ho has once again bagged the chip lead at the King's Casino in Rozvadov, Czech Republic. During the middle portions of play on Thursday, Ho extended her lead to almost 5,000,000 but as the evening went on and the shorter stacks started to shove, she fell back closer to the field.
Marti Roca De Torres gained the most ground and bagged only 620,000 less than Ho going to the final day. Roca De Torres is an 888poker online qualifier and he won his spot in the tournament for a little over $200. He is already guaranteed a massive return on his investment — all six remaining players are guaranteed at least $174,365 — but he is definitely in a good spot to make a run at the title entering the final day second in chips.
Here is the seating chart and the end of day chip counts for the final day of the 2017 WSOPE Main Event:
| Seat | Player | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Niall Farrell | United Kingdom | 3,025,000 | 30 |
| 2 | Gianluca Speranza | Italy | 4,400,000 | 40 |
| 3 | Maria Ho | United States | 7,830,000 | 78 |
| 4 | Robert Bickley | United Kingdom | 1,085,000 | 11 |
| 5 | Mathijs Jonkers | Netherlands | 2,785,000 | 28 |
| 6 | Marti Roca De Torres | Spain | 7,260,000 | 72 |
Ho will enter the day with the chip lead for the third day in a row, but said that it's too early to get excited about the possibility of winning her first bracelet — she will get excited if she wins. Her confidence is high and she spoke about it after bagging the top stack.
In regards to her set of tens fold in a hand against Niall Farrell on Day 4, one that several people have commented on over the last few days, she said, "I made a decision that I thought was the right decision even thought it might not have been G-T-O."
She says it is important to feel comfortable with the decisions she makes, especially when those decisions are made in front of an online audience.
The final day of the WSOPE marks the end of a great series at King's Casino in Rozvadov, Czech Republic. The final six players represent four different countries and three of them hail from the United Kingdom. Niall Farrell is one of the players from the UK and he has already had a successful series, earning his first WSOP gold bracelet in the €25,000 No-Limit High Roller. He enters the day fourth in chips, but is excited to be through to Day 6.
The defending champion, Kevin MacPhee, entered Day 5 with hopes of successfully defending his title, but he ended up busting in tenth place. It was a wild end to the tournament for him after he rivered a one-outer to survive a huge all in against Marc MacDonnell (11th place), but then couldn't dodge Ho's combo draw when he got kings all in on the turn. He made a set on the river, but Ho made a king-high straight and sent MacPhee home before the final table.
Luis Rodriguez, Jack Salter, Andrei Boghean, and Stepan Osinovski were all eliminated on Day 5, with Salter's elimination ending the day.
The players return Friday at noon local time to play down to a winner with 48 minutes left at blinds of 50,000/100,000 and a running ante of 15,000, and PokerNews will be here providing hand-for-hand coverage in conjunction with the live stream until the newest WSOPE Main Event champion is crowned.
