Final Table of WPT Choctaw Set With Berry and Varnell on Piles
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After a weekend of play at Choctaw Casino & Resort in Oklahoma, the final table has been reached in the World Poker Tour $3,700 Main Event, with the last six players bagging up for the delayed final table in Las Vegas.
It's going to be Choctaw cashing machine Will Berry atop the counts when play resumes, as he raced ahead to bag 7,575,000, good for a whopping 189 big blinds. While Berry has had plenty of poker success with seven figures in cashes and a couple of WSOPC rings, he's yet to win his first major title and he's now just five players away from one.
His chief competition, at least in terms of chip count, is Craig Varnell. Varnell got third in this same event back in 2016 and has a WSOP bracelet to his credit, as well as a win in WPT500 in 2015, both victories netting him around $180,000.
After the two leaders, there's Nick Pupillo, followed by Trung Pham, Austin Lewis and short stack Stacey Jones.
WPT Choctaw Official Final Table
| Seat | Player | Stack | Big blinds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nick Pupillo | 3,135,000 | 78 |
| 2 | Will Berry | 7,575,000 | 189 |
| 3 | Stacey Jones | 980,000 | 25 |
| 4 | Craig Varnell | 6,230,000 | 156 |
| 5 | Austin Lewis | 2,560,000 | 64 |
| 6 | Trung Pham | 2,600,000 | 65 |
Those six players emerged from a field of 577 runners across two starting days and direct Day 2 buy-ins. Some of the players among the 74 paid included Sam Panzica, Darren Elias, Jared Jaffee, Blair Hinkle, Dylan Linde and David "The Dragon" Pham.
According to the live updates, Varnell ran up an incredibly large chip stack, surpassing 300 big blinds at the final three tables as he busted numerous players.
However, opponents began chipping away with doubles, so Varnell was unable to keep increasing his lead, holding "only" about double his nearest competitors when the final table began.
Final Table Action
Although only one player in the final nine had less than 25 big blinds, it took just 16 hands for the final six to emerge.
Eleven hands in, Dan Kloepper shoved over Pupillo's under-the-gun raise for 425,000 at 20,000/40,000/40,000. Pupillo called with ace-queen and was dominating ace-eight. The board ran out eight-free for Pupillo.
Then, Denny Tran opened for 100,000 under the gun, Berry made it 260,000 on his left and Joe Elpayaa shoved for 1,165,000. Berry called with A♠K♠ after Tran folded, and he flopped top two against Elpayaa's ladies to get it to the TV bubble.
Just a few hands later, Tran got coolered by Berry, running kings into aces for over 80 big blinds. That pot gave Berry the massive chip lead, surpassing long-time leader Varnell.
It was an unfortunate ending for Tran, who qualified in a $20 satellite held at Gardens Casino, host of a different WPT event. Still, the $59,290 cash is a massive result considering the staggeringly low investment.
Televised Final Table
The last six players will reconvene in a little over a week, on May 31 in Las Vegas at the HyperX Esports Arena at Luxor. Here's what they'll be playing for:
| Place | Prize | WPT POY Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $379,990* | 1,000 |
| 2 | $243,330 | 800 |
| 3 | $179,430 | 700 |
| 4 | $133,770 | 600 |
| 5 | $100,850 | 500 |
| 6 | $76,890 | 400 |
*includes $15,000 WPT Tournament of Champions Seat
Everyone's already been paid out sixth-place money. Tune in to the streamed and filmed final table on May 31 to see who will join the WPT Champions Club.
