Defending Champ Eliot Hudon Out; Naj Ajez Leads WPT World Championship
During the Day 3 session, we asked the question, will there be a repeat winner in the World Poker Tour (WPT) World Championship. That answer is no after Eliot Hudon, the defending champion, was eliminated late in the day in 186th place for $27,000.
Hudon won it last year for $4.1 million, beating out 2,960 entrants in the first edition of the WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas.
He moved all in with K♥J♥ and a short stack against the A♠Q♣ held by Ardit Kurshumi. No improvement for either hand came on the board, and that was the end of the title defense.
WPT World Championship Day 3 Recap
The defending champion is out, but there are still ( xxx ) players with a shot at the $5,678,000 first place prize, the most anyone in the 3,835-entrant field will take home. One possibility as to who will be crowned champion on Dec. 21 is Daniel Sepiol, who is one of a number of players to win some thrilling hands late in Sunday's session.
Sepiol, a Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) champion, was all in preflop for about 2.4 million chips with A♥J♣ against the K♥K♦ of Davidi Kitai. The board would run out J♣3♠2♣J♥A♦, giving Sepiol a full house to suck out, and it brought him up to around 100 big blinds late in the session. Kitai, on the other hand, was left with a small stack.
At the end of the five-level session, Naj Ajez finished with the largest stack at 11,435,000 chips. He built that big of a stack thanks to playing the largest pot of the tournament to date late on Day 3 when he won a race to double through Maxime Chilaud.
2023 WPT World Championship Day 3 Top Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Naj Ajez | 11,435,000 |
| 2 | Artur Martirosian | 10,930,000 |
| 3 | Andres Campero | 10,535,000 |
| 4 | Ankit Ahuja | 8,465,000 |
| 5 | Mario Navarro | 7,625,000 |
| 6 | Mark Mounsey | 7,520,000 |
| 7 | Kristen Foxen | 7,260,000 |
| 8 | Paulius Vaitiekunas | 7,240,000 |
| 9 | Chris Moorman | 7,120,000 |
Chance Kornuth, however, had his run stopped just short of Day 4 when he was eliminated in 137th place ($34,100). Other notables to bust on Day 3 include Jason Somerville (140th for $34,100), Hossein Ensan (144th for $34,100), Chris Hunichen (155th for $31,300), Lynn Gilmartin (454th for $18,700), and David Williams (468th for $18,700).
Day 4 begins Monday at noon PT with 132 players remaining. The blinds will jump to 40,000/80,000 (80,000 big blind ante) when play resumes. A complete list of chip counts will be available in the morning.
*Image courtesy of World Poker Tour.