Lucky Chewy Catches Fire to Lead Stacked WPT World Championship Final Table
The World Poker Tour (WPT) World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas started with 3,835 entrants, and on Tuesday just 16 players returned for Day 6 action. By the end of the night, the final table of six was established.
The player in the best spot to make a run at the $5,678,000 first-place prize is Andrew “Lucky Chewy” Lichtenberger, who bagged a big chip lead with 148,200,000 (124 bb). While he has a WPT Alpha8 title on his poker résumé, Lichtenberger is looking to claim his first WPT Main Tour title.
“I would say in myself, I’m really just making sure that I’m energized enough to be able to think clearly about my decisions,” Lichtenberger told the WPT earlier in the day. “Not get too overly excited, because there’s still a long way to go, and just trying to stay even keeled. And yeah, I guess I’m looking for that in my opponents as well. There’s such an interesting dynamic as it gets deeper, where fatigue can set in.”
WPT World Championship Final Table Chip Counts
| Seat | Player | Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ben Heath | 36,700,000 | 31 bb |
| 2 | Andrew Lichtenbeger | 148,200,000 | 124 bb |
| 3 | Dan Sepiol | 34,300,000 | 29 bb |
| 4 | Artur Martirosian | 29,400,000 | 25 bb |
| 5 | Georgios Sotiropoulos | 46,200,000 | 39 bb |
| 6 | Chris Moorman | 88,300,000 | 74 bb |
According to live updates from the tournament, Lichtenberger was on a heater for a good part of the day, which included a big double after flopping a set of fives.
Not long after, there was a board that read A♦K♠K♥A♠K♦, and Ben Jacobs, who had started the day as chip leader, decided to bluff at it. Unfortunately for him, Lichtenberger held the fourth king and picked up a healthy pot.
Minutes later, Lichtenberger looked down at pocket aces on the button and put in a raise. An unsuspecting John Richards then jammed from the small blind with king-ten suited and an ace on the flop would promptly seal his fate in 10th place for $566,900. That brought about the final table of nine players.
Lichtenberg eliminated Jacobs shortly thereafter. It happened on Hand #26 of the final table in Level 34 (600,000/1,200,000/1,200,000). That is when Jacobs jammed his last 14.2 million with two black kings and Lichtenberger called with ace-queen suits. An ace appeared on the flop and that was all she wrote for Jacobs, who took home $566,900 for his ninth-place finish.
On Hand #34 in the same level, Moorman raised to 21 million from the small blind and essentially put Carl Shaw, who was in the big blind, to the test. Shaw jammed for 23.8 million and Moorman called the additional 2.8 million with the 10♦9♦.
He was behind the A♦K♦ of Shaw, but Moorman locked it up with a turned straight after the board ran out 8♦6♣6♥7♣K♥. Shaw had to settle for seventh place and $928,900 while the final six players bagged for the night. The remaining six players are guaranteed $1,207,000 in prize money and action will resume with 61 minutes remaining in Level 34 (600,000/1,200,000/1,200,000).
WPT World Championship Day 6 Eliminations
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 7 | Carl Shaw | $928,900 |
| 8 | Mark Mounsey | $721,600 |
| 9 | Ben Jacobs | $566,900 |
| 10 | John Richards | $566,900 |
| 11 | Maxime Chilaud | $456,500 |
| 12 | Jason Min | $456,500 |
| 13 | Ade Olonoh | $363,300 |
| 14 | Paulius Vaitiekunas | $363,300 |
| 15 | Henrique Zanetti | $291,700 |
| 16 | Raphael Blouet | $291,700 |
The seventh and final day of the tournament, which will be livestreamed, will take place at 4 p.m. local time on Thursday and play down to a winner. Cards-up coverage and commentary will be on a 30-minute security delay. Once again, PokerNews will publish a recap after play concludes for the day.
*Images courtesy of WPT.