A player jammed his last 11,300 in from the cutoff, and Daniel Dombrowski made the call on the button.
Opponent: 
Daniel Dombrowksi: 
"Lots of chops," Dobrowski told his opponent. The 
board would not provide a chop, however, and Dombrowski's five-kicker earned him the elimination.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
78,000
62,000
|
62,000 |
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
110,000
45,000
|
45,000 |
|
97,000
14,000
|
14,000 |
|
95,000
62,500
|
62,500 |
|
79,500
46,500
|
46,500 |
|
|
79,500
8,500
|
8,500 |
|
78,000
41,500
|
41,500 |
|
77,000
48,800
|
48,800 |
|
70,000
15,000
|
15,000 |
|
58,000
8,000
|
8,000 |
|
55,700
-28,300
|
-28,300 |
|
49,000
49,000
|
49,000 |
|
49,000
9,000
|
9,000 |
|
47,000
-8,000
|
-8,000 |
|
37,000
-38,000
|
-38,000 |
|
|
33,100
-9,300
|
-9,300 |
|
30,500
-23,200
|
-23,200 |
|
30,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
|
|
29,000
1,000
|
1,000 |
|
22,500
-1,200
|
-1,200 |
|
|
Busted |
Kevin Saul had his last 20,000 in chips at risk preflop against Byron Ziebell, and was in prime position to double up.
Kevin Saul: 
Byron Ziebell: 
Ziebell was able to spike a set on the 
flop, and Saul failed to find a king on the 
turn and 
river to bust.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
90,000
22,000
|
22,000 |
|
Busted | |
|
||
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
189,000
9,000
|
9,000 |
|
130,500
-16,500
|
-16,500 |
|
125,000
2,000
|
2,000 |
|
92,000
-18,000
|
-18,000 |
|
||
|
91,100
23,100
|
23,100 |
|
88,500
35,000
|
35,000 |
|
85,000
58,800
|
58,800 |
|
|
||
|
79,000
26,000
|
26,000 |
|
72,000
25,000
|
25,000 |
|
64,000
40,800
|
40,800 |
|
|
||
|
58,000
5,900
|
5,900 |
|
44,000
13,000
|
13,000 |
|
32,600
2,600
|
2,600 |
|
29,000
9,500
|
9,500 |
|
29,000 | |
|
|
||
|
28,900
-58,100
|
-58,100 |
|
26,000 | |
|
|
||
|
24,000
24,000
|
24,000 |
|
|
17,000
-3,000
|
-3,000 |
|
14,600
14,600
|
14,600 |
|
10,100
-5,200
|
-5,200 |
Jorden Helstern had his last 26,200 in preflop from the button, and was in bad shape against a player in middle position.
Jorden Helstern: 
Opponent: 
Helstern got a little help on the 
flop, and drilled the 
on the turn, giving him an unbeatable straight. He improved further to a flush on the 
river, and he earned the double.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
58,000
23,800
|
23,800 |
While PokerNews is here offering live updates from the Main Event, we’d be remiss if we didn’t tell you about the full schedule of side events that have been playing out over the past week at the World Series of Poker Circuit Potawatomi.
In Event #8: $400 NLH Monster Stack, 610 runners created a $201,300 prize pool that was paid out to the top 92 players. Among those to cash but fall short of the official final table were Brian Davis (10th- $1,718), Cody Brinn (11th - $2,857), Byron Zievell (15th - $2,328), Brady Roth (20th - $1,610), Oleh Ferkalyuk (27th - $1,178) and John Sun (28th - $1,029).
In the end, it was Wisconsin native Jason Farkas who collected every chip in play to win his first gold ring along with a $38,039 payday.
The largest starting field was whittled down to just 24 players by the end of Day 1. Farkas made it through with 355,000 but on the very first hand of Day 2, dropped down to just 30,000 after losing with ace-nine against would be second-place finisher, Alec McClintock, holding king-ten.
“This was a long day,” Farkas stated. “I worked a half-day and have only slept three maybe four hours the last two days.”
The sleep deprived Farkas was down to just one big blind but somehow did made it through his chip and a chair moment, running it up to 3,450,000 and took the overall chip lead into the unofficial final table. It was a slow start once players took to their seats, but bodies started dropping one-by-one to six handed play where Farkas was relinquished from his chip lead dropping down to 1,450,000.
It was here where Farkas would go on a heater, eliminating ring winner Steve Buell in sixth-place and then getting a double-up holding ace’s against McClintock holding pocket tens.
Farkas continued to catch hands eliminating Tim Schutt and Mary Gambotz in back-to-back hands holding pocket kings, then pocket jacks.
Three-handed action saw Farkas hold over 12,000,000 of the 18,000,000 chips in play, but he lost his final table chip lead once more to his nemesis McClintock. First after being dominated holding king-jack against McClintock’s king-queen, then Farkas doubled-up McClintock again in a coin flip.
The three-way battled continued as Farkas caught a few more hands to regain his chip lead leaving ring winner James Burns no choice but to get his short-stack in the middle but he couldn’t connect on the runout ending his tournament in third-place.
The heads-up battle lasted all but two hands after McClintock jammed his short stack in the middle getting snap-called by Farkas holding aces. McClintock was in rough shape holding king-nine and couldn’t find any help ending his tournament run in second place.
It was a fitting defeat for Farkas to eliminate the person who left him with a chip and a chair at the beginning of the day.
“This is such a sweet feeling,” Farkas stated after his win. “I’ve been playing poker forever. I made my first trip out to the World Series in 2006, so this win has been a long time coming and I’m honestly just on cloud nine right now.”
Even though Farkas has been playing poker for fourteen years, his tournament success hasn’t started until recently, amassing just under $50,000 in his last four cashes dating back to 2018 and was full of emotion after his win.
“It was really special having my brother Jeremey here with me,” Farkas stated.
“He has always been a big supporter of mine and we talk poker all the time but now with this win I passed him on the family leaderboard for earnings which I have been chasing for a while,” Farkas said with a joking smile.
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jason Farkas | Racine, WI | $38,039 |
| 2 | Alec McClintock | Lake In The Hills, IL | $23,509 |
| 3 | James Burns | Smyrna, TN | $17,286 |
| 4 | Mary Gambotz | Schaumburg, IL | $12,867 |
| 5 | Tim Schutt | Colono, IL | $9,697 |
| 6 | Steve Buell | Green Bay, WI | $7,401 |
| 7 | Robert Peppe | Brooklyn Center, MN | $5,721 |
| 8 | Brian Morey | Little Canada, MN | $4,479 |
| 9 | Geremi Wicinski | Antioch, IL | $3,554 |
Level: 11
Blinds: 600/1,200
Ante: 1,200
Ken Donarski raised to 3,000 from the cutoff, and Michael Younan three-bet to 11,000 on the button. Allen "The Chainsaw" Kessler called off his last 6,100 from the small blind, and Donarski called.
Donarski bet 25,000 on the 
flop, and Younan folded, awarding Donarski the side pot.
"I hope you have jacks," Kessler told Donarski.
Ken Donarski: 
Allen Kessler: 
"Oh my God, I'm way ahead!" Kessler exclaimed.
Kessler's joy was short-lived, however, as Donarski's flush draw came in immediately on the 
turn, leaving Kessler dead to the river.
"How's that happen? Impossible!" Kessler said before leaving the table.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
142,500 | |
|
|
Busted |
Jeremy Brown raised to 2,700 from the hijack, then called a three-bet shove for 12,900 from an opponent on the button.
Opponent:
Jeremy Brown: 
Both players found a pair on the 
flop, but Brown's pair of tens held the lead. Brown locked the hand up when the fell on the turn, and he started pulling back his chips before the 
fell on the river.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
125,000
33,900
|
33,900 |
Joseph Reiman and Nick Pupillo each invested 12,600 to see a 
flop fall, and Reiman checked from under the gun. Pupillo bet 9,500, and Reiman called.
Reiman checked again on the turn, and Pupillo bet 16,500. Reiman check-raised to 34,000, and Pupillo folded. Reiman tabled his 
before raking in the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
210,000
210,000
|
210,000 |
|
|
45,000
-40,000
|
-40,000 |
|
|
||