Jeremy Harkin Leads Stacked Final 15 in Dealer's Choice
Welcome back to the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino and the 2018 World Series of Poker for Day 3 of Event #12: $1,500 Dealer's Choice!
Two days ago, 406 entrants took a seat in this event to set the record for total players mainly due to the new allowance of one re-entry. Previous champions David Bach, Carol Fuchs, and Lawrence Berg all fell to the rail on Day 1 as just 112 would survive the day's play.
Returning on Day 2, the action would play at an intense rate with the money reached fairly early before Aaron Steury (61st), Allen Kessler (60th), Martin Staszko (58th), Richard Ashby (47th), John Monnette (46th), Brandon Cantu (44th), Justin Young (40th), David Prociak (36th), Ben Yu (29th), Tony Cousineau (28th), Layne Flack (25th), Josh Arieh (23rd), and Tommy Hang (17th) all exited shy of Day 3.
Leading the remaining 15 players is Jeremy Harkin who roared to the top of the leaderboard following a double in the pot-limit Omaha rotation against Chris Klodnicki. Harkin held a wrap on the flop against Klodnicki's set, and when the straight filled on the turn, Harkin faded clubs and the board pairing to double into the chip lead before bagging 502,500.
Two-time WSOP bracelet winner Frankie O'Dell (373,000), Brayden Gazlay (323,500), and George Trigeorgis (313,000) are the only other players over the 300,000-chip mark. Multiple WSOP bracelet winners still remain with Mike Leah (227,000), John Hennigan (169,000), Chris Vitch (143,500), Jeff Lisandro (137,000), Klodnicki (136,000), and Chris Bolek (122,500) all still in contention, along with actor James Woods (170,500).
Players are currently guaranteed $5,238 while an appearance at the final table of six will earn them $16,589. However it is the $129,882 first prize that everyone has their eyes on, along with the coveted WSOP gold bracelet and title of Event #12 Champion.
Play is set to resume at 2:00 p.m. (PDT) with the final 15 playing down until the Event #12 Champion is crowned. The PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be on the floor providing continuous live updates of all the Event #12 action, so stay tuned right here to PokerNews so you don't miss any action from this event, and the rest of the 2018 WSOP!