The unofficial nine-handed final table of the 2018 World Series of Poker Event #31: $1,500 Seven Card Stud is set and four former bracelet winners made it through in Chris Ferguson, Jeff Lisandro, Michael Moore and Frankie O'Dell. The lion's share of the $418,500 prize pool is still up for grabs and all nine hopefuls have already locked up $6,451, the winner can look forward to the elusive gold bracelet and a payday of $105,629.
Moore leads the way with a stack of 485,000, followed by Ferguson (325,000) and Lisandro (291,000). The other finalists include Paul Sexton (276,000), Steven Albini (270,000), Katherine Fleck (226,000), Esther Rossi (186,000), Stephen Rivers (143,000) and O'Dell (74,000). It is the second Day 3 for Fleck in a few days time, as she finished 16th in Event #27: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship and also has a 4th place in Event #49: $1,500 Seven-Card Stud at the 2016 WSOP to her name.
"The WSOP is the best time of the year, you get to play for a bracelet," O'Dell said in the late stages of the day and that's what he will be doing once again at the 2018 WSOP. O'Dell has two bracelets to his name and finished runner-up in Event #12: $1,500 Dealers Choice 6-Handed, then cashed in Event #25: $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better.
While the two-time WSOP bracelet winner may be the shortest stack among the nine finalists with just under four big bets, an early double up may very well put mixed game specialist O'Dell right back into contention. The action is set to resume at 2 p.m. local time on Saturday, June 16th, 2018, with level 21 and limits of 10,000/20,000.
Seat Assignments for the Final Day
| Seat | Player | Country | Chips | Big Bets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stephen Rivers | United States | 143,000 | 7 |
| 2 | Paul Sexton | United States | 276,000 | 14 |
| 3 | Esther Rossi | United States | 186,000 | 9 |
| 4 | Katherine Fleck | United States | 226,000 | 11 |
| 5 | Chris Ferguson | United States | 325,000 | 16 |
| 6 | Frankie O'Dell | United States | 74,000 | 4 |
| 7 | Jeff Lisandro | Australia | 291,000 | 14 |
| 8 | Steven Albini | United States | 270,000 | 13 |
| 9 | Michael Moore | United States | 485,000 | 24 |
Action of the Day
Only 82 players out of a 310-entry strong field returned to the tables of the Rio All-Suites Hotel & Casino and almost half of the hopefuls had to leave empty-handed, as just the top 47 spots were paid. Among the big names to bust before the money were Barbara Enright, Scott Bohlman, Carol Fuchs, Brandon Shack-Harris, Tom McEvoy and Cory Zeidman. It was a rough beat for Zeidman, who lost all but one big bet with the spades nut flush against the straight flush of Maxwell Troy in one of the memorable early hands.
On the money bubble, Danny Scott got it in with two pair, aces and jacks, only to see Robert Campbell look him up with a set of eights. Two blanks later, the bubble had burst and the min-cash of $2,250 was secured. Adam Friedman was the first to bust in the money and he was quickly followed by such big names as Ben Yu (45th - $2,250), Shirley Rosario (40th - $2,398), Dzmitry Urbanovich (37th - $2,398) and Kevin Ioacofano (35th - $2,398).
After the eliminations of Mark Radoja and Ashton Griffin, the redraw of the final three tables was reached before the dinner break at the end of the sixth level of the day. Perry Friedman (21st - $2,982) was ousted in a big three-way all in with a set of tens against the straight of Julien Martini and the higher straight of Troy. Martini's bid to win a second bracelet at the 2018 WSOP came to an end in 17th place after he had to forfeit the vast majority of his stack to Jameson Painter; the remainder of his chips were sent the same way a few minutes later.
In the last two levels of the night, the field was thinned down further and the unofficial final table was set in the very last hand of the night. Among those to depart were Painter (14th - $4,155), Troy (13th - $4,155) and Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier (11th - $5,110). Farhad Mobassery lost a big portion of his stack with two pair against the trips queens of Jeff Lisandro and his pair of jacks ended up second-best to the pair of queens of Moore.
Right after that the nine remaining players bagged and tagged for the night. The PokerNews live reporting team will provide continued updates from the floor until a champion is crowned.
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and Elias Hourani raised, Esther Rossi made it three bets and Farhad Mobassery called, Lisandro folded and Hourani called with a 500 chip behind. On fourth, Rossi bet and Mobassery called, Hourani called all in. Rossi bet again on fifth and sixth, picking up a call by Mobassery each time, before checking seventh.
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