Zhu, Ramos and Fuchs to Battle It Out for a Bracelet in $1,500 Mixed Omaha
Originally scheduled as the closing day, the third 10-level stretch in Event #35: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better; Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better; Big O (5-Card PLO/8) saw three players make it through. While the tournament hasn't found its champion just yet, there's one huge favourite coming into the extra Day 4: Chinese poker ambassador Yueqi Zhu.
Holding a commanding lead with 4,515,000 in chips, Zhu leads Gabriel Ramos and Carol Fuchs and has 78 percent of all chips in play. Zhu made a strong push on the final table, winning several sizeable pots to establish himself as the overwhelming chipleader.
Zhu seems to be ready to finally close the long saga of narrow misses. The Chinese has been trying to claim a bracelet for two decades. This is the seventh time he's made it to the podium, with his record showing two silver and four bronze medals. Zhu's longevity has been tremendous as he made his first WSOP final table already back in 2006 when he finished second in a $3,000 Limit Hold'em event ($184,409).
Final Table Chip Counts & Results
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds | Big Bets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Carol Fuchs | United States | 310,000 | 6 | 2 |
| 7 | Yueqi Zhu | China | 4,515,000 | 90 | 23 |
| 8 | Gabriel Ramos | United States | 970,000 | 19 | 5 |
| Position | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $211,781 | ||
| 2 | $130,850 | ||
| 3 | $89,488 | ||
| 4 | Matthew Gregoire | United States | $62,226 |
| 5 | Jon Turner | United States | $44,007 |
| 6 | Peter Neff | United States | $31,662 |
| 7 | Ryan Hughes | United States | $23,182 |
| 8 | Nathan Gamble | United States | $17,279 |
Besides Zhu, there's Ramos, who's been flying under the radar so far. Ramos is a first-timer when it comes to World Series of Poker final tables but he has a vast experience from the WSOP Circuit. He guarded a big stack for the better part of the day but Zhu's amazing run in the last two levels saw Ramos relegated to a short stack.
Ramos will continue with only five big bets (970,000) but he's still a favourite over Fuchs who bagged a micro stack of 1.5 big bets (310,000). However, Fuchs already has the major feather in her cap. She won her first gold wristwear back in 2015 when she topped the $1,500 Dealer's Choice event. At that final table, she prevailed among spectacular competition including Robert Mizrachi, Chris Klodnicki and Yuval Bronshtein.
Fuchs will need a quick double or two to catch some air, but anything can happen in this game. Ryan Hughes has experienced it from the other way around. He seemed to have a stellar day in the office, steam-rolling the field to find himself with one-third of all chips in play when the final eight players merged to the last table.
But a drastic change of events followed and Hughes started losing big pots. He hit the skids and couldn't bounce back. Hughes left the tournament in seventh place, a devastating fashion considering his experience and excellent position. That allowed players like Jon Turner to patiently nurse their short stacks and ladder several places on the leaderboard.
Turner squeezed the most of it as he was on a nub for the whole final stage, despite pacing the field during the early levels of Day 3. "Pearljammer" managed to hang around for a few hours and eventually made it to a fifth place, losing his remaining bits to Ramos. Again, Turner misses out on a bracelet, making him one of the longest notable bracelet-hunting players in the world.
It will still be a great story, one way or another. There's an ever-missing veteran, a wild-card from the WSOP Circuit waters and a decorated female champ who will try to make one of the most remarkable comebacks in WSOP history.
With that on the line, it will surely be worth coming back tomorrow (June 19) at 2 p.m. for the live coverage of the three-handed finale. Tune back to PokerNews then to follow the encounter as we crown the champion of the $1,500 Mixed Omaha event.