Beach and Bonyadi Heads-Up for the Bracelet in Event #36: $1,000 Super Seniors No-Limit Hold'em
Day 3 of Event #36: $1,000 Super Seniors No-Limit Hold'em was scheduled to play down to a winner today but as the tenth level of the day drew to a close, Robert Beach and Farhintaj Bonyadi were still vying for the bracelet. Beach and Bonyadi bagged up and will be coming back tomorrow to finish their heads-up match.
Beach will be returning as the favorite, as he holds a commanding chip lead with 9,010,000 in chips. He started the day with just nine big blinds, yet is now in prime position to claim the $311,451 first-place prize, as well as a prestigious WSOP gold bracelet.
Bonyadi is the last one standing between Beach and his first WSOP gold bracelet. Bonyadi played a very patient Day 3 and got lucky during the right moments. She will be coming back with 1,975,000 in chips, at a 4.5:1 chip disadvantage, but will be fighting to be crowned the winner in this event and to become the first female winner of the 2018 WSOP in the process.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $311,451 | ||
| 2 | $192,397 | ||
| 3 | Paul W Lee | United States | $140,273 |
| 4 | Linda Iwaniak | United Kingdom | $103,215 |
| 5 | Russell Sutton | Canada | $76,655 |
| 6 | Alan Denkenson | United States | $57,465 |
| 7 | Charles Thompson | United States | $43,489 |
| 8 | Neil Henley | United States | $33,227 |
| 9 | Bill Fogel | United States | $25,633 |
Day 3 Action
The day started with 43 players, but bustouts followed each other up in rapid succession to create the unofficial final table after just four levels into the day. Many big stacks that came into Day 3 fell short of the final table, including Day 2 chipleader Jerry Weber, who lost a couple of key hands before eventually being eliminated in 12th place when he got it all in with ace-ten against Beach's ace-king and didn't improve.
The official final table bubble was non-other than two-time bracelet winner Steve Zolotow, who got all his chips in with ace-king against Beach's ace-queen before the flop. The window card was a queen and that was the end of the day for the moustachioed man, as he was sent packing in 10th place. Bill Fogel was the next to go when he ran into the pocket nines of Neil Henley. Fogel became the first elimination of the official final table.
Linda Iwaniak picked up aces at the right time as Henley pushed all in with his tens. She sent him to the payout desk in 8th place. Well-known proposition better Charles Thompson would find himself in a tough spot when he ran his sevens into Bonyadi's pocket eights. He couldn't hit another seven except the one on his payout slip as he finished in 7th place.
Alan Denkenson found himself surviving two all-ins prior to this hand, all while starting behind and finishing ahead. This time, it was quite the opposite as he got his ace-king beaten by Beach's ace-eight, eliminating him in 6th place. Russell Sutton would be Bonyadi's next victim, after losing a few previous hands to her, he decided to make a stand. He shoved with pocket tens, but failed to beat Bonyadi as she paired up a queen on the flop.
Iwaniak played aggressively all day and took her chances, but finally ran into a hand that could call one of her big bets. Paul W Lee flopped trip deuces and checked it over to her, she took the bait and moved all in causing her to lose all her chips. Lee would lose most of his chips with pocket queens against Beach's full house and was dealt his final blow by Beach 21 hands later.
They will both be coming back tomorrow to resume play in level 31 with blinds of 50,000/100,000 and a 10,000 ante. There will be a 15-minute break after every two levels of play. The tournament will start again at 11 a.m. local time and will be played in the AMAZON room, with a champion being crowned at the end.
The PokerNews live reporting team will be bringing you full coverage of this and every other WSOP event this summer.