Scotty Nguyen Leads Last Six in $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha; Defending Champion Calderaro Second
The biggest $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Handed High Roller to date at the World Series of Poker has seen a field of 230 entries reduced to the final six, all guaranteed at least $215,718 for their efforts. However, the lion's share of the $5,462,500 is still up for grabs and all eyes are set on an incredible first-place payout of $1,402,683 and one of the most coveted gold bracelets of the summer.
Leading the six finalists after the penultimate day of Event #42 is none other than five-time WSOP bracelet winner and 1998 Main Event champion Scotty Nguyen, who edged past defending champion James Calderaro and bagged up 7,010,000. Calderaro follows in second place with 6,445,000, while Shaun Deeb is just one big blind behind with a stack of 6,305,000.
Ben Yu, who entered the day with the chip lead, made the final six with 4,775,000 and the remaining two finalists for the All-American showdown are Jason Koon (2,905,000) and Ryan Tosoc (1,300,000). Koon has already secured his seventh six-figure score for the current year, which may turn into the fourth seven-figure payday upon completion of the tournament.
Day 3 wrapped up with 22 minutes left in level 27 at blinds of 60,000/120,000 and the final day will recommence on Saturday, June 23rd, 2018, as of 2 p.m. local time. The showdown for the biggest Pot-Limit Omaha event of the year so far will be broadcasted on PokerGO.
Seat Assignments for the Final Day
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ben Yu | United States | 4,775,000 | 40 |
| 2 | Scotty Nguyen | United States | 7,010,000 | 58 |
| 3 | Shaun Deeb | United States | 6,305,000 | 53 |
| 4 | James Calderaro | United States | 6,445,000 | 54 |
| 5 | Jason Koon | United States | 2,905,000 | 24 |
| 6 | Ryan Tosoc | United States | 1,300,000 | 11 |
All remaining champions of this very event took part and Anthony Zinno, as well as Jens Kyllönen, both departed on Day 2. After an excruciating money bubble at the end of the previous night, the remaining 35 players had locked up $37,500 for their efforts and more than a dozen hopefuls came back with very few big blinds.
Action of Day 3
Within the first hour, the three table redraw was reached and among those to bust before that were such big names as Jarred Graham, Paul Volpe, Adam Owen, Tom Marchese, Erik Seidel and Mike Leah. Seidel got it in with bottom two pair against the aces of Luis Velador and Leah ran out of chips moments later one table over.
The chips continue to fly left and right and at the end of the second level of the day, there were just 16 remaining. Christopher Frank saw his hopes flushed away when his aces failed to hold up against the kings of Bogdan Capitan and Day 1 chipleader Konstantin Beylin ran with kings into aces to end up drawing dead on the turn.
Craig Varnell, who won his maiden WSOP bracelet earlier this summer in Event #19: $565 Pot-Limit Omaha, had to settle for 16th place and a payday of $53,391. Varnell's pair and flush draw ended up second-best against the straight draw of Capitan. Robert Mizrachi received the same payout after finishing in 15th and fellow WSOP bracelet winner Martin Kozlov was the next casualty. Luis Velador, who entered the feature table with the most chips, went from hero to zero and doubled defending champion Calderaro, among others, to bust in 13th place for $63,350.
The eliminations kept coming in at a quick pace and the unofficial nine-handed final table was set soon with Yu in the lead after completely dominating the outer table action. Among the players to send their chips over to Yu was Jason Mercier, who had most of his stack in preflop with pocket kings and jammed a ten-high flop. Yu snap-called with top and bottom pair along with a flush draw and Mercier couldn't improve, ending his bid at a sixth bracelet in 12th place for $77,107.
In the second hand of the unofficial final table, Jonathan Depa ran into the pocket aces of Calderaro and left much sooner than he had hoped for, while Calderaro claimed the top spot for the first time in the event. Yu's run good ended and he doubled David Benyamine and Ryan Tosoc, while Bogdan Capitan survived two all-in situations. The third time wasn't a charm, however, and Capitan's float with an overpair and flush draw on the turn was no good, as Yu's set and nut flush draw ensured the elimination.
Ultimately, it was Nguyen that set the final highlight of the day by sending David Benyamine to the rail in 7th place. As shortest stack, Benyamine defended his big blind and got it in with middle pair and a straight draw. Nguyen had that dominated with top pair and the superior straight draw, just the pair ended up scooping the pot and ending the day with the final six.
The PokerNews live reporting team will be back at 2 p.m. on Saturday, June 23rd to provide continued coverage until a champion is crowned! The final of this event will also be live streamed on PokerGO with hole cards shown and a security delay of one hour.