The Final Table is Set for Event #17: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout
It looks so deceptively simple. Win your table and you advance to the next round. Win it again? You've made it to a World Series of Poker final table. Win that one? Congratulations, you're a WSOP gold bracelet winner! Three wins in a row, that's all it takes to win Event #17: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout, and ten players have accomplished the first two goals. They each have at least $15,331 locked up for making it this far, but their sights are set on the first place prize of $238,824 that awaits the winner at the end of the night.
The beauty of the Shootout format is in its equality, as every single one of the ten final table players starts with more or less the same amount in chips. It's a level playing field — no chip leaders, no short stacks — and after what's likely to be a very long day, one of them will be able to call himself a WSOP champion.
As winning to advance twice was requisite to make it to the final table, it comes to no surprise that a table chock-full of talent will be duking it out on the Amazon Secondary feature table throughout the day. 2018 Monster Stack winner Tommy Nguyen, Cary Katz, Anatolii Zyrin, Manuel Ruivo, Kenna James, and Brett Apter are some of the familiar faces to take a seat. For Katz, the man behind PokerGO, a win here would be the perfect addition to s mouth-watering poker resumé consisting of nearly $20 million in lifetime winnings.
For Marko Maher and Shintaro Baba, however, this is their first taste of WSOP-success and they're looking to make a big splash right away. Rounding out the top ten are Adrian Scarpa and Michael O'Grady, who also conquered their two first tables to advance to the final ten.
Final Table Lineup
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brett Apter | United States | 2,258,000 | 226 bb |
| 2 | Anatolii Zyrin | Russia | 2,306,000 | 231 bb |
| 3 | Marko Maher | Slovenia | 2,240,000 | 224 bb |
| 4 | Shintaro Baba | Japan | 2,237,000 | 224 bb |
| 5 | Adrian Scarpa | United States | 2,286,000 | 229 bb |
| 6 | Michael O'Grady | United States | 2,298,000 | 230 bb |
| 7 | Kenna James | United States | 2,203,000 | 220 bb |
| 8 | Cary Katz | United States | 2,266,000 | 227 bb |
| 9 | Manuel Ruivo | Portugal | 2,245,000 | 225 bb |
| 10 | Tommy Nguyen | Canada | 2,213,000 | 221 bb |
The blinds will kick off with 5,000/10,000 and a 10,000 big blind ante, giving players plenty of room to play as the day progresses. Levels will be 40 minutes throughout the final table and play will continue until the winner has been crowned. Follow along with PokerNews in the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino throughout the day as a new champion is crowned at the 2019 World Series of Poker.
