With 1,750,000 in the middle, the flop read J♣4♣2♠.
Tim Van Loo checked from the small blind and so did Frank Bonacci in the big blind. Ryan Tosoc bet 600,000 for Van Loo to get out of the way. Bonacci responded with a shove for 7,000,000. Tosoc confirmed the counts before he made the call.
Frank Bonacci: K♠J♠
Ryan Tosoc: Q♠Q♣
Bonacci had flopped a pair of jacks but Tosoc was ahead with the overpair.
The rest of the board was completed with the 8♥ on the turn and the 9♣ on the river for Bonacci to bust in 44th place.
Pierpoala Lamanna raised to 500,000 preflop and got called by Cong Pham in the cutoff and Toby Lewis in the big blind. The trio then saw a flop of 9♣10♦5♦ and Lamanna continued for 800,000 once Lewis checked to him. Pham got out of the way, but Lewis matched the bet.
On the 8♥ turn, Lewis check-called another 1,650,000 bet from Lamanna. The 9♥ river then completed the board and Lewis promptly led out for 6,000,000, around half his stack. Lamanna thought it over for a bit before shipping his entire stack of 16,875,000 in the middle, covering Lewis.
Lewis sat in silence for a while before he stated "I've got a full house," followed by "I'd love to fold." Ultimately, however, he could not bring himself to do so and put in the call while tabling his 9♠5♠, which indeed was a rivered full house. Lamanna was forced to table his K♠Q♣ for a stone-cold bluff, and Lewis doubled up, while Lamanna was left with less than 20 big blinds early on Day 7.
Daniel Vampan raised to 550,000 in middle position and Masato Yokosawa three-bet to 1,700,000 in the hijack. Vampan four-bet jammed all in and Yokosawa quickly called off his stack of 5,100,000.
Masato Yokosawa: A♥K♠
Daniel Vampan: A♠Q♥
Yokosawa was in a dominating position but the flop of Q♠J♥3♠ gave Vampan the lead with a pair of queens. The 2♥ on the turn changed nothing and the 2♦ on the river spelled the end to Yokosawa's run in the Main Event.
Sam Stein was in the hijack in a heads-up pot against Jan-Peter Jachtmann on a flop of 2♥9♠A♥.
Stein checked and Jachtmann bet 2,200,000 with over 3,000,000 already in the middle. Stein check-raised all in for around 4,500,000 and Jachtmann quickly called with a bigger stack.
Sam Stein: A♣J♠
Jan-Peter Jachtmann: 9♥9♣
Stein had top pair but was drawing thin against the set of Jachtmann before the board ran out K♥Q♥ to improve Jachtmann to a flush as Stein fell in 46th place.
Pavel Dyachenko jammed all in from early position for the 2,575,000 chips he started the day with. The action folded to Jan-Peter Jachtmann in the small blind, who three-bet all in with the covering stack. Nicholas Gerrity folded the big blind and the cameras gathered for a showdown.
Pavel Dyachenko: 4♠4♦
Jan-Peter Jachtmann: A♠A♦
It was a dire situation for Dyachenko, who had run into the aces of Jachtmann. Jachtmann casually sipped on his coffee while the board ran out 7♠9♥3♦5♦10♥ and his aces thus held. Dyachenko stood up to collect his payout while being applauded by the room.
Masato Yokosawa raised to 500,000 from under the gun and was called by Joshua Payne on his left and Daniel Vampan in the big blind. The flop came Q♣9♣4♣ and Yokosawa continued with a bet of 325,000. Payne called and Vampan stepped aside.
The turn was the 8♣, and Yokosawa checked this time. Payne tossed in a bet of 700,000, and Yokosawa stuck around for the 7♥ on the river. Yokosawa checked again, and Payne shoved all in, putting the Japanese star to the test for his last 1,650,000 in the early going. Yokosawa thought for roughly two minutes before making the call.
Payne tabled A♠4♠ for a bluff while Yokosawa turned over 10♦10♣ to score an early double-up through the chip leader.
On the right feature table, Juan Maceiras Lapido opened to 500,000 from the cutoff before Mitchell Halverson moved all in for around 1,000,000 from the small blind. Christopher Kimmel called from the big blind, and Lapido also called to put Halverson at risk.
The K♣Q♥9♥ flop checked through, and Lapido folded when Kimmel bet on the 3♠ turn.
Mitchell Halverson: A♣8♠
Christopher Kimmel: J♠10♥
Kimmel had flopped the nut straight and had his opponent drawing dead. The 6♠ river completed the board, and Halverson became the first casualty of the day.
It’s every poker player's dream to win the World Series of Poker Main Event, and for 49 players, that dream is still alive heading into Day 7 at noon local time.
Getting this far in a record-setting field of 10,043 is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for most, but for Joshua Payne and Juan Maceiras, their sights are set much higher. Payne, the 23-year-old engineering student from Atlanta, went on a tear yesterday on his way to bagging 47,950,000 into the penultimate day before the final table. Maceiras, the Spanish online star with more than $1,000,000 in career earnings dating back to 2006, is in second place with 40,500,000.
The two chip leaders are far ahead of the rest of the field, but several notable players are lurking behind them hoping to make a move today. They include bracelet winner Daniel Weinman (24,375,000), Tim Van Loo (21,700,000), and high stakes regular Alec Torelli (21,075,000).
Day 7 Top 10 Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Joshua Payne
United States
47,950,000
192
2
Juan Maceiras Lapido
Spain
40,500,000
162
3
Daniel Weinman
United States
24,375,000
98
4
Richard Ryder
United States
22,650,000
91
5
Tim Van Loo
Austria
21,700,000
87
6
Alec Torelli
United States
21,075,000
84
7
Daniel Scroggins
United States
20,800,000
83
8
Pierpaola Lamanna
Italy
18,875,000
76
9
Nicholas Gerrity
United States
18,075,000
72
10
Ryan Tamanini
United States
17,325,000
69
Toby Lewis has already bettered his previous best Main Event finish of 53rd back in 2015 as the British star takes 15,250,000 into Day 7. Gabi Livshitz (10,300,000), Ryan Tosoc (9,450,000), Mark Teltscher (9,300,000), Sam Stein (7,875,000), the loquacious Maurice Hawkins (4,475,000), Matthew Wantman (4,425,000), and Raj Vohra (4,300,000) are further down the leaderboard.
Toby Lewis
Three players remain who’ve made it this far in previous Main Events. Andrey Pateychuk (8,050,000) used his aggressive playing style to make it all the way to 15th place in 2011. Adam Walton (12,225,000) and Mitchell Halverson (1,150,000) have more recent Main Event success, having finished in 42nd place and 15th place, respectively, in 2021. So close, but so far, once before and now they have another shot at WSOP glory.
The action on Day 7 picks up on Level 31, with blinds of 125,000/250,000 and a 250,000 big blind ante. The schedule calls for five 120-minute levels and a 75-minute dinner break after Level 33 around 6:40 p.m.
More than 10,000 players once packed the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas in the biggest Main Event in WSOP history with nothing more than a dream. For these 49, that dream is close to becoming reality. They've already guaranteed themselves $188,400. By the end of today, the final table and the $12,100,000 top prize will be in their sights, and PokerNews will be following the journey the entire way.
