Eight players are in with a chance of winning over $18 million as the World Series of Poker Big One for One Drop moves into its final day tomorrow. Leading the pack in Event #55 is the magician Antonio Esfandiari on 39,925,000 with the remaining Brit Sam Trickett just behind him on a round 37 million chips. Esfandiari described his presence at the final table as being “better than the first time I had sex!”
37 players had begun the day and on the first hand, players were already starting to drop like flies with Chamath Palihapitiya the first to hit the board. We piti ya, Chamath. A steady stream of players then busted out with Tom Dwan, Daniel Negreanu and, with an air of inevitability about it, Phil Ivey.
The other Phil, Hellmuth, is one of those with a coveted seat at the final table with a chip count of 10,925,000. Even more remarkable is that Guy Laliberté, the man with the plan who devised this event, will take his seat at the final table in third place with a stack of 21.7 million. So not only did he organize one of the most successful events in WSOP history and become a stellar charity worker, he’ll also be taking home at least $1.1 million.
The final table is seated as follows:
- Guy Laliberté – 21.7m
- Brian Rast – 11.35m
- Phil Hellmuth – 10.9m
- Antonio Esfandiari – 39.925m
- Bobby Baldwin – 7.15m
- Sam Trickett – 37m
- Richard Yong – 7.475m
- David Einhorn – 8.375m
Event #53 couldn’t find a winner on day three with Neil Willerson and Vladimir Mefodichov unable to break the heads-up deadlock. The $1,500 NLHE event attracted 3,166 entries and the two leaders will come back tomorrow to see who gets the $737,248 payday.
Over $500k is up for grabs when the players return for the final day’s action in Event #54: $1,000 NLHE. Will Jaffe is currently out in front with a stack of 1,947,000 and as long as there are no gaffes along the way he could run out winner. This is because of the huge lead he’s built up that leaves Ken Fishman, on 1.4 million chips, the only other player to eclipse the 1m chip mark.
The first day of Event #56 is in the books and the 305 remaining mean the cash bubble still hasn’t burst. The $1,500 buy-in NLHE event sees Donald Vogel at the summit with 154,000 and Daniel Negreanu up there with a stack of 57,200 putting him in 11th. Former WSOP Main Event winner Peter Eastgate is well placed to end the Main Event winner drought.
Find more on WSOP and CalvinAyre.com’s Poker month coverage.
