At three hours, Day 8 of the World Series of Poker Main Event was the shortest by far, but it wasn’t without action as four players hit the rail leaving five left in contention for the $10m first prize.
While everyone is competing in the tail end of the World Series of Poker (WSOP), PokerStars employee, Garry Gates, is competing in his own private World Series of Always Having It (WSOAH).
Gates was the biggest mover in a short and shrift Day 3 that saw four people tumble out of the most iconic poker tournament in the world, with a 73% hike in chips, drawing him closer to the dominant chip leader, Hossein Ensan.
Day 8 of the Main Event lasted a mere three hours, and here are the significant moments.
Starting final table chip counts
1. Hossein Ensan – 177,000,000
2. Garry Gates – 99,300,000
3. Zhen Cai – 60,600,000
4. Kevin Maahs – 43,000,000
5. Alex Livingston – 37,800,000
6. Dario Sammartino – 33,400,000
7. Milos Skrbic – 23,400,000
8. Timothy Su – 20,200,000
9. Nick Marchington – 20,100,000
Nick Marchington doubled through Zhen Cai
With blinds at 500k/1m/1m, Zhen Cai opened to 2.7m from under the gun (UTG), Nick Marchington moved all-in for 19.6m, and Cai called. Marchington was ahead with pocket tens versus ace-queen, and a ten on the flop handed Marchington a set to double-up, which he needed as a queen hit the river.
Milos Skrbic eliminated in 9th place
With blinds at 500k/1m/1m, the action folded to Garry gates in the small blind, and he moved all-in for 18m effective, and Skrbic made the call for his tournament life from the big blind. It was a cooler with the ace-queen of Gates dominating the ace-jack of Skrbic, and five community cards later, the former World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) Main Event finalist was the first casualty of the day.
Timothy Su eliminated in 8th place
With blinds at 500k/1m/1m, Timothy Su open-shoved for 17.7m from UTG, and Hossein Ensan made the call in the cutoff. Su tabled pocket treys, Ensan turned over ace-jack, and a second jack on the flop ended the Day 5 chip leader’s Main Event experience.
Nick Marchington eliminated in 7th place
With blinds at 600k/1.2m/1.2m, Ensan opened to 2.4m from the cutoff before calling Marchington’s 14m shove from the button. Marchington needed an ace (ace-seven) to dethrone Ensan’s pocket kings, but it never materialised, and the British pro was out.
Zhen Cai eliminated in 6th place
With blinds at 600k/1.2m/1.2m, the chip leader, Ensan opened to 2.4m from the cutoff, Kevin Maahs called from the small blind before Cai moved all-in for 28.7m. Ensan folded, and after a count, Maahs made the call. It was a flip with Maah’s pocket nines beating Cai’s ace-king, and with that, the action concluded for the day.
Final table chip counts
1. Hossein Ensan – 207,700,000
2. Garry Gates – 171,700,000
3. Kevin Maahs – 66,500,000
4. Alex Livingston – 45,800,000
5. Dario Sammartino – 23,100,000
Payouts
1. $10m
2. $6m
3. $4m
4. $3m
5. $2.2m
6. Zhen Cai – $1.85m
7. Nick Marchington – $1.525m
8. Timothy Su – $1.25m
9. Milos Skrbic – $1m
The action resumes on Monday at 18:30 Vegas time. The original plan was to get down to three players, but give there are only five remaining, Tournament Director, Jack Effel, may change things.
