There are simply six gamers remaining out of 361 within the $5,000 buy-in World Poker Tour (WPT) bestbet Scramble Championship. Certainly one of them will take residence $347,850 on Tuesday.
The event reached the cash throughout Sunday’s Day 2 session, and 18 made it by the day. These gamers got here again on Monday to play it all the way down to the ultimate desk, which is scheduled to be livestreamed on the WPT’s YouTube and Twitch channels.
Historical past might be made on the last desk. Eric Afriat will enter play with a large chip lead. If he holds that lead and wins the event, he’ll declare his fourth WPT title, which might tie him with Darren Elias for the document. Elias set the document in 2018 and has held it ever since.
WPT bestbet Scramble Closing Desk Chip Counts
Day 3 Motion
Just a few world-class poker professionals reached the ultimate 18, together with 2015 world champion Joe McKeehen, who went out in seventeenth place for $16,800. World Poker Tour commentator Tony Dunst, a three-time World Sequence of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner, entered the third day with the smallest stack. However he nonetheless had 18 massive blinds, loads of chips to spin it up and win his second WPT title. That did not occur, nevertheless, as he was eradicated one spot after McKeehen and likewise earned $16,800.
The event performed deep on Day 3 with 90-minute ranges and the common stack staying at 60 massive blinds or above all through the session. When the sphere hit 10 gamers, the oldest participant remaining, Ray Leone, who’s 82 years outdated, ran right into a brutal scenario with about 15 massive blinds and pocket kings when his opponent, Yunkyu Track, turned over pocket aces.
Leone was out in tenth place, good for $33,500. The sector then condensed to at least one desk, and Vimal Reddy can be subsequent to exit, however did not obtain a pay-jump as he earned the identical payout as Leone.
Francis Anderson, who has over $3.2 million in reside event cashes, in accordance with The Hendon Mob, busted in eighth place for $42,500, which left the event on the ultimate desk bubble. The day practically got here to an finish when Track and Afriat performed a monster 70-big blind pot, with the latter scooping the pot with an over pair in opposition to an unknown hand.
That left Track, who received the WPT Prime Playground title final month, down to simply 17 massive blinds. However he did not go away quietly and shook off the loss to battle again. Not solely that, he’d make the ultimate desk when, two hours after Anderson busted, T.Okay. Miles moved his last 9 massive blinds within the center preflop with A♣Qâ™ and misplaced to Jordan’s Okayâ™ Jâ™ when the board ran out Okay♦4♥7â™ 8♣Q♣.
Miles earned $55,000 for seventh place and the session got here to an finish. The six remaining gamers all have a assured minimal payout of $71,000, however the high 4 will earn a six-figure money.
Afriat could have the chip lead with 6,570,000 and blinds at 25,000/50,000 at first of the ultimate desk, however it will not be a cakewalk to a fourth WPT title. The Canadian might be going through some powerful competitors, and his opponents all have loads of chips to go to battle. That features Nick Funaro, brother of poker professional Frank Funaro.
Funaro, who received a Borgata Winter Poker Open occasion in January for over $400,000, is not too far off Afriat’s tempo at 3,680,000, good for 74 massive blinds. All six gamers have over 20 massive blinds, which implies the ultimate desk ought to be extremely aggressive.
Play resumes at 2 p.m. ET in Jacksonville on Tuesday.
Eric Afriat Chasing World Poker Tour Historical past
*Photos courtesy of Katerina Lukina/World Poker Tour.
