The fourth day of the $3,500 Main Event at the World Poker Tour (WPT) Seminole Hard Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open played down to its final six players and Istvan Briski is still on top of the chip counts.
Down from a field of 1,447 entries, the final 15 players showed up on Tuesday to claim their share of the $4,630,400 prize pool. Each of the returning players was guaranteed $38,300.
Briski is followed in second by Sandy Sanchez, who continued his climb after a strong finish to Day 3. They’re followed by Fred Goldberg in third and Rayan Chamas in fourth as the only other players over 10 million. Darryll Fish, the only remaining member of the WPT Champions Club, rounds out the top six with Matt Bond.
WPT Seminole RRPO Final Table Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Istvan Briski | Hungary | 24,000,000 | 120 |
| 2 | Sandy Sanchez | United States | 18,300,000 | 75 |
| 3 | Fred Goldberg | United States | 13,025,000 | 67 |
| 4 | Rayan Chamas | Lebanon | 10,000,000 | 55 |
| 5 | Darryll Fish | United States | 4,600,000 | 23 |
| 6 | Matt Bond | United States | 3,300,000 | 22 |
The Final Six
Hungary’s Briski leads the way in the quest for the top prize of $752,500, but he only needs to finish in the top four to achieve a career-high win. His biggest wins have come in online play, most notably his third-place finish in the $777 Lucky 7’s in this summer’s WSOP online series.
Sanchez is close behind and this will be the biggest score of his career, beating a fourth-place finish in the $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo event at the 2021 WSOP for $51,590. A finish of third or better will match Sanchez’s entire lifetime winnings.
“First big final table for me in no-limit hold’em. It’s a big spot,” The Florida local said in an interview with PokerNews after the final table bagged. “I’ll just look at some final table scenarios tonight to prepare.”
In third on the leaderboard is Goldberg, but he is number one in the hearts of poker fans around Florida. This is Goldberg’s third career final table in a lifetime of accolades that date back to his 10th-place finish at the 2006 WSOP. Goldberg started Day 3 with 3,750,000 and added nearly 10 million on Day 4.
Lebanon’s Chamas now lives in Canada, and he has just over a half million in winnings in his career. Chamas started near the top of the leaderboard on Day 4, but he caught a few tough breaks before he battled his way back into contention. This will be the biggest win of his career so far.
The only previous champion that remains is Fish, who won the WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open in 2018. He’s the most accomplished player at the final table with over $5 million in career earnings, over $1.7 million of that coming on the WPT. The Florida native will have to spin it up on Day 5, but he has a chance to win again at the same casino where he won his first.
Bond enters the day on the short stack but he has a great opportunity to add to his $2.2 million in career earnings with a victory. He entered Day 4 in fourth place on the leaderboard and gave up some chips, but he survived and he has the experience to find a great spot on Day 5.
Day 4 Highlights
Day 4 kicked off in Level 26 with blinds at 50,000/75,000/75,000 and the final 15 played through the first level before their first elimination. It was Gergely Kulcsar, who took a hit to his chip stack in the opening level after a clash with Alejandro Gonzalez-Olaechea. Kulcsar eventually got his dwindling stack in with queen-deuce and Rishi Makkar was there to take him out in 15th place with ace-seven. A short time later, Jack McDonald shoved with pocket queens, and Niko Koop was waiting to take him out in 14th place with pocket aces.
Just before the end of Level 27, Koop and Day 2 chip leader Lucian Silveira were eliminated in 13th and 12th place, respectively. Koop called for the last of his chips with a suited king-jack, but he couldn’t improve against the suited ace-nine of Chamas to stay in the game. Silveira took his shot with pocket threes, but Goldberg called with ace-jack and made three aces to send the Brazilian to the rail.
Briski held the lead at the beginning of Level 28 and Sanchez was close behind, while the rest Champas was a distant third.
Bond was a big mover in the middle levels of the day, thanks in part to a big pot after Chamas folded to his river bet. Chamas continued to drift away from the pack until a double through Jason Sagle, and Viktor Kovachev was next to go in 11th place when his ace-king couldn’t beat Fish’s pocket tens.
Remaining Payouts
| Place | Prize |
|---|---|
| 1 | $752,500 |
| 2 | $494,800 |
| 3 | $366,500 |
| 4 | $274,000 |
| 5 | $206,900 |
| 6 | $157,800 |
Sanchez held the lead over the remaining ten players when Level 29 started, but Briski bounced back quickly with a run to nearly 20 million chips. Gonzalez-Olaechea soon bowed out in 10th place when his pocket kings were outdrawn by the pocket jacks of Goldberg.
The last nine players redrew for a final table and Sanchez was back on top, but Briski was close behind. Makkar soon dropped in ninth place when Chamas made a straight to beat his ace-queen. Briski led the final eight with just over 22 million when the players stepped out for a break.
Level 30 brought the final two eliminations of the night. Sagle got it in with a suited ace-ten, but Briski was waiting with ace-jack and the Canadian hit the rail when a jack fell on the flop. A few short moments later, Graham shoved with ace-five and lost when Chamas called with nine-eight and turned a pair of nines. Graham had entered Day 4 on the short stack but he leveled to seventh place for a payout of $121,500.
The final six players will return at 2 p.m. on Wednesday to play down to a winner. The action will air at 2:30 p.m. for a live-streamed final table on the WPT YouTube channel.
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*WPT images courtesy of SHRP/Joe Giron.
Live Reporting Executive
Las Vegas-based PokerNews Live Reporting Executive, originally from Chicago, IL