The Rio Convention Center, specifically the Amazon Room, was bubbling with excitement at the end of Day 43 of the 2021 World Series of Poker. The WSOP Main Event had played down from more than 2,300 players who started Day 3 to the money bubble. Only the last 1,000 players in the tournament would receive a payout for their three days of work, and it was time to find out who they were.
Typically, the WSOP Main Event plays into the money on Day 4. This year, perhaps partially because of a smaller field, they neared the bubble late into the evening of Day 3. Three sections of the Amazon Room and three featured tables in front of cameras were several bustouts away from the money spots. Hand-for-hand play began, and it took hours to coordinate the hands and get past the inevitable double-ups. Finally, after 1am, it happened. Cheers erupted from the 1,000 survivors, and they stopped play to bag their chips and get some rest.
Elsewhere in the Convention Center, the Little One for One Drop and Stud-8 tournaments played down. And the PLO Bounty got underway. The Crazy Eights tournament had been scheduled to start, but WSOP officials knew that the day might be crazy enough already without welcoming tons of players for the $888 NLHE Crazy Eights tournament. So, they postponed its start until Friday.
Let’s catch up.
Event 67: $10K WSOP Main Event
As mentioned, the field more than cut itself in half on Thursday to reach and play through the money bubble. With exactly 1,000 players remaining, Day 4 will start with a rush of payouts and proceed toward those that will double players’ investments. Payments will still be in the five-figure range by the end of Day 4, but the field will have thinned dramatically again.
Event 67: Day 3
$10K buy-in
NLHE World Championship (Main Event)
Starting stack: 60K
Levels: 120 minutes
Total entries:
6,650
Registration still open?
no
Total prize pool:
$62,011,250
Players paid:
1,000
Minimum payout:
$15,000
Winner payout:
$8,000,000
Day 3 chip leader:
Jessica Cai (USA)
Total players remaining:
1,000
Day 4 start:
12pm Friday
Top ten chip counts:
Jessica Cai (USA) 1,796,000
Phachara Wongwichit (Thailand) 1,773,000
Joshua Paige Remitio (USA) 1,671,000
Ehsan Amiri (Australia) 1,574,000
Roman Valerstein (USA) 1,560,000
Neel Choksi (USA) 1,552,000
Stephen Song (USA) 1,551,000
Dragana Lim (USA) 1,539,000
Jordan Jayne (USA) 1,525,000
Andreas Kniep (Germany) 1,509,000
Event 68: $1,111 NLHE Little One for One Drop
After three starting flights and late registration, this charity-focused tournament finally set the prize pool. There were 3,797 entries in all, well below 6,248 of the 2019 WSOP. Even so, players were excited for the lower buy-in tournaments to return after the Main Event, and this was an ideal one. Action moved forward and into the money on Thursday, finishing about half of the payouts and allowing nearly 230 players to bag and tag.
Another long day and evening of Stud-8 eliminated most of the contenders and ended with just 13 players still in action. The final two tables are all American except for one Norwegian player, and there are two women still in the game. They will all play for the win today.
Event 69: Day 2 of 3
$1,500 buy-in
Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo 8-or-Better
Total entries:
372
Registration still open?
no
Total prize pool:
$496,620
Players paid:
56
Minimum payout:
$2,433
Winner payout:
$113,459
Chip leader:
John Racener
John Racener (USA) 1,220,000
Players remaining:
13
John Monnette (USA) 1,165,000
Restart:
3pm Friday
Esther Taylor (USA) 1,100,000
John Hoang (USA) 1,065,000
Peder Berge (USA) 962,000
Carol Fuchs (USA) 940,000
Jermaine Reid (USA) 725,000
Joseph Ranciato (USA) 705,000
Perry Friedman (USA) 540,000
Espen Sandvik (Norway) 255,000
Joseph Kupresanin (USA) 240,000
Richard Bremer (USA) 225,000
Glenn Cozen (USA) 155,000
Event 71: $1,500 PLO Bounty
This event did not get off to the smoothest start. There was some confusion as to whether this was PLO or PLO-8, if there were bounties, and what the start time would be. They finally cleared up that it was this PLO with bounties, but the WSOP pushed back its start time by one hour. The event finally found its groove, and when the reentry period was over, the final tally showed 860 entries. But when play stopped, only 129 remained. Today will move toward the final table.
Event 71: Day 1 of 3
$1,500 buy-in
PLO Bounty (1RE)
Total entries:
860
Registration still open?
no
Total prize pool:
$718,100
Players paid:
129
Minimum payout:
$1,512
Winner payout:
$132,844
Chip leader:
Mourad Amokrane
Players remaining:
94
Restart:
3pm Friday
Main Event Highlights
The most notable moment of the day happened after midnight. As mentioned, the money bubble of the Main Event was long and tense, with players feeling all the feelings. This is one of the best cellphone videos of the action when the bubble did finally burst.
https://twitter.com/PaulShadyoda/status/1459095275629207559?s=20
https://twitter.com/Donnie_Peters/status/1459122277493080066?s=20
The bubble player was Kevin Campbell. Chris Alafogiannis and his A-9 cracked Campbell’s aces on a dramatic board the produced a flush draw for Alafogiannis but rivered a third nine for the win. As has become customary, the WSOP offered Campbell a $10K seat into the 2022 WSOP Main Event for his bubble elimination.
Another notable of Day 3 of the Main Event was the chipleader at the end of the night. Knowing that the typical representation of women in this – and most – poker tournaments is 3% to 5%, it is especially notable that Jessica Cai bagged the top chip stack of the night.
https://twitter.com/jeffplatt/status/1459093717084635141?s=20
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