Kornuth Leads Final Six in Event #29: $10,000 Short Deck No-Limit Hold'em; Shak and Vieira in Contention
The six-handed final table in Event #29: $10,000 Short Deck No-Limit Hold'em at the 2021 World Series of Poker has been set. Out of a field of 66 entries, the lion's share of the $615,450 prize pool is still up for grabs and two WSOP bracelet winners will aim to increase their tally, while four contenders hope to earn their maiden victory.
Two-time champion Chance Kornuth soared into the lead during the later stages and bagged up a stack of 1,266,000. Two years ago, he finished fourth in this very event and walked away with a cash prize of $93,593. He now sits atop the leaderboard ahead of the live-streamed final table and will aim to earn his third gold bracelet.
Second in chips is Chad Campbell, who is the only other finalist with more than 1 million in chips. There is a big gap to third-placed Moshe Gabay, while a trio is then closely bunched together at the bottom of the leaderboard. That includes Dan Shak, Joao Vieira and Thomas Kysar. For Vieira, it is the second final table appearance of the current festival after he finished third in Event #18 $2,500 Limit Mixed Triple Draw Lowball.
Final Table Seat Draw Event #29: $10,000 Short Deck No-Limit Hold'em
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Antes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chad Campbell | United States | 1,073,000 | 215 |
| 2 | Chance Kornuth | United States | 1,266,000 | 253 |
| 3 | Moshe Gabay | Israel | 663,000 | 133 |
| 4 | Dan Shak | United States | 425,000 | 85 |
| 5 | Joao Vieira | Portugal | 300,000 | 60 |
| 6 | Thomas Kysar | United States | 234,000 | 47 |
Another four players cashed in this event including Ye Shen, 2019 finalist Rene van Krevelen, Stephen Chidwick, and Young Ko. The last player to leave empty-handed was Chris Brewer, who was eliminated on the money bubble by Vieira.
The penultimate tournament day saw another seven players buy in to boost the field to 66 entries but none of the late entrants made it to the money stages. During the frantic early stages, the field was quickly whittled down to the final three tables, and among those to fall were Ben Yu, David Peters, and Daniel Negreanu.
Ali Imsirovic quickly ran up his stack only to then bow out against Ye Shen in a preflop contest when his dominated ace failed to get there. Dan Zack and GGPoker ambassador Jason Koon also missed out on the money as well, both coming up short of the final two tables.
The perhaps most memorable hand of the day saw Thomas Kysar flop a royal flush against Young Ko. Throughout the day, Kysar nursed a short stack but made the final six. Adam Owen and Chris Brewer were not as fortunate, both ending up just shy of the money spots.
Former big stack Shen became the first casualty in the money and the same fate then also awaited Ko when he failed to get there with king-queen suited against the aces of Kornuth. That wrapped up the proceedings with 31:15 minutes left in level 15 and the remaining six players will be back on Saturday, October 16 at 4pm local time. The final showdown for the gold bracelet will be broadcasted on the PokerGO live stream and the PokerNews team will provide all key hands until a winner is crowned.
Results and Remaining Payouts
| Place | Winner | Country | Prize (in USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $194,670 | ||
| 2 | $120,316 | ||
| 3 | $82,678 | ||
| 4 | $58,601 | ||
| 5 | $42,885 | ||
| 6 | $32,437 | ||
| 7 | Young Ko | United States | $25,386 |
| 8 | Stephen Chidwick | United Kingdom | $20,583 |
| 9 | Rene van Krevelen | Netherlands | $20,583 |
| 10 | Ye Shen | China | $17,311 |