Martin Kabrhel opened with a raise from middle position holding the and Brandon Steven called with the from the cutoff. Chris Hunichen called with the from the big blind and it was three-way action to a flop of .
Hunichen checked top pair, Kabrhel continued for 600,000, and Steven just called with his set. Hunichen called and the dealer burned and turned the .
Two checks saw Steven bet 1.7 million, Hunichen called, and Kabrhel moved all in. Steven quickly called off for 5.9 million and Hunichen got out of the way.
The river was no help to Kabrhel and Steven shipped the double.
Martin Kabrhel raised to 600,000 from middle position with and Alex Foxen defended from the big blind. Foxen flopped middle pair on a board and checked. Kabrhel, taking his fair share of time as always, checked behind.
Kabrhel paired up as well on the turn and saw Foxen checking to him. Holding bottom pair, Kabrhel bet 800,000 and Foxen called with the better hand.
The river paired the board with the and Foxen checked a third time. Kabrhel glanced around the room before checking back. He then studied Foxen's tabled cards.
"Pair of nines? Two pair! Hah, he rivered me! He makes his pair on the river. Lucky river!" Kabrhel erroneously said. Foxen thanked Kabrhel and couldn't hide a small grin.
Martin Kabrhel raised to 600,000 from the button holding the and Phil Ivey, who was in the small blind, paused for a few beats before three-betting all in for 6.7 million with the .
Brandon Steven folded from the big and Kabrhel asked for a count, waited about 60 seconds, and then released his hand.
In the first hand of the day, Chris Hunichen raised to 600,000 in the cutoff with and Sam Soverel made it 3,000,000 on the button holding . Soverel had just 200,000 behind after the three-bet.
Hunichen gave it some thought before folding to the shortest stack at the table.
The biggest buy-in event of this year's World Series of Poker will play down to a winner today. Out of a field of 56 hopefuls, each of them putting up a mouth-watering $250,000 just to compete, only eight are left standing on the third and final day.
Those that remain have guaranteed themselves at least a slice of $488,095 out of the $13,944,000 prize pool, but the first-place prize of $4,563,700 and coveted WSOP gold bracelet will be what's on everyone's minds today.
It'll be a battle of the bracelet winners versus the non-bracelet winners, as three out of the eight are still seeking their first piece of the priceless hardware. Surprisingly, perhaps, Alex Foxen is one of them. Undoubtedly among the most accomplished tournament players on the planet, the bracelet has eluded Foxen thus far in his storied career with nearly $22M in lifetime winnings according to The Hendon Mob.
Foxen (24,150,000 in chips) finds himself in a prime position to break the drought today, rocking a sizable lead over his nearest competitor, the enigmatic loudmouth Martin Kabrhel (17,800,000). The talkative Czech will no doubt be drawing the attention of the PokerGO cameras with his entertaining, or annoying, antics, depending on who you ask. While Kabrhel already has two bracelets to his name, he is yet to find WSOP success outside the boundaries of Rozvadov.
$250,000 Super High Roller Final Table Chip Counts
Final Table
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Dan Zack
United States
4,375,000
15
2
Martin Kabrhel
Czech Republic
17,800,000
59
3
Phil Ivey
United States
7,300,000
24
4
Brandon Steven
United States
7,850,000
26
5
Adrian Mateos
Spain
6,950,000
23
6
Alex Foxen
United States
24,150,000
81
7
Chris Hunichen
United States
12,375,000
41
8
Sam Soverel
United States
3,200,000
11
Besides Foxen and Kabrhel, the six other final tablists are as accomplished as they come, with ten-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Ivey (7,300,000), a surefire future Hall of Famer and four-time bracelet winner in Adrian Mateos (6,950,000), who is the defending champion in this event, and the person running away with the 2022 WSOP Player of the Year race, Daniel Zack (4,375,000), among the finalists.
Add Chris "Big Huni" Hunichen (12,375,000), Brandon Steven (7,850,000), and Sam Soverel (3,200,000) to the mix, and we're quite possibly looking at one of the most exciting final tables of the series.
Cards will officially be back in the air at 3 p.m. local time in Bally's Event Center, part of the new home of the WSOP. PokerNews will provide live coverage in conjunction with PokerGO's live stream, which will be on a 60-minute security delay.
PLACE
PAYOUT (USD)
1
$ 4,563,700
2
$ 2,820,581
3
$ 1,931,718
4
$ 1,367,206
5
$ 1,001,142
6
$ 759,362
7
$ 597,381
8
$ 488,095
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