Koral Leads Final Eighteen Players in Event #44: $3,000 H.O.R.S.E.; Matusow, Hughes in Contention
Eighteen players will return at 2 p.m. local time for Day 3 and the final day of Event #44: $3,000 H.O.R.S.E.. They're all guaranteed at least $7,141 for making their way through a stacked field of 399 of the best mixed-game players. However, all eyes are on the first-place prize of $256,226 and the coveted gold WSOP bracelet that awaits the winner at the end of the night.
Tom Koral starts the day as the chip leader with 770,000 in chips. Koral has already racked up over $1.7 million in lifetime winnings, including three deep runs in the WSOP Main Event. However, a WSOP bracelet is still missing on his impressive poker résumé, and Koral will start from pole position to try and cross that one off his bucket list.
In the hunt are Phil Hui (516,000), Marcus Mizzi (485,000), Gabe Paul (485,000), and David Steicke (441,000). Multiple bracelet winners are left as well; two-time winner Ryan Hughes sits in 10th with 288,000, four-time champion Mike Matusow returns with 212,000 and is in 15th place.
After being severely short stacked on Day 2, Matusow was able to climb out of the hole and keep himself in contention. Brimming with confidence, Matusow said: "They couldn't bust me when I had 4,500, how the f*** are they gonna bust me now? I'm the best short-stack player in the world! I've got all the confidence in the world. You can't beat confidence."
It's been quite the summer for "The Mouth" who's looking to make his fourth final table of the 2017 series and a shot at another piece of hardware. The four-time bracelet winner has set his sights on breaking Phil Ivey's final table record set in 2010 [five] and needs to make just two more to tie.
The 18 remaining players will return as follows to Brasilia for the final day of the event.
| Room | Table | Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brasilia | 700 | 1 | Seamus Cahill | Ireland | 287,000 |
| Brasilia | 700 | 3 | Don Zewin | United States | 155,000 |
| Brasilia | 700 | 4 | Matthew Honig | United States | 240,000 |
| Brasilia | 700 | 6 | Nikolay Fal | Russia | 222,000 |
| Brasilia | 700 | 7 | Valentin Vornicu | United States | 62,000 |
| Brasilia | 700 | 8 | Matthew Schreiber | United States | 388,000 |
| Brasilia | 701 | 1 | Ryan Hughes | United States | 288,000 |
| Brasilia | 701 | 2 | Gabe Paul | United States | 484,000 |
| Brasilia | 701 | 3 | Ryan Himes | United States | 219,000 |
| Brasilia | 701 | 5 | Mike Matusow | United States | 212,000 |
| Brasilia | 701 | 7 | Alex Livingston | Canada | 146,000 |
| Brasilia | 701 | 8 | Richard Bai | United States | 371,000 |
| Brasilia | 702 | 1 | Marcus Mizzi | Canada | 485,000 |
| Brasilia | 702 | 3 | Dmitry Chop | Ukraine | 346,000 |
| Brasilia | 702 | 4 | Tom Koral | United States | 770,000 |
| Brasilia | 702 | 5 | Phillip Hui | United States | 516,000 |
| Brasilia | 702 | 6 | David Steicke | Hong Kong | 441,000 |
| Brasilia | 702 | 7 | Brendan Taylor | United States | 312,000 |
Follow PokerNews throughout the day to follow all of the excitement as the $3,000 H.O.R.S.E. champion is crowned.