Yueqi Zhu has been trying to win a bracelet for two decades. He's had quite a few narrow misses but now he's trying to finally close it out here in the Mixed Omaha event.
Zhu is using his big chip lead in three-handed play to scooping small pots and increasing the gap. He showed it in two consecutive PLO8 hands against Gabriel Ramos.
The first one saw him fire 185,000 on the turn and Ramos let it go after a little bit of contemplating.
Then Zhu raised to 120,000 in the small blind and Ramos defended. However, Zhu blasted a big 200,000-bet on the flop and Ramos released his hand again.
Carol Fuchs raised and Gabriel Ramos called out of the big blind. He called another bet on the flop and then they both checked the turn and river. Fuchs rolled over for top set aces and a six-low and Ramos mucked.
He fired back on the next hand, raising in the small blind and this time Fuchs defended. Ramos continued on the flop and Fuchs raised. Ramos called to see the appear on the turn. The round was checked and the landed on the river. Ramos led out and Fuchs folded, leaving herself with fewer than three big bets
Carol Fuchs was very short but just managed to double up through Gabriel Ramos.
Fuchs raised and Ramos called. On the flop Ramos took the lead by betting and Fuchs was the on to call this time. On the turn the last chips of Fuchs went in the middle and Ramos called.
Gabriel Ramos:
Carol Fuchs:
The river card was the and Fuchs managed to catch a double up with a Broadway straight.
Yueqi Zhu made it 100,000 and Carol Fuchs called in the big blind.
Fuchs announced a pot-sized bet when the flop arrived and Zhu asked for a better view of her remaining stack. She had 290,000 left and Zhu just called.
Fuchs checked the turn and Zhu slid in enough chips to cover her stack. Fuchs paused for a moment but the verbalized that she was folding and threw her cards into the muck.
The 10th level of the day expired and the three remaining players bagged their chips. They will have to go an extra mile to try snatch the bracelet, coming back Tuesday, June 19 at 2 pm. for an unscheduled Day 4 to close it out.
Originally scheduled as the closing day, the third 10-level stretch in Event #35: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better; Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better; Big O (5-Card PLO/8) saw three players make it through. While the tournament hasn't found its champion just yet, there's one huge favourite coming into the extra Day 4: Chinese poker ambassador Yueqi Zhu.
Holding a commanding lead with 4,515,000 in chips, Zhu leads Gabriel Ramos and Carol Fuchs and has 78 percent of all chips in play. Zhu made a strong push on the final table, winning several sizeable pots to establish himself as the overwhelming chipleader.
Zhu seems to be ready to finally close the long saga of narrow misses. The Chinese has been trying to claim a bracelet for two decades. This is the seventh time he's made it to the podium, with his record showing two silver and four bronze medals. Zhu's longevity has been tremendous as he made his first WSOP final table already back in 2006 when he finished second in a $3,000 Limit Hold'em event ($184,409).
Final Table Chip Counts & Results
Seat
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
Big Bets
4
Carol Fuchs
United States
310,000
6
2
7
Yueqi Zhu
China
4,515,000
90
23
8
Gabriel Ramos
United States
970,000
19
5
Position
Player
Country
Prize
1
$211,781
2
$130,850
3
$89,488
4
Matthew Gregoire
United States
$62,226
5
Jon Turner
United States
$44,007
6
Peter Neff
United States
$31,662
7
Ryan Hughes
United States
$23,182
8
Nathan Gamble
United States
$17,279
Besides Zhu, there's Ramos, who's been flying under the radar so far. Ramos is a first-timer when it comes to World Series of Poker final tables but he has a vast experience from the WSOP Circuit. He guarded a big stack for the better part of the day but Zhu's amazing run in the last two levels saw Ramos relegated to a short stack.
Ramos will continue with only five big bets (970,000) but he's still a favourite over Fuchs who bagged a micro stack of 1.5 big bets (310,000). However, Fuchs already has the major feather in her cap. She won her first gold wristwear back in 2015 when she topped the $1,500 Dealer's Choice event. At that final table, she prevailed among spectacular competition including Robert Mizrachi, Chris Klodnicki and Yuval Bronshtein.
Fuchs will need a quick double or two to catch some air, but anything can happen in this game. Ryan Hughes has experienced it from the other way around. He seemed to have a stellar day in the office, steam-rolling the field to find himself with one-third of all chips in play when the final eight players merged to the last table.
But a drastic change of events followed and Hughes started losing big pots. He hit the skids and couldn't bounce back. Hughes left the tournament in seventh place, a devastating fashion considering his experience and excellent position. That allowed players like Jon Turner to patiently nurse their short stacks and ladder several places on the leaderboard.
Turner squeezed the most of it as he was on a nub for the whole final stage, despite pacing the field during the early levels of Day 3. "Pearljammer" managed to hang around for a few hours and eventually made it to a fifth place, losing his remaining bits to Ramos. Again, Turner misses out on a bracelet, making him one of the longest notable bracelet-hunting players in the world.
It will still be a great story, one way or another. There's an ever-missing veteran, a wild-card from the WSOP Circuit waters and a decorated female champ who will try to make one of the most remarkable comebacks in WSOP history.
With that on the line, it will surely be worth coming back tomorrow (June 19) at 2 p.m. for the live coverage of the three-handed finale. Tune back to PokerNews then to follow the encounter as we crown the champion of the $1,500 Mixed Omaha event.