Welcome back to the final table of Event #6: $365 GIANT No-Limit Hold'em which starts at 2 p.m. local time here in the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino. The nine remaining players will be taking their seats in the Brasilia Room to fight it out for that first-place prize of $250,000 and the gold WSOP bracelet. The player leading the fray to follow in last year’s winner Dieter Dechant’s footsteps is Renato Kaneoya with 56,100,000 in chips.
Kaneoya is going for his biggest WSOP cash which is also his fifth this summer in what seems to be his first summer here in Las Vegas. Luis Vazquez is trailing in second place with 42,700,000 and will be looking to make his second WSOP cash a personal best.
Alexander Lahkov is sitting in third place with 38,300,000 and is the last player that is sporting an above-average chip stack. Lakhov is no stranger to the WSOP and definitely not to the poker circuit in general. This will be his second final table of the summer after finishing in eighth place in Event #39: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout and he will be looking to improve on that result.
This is what they are all playing for:
Position
Prize
1
$250,000
2
$154,512
3
$117,531
4
$89,686
5
$68,605
6
$52,721
7
$40,627
8
$31,403
9
$24,353
Bracelet winner Daniel Fuhs is still in the running too with 18 big blinds. The final table is set to be an interesting one as there are three players with above average stacks and the rest will all be looking to win some pots from the start to even out the field. Kevin Rines (21,500,000), Jeremy Perrin (19,000,000), Svetlozar Nestorov (13,100,000), Lawrence Chan (7,900,000), and Matthew Smith (7,100,000) will be bringing their best from the start so be ready to expect some fireworks.
Hand-for-hand coverage will be provided from the start today when the players return to finish Level 35 which features a small blind of 500,000, big blind of 1,000,000, and a running ante of 150,000. The PokerNews live reporting team will be there from the “Shuffle up and deal” to the final applause for the new champion so make sure to follow all the updates!
Hand #7: Luis Vazquez raised to 2,700,000 from mid-position and action folded to Daniel Fuhs in the big blind. Fuhs shoved and Vazquez snap-called.
Daniel Fuhs:
Luis Vazquez:
The flop came to give Vazquez a pair of queens. The turn brought them the to give Vazquez two pair and Fuhs one pair. Fuhs needed an ace on the river to double up but the came instead on the former bracelet winner was sent to the payout desk as the first eliminated player of today's final table.
Hand #20: Out of the small blind, Renato Kaneoya moved all in and Matthew Smith called for his last 11.3 million out of the big blind.
Matthew Smith:
Renato Kaneoya:
"What is it?" the rail behind the two players asked and the tournament director confirmed the showdown cards for them. Kaneoya took the lead on the flop, and the turn and river failed to keep Smith's hopes alive. He was eliminated in 8th place for $32,433.
Hand #35: Alexander Lakhov moved all in for 17.9 million from early position and Kevin Rines quickly called out of the big blind with two antes more.
Alexander Lakhov:
Kevin Rines:
"Just stay clear for me this time," Rines asked in table chat. However, the board of improved Lakhov to a set on the turn and a full house on the river to let the Russian double.
Hand #36: One hand later, Rines was forced all in from the small blind for his last 200,000 after having posted the ante. Lakhov made it 3.3 million to go first to act and all opponents folded to created the following showdown:
Kevin Rines:
Alexander Lakhov:
While Rines had two live cards, the flop all but sealed his fate and the turn left him drawing dead, making the river a formality. Rines was eliminated in 6th place for $53,751 and Lakhov jumped back to an average stack.
Hand #44: Alexander Lakhov opened the action with a raise to 3.5 million and Luis Vazquez in the small blind three-bet to 10.8 million. Lakhov then shoved for more than 30 million and Vazquez called instantly with the superior stack.
Alexander Lakhov:
Luis Vazquez:
Lakhov was dominated and the left him in need of running spades or sixes to avoid elimination. The turn brought some hope, but a blank on the river ended Lakhov's run in 5th place for $69,571.
Hand #76: Svetlozar Nestorov raised to 4,800,000 from the under-the-gun position and was called by Luis Vazquez in the small blind. Renato Kaneoya shoved all in from the big blind and Nestorov asked for a count. The dealer confirmed the amount was 42,900,000 and Nestorov went deep into the tank. After a while, Vazquez called the clock on Nestorov. The floor came over and gave Nestorov a minute longer to consider his options. After the minute was over, the floor gave Nestorov 30 seconds to make a decision. The floor started counting down from five and Nestorov called. Vazquez snap-folded.
Renato Kaneoya:
Svetlozar Nestorov;
The flop came to give Kaneoya two pair. The turn brought them the which gave Nestorov some extra outs as any seven, eight, or queen would give Nestorov a straight or a set.
The came on the river and the Bulgarian rail went crazy as Nestorov hit his set to eliminate the Day 2 chip leader in fourth place for $90,599.
Hand #121: Svetlozar Nestorov shoved from the button for his remaining chips and Jeremy Perrin considered all his options from the small blind. After a while, Perrin called. Luis Vazquez quickly got out of their way and said he would have called if Perrin didn't.
Svetlozar Nestorov:
Jeremy Perrin:
The flop came to give them both a pair. The turn brought the which didn't change the situation and the on the river meant that Nestorov's fate was sealed and he was eliminated in third place for $118,444.
Hand #132: Luis Vazquez shoved all in on his button and Jeremy Perrin looked at his cards and then calmly called.
Luis Vazquez:
Jeremy Perrin:
The flop came for Vazquez to stay ahead and to also pick up a flush draw.
The turn brought them the and Perrin was asking for a five so Vazquez's two pair would be counterfeited.
The river completed the board with the which gave Perrin the higher two pair with jacks and tens to take down the whole tournament. Perrin ran towards his rail that stormed the feature table and jumped into their arms. After celebrating the win, Vazquez and Perrin walked towards each other and shook hands, hugged and congratulated each other.
Another champion has been crowned at the 2018 World Series of Poker and it was Jeremy Perrin that emerged victorious in Event #6: $365 GIANT No-Limit Hold'em, taking home his maiden bracelet and a payday of $250,966 for his efforts. The event with the smallest buy-in of the entire schedule had five separate starting days and drew 8,920 entries with a total of $2,676,000 in prize money. Players could earn several cashes in their respective flights, and it was Perrin that came out on top, defeating Puerto Rican Luis Vazquez in heads-up play.
"I feel pretty good. I actually thought it was the PLO GIANT and then I got two cards instead of four, figured I might just ship it," Perrin said, surrounded by his friends during the winner interview. It was the first bracelet event he entered, and there was an additional incentive for him to do well with a very specific prop bet.
"If we play in a tournament together, a ring or bracelet event and we both play, and I win or he wins, I get to pick a tramp stamp for him that he has to keep for a year. That is in stone. That's all I have played for. The money doesn't matter, I gonna take the bracelet and melt it down into gold fronts. I'll take the money, put it into a shredder, and just want to get his tramp stamp."
Perrin insisted to be very serious about this, much to the laughter of the friends right next to him.
It wasn't an easy ride to victory for the Omaha cash game player, as Perrin was one of the shorter stacks at the start of the final table with just 19 big blinds. After barely playing any hands early on, he doubled with pocket jacks in the first orbit and was essentially aiming for pay jumps.
"I didn't play a hand for two hours. Honestly, I played for sixth place, then I wanted to make third, and then for the win."
Several double-ups later, Perrin was suddenly among the last three and second in chips when he clashed with eventual third-place finisher Svetlozar Nestorov in a crucial hand that would define the outcome of the tournament. Perrin moved all in with pocket aces and got the call he wanted to take an overwhelming lead.
"I already looked at my hand, knew what I had. I told him I was thinking about a chop, and they didn't want to chop. So fuck it, I am all in. Then he woke up with ace-king and popped it. That was bad for him. That was actually a pretty good one."
Among the notables to reach the final day of the event were WSOP bracelet winner Daniel Fuhs, who was eliminated in nineth place for $25,319 and Russia's Alexander Lakhov (fifth place, $69,571). It was Lakhov's second WSOP final table of the summer and third in total, and he once again missed out on the coveted gold bracelet by a very small margin.
Final Table Result
Place
Winner
Country
Prize (USD)
1
Jeremy Perrin
United States
$250,966
2
Luis Vazquez
United States
$155,478
3
Svetlozar Nestorov
Bulgaria
$118,444
4
Renato Kaneoya
Brazil
$90,599
5
Alexander Lakhov
Russia
$69,571
6
Kevin Rines
United States
$53,751
7
Lawrence Chan
United States
$41,953
8
Matthew Smith
United States
$32,433
9
Daniel Fuhs
United States
$25,319
The 2018 WSOP Event #6: $365 GIANT No-Limit Hold'em at a Glance
*Tournament Day
Entries
Survivors
1a
1,289
80
1b
969
49
1c
1,148
55
1d
1,167
63
1e
4,347
280
2
527/8,920
9
Action of the Final Day
Only nine players remained and the only former WSOP bracelet winner among the finalists was sent to the rail first in Daniel Fuhs. He three-bet shoved with ace-king and initial raiser Luis Vazquez called with king-queen to spike a queen on the flop, ensuring that a first-time champion would be crowned. Just over one hour later, the field was reduced to the final four after several short stacks ran out of chips in quick succession.
Matthew Smith doubled early on, then called a shove by Renato Kaneoya blind-on-blind with ace-king suited. Kaneoya only had queen-eight, but an eight on the flop awarded the pot to the Brazilian. Lawrence Chan lost a flip with pocket sixes against the king-queen of Kevin Rines when a king appeared on the river only to become the next casualty soon after.
First Rines lost almost all of his chips to Alexander Lakhov when his jacks failed to hold up versus sixes, and Lakhov finished off the job the very next hand with ace-seven suited against jack-eight. Lakhov then became the fifth-place finisher not even 20 minutes later when his ace-six suited ended up second-best to the ace-jack of Vazquez.
By then a large rail had built in the corner section of the Brasilia room. The location was a good omen for Brazilian Kaneoya, but it wasn't meant to be for the fifth gold bracelet for his home country and second of the 2018 WSOP. Kaneoya's run came to an end in a dramatic flip against Svetlozar Nestorov when his ace-ten flopped top two pair against the pair of eights of Nestorov. A jack on the flop gave the Bulgarian more outs and the eight on the rail sent his rail into ecstasy.
Down to the last three, double-ups were traded several times and Nestorov failed to hold onto a commanding lead and his downfall was almost complete after losing the vast majority of his stack when calling the shove of Perrin with ace-king only to run straight into pocket aces. Nestorov doubled once before ending up second-best with ace-five against Vazquez's ace-eight.
In heads-up, Perrin held an overwhelming lead and Vazquez doubled once, but eventually fell short in a coinflip with pocket fours against king-ten suited. Perrin was swiftly dubbed as “Jeremy the Giant” by his rail and even joked about jumping into the Pot-Limit Omaha version of THE GIANT soon after.
That brings an end to the PokerNews live reporting of this event, while the highlight of the annual summer camp is right around the corner with Day 1a of the $10,000 Main Event to kick off at 11 a.m. Local time on Monday, July 2nd, 2018.