Marko Maher opened to 45,000 from middle position. Kenna James, in the small blind, three-bet to 110,000. Maher responded by moving all in for about 700,000. James snap-called, and the cards were tabled.
Marko Maher:
Kenna James:
The board came and that was it for Maher, eliminated from the tournament in 10th place for $15,331.
Adrian Scarpa raised to 34,000 from early position. Kenna James called from mid-position along with Brett Apter on the button, and Marko Maher in the big blind.
A flop of was dealt. Action checked to Apter who bet 45,000. Maher and Scarpa check-called but James folded.
The turn brought the and this time, Maher led out with a bet of 140,000. Scarpa responded by moving all in for 491,000. Apter folded, but Maher went into the tank for a long while, and eventually opted to call.
Adrian Scarpa:
Marko Maher:
Maher had turned two pair and Scarpa had a pair and a flush draw. The river completed the board and Scarpa got his flush to double up.
Anatolii Zyrin raised to 25,000 and Adrian Scarpa called. Kenna James made it 70,000 on the button, Zyrin called, and Scarpa called as well. On the flop, Zyrin and Scarpa checked to James who bet 80,000. The Russian folded, Scarpa called.
On the turn, Scarpa checked, James bet 275,000 and Scarpa check-raised to 700,000. James chuckled, took around twenty seconds, then stacked all his chips and slid them forward for a total shove of 1,003,000. Scarpa quickly flicked in a calling chip.
Kenna James:
Adrian Scarpa:
There was only one out in the deck left for Scarpa to knock James out but the wasn't the case trey. Just like that, James got his earlier lost chips back.
It looks so deceptively simple. Win your table and you advance to the next round. Win it again? You've made it to a World Series of Poker final table. Win that one? Congratulations, you're a WSOP gold bracelet winner! Three wins in a row, that's all it takes to win Event #17: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout, and ten players have accomplished the first two goals. They each have at least $15,331 locked up for making it this far, but their sights are set on the first place prize of $238,824 that awaits the winner at the end of the night.
The beauty of the Shootout format is in its equality, as every single one of the ten final table players starts with more or less the same amount in chips. It's a level playing field — no chip leaders, no short stacks — and after what's likely to be a very long day, one of them will be able to call himself a WSOP champion.
As winning to advance twice was requisite to make it to the final table, it comes to no surprise that a table chock-full of talent will be duking it out on the Amazon Secondary feature table throughout the day. 2018 Monster Stack winner Tommy Nguyen, Cary Katz, Anatolii Zyrin, Manuel Ruivo, Kenna James, and Brett Apter are some of the familiar faces to take a seat. For Katz, the man behind PokerGO, a win here would be the perfect addition to s mouth-watering poker resumé consisting of nearly $20 million in lifetime winnings.
For Marko Maher and Shintaro Baba, however, this is their first taste of WSOP-success and they're looking to make a big splash right away. Rounding out the top ten are Adrian Scarpa and Michael O'Grady, who also conquered their two first tables to advance to the final ten.
Final Table Lineup
Seat
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Brett Apter
United States
2,258,000
226 bb
2
Anatolii Zyrin
Russia
2,306,000
231 bb
3
Marko Maher
Slovenia
2,240,000
224 bb
4
Shintaro Baba
Japan
2,237,000
224 bb
5
Adrian Scarpa
United States
2,286,000
229 bb
6
Michael O'Grady
United States
2,298,000
230 bb
7
Kenna James
United States
2,203,000
220 bb
8
Cary Katz
United States
2,266,000
227 bb
9
Manuel Ruivo
Portugal
2,245,000
225 bb
10
Tommy Nguyen
Canada
2,213,000
221 bb
The blinds will kick off with 5,000/10,000 and a 10,000 big blind ante, giving players plenty of room to play as the day progresses. Levels will be 40 minutes throughout the final table and play will continue until the winner has been crowned. Follow along with PokerNews in the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino throughout the day as a new champion is crowned at the 2019 World Series of Poker.