Hand #56: Hossein Ensan raised to 2,400,000 from the cutoff, Kevin Maahs called from the small blind and Zhen Cai three-bet shoved for 28,700,000 from the big blind. Ensan folded quickly while Maahs confirmed the count before he called.
Maahs:
Cai:
The flop came down , keeping Maahs in the lead with his pair of nines.
The turn was the , leaving Cai just ten outs to survive.
The river was the , no help to Cai, ending his Main Event in sixth place for $1,850,000.
Hand #32: Hossein Ensan raised to 2,400,000 from the cutoff, Nick Marchington three-bet all in for 14,000,000 from the button and action folded back to Ensan who called.
Ensan:
Marchington:
The flop came down , not much help to Marchington.
The turn was the , though, giving Marchington extra outs to a straight.
The river was the , no help to Marchington, ending his Main Event in seventh place for $1,525,000.
Nick Marchington eliminated in 7th place ($1,525,000)
Hand #11: Timothy Su open-shoved for 17,700,000 first to act and Zhen Cai from one seat over asked for a count. Cai went into the think tank and folded, however, it was Hossein Ensan that made the call in the cutoff.
Timothy Su:
Hossein Ensan:
The flop improved Ensan to jacks and fives to let the German rail celebrate. Nothing changed with the turn and the river further improved Ensan to a full house.
Su had lost a big pot to Ensan on Day 7 to go from one of the chip leaders to short stack and his nemesis would deal the final blow 11 hands into the final table to send Su to the rail in 8th place for $1,250,000.
Hand #6: Action folded to the small blind, and Garry Gates shoved all in for about 18 million effective.
Milos Skrbic quickly called out of the big blind and both players tabled an ace.
Milos Skrbic:
Garry Gates:
The flop brought a little help for Skrbic in the form of a straight draw. The turn was a brick, as was the river, rendering Skrbic the first player busted at the final table.
The most-prestigious poker event of the year will see nine players return to their seats on the main feature table of the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino, all guaranteed to walk away with a seven-figure payday in the second-biggest WSOP Main Event in history. Five North-Americans and four Europeans out of 8,569 entries will be supported by a boisterous rail in their pursuit to take home the biggest piece of the $80,548,600 prize pool when the action resumes at 6.30 p.m. local time.
Leading the final nine in the first of three days of the 2019 WSOP Main Event final table is 55-year-old Hossein Ensan. After scooping two enormous pots on Day 7, the former EPT Main Event and WSOP Circuit Main Event champion enters the biggest stage in poker with 177,000,000.
Second in chips heading into Day 8 is poker industry veteran Garry Gates, who has cashed the WSOP Main Event for the fourth time. His deepest run will see Gates second in chips with 99,300,000 and a big rail is expected to be there for his support. After working behind the scenes in the industry for more than 10 years, the spotlight will be on Gates this time as he returns second in chips and with a shot at the top prize of $10,000,000.
Zhen Cai will be supported by his good friend and 2018 WSOP Main Event runner-up Tony Miles, who knows exactly what it takes to go as far in the pinnacle poker event of the year. Cai is on track to go as far as Miles after earning 60,600,000 to his name for Day 8, good enough for 60 big blinds and third place on the overall leader board when the action resumes.
In the middle of the pack, a trio of players is separated by just ten big blinds and may swap positions at any time with a successful pot. Kevin Maahs will return with a stack of 43,000,000, while Canada's Alex Livingston follows close behind with 37,800,000. Widely considered as the most experienced finalist in 2019 is Dario Sammartino, who has added yet another final table appearance to his WSOP resume. After losing an all in to Livingston late on Day 7, the Italian with more than $8 million in cashes will have 33,400,000 at his disposal.
Even smaller is the gap between the bottom three stacks, who are all within three and a half big blinds and stealing the blinds and antes would immediately change their position. Milos Skrbic finished 5th in the 2018 WSOPE Main Event for a payday of €241,718 and followed that up with a runner-up finish in the WPT Five Diamond Classic right here in Las Vegas two months later for $1,087,603. Skrbic has another seven-figure payday locked up already and returns with a stack of 23,400,000.
Timothy Su (20,200,000) and Nick Marchington (20,100,000) topped the leader board on Day 5 and Day 6 respectively, but clashes with eventual chip leader Ensan cut their stacks short. Both still have 20 big blinds to their name and the generous Main Event structure with two-hour levels provides plenty of time to run up a stack.
Official Final Table
Seat
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Hossein Ensan
Germany
177,000,000
177
2
Nick Marchington
United Kingdom
20,100,000
20
3
Dario Sammartino
Italy
33,400,000
33
4
Kevin Maahs
United States
43,000,000
43
5
Timothy Su
United States
20,200,000
20
6
Zhen Cai
United States
60,600,000
61
7
Garry Gates
United States
99,300,000
99
8
Milos Skrbic
Serbia
23,400,000
23
9
Alex Livingston
Canada
37,800,000
38
There is 1:31:35 remaining in Level 37 (500,000/1,000,000, with a 1,000,000-big blind ante).
How did the nine finalists get there?
WSOP Main Event Final Nine
Poker enthusiasts all over the world can watch the action on a 30-minute delay on ESPN and PokerGO, depending on their region. Stay tuned for all the Final Table action, as the PokerNews live reporting team will provide hand-for-hand coverage on all three days on the way to crowning a new WSOP Main Event champion in Las Vegas.
![[user139916]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
, keeping Maahs in the lead with his pair of nines.
, leaving Cai just ten outs to survive.
, no help to Cai, ending his Main Event in sixth place for $1,850,000.
, not much help to Marchington.
, though, giving Marchington extra outs to a straight.
flop improved Ensan to jacks and fives to let the German rail celebrate. Nothing changed with the 
turn and the 
river further improved Ensan to a full house.
flop brought a little help for Skrbic in the form of a straight draw. The 
