Money Will be Made on Day 4 of the 2021 World Series of Poker Main Event
It's a special day here at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino as it's money time in the 2021 World Series of Poker Main Event! After three full days of grinding at the tables, players are finally getting paid for their efforts after last night's unfortunate bubble burst.
Kevin Campbell became the last player to leave the Main Event empty-handed after he got his chips in the middle holding the best starting hand only to be tripped up on the river by Chris Alafogiannis. As a consolation prize, he'll receive a free entry into next year's Main Event to give it another shot.
With Campbell's bust out, the remaining 1,000 out of a field of 6,650 players have all secured themselves a payday of $15,000 and will be looking for more when cards go back in the air at noon local time.
As for the other happenings on Day 3, Jessica Cai claimed the Day 3 chip lead with a stack of 1,796,000 with Natural8 ambassador Phachara Wongwichit (1,773,000) hot on her heels. Several other contestants bagged up more than 1.5 million in chips such as Joshua Remitio (1,671,000), Ehsan Amiri (1,574,000), Stephen Song (1,557,000), Neel Choksi (1,552,000), and Andreas Kniep (1,509,000).
Cai was spotted mid-way through the day with a big stack and she continued to rake in big pots to become a contender for the overnight lead. She knocked out several opponents, one of which ran with an overpair into her flopped full house, and she eventually claimed the top spot once the money bubble had burst.
2021 WSOP Main Event Day 4 Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jessica Cai | United States | 1,796,000 | 225 |
| 2 | Phachara Wongwichit | Thailand | 1,773,000 | 222 |
| 3 | Joshua Remitio | United States | 1,671,000 | 209 |
| 4 | Ehsan Amiri | Australia | 1,574,000 | 197 |
| 5 | Roman Valerstein | United States | 1,560,000 | 195 |
| 6 | Neel Choksi | United States | 1,552,000 | 194 |
| 7 | Stephen Song | United States | 1,551,000 | 194 |
| 8 | Dragana Lim | United States | 1,539,000 | 192 |
| 9 | Jordan Jayne | United States | 1,525,000 | 191 |
| 10 | Andreas Kniep | Germany | 1,509,000 | 189 |
The early spotlight on Day 3 belonged to the 2003 WSOP Main Event champion Chris Moneymaker, who was among the first players to run up a seven-figure stack. Moneymaker spent the last levels of the night on the feature table and advanced with one of the biggest stacks in the room as he bagged up 1,432,000. Among the victims of his early hot run was also Robert Kuhn, who ran into pocket aces. Fellow Main Event champion Martin Jacobson was among those to advance and made it through with 142,000 in chips.
Notables with big stacks outside of the top 10 include Chris Dowling (1,485,000), Gianluca Speranza (1,347,000), Day 2abd chip leader Rameez Shahid (1,299,000), Stephen Chidwick (1,258,000), Dillon Ott (1,004,000), Toby Lewis (1,010,000), Aristeidis Moschonas (989,000), Nick Petrangelo (860,000 ), Chance Kornuth (787,000), and Tim Reilly (770,000).
Less fortunate were familiar names such as Anthony Zinno, Justin Bonomo, Ben Lamb, Ole Schemion, Greg Mueller, Faraz Jaka, Anfy Black, Niall Farrell, the 2007 WSOP Main Event champion Jerry Yang, Yevgeniy Timoshenko, Pat Lyons, Joseph Hebert, and Chris Hunichen to name a few.
Day 4 Schedule
The cards will be back at noon with 110- minutes remaining in Level 16 at blinds of 4,000/8,000 with a big blind ante of 8,000. After that, four levels of 120-minutes each are on tap, with a 20-minute break after each level. A 75-minute dinner break is scheduled around 6.30 p.m.
| Level | Duration | Small Blind | Big Blind | Ante |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | 110 minutes | 4,000 | 8,000 | 8,000 |
| 20-minute break | ||||
| 17 | 120 minutes | 5,000 | 10,000 | 10,000 |
| 20-minute break | ||||
| 18 | 120 minutes | 6,000 | 12,000 | 12,000 |
| 75-minute dinner break | ||||
| 19 | 120 minutes | 8,000 | 16,000 | 16,000 |
| 20-minute break | ||||
| 20 | 120 minutes | 10,000 | 20,000 | 20,000 |
The 2021 WSOP Main Event in Numbers
| Day | Players Total for Day | Players Total Cumulative | Players Surviving |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1a | 523 | 523 | 348 |
| 1b | 845 | 1,368 | 611 |
| 1c | 600 | 1,968 | 433 |
| 1d | 2,550 | 4,518 | 1,933 |
| 1e | 797 | 5,315 | 590 |
| 1f | 1,045 | 6,360 | 782 |
| 2abd | 2,900 | 6,496 | 1,440 |
| 2cef | 1,810 | 6,550 | 922 |
| 3 | 2,362 | 6,550 | 1,000 |
Payouts
The 1,000 remaining players have all guaranteed themselves at least $15,000 for their efforts. Here's what's being paid out today and in the upcoming days. The new world champion, crowned on Wednesday, November 17, will walk away $8 million richer.
| Place | Prize |
|---|---|
| 1 | $8,000,000 |
| 2 | $4,300,000 |
| 3 | $3,000,000 |
| 4 | $2,300,000 |
| 5 | $1,800,000 |
| 6 | $1,400,000 |
| 7 | $1,225,000 |
| 8 | $1,100,000 |
| 9 | $1,000,000 |
click here to see a list of all payouts
The PokerNews live reporting team will be back on the floor to cover the biggest poker tournament in the world, so stick glued to your screen as we bring you all the updates from the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
flop provided none, but the 
turn gave him a glimmer of hope. Needing one of two kings to stay alive, the dealer put down the 
to complete the board, which prompted a loud celebration by Trost due to the improbable sequence that allows him to continue his Main Event run with a healthy stack.
to immediately hit Bleznick. The turn was 
and the river a 
to keep Bleznick alive.
. Grospellier checked to Cho who threw in a bet and Grospellier just called. 
for quad queens while Cho was drawing dead with 
. 
completed the board and Grospellier scored a big double up, leaving Cho with crumbs as he would bust just a short time later.
while Ramdin was way ahead with the 
flop but Ramdin regained the lead on the 
river to secure the double up.
with three players contesting the hand. Christoph Strehl made a chunky bet of 150,000 into a pot of less than that. Jay Romano folded from the small blind and Kevin Gerhart moved all in from the big blind, Strehl snap called.
and the river came the 
to superfluously fill up Strehl and eliminate the two-time 2021 WSOP bracelet winner.
runout kept Wong's aces best — eliminating Borenstein from contention.
flop, Lam checked and Swingruber moved all-in for 139,000 which Moneymaker and Godoroja called. Moneymaker then bet the 
turn for 336,000 and Godoroja folded.
river improved Moneymaker to the superior ten-high straight and that sent Swingruber to the rail.
