Aldemir Takes a Big Lead into the Final Table of Event #67: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event Championship
Germany’s Koray Aldemir will take a massive lead into the final table of Event #67: $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event Championship at the 2021 World Series of Poker.
After 36 hopefuls showed up to Day 7 in hopes of achieving the dream of making the Main Event final table, only nine remain to play for the $8,000,000 top prize and the title of WSOP World Champion. The 2021 edition of the November Nine will return at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, November 16 for a final table that will be streamed at PokerGO.
2021 Main Event Final Table Seat Draw
| Seat | Player | Chip Count | Country | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jareth East | 8,300,000 | United Kingdom | 10 |
| 2 | Koray Aldemir | 140,000,000 | Germany | 175 |
| 3 | Jack Oliver | 34,000,000 | United Kingdom | 43 |
| 4 | Ozgur Secilmis | 24,500,000 | Turkey | 31 |
| 5 | George Holmes | 83,700,000 | United States | 106 |
| 6 | Chase Bianchi | 14,100,000 | United States | 18 |
| 7 | Joshua Remitio | 40,000,000 | United States | 50 |
| 8 | Alejandro Lococo | 46,800,000 | Argentina | 59 |
| 9 | Hye Park | 13,500,000 | United States | 17 |
The returning nine players are guaranteed $1,000,000, and Aldemir leads the pack after picking up over 100 million chips on Day 7. Aldemir bagged the Day 5 chip lead, and he is among the most accomplished players in the final group, even if he attributes some of his Main Event success to luck.
“To be honest, I got super lucky. I mean, I hit all the hands," Aldemir said to PokerNews while bagging his final table chips. “I mean, that big hand where I had queen-eight and he rivered a flush was kind of typical for the whole day: I hit the perfect river card! Yeah, sometimes poker is easy if you just hit all the hands.”
Aldemir is approaching the final table like he would any other.
“The focus is on sleeping well. That’s going to be kind of important. It’s of course a big final table, but it’s still poker. So I’ll try to play well. Just normal poker. I’ll try to play it like any other final table and see where it brings me.”
Following in the distance is George Holmes, who was down to just over one big blind at one point early in the day. Holmes bagged an improbable 83 million chips in just his second WSOP Main Event.
Among the other nine finalists are Chase Bianchi, Alejandro Lococo, and England’s Jack Oliver. Bianchi is the only bracelet winner left in the group and he’s making a miracle run in his only event of the 2021 WSOP.
Oliver is looking to turn his third career WSOP cash into his first bracelet on the biggest stage of them all. Lococo, who is better known to some as Argentian rapper Papo MC, came into Day 7 in eighth place on the leaderboard and he will go into the final table with the third most chips.
Other final table finalists include Joshua Remitio, Hye Park, Jareth East, and Ozgur Secilmis.
Secilmis is still standing after being involved in the infamous quads vs. quads hand during the money bubble. Remitio was down to his last card at one point when his jacks were outflopped by the ace-jack of Ramon Colillas, but a spade on the river brought the flush and he lived to fight all the way to the final table. East and Park fought their way up and down the leaderboard throughout Day 7, and both will return looking for an opportunity to spin it up early in final table action.
Final Table Payouts
All nine returning players have locked up at least $1,000,000 with $8,000,000 waiting up top for the winner.
| 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 |
Day 7 runners that did not advance to the final nine include Matthew Jewett, Vasu Amarapu, Jesse Lonis, Andreas Kniep, and Chance Kornuth, who was knocked out by Holmes during his miraculous run.
Day 8 will return in Level 36 with blinds at 400,000/800,000/800,000 and play will continue until there are four players left. The tournament will conclude with the final four players on Wednesday, November 17.
Be sure to stay with the PokerNews team for live hand-for-hand coverage from the final table of the 2021 WSOP Main Event.
gave Aldemir a pair of queens but also gave Kiriopoulos a flush draw.
and Kiriopoulos needed a spade or an ace to stay alive. 
locked up the pot for Aldemir to send Kiriopoulos out in 10th place on the final table bubble for a payday of $585,000.
on the river that sent the Amazon Room into a frenzy. Lococo celebrated with his rail after making a straight and Ragozzini was eliminated in 11th place.
. Onikul checked to Aldemir who bet 1,800,000 and Onikul called.
and Onikul checked again. Aldemir counted out a bet of 5,800,000 and Onikul check-raised to 14,000,000. Aldemir went into the tank for nearly two minutes and finally called.
for a full house. Onikul showed his 
for a flush but was eliminated in 12th place.
turn and 
turn to see 
and took the pot with two-pair as Lococo mucked a pair of aces. The pot was big enough to push Holmes above the 30 million mark, a far cry from the 475,000 he had just a few hours prior.
on the turn improved his hand to a full house. Halverson was drawing dead before the 
which left Kornuth drawing dead.
river completed the board and Kornuth was forced to exit in 16th place.
