Friedman Steamrolls to Huge Final Table Chip Lead in $10,000 Stud Championship
Four-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Adam Friedman will lead the final eight players into Sunday’s final table of Event #22: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship, and he’ll be doing it with a wide margin.
Friedman finished the day with a massive stack of 2,385,000 chips, which is over a million more than his closest competitor, Jean Gaspard, who was the only other player to finish with over a million (1,231,000).
Yuval Bronshtein finished the day with the third-biggest stack of 837,000, but after that, it’s a battle of survival with no one over 400,000.
However, those in that range still have plenty of talent and ability to run up a short stack, notably, ten-time bracelet winner Phil Ivey, who had to do just that a couple of times to make it to the final table.
Also in the mix is Ben Diebold (375,000), who succeeded three-time champion Friedman in the $10,000 Dealer’s Choice Championship.
Final Table Chip Counts
| RANK | NAME | CHIP COUNT | BIG BETS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Adam Friedman | 2,385,000 | 59 |
| 2 | Jean Gaspard | 1,231,000 | 30 |
| 3 | Yuval Bronshtein | 837,000 | 20 |
| 4 | Ben Diebold | 375,000 | 9 |
| 5 | Marco Johnson | 236,000 | 5 |
| 6 | James Paluszek | 235,000 | 5 |
| 7 | Yueqi Zhu | 231,000 | 5 |
| 8 | Phil Ivey | 174,000 | 4 |
The Day’s Action
Sunday’s final tablists will be shooting for the top prize of $248,254 and the prestigious WSOP bracelet, but the money bubble was burst shortly after dinner by Brandon Cantu’s elimination, with the day’s in-the-money eliminations receiving at least $16,170.
They included David Prager (15th - $16,170), Brian Lieberman (14th - $16,170), John Monnette (13th - $17,686), Randy Ohel ($12th – 17,686), Cary Katz (11th - $20,213), Thomas Taylor (10th - $20,213), and Kevin Gerhart (9th - $23,536), who fell just before the end of the night.
With late entries, a total of 96 runners ended up taking part in the event with such notables as Day 1 chipleader Bertrand Grospellier, Todd Brunson, Dario Sammartino, and Poker Hall of Famer Jack McClelland among those missing out on the money.
The players will now head to the Bally’s Event Center on Sunday to complete their quest for Seven Card Stud glory. Play will resume at 2 p.m. local time with level 18, with all levels 90-minutes in length until a champion is crowned in the shadow of the mothership.
PokerNews will be there to bring you all the action, so keep it right here for everything you need to know from the 53rd World Series of Poker from its new home at Bally’s and Paris Las Vegas.