Nível 40
: Blinds 1,000,000/2,000,000, 2,000,000 ante
Hand #102: Adrian Attenborough raised it up to 4,000,000 from under the gun with and Matthew Su then shoved for 10,600,000 from three seats over. It folded to Philippe Souki in the big blind and he went all-in over the top for 25,200,000 million.
Attenborough asked for a count but sent his cards into the muck as the two shortest stacks flipped over their cards.
Matthew Su:
Philippe Souki:
The dominated pair found no help this time on a board of and Su, who had started the day as the joint chip leader, had to settle for ninth place and a payday of $850,675.
Nível 41
: Blinds 1,250,000/2,500,000, 2,500,000 ante
Hand #112: Philippe Souki shoved for 19,600,000 from the button and Matija Dobric thought about it in the big blind for almost two minutes before calling.
Philippe Souki:
Matija Dobric:
The flop gave Souki top set but also gave Dobric a double-gutter to two straights. The turn completed the Broadway straight for Dobric.
Souki would need to fill up to stay alive but the river sent him to the rail in eighth place, taking home
Nível 41
: Blinds 1,250,000/2,500,000, 2,500,000 ante
Hand #122: One hand after losing the vast majority of his stack, Aaron Duczak jammed for just 10,300,000 and Espen Jorstad folded the . He was then isolated by Michael Duek, who reraised to 20,000,000 on the button. The blinds folded and the cards were revealed.
Aaron Duczak:
Michael Duek:
The flop and turn kept Duek in the lead. Both rails started chanting loudly prior to the river, on which all supporters of Duek broke out in wild celebration. Duczak's run ended in seventh place for $1,350,000.
Nível 41
: Blinds 1,250,000/2,500,000, 2,500,000 ante
Hand #147: John Eames raised on the button to 5,000,000. Jeffrey Farnes called in the small blind. Espen Jorstad also called in the big blind and the flop was .
Farnes open-shoved for 26,300,000. Jorstad folded and Eames called.
Jeffrey Farnes:
John Eames:
With a gutshot straight flush draw, Eames had a lot of outs to send Farnes to the rail. The turn was the and Eames had twenty two outs. He got there in the most unlikely way as the river saw Farnes' two pair counterfeited and he was eliminated in sixth place for $1,750,000.
Nível 42
: Blinds 1,500,000/3,000,000, 3,000,000 ante
Hand #168: Matija Dobric raised to 6,000,000 as the first player to act and Espen Jorstad took the better part of two minutes before three-betting to 21,000,000 in the small blind. The four-bet shove of Dobric came within a minute, and Jorstad asked for an exact count before he made the call.
Both sides of the rail went on their feet as the cards were revealed.
Matija Dobric:
Espen Jorstad:
The flop propelled Jorstad into the lead and that didn't change on the turn either. Another blank followed on the river and that sent Dobric to the rail in fifth place while Jorstad soared to the top of the leaderboard.
Dobric's rail kept chanting the first name of the Croatian for several moments before their favorite headed to the bustout interview.
The current plan for the Main Event is to play down to 3 players or finish Level 42, whichever happens first. Leve… https://t.co/bks1e89jFQ
Nível 42
: Blinds 1,500,000/3,000,000, 3,000,000 ante
Hand #186: Espen Jorstad raised to 6,000,000 as the first player to act. John Eames jammed it in for 72,000,000 in the big blind and was snap-called by the chipleader.
John Eames:
Espen Jorstad:
The flop gave Eames more outs, but he bricked the turn and river. Eames' run ended in fourth place as he collected a payday of $3,000,000 and that also ended Day 8 with Jorstad as the commanding chipleader.
Nível 42
: Blinds 1,500,000/3,000,000, 3,000,000 ante
The 2022 World Series of Poker in its new home at Bally's and Paris Las Vegas is one step closer to crowning a new World Champion. Norway's Espen Jorstad started Day 8 with the most chips and will return as the commanding chipleader when the hunt in the pinnacle live poker event of the year concludes on Saturday, July 16, 2022. Jorstad has two times as many chips as Adrian Attenborough while Michael Duek from Argentina completes an international line-up for the final trio.
Out of a field of 8,663 entries in the second largest WSOP Main Event in history, all three finalists have locked up a large slice of the $80,782,475 prize pool and earn at least $4 million for their efforts. Significant pay jumps await as the runner-up will collect $6 million, and the new world champion walks away with the top prize of $10 million.
Jorstad carefully picked his spots for most of the day once the action resumed with ten contenders still in the mix and ended the night with 298,000,000. That's almost spot on twice as many chips as Attenborough (149,800,000), while Duek, the shortest stack (72,100,000), still has 24 big blinds at his disposal.
Seat Assignments for the Final Day
Seat
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Adrian Attenborough
Australia
149,800,000
50
2
Michael Duek
Argentina
72,100,000
24
3
Espen Jorstad
Norway
298,000,000
99
There will be 25:20 minutes left in Level 42 at blinds of 1,500,000/3,000,000 and a big blind ante of 3,000,000, Michael Duek will be on the button.
"I feel I played pretty good," chipleader Jorstad said with a chuckle. "I had a couple of spots where I could have played differently, but that's how it is every day. I made no big mistakes. I mean, I didn't play flawlessly, but no one ever does," the Norwegian clarified and added, "I think I played pretty much as good as I could."
For Attenborough, it was certainly a roller-coaster day as the Aussie was on the brink of elimination and last in chips after 60 hands, only to soar to the top of the leaderboard some 50 hands later.
"I was feeling really out of it at the start of the final table," he told PokerNews. "I just thought I was going to get ninth after things didn't go my way. I just thought to myself 'Oh it's not my time' but then I spun it up and suddenly I was like 'Oh, it's my time! I made a few mistakes along the way, but I ran really good."
Attenborough is looking to become the second-ever Australian since Joe Hachem won the WSOP Main Event. He says it's a surreal experience to even be at the final table.
"I definitely don't deserve to be here, but I'm just lucky to have made it this far."
At one point, Attenborough went on break with just six blinds, but he said a level head kept him composed and ready to grind.
"I can only play the cards I got dealt in front of me. I was already coming into today happy if I got tenth. I ran so good to even be here, so I'm here to play. You don't really have a chance to play for $10,000,000, so I'll be as strict as possible. I'm going to be ready to play. I'm going to be here to win."
While Duek may be last in chips when the action resumes, his rail may very well be the loudest as he was supported by boisterous chants throughout the contest in the Thunderdome. Born in Argentina and residing in Florida, more friends and family flew in for this special moment, and the evidence could be heard throughout the entire Bally's Event Center.
"I am here with friends, immediate family, friends I haven't seen in forever, friends I met playing poker and random poker cheering me on. It's been great."
The plan for the bottom stack is rather easy as he will soon be in push-or-fold mode in short-handed play and an increase in blinds on the horizon. He also comes into the final day full of confidence. Having fought back from a short stack on numerous occasions in the late stages, Duek rides on a heater after he finished in third place in Event #69: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Handed Championship less than two weeks ago.
"I am going to try and get some rest, spend time with friends and family, and come out here and do what I do. I am going to try and play as good as I can against these two guys. They're both very good players to keep an eye out for."
Action of the Penultimate Day
The action recommenced with the unofficial final table of ten, but that was soon reduced by one. Recent birthday boy Asher Conniff open-jammed his last 15 big blinds with pocket tens and was looked up by Duek with ace-king. What started as a rather ordinary coin flip let the rails on the main feature table explode when Duek flopped quads in one of the most remarkable runouts in WSOP Main Event history.
Nearly 100 hands followed with numerous all-in showdowns, but the field remained nine-handed nonetheless. That changed when the joint chipleader at the start of the day, Matthew Su, saw his pair of eights crushed by the pocket kings of fellow short-stack Philippe Souki.
It was then Souki who would become the next final table casualty in cruel fashion. He moved all in with aces and was called by the queen-jack suited held by Matija Dobric. Souki made a set on the flop but the Croatian sent Souki to the rail after making Broadway on the turn. Souki was unable to fill up on the river and bowed out in eighth place.
Half an hour later, John Eames slow-played aces and got it in against the ace-king suited of Aaron Duczak, who bricked his nut flush draw to be left with fumes. His last few blinds vanished one hand later when Duek notched up his second elimination of the day.
One hour later, it was all over for Day 6 chipleader Jeffrey Farnes. He had slipped to the bottom of the leaderboard and flat-called a raise with pocket deuces to then shove a six-high flop. Eames called with nine-eight suited for a gutshot straight flush draw and instead spiked running treys to deal the final blow with nine-high like a Brit.
Jorstad then pulled into the top spot and cemented his lead in a big flip against Dobric when ace-queen got there to beat pocket sixes. With one more elimination or the end of the level as the target set for the remainder of the night, the Norwegian lost and restored his comfortable lead before also notching up the final elimination.
As one of the two short stacks, Eames three-bet jammed for 24 big blinds with ace-jack and was snap-called by Jorstad with pocket kings. One jack on the board was not enough for the cash game player from the UK, and Eames had to settle for a consolation prize of $3 million, concluding Day 8 on the spot.
The final three players will return at 2 p.m. local time on July 16th when a new world champion is crowned. Once again, the action will be broadcast on the PokerGO platform, and all PokerNews updates will be based on the delay of the live stream.