Within two hands, the short stack of Kyle Cartwright was reduced to one third of a big bet before he was then forced all-in out of the big blind.
Cartwright had limped the first hand and the same applied for Jason Daly in the cutoff and James Obst then checked in the big blind. On a Q♠J♦4♦ flop, Obst checked and Cartwright bet for Daly to raise. Obst folded and Cartwright made it three bets to earn a call from Daly.
Cartwright bet the 2♠ turn to earn a call and checked the J♣ on the river, prompting a bet by Daly. Cartwright was visibly pained and sigh-called after two minutes in the tank. Daly tabled his Q♣J♥3♥2♦ for jacks full of queens and left Cartwright with 20,000 and the big blind next.
Johannes Becker then raised and James Chen three-bet on the button, earning a call from Becker. Becker check-raised the K♠8♦5♣ flop for Chen to stick around before they headed to the A♣ turn. Becker now bet and Chen raised, as Becker tossed in calling chips.
The two active players checked the 2♥ on the river and Becker showed his A♥A♦2♣2♦ for a set of aces. Chen had the A♠10♥3♠2♠ for a qualifying low as Cartwright showed his cards one after the other. The Q♣9♥8♠4♣ inferior eight-five low was no good and he was eliminated in 12th place.
James Obst was left short when he folded on the flop against heads-up action between James Chen and Jason Daly, who ended up chopping the pot. That left the Aussie with one and a half big bets and he got those in via three-bet on the button. Jason Daly in the big blind called, as did initial raiser Johannes Becker from under the gun and Chen from the next seat.
On a flop of A♥9♠7♣ flop, Daly checked and Becker bet to receive two calls. The Q♦ turn was checked by Daly, Becker bet again and Chen now folded while Daly called. They checked down the Q♥ river and the cards were exposed.
James Obst: A♠J♣7♠2♣
Jason Daly: K♠J♥5♣4♥
Johannes Becker: A♣9♦8♣3♣
Both Becker and Obst had flopped two pair but the kicker saved Obst, who quadrupled up.
Robert Yass opened the action with a button raise and Jason Daly defended the big blind after which Daly check-raised the 7♦6♣3♣ flop. Yass came along to the 2♣ turn and Daly bet, Yass raised after plenty of consideration and Daly made it three bets to get called by his opponent.
The 4♠ fell on the river and Daly bet. Yass had two bets behind and raised all-in to get snapped off.
Yass revealed his A♣K♣K♥3♥ for the ace-high flush and nut low on a non-paired board, yet he had to chop against the 10♦5♠5♣4♣ for a straight flush of Daly!
Ben Lamb raised and James Obst called all-in out of the big blind for the 170,000 he had left behind. Brad Ruben called out of the big blind and they headed to the K♣10♥8♠ flop. Ruben check-called a bet by Lamb and they checked the 4♠ turn.
After the 7♥ river, Ruben check-folded and the cards were turned over.
James Obst: K♠Q♥8♣7♣
Ben Lamb: A♦A♠J♠9♥
Obst had been ahead on the flop with two pair but the straight of Lamb sent the Aussie to the payout desk in 8th place for $48,300.
"At least I get to play the Razz," he joked, referring to the next Championship Event the following day.
The 2023 World Series of Poker at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas is one step closer to crowning a winner, as Event #25: $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship is down to the final seven players after as many 90-minute long levels on Day 3. Out of 212 total entries, five bracelet winners remain in contention for a repeat victory with the biggest portion of the $1,971,600 prize pool still up for grabs.
After a topsy-turvy day filled with numerous split pots, three quarters, scoops, four of a kind and even straight flushes, it was Ben Lamb who emerged as the chip leader with 2,545,000.
He is closely followed by Luis Velador (2,390,000) and Poker Hall of Fame member Erik Seidel (2,360,000) whereas Brad Ruben is only three big bets behind with 2,005,000 in chips. Seidel has nine WSOP gold bracelets to his name already and could become only the fifth player to win at least ten, potentially drawing even with the great Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, and Phil Ivey.
Robert Yass sits in the middle of the pack and the two short stacks Johannes Becker and James Chen are just one scoop away from potentially taking over the lead.
Seat Assignments for the Final Day
Seat
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
Big Bets
1
Johannes Becker
Germany
1,090,000
11
5
2
Erik Seidel
United States
2,360,000
24
12
3
Brad Ruben
United States
2,005,000
20
10
4
Luis Velador
Mexico
2,390,000
24
12
5
Robert Yass
United States
1,375,000
14
7
6
Ben Lamb
United States
2,545,000
25
13
7
James Chen (US)
United States
985,000
10
5
Initially, the penultimate tournament day was scheduled to play down to the final five contenders but given the record field size and deep structure, that target was missed. The remaining seven hopefuls will return to their seats in the Horseshoe Event Center on Tuesday, June 13, 2023, at 2 p.m. local time for the conclusion of the event,
Recommencing blinds in level 25 will be 50,000-100,000 with limits of 100,000-200,000. After the first scheduled break on Day 4, all those with chips at their disposal will then be moved over to the main stage for the broadcast on the PokerGO streaming platform.
Day 3 got back underway with 21 players and the final two tables were reached rather swiftly with big names such as Bryce Yockey and Damjan Radanov hitting the rail. Sam Farha was sent to the payout desk soon after when his turned two pair were no good against the flopped top set of Seidel.
Start-of-the-day chip leader Jay Kerbel experienced a torrid spell at the tables and had to settle for 15th place whereas John Hennigan and David Williams also bowed out before the unofficial nine-handed final table was set.
Nearly three full levels were played and the lead changed several times but only two further contenders were eliminated. Jason Daly led the final nine players when the field combined to a single table yet the ups and downs of the split pot variant including a remarkable chop with a straight flush saw him succumb in ninth place.
James Obst became the final casualty of the night after his stack had been whittled down to one full bet and the Aussie waved goodbye with the prospect of jumping into the $10,000 Razz Championship.
The final seven players are set to return at 2 p.m. local time and the PokerNews live reporting team will be back then to provide all of the action until a winner has been crowned.