Mark Babekov Leads Final 10 of Event #5: THE COLOSSUS III - $565 No-Limit Hold'em; Affleck and Vrabel Search For First Bracelets
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After five days, many rebuys, and six Day 1 starts, only one table remains in Event #5: THE COLOSSUS III - $565 No-Limit Hold’em. These players have outlasted a field of 18,054 total entries which created a prize pool of over $9,000,000. Whoever walks away today as the winner will be a millionaire after capturing the $1,000,000 first-place prize.
Leading the way is Mark Babekov (19,025,000). His finish in this event will be a significant one, no matter where he places. Babekov’s largest score so far was during 2010 WSOP, where he placed fourth in a $1,500 pot-limit hold’em event for $62,232. If he can survive just one elimination, he will make his biggest lifetime cash.
Also looking for their first gold bracelets are Matt Affleck and Luke Vrabel. Vrabel has 26 WSOP cashes dating all the way back to 2007 and this will be his second final table. Meanwhile Affleck 28 cashes and over $1 million in WSOP earnings, but has yet to grasp that elusive bracelet. Affleck comes into the day with the shortest stack (3,500,000) while Vrabel is just above him (4,000,000). Affleck and Vrabel are surely a danger at any table, but both have some work to do with just seven and eight big blinds respectively.
Final Table
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Erkut Yilmaz | United States | 16,000,000 |
| 2 | Thomas Pomponio | United States | 10,125,000 |
| 3 | Mark Babekov | United States | 19,025,000 |
| 4 | Ralph Massey | United States | 5,300,000 |
| 5 | Taylor Black | United States | 13,300,000 |
| 6 | John Hanna | United States | 7,550,000 |
| 7 | Luke Vrabel | United States | 4,000,000 |
| 8 | Kent Coppock | United States | 11,500,000 |
| 9 | Matt Affleck | United States | 3,500,000 |
Play is set to resume at 2 p.m. PDT and PokerNews will be here with updates on all the action. Be sure to stay tuned.