World Poker Finals 2018

Posted on 4/8/2022by admin

The 2018 World Series of Poker (WSOP) is the 49th annual tournament, and took place from May 30 to July 17 at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. There was a record 78 bracelet events. The $10,000 No Limit Hold'em Main Event began on July 2 and concluded on July 15. Poker legend Phil Hellmuth drew the ire of other players at the World Series of Poker on Day 2C of the tournament after an obscene outburst mid-hand — before a player could decide his move. 2018 World Poker Finals Oct 05, '18 - Oct 22, '18 Foxwoods Resort Casino (Mashantucket, CT) Complete Schedule of Events. Event Starts Days Buy-In POY. Phil Hellmuth also made the final table looking for his second World Championship but fell short in fifth. The 2002 WSOP was more of the same with 631 Main Event entrants (it was largest-ever live poker tournament at the time) but was notable more for being the first-time ESPN provided hole card cameras for its Main Event coverage.

@howardswains In World Series of Poker

From doggie dads to cereal eaters, via exiled Yorkshiremen and former champions. Here are the final nine players involved in the 2018 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event -- and here's a reminder of how we got here. (With thanks to Seth Palansky and the WSOP media team.)

Seat 1: Artem Metalidi, 29, Kiev, Ukraine

Artem Metalidi has been playing in the annual World Series of Poker since he was 21, and made a huge statement early on in his career as a professional poker player when he finished second in the $3,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold'em event in 2012. The score of $350,806 is still his largest live tournament cash to date, though he is a regular on the European circuit with a string of cashes on the EPT. Metalidi has won a total $728,254 at the WSOP from 25 separate cashes, but has never previously been beyond Day 2 in the Main Event. Eliminated in eighth: $1.25 million

Seat 2: John Cynn, 33, Evanston, Ill., USA

Two years ago, John Cynn came within a breath of the Main Event final table, but fell agonisingly short when he was knocked out in 11th for $650,000. It was the best live tournament performance of his career - until now. The 33-year old from Evanston, Illinois, now residing in Indiana, bested his own performance from 2016, and now finds himself at the final table where he is guaranteed at least $1 million. Eventual champion: $8.8 million

Seat 3: Alex Lynskey, Brisbane, Australia

There hasn't been an Australian at the Main Event final table since Joe Hachem's victory it in 2005. That changes this year, as 28-year old Alex Lynskey of Brisbane attempts to recreate Hachem's success. Lynskey was born in Yorkshire, in the north of England, but moved Down Under with his parents when he was 10. He has by far the loudest rail at the final table, predominantly comprising other British players. Lynskey's biggest WSOP cash to date came last year in the Marathon event, when he finished runner up for $426,663. In total, he has 13 previous WSOP cashes for $556,389. He is also very well known on the online tables where, as lynsky99, he has numerous major MTT results. Eliminated in seventh: $1.5 million

Seat 4: Tony Miles, 32, Lake Mary, Fl., USA

Tony Miles is a professional poker player and self-confessed adrenaline junkie. His final-table run in the Main Event hits big for both vocations. The 32-year-old attended the University of North Florida in Jacksonville. He was born in Ogden, Utah and now resides in Lake Mary, Florida. Miles had not cashed at the annual World Series of Poker until this summer where he has cashed in the Colossus (438th), Millionaire Maker (442nd), and of course the Main Event. The momentous payout coming his way will greatly surpass his best live cash of $18,000 from a third place finish at a WPT Jacksonville Summer Series. When Miles is not on the felt he enjoys wakeboarding, snowboarding, rock climbing, among other activities. He has a massive supporting section at the final table including his brother, mother Debbie and step-father, and his father Jim, an Air Force veteran. Eliminated second: $5 million

Seat 5: Nic Manion, 33, Muskegon, Mich., USA

To say that 35-year old Nic Manion is having the best tournament of his life would be an understatement. Manion, from Muskegon, Michigan, has only one previous WSOP cash, for $5,769, and $16,739 in total recorded earnings. However he won two live satellites to the Main Event and is now playing the rush. He became overall chip leader in the sensational final hand of Day 7, when his pocket aces beat two pairs of pocket kings, with Antoine Labat and Yueqi Zhu, who was eliminated. Now Manion, who is a proud dog-dad (he has an English bulldog, a French bulldog, and a Boston terrier), is guaranteed to increase his total live earning nearly 60-fold, and potentially much more than that. Eliminated in fourth: $2.825 million

Seat 6: Aram Zobian, 23, North Providence, RI., USA

The youngest player remaining at this table is 23-year-old Aram Zobian, originally from Cranston, Rhode Island, now living in North Providence. Zobian plays poker for a living and has just over $100,000 in tournament earnings. His largest live tournament cash came from a second place finish in the No-Limit Hold'em Championship at the MegaStack Challenge, Mashantucket, good for $47,000. This will be Zobian's fourth cash at the annual World Series of Poker and he has guaranteed himself a monster payday. He has had a big stack for all of the tournament so far, finishing in the top 100 of all survivors even during the massive Days 1, 2 and 3. He was chip leader at the end of Day 6. Eliminated in sixth: $1.8 million

Seat 7: Michael Dyer, 32, Houston, TX., USA

Michael Dyer, a 32-year old from Houston, Texas was the tournament chip leader at the end of Day 5 and held the lead most of Day 7 too until a major skirmish vaulted Manion to the top. Dyer enters the final table a close second in chips. Dyer has only three previous WSOP cashes, the biggest of which came in 2009 - he finished eighth in a $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em event for $65,905. That score accounts for more than two thirds of his total recorded career live tournament earnings ($95,020). But with his final-table performance in this event, he will add at least $1 million to that total. Is almost certain to be the only poker player ever to be seen eating dry breakfast cereal direct from a box on the ESPN feature table set. Eliminated third: $3.75 million

Seat 8: Joe Cada, 30, Shelby Township, Mich., USA

Joe Cada has done something no one else at this final table can claim: he's been here before. Not only did Cada make the Main Event final table in 2009, he won the bracelet, the most prestigious prize in poker. He's now the first previous Main Event champion to return to the final table since Dan Harrington. (Harrington, the 1995 champion, made the final table again in 2003 and 2004.) Cada is the most accomplished player at the 2018 final table and won his third career bracelet this summer. He has $10,779,041 in total tournament earnings, most of which ($8,546,435) came from his 2009 victory. Winning the $8.8 million first prize this time would make him the first player to repeat as Main Event champion since Stu Ungar won his third title in 1997. Eliminated in fifth: $2.15 million

Seat 9: Antoine Labat, 29, Paris, France

The 29-year old Antoine Labat from Paris continues a recent tradition of French success at the WSOP. Last year, Antoine Saout and Benjamin Pollak were at the final, the former for the second time in the past decade. Sylvain Loosli also finished fourth in 2013. Labat has two prior WSOP cashes, totalling less than $7,000. He has $194,789 in recorded tournament earnings. Labat would have been in much better shape going into the final had he not lost more than 70 percent of his stack in the hand that gave Manion the chip lead and ended Day 7. Labat is an experienced games player, listing board games and chess among his hobbies. Eliminated in ninth: $1 million

Final nine (l-r): Artem Metalidi, John Cynn, Alex Lynskey, Tony Miles, Nicolas Manion, Aram Zobian, Michael Dyer, Joe Cada, Antoine Labat

Selected previous 2018 WSOP coverage:

Two Miles: Jim and Tony
Is Hellmuth closing in on bracelet #15
As England departs World Cup, a new hero emerges
From the archive: Kassouf is finally silenced
Short stories of long nights at the poker table
The payout process
Then and now: Jake Cody
From the archive: K.L. Cleeton's inspiring run
Inside the ideas factory: Jason Somerville's Run It Up Studios
Stop, start, break, start, bubble for Matt Hopkins
Then and now: Barry Greenstein
A comprehensive guide to the WSOP bubble
Untangling the cake riddle to discover the key to Liv Boeree's heart
Meet Muskan Sethi: India's presidential poker ambassador
Then and Now: Daniel Negreanu
A flippin' fantastic way to enter a poker tournament
Jeff Gross: A momentary pause in the perpetual motion
From the archive: Stages
Moneymaker surveys the world he created
Negreanu continues preparations for PokerStars Players Championship
Then and Now: Andre Akkari
Then and Now: Maria Konnikova

WSOP photos by PokerPhotoArchive.com.

@howardswains In World Series of Poker

The 2018 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event is down to its final nine, and while some compelling storylines came to an end on a thrilling Day 7, others have endured through to the final table of poker's most celebrated tournament.

There was also the single most dramatic end to a day in World Series history as pocket aces went up against two pairs of pocket kings in two players' hands to end proceedings and leave us with a final table.

There's no question who will occupy centre stage tomorrow: Joe Cada, the 2009 WSOP Main Event champion, is returning to the scene of his greatest triumph and will have the chance to better his $8,547,044 victory from nine years ago. No player can ever really expect to make two WSOP Main Event final tables, and certainly not in the modern era of fields of many thousands of players.

World Poker Finals 2018 Results

Joe Cada: Former champion on for unprecedented double

But having defeated a 6,494-strong field, aged 21, to become the youngest ever champion, Cada, from Shelby Charter Township, Michigan, is now still in the last nine of this 7,874 player field. The first prize is $8.8 million this time around, and Cada is in the middle of the pack with a stack of 23.7 million.

The other standout storyline is that of John Cynn, who finished a heartbreaking 11th in 2016 but has already now completed the first stage of his redemption. Cynn has this time made it to the final nine and will go looking for the first title of his career over the three days of final-table play that begin tomorrow at the Rio Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas.

There are players from four countries represented at the final table, with Ukraine's Artem Metalidi joining Alex Lynskey, an Australian who was born in the UK, France's Antoine Labat and five Americans in the last nine. The chip leader is Nicolas Manion, who won an enormous pot just before midnight to surge to 112.8 million and get the Amazon Room rocking.

This was an extraordinary climax, the kind of thing that would be described as rigged if it happened in the online game. China's Yueqi Zhu was first to get his full stack in. It was followed by that of Manion and then Antoine Labat.

Nicolas Manion waits for the dealer to confirm his chip leading victory

Zhu had K♥K♠ and was up against Labat's K♦K♣ and Manion's A♠A♥. There was no miracle on the board and Manion tripled up, eliminating Zhu and ending the night.

No player has previously entered the Main Event final table with more than 100 million chips, but this time there are two. Manion's massive late win put him ahead of Michael Dyer's 109.2 million.

All nine remaining players are now guaranteed at least $1 million. The full line-up is as follows. The payout schedule is below.

Name	Country	Chips
Nicolas Manion	USA	112,800,000
Michael Dyer	USA	109,200,000
Tony Miles	USA	42,800,000
John Cynn	USA	37,100,000
Alex Lynskey	Australia	25,900,000
Joe Cada	USA	23,700,000
Aram Zobian	USA	18,900,000
Artem Metalidi	Ukraine	15,500,000
Antoine Labat	France	8,100,000

World Poker Tour 2018 Final Table

Final nine (l-r): Artem Metalidi, John Cynn, Alex Lynskey, Tony Miles, Nicolas Manion, Aram Zobian, Michael Dyer, Joe Cada, Antoine Labat

Place	Payout
1	$8,800,000
2	$5,000,000
3	$3,750,000
4	$2,825,000
5	$2,150,000
6	$1,800,000
7	$1,500,000
8	$1,250,000
9	$1,000,000

The final table was set at around 11.40pm local time when that major collision took place. By that point, 16 of the 26 who returned overnight were already on the rail, including Sylvain Loosli, who missed out on his own attempts to return to a WSOP Main Event final table. Loosli previously finished fourth in 2013 for $2.8 million, but had to make do with $375,000 for 18th this time.

Sylvain Loosli: No return to the final

Frederik Jensen, of Denmark, was unable to add a WSOP final table to his EPT Madrid title. Jensen finished in 12th ($575,000). The quickfire departures of Brazil's Paulo Goncalves and Argentina's Ivan Luca in 21st and 20th, respectively, ended South American hopes.

Elsewhere on a hectic day at the World Series, Phil Hellmuth extended his lead at the top of the all-time WSOP bracelet winner's list with his 15th career triumph.

World Poker Finals 2018 Winners

Hellmuth won Event #71, the $5,000 no limit hold'em turbo, defeating 452 players and winning $485,082. Hellmuth has now won five more bracelets than anybody else, pulling him further clear of Phil Ivey and Doyle Brunson, who have 10 apiece.

Phil Hellmuth shows off his new jewellery to Ali Nejad and Nick Schulman

Hellmuth was the beneficiary of a huge slice of fortune when he doubled up during heads-up play against Steven Wolansky. Hellmuth's K♦T♦ was dominated by Wolansky's K♥J♥ but a ten on the river kept the Poker Brat alive. He sealed the title soon after when his pocket threes flopped a set against Wolansky's A♦9♣.xz

Yaser Al-Keliddar won the $3,000 limit hold'em event, beating Juha Helppi into second place. Al-Keliddar won $154,338 and his first WSOP bracelet after prevailing from a 221-strong field. Three-time bracelet winner Barry Greenstein finished sixth.

World Poker Finals 2018 Standings

The first stage of the Main Event final table plays out tomorrow from 5pm PT, with the field due to be cut from nine to six. They will then play down to three on Friday, with the winner crowned Saturday night.

Selected previous 2018 WSOP coverage:

WSOP photos by PokerPhotoArchive.com.