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2017 World Series of Poker Main Event Day 6: Ben Lamb Headlines Final 27

Antoine Saout, Michael Ruane and Marcel Luske Among Those Returning For Day 7

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Card Player’s 2017 WSOP coverage is sponsored by BetOnline Poker.

The 2017 World Series of Poker $10,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em main event drew a massive field of 7,221 entries this year, the third largest in the poker tournament’s history. From that sea of players who flooded the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino, there are now only 27 players vying for the championship bracelet and the first-place prize of $8,150,000.

The final 27 be in action on day 7, playing down to the official nine-handed final table. After that they will take a two-day break before returning to play down to a champion. This will be the first year since 2007 that the event will not be using the ‘November Nine’ format, which saw the final table put on hiatus for roughly three months until all of the edited television episodes of the main event aired on ESPN.

Speaking of the November Nine, there are still three players who made the final table during the past decade that are still in with a shot at making their second main event final table. Leading the way from that crowd is Ben Lamb, who ended day 6 in fourth chip position with 25,685,000. Lamb finished third in the 2011 main event for $4,019,635 and went on to win that year’s Card Player Player of the Year award. The high-stakes cash game regular will be a force to be reckoned with as the tournament continues.

Antoine SaoutFrance’s Antoine Saout ended day 6 with 9,945,000 to put him in the middle of the pack. Saout was part of the second ever November Nine in 2009, finishing third that year for $3,479,670. 2016 third-place finisher Michael Ruane also survived the day and will enter day 7 with 9,340,000 and the chance to make back-to-back main event final tables.

The chip leader at the end of day 6 was Christian Pham with 31,440,000. The 2015 $1,500 deuce-to-seven lowball bracelet winner is reportedly receiving coaching and advice from Young Phan, who was in Qui Nguyen’s corner last year when he made the run to the title.

There are several notables players who are still alive with a shot at the title include Bryan Piccioli (14,500,000), Benjamin Pollack (8,870,000), Jake Bazely (3,915,000) and 2004 WSOP main event tenth-place finisher Marcel Luske (2,990,000).

Day 6 began with 85 players, which means that 58 players hit the rail before play was halted for the night. Among those to bust on day 6 were 2014 WSOP $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. champion Chris Wallace (32nd – $214,913), Brandon Meyers (42nd – $176,399), Dario Sammartino (43rd – $176,399), Max Silver (45th – $176,399), Connor Drinan (56th – $121,188) and 2016 sixth-place finisher Kenny Hallaert (64th – $101,444).

Day 7 is set to resume at 12:00 p.m. local time. The final 27 players are all now guaranteed a payday of at least $263,532. Surely they have their eyes set on the next goal of making the final table, which will guarantee them a minimum of $1,000,000 and the chance at the title of poker’s world champion.

Here is a look at the chip counts of the remaining 27 players:

Rank Player Chip Count
1 Christian Pham 31,440,000
2 Valentin Messina 28,590,000
3 Jack Sinclair 27,535,000
4 Ben Lamb 25,685,000
5 Pedro Oliveira 22,540,000
6 John Hesp 20,880,000
7 Randy Pisane 18,370,000
8 Scott Blumstein 18,125,000
9 Richard Dubini 14,975,000
10 Bryan Piccioli 14,500,000
11 Richard Gryko 13,760,000
12 Jonas Mackoff 12,050,000
13 Michael Krasienko 11,430,000
14 Robin Hegele 11,150,000
15 Antoine Saout 9,945,000
16 Michael Ruane 9,340,000
17 Benjamin Pollak 8,870,000
18 Alexandre Reard 8,580,000
19 Karen Sarkisyan 8,105,000
20 Dan Ott 7,815,000
21 Damian Salas 7,800,000
22 David Guay 7,400,000
23 Scott Stewart 6,230,000
24 Florian Lohnert 5,360,000
25 Jake Bazeley 3,915,000

For more coverage from the summer series, visit the 2017 WSOP landing page complete with a full schedule, news, player interviews and event recaps.

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