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2018 World Series of Poker Main Event: Aram Zobian Leads Final 26 Players

Yueqi Zhu, Eric Froehlich, Joe Cada and Ivan Luca Among Those Returning For Day 7

by Erik Fast  |  Published: Jul 10, 2018

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The 2018 World Series of Poker $10,000 buy-in main event drew 7,874 entries this year, the second largest field in the tournament’s history. Just over a week after the first cards were dealt in the main event that mass of players has been narrowed to just 26 hopefuls, each with their sights set on becoming poker’s next world champion and taking home the $8,800,000 top prize.

Day 7 will see the remaining players whittled down to the official final table of nine. Leading the way is Aram Zobian (pictured above) with 41,585,000. The Cranston, Rhode Island native had $110,903 in lifetime life tournament earnings prior to this event, and is in great shape to increase that number several times over in the next few days.

There are several notables players who are still alive with a shot at the title including 2017 WSOP ‘Marathon’ event runner-up Alex Lynskey (22,045,000), 2018 $1,500 Omaha eight-ot-better mixed event champion Yueqi Zhu (19,245,000), two-time bracelet winner Eric Froehlich (15,285,000), 2015 WSOP $1,000 no-limit hold’em event winner Ivan Luca (8,820,000) and 2015 WSOP $1,500 no-limit hold’em shootout champion Barry Hutter, whose 2,250,000 will make him the short stack heading into day 7.

2009 WSOP main event champion Joe Cada

Also among the final 26 are two players that have previously made the main event final table. Sylvain Loosli finished fourth in 2013 for $2,792,533. He bagged up 11,635,000 to end the day in the middle of the pack. 2009 WSOP main event champion Joe Cada is the lone prior winner of this event remaining with a shot to become a two-time world champion. Cada, who set the record as the youngest player to win this tournament at the age of 21, will return with 8,850,000 in his quest to make history again.

Play resumed on day 6 with 109 players, which means that 83 players were eliminated throughout the day. Among those that hit the rail were Shannon Shorr (39th – $189,165), three-time bracelet winner Brian Yoon (41st – $189,165), 2017 main event third-place finisher Benjamin Pollak (42nd – $189,165), James Obst (46th – $156,265), Rifat Palevic (55th – $129,930), Mike Cordell (63rd – $129,930), Stefan Huber (76th – $91,610), Jack Duong (86th – $77,695) and three-time bracelet winner Shaun Deeb (105th – $57,010).

Kelly Minkin finished 50th

Kelly Minkin came into the day as the last female player remaining. This was the second time that she achieved the feat, having placed 29th in 2015. This time around she was elimianted in 50th place, getting her last chips in with AClub Suit10Heart Suit up against the AHeart SuitKDiamond Suit of Frederik Jensen. She failed to come from behind and was sent home midway through the day, earning $156,265 for her latest deep run in poker’s biggest event.

The day ended with a flurry of activity. At one table Barry Hutter tripled up when he turned a set of threes against Alex Lynskey’s pocket aces. At another Clayton Fletcher was knocked out in 28th place ($230,475) when he moved all-in with KClub Suit10Club Suit and got called by Yueqi Zhu’s KDiamond SuitQClub Suit. Zhu’s hand held up to officially end play for the night, while meanwhile at yet another table Jorden Fox was moving all-in on a board of 10Club Suit9Spade Suit2Heart Suit7Heart Suit holding pocket jacks and found himself called by Michale Dyer, who held the 9Club Suit7Club Suit. The KSpade Suit river kept Dyer’s hand ahead and Fox was sent home in 27th place, earning $282,630.

Day 7 is set to resume at 11:00 a.m. local time. The final 26 players are all now guaranteed a payday of at least $282,630. 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 26 players:

Rank Player Chip Count
1 Aram Zobian 41,585,000
2 Artem Metalidi 30,845,000
3 Antoine Labat 28,445,000
4 Michael Dyer 26,515,000
5 Alex Lynskey 22,045,000
6 Yueqi Zhu 19,245,000
7 Kao Saechao 18,985,000
8 Martijn Gerrits 17,790,000
9 Nicolas Manion 17,630,000
10 Eric Froehlich 15,285,000
11 Paulo Goncalves 15,230,000
12 Tony Miles 14,945,000
13 John Cynn 14,750,000
14 Alexander Haro 12,940,000
15 Hari Bercovici 12,775,000
16 Frederik Jensen 12,100,000
17 Sylvain Loosli 11,635,000
18 Ryan Phan 9,545,000
19 Joe Cada 8,850,000
20 Ivan Luca 8,820,000
21 Konstantin Beylin 8,305,000
22 Ming Xi 7,550,000
23 Jeff Trudeau 5,090,000
24 Nirath Rean 4,950,000
25 Bart Lybaert 3,825,000
26 Barry Hutter 2,250,000

For more coverage from the summer series, visit the 2018 WSOP landing page complete with a full schedule, news, player interviews and event recaps.

 
 
Tags: 2018 WSOP,   World Series of Poker,   Poker Tournaments,   Las Vegas,   Nevada,   Rio,   Bracelet,   main event,   day 6 recap,   final 26 players,   Aram Zobian,   Eric Froehlich,   Joe Cada,   Ivan Luca,   Sylvain Loosli,   Barry Hutter
 
 
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