2018 WSOP Main Event Final Table: Michael Dyer Holds Dominant Lead With Six Players RemainingJoe Cada Still In With A Chance To Become The First Two-Time Main Event Champion of the Modern Era |
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The final table of the 2018 World Series of Poker $10,000 buy-in main event kicked off today, and after nearly five hours of action the field has been narrowed to just six players left from the initial field of 7,874 entries in this event.
The runaway chip leader when play was halted a bit after 10:00 p.m. local time was Michael Dyer (pictured above). The 32-year-old from Houston, Texas came into the day essentially tied for the chip lead with Nicolas Manion. Dyer established himself as the force to be reckoned with at the final table, and although he did not score any knockouts during the first session at the final table, he was able to chip up to 156,500,000 by the end of the night. Dyer will enter day two of the final table with just shy of 40 percent of the total chips in play, having more than double the chips of his nearest competitor in Manion (72,250,000).
Joe Cada at the 2018 WSOP main event final table
Cada is the second shortest stack remaining, with only Aram Zobian bagging up fewer chips. The 23-year-old poker pro will have just shy of 17 big blind when play resumes.
Antoine Labat earned $1,000,000 as the ninth-place finisher
K
on the button and raised to 1,200,000. Labat was the shortest stack coming into the final table, having lost roughly 80 percent of his chips in the final hand of day 7 when he and 10th-place finisher Yueqi Zhu both got all-in with what else but pocket kings, only to run into the pocket aces of Nicolas Manion.
The second shortest stack at the table, Artem Metalidi, looked down at the QQ
and moved all-in for 10,300,000. Labat made the call with again with his pocket kings, but this time was ahead going into the flop. The tables quickly turned when Metalidi hit a set on the A
Q5 flop. The turn was the 9 and the river the A, giving Metalidi a full house and sending Labat home in ninth place. He earned $1,000,000 for his deep run in this event.
Artem Metalidi palced eighth for $1,250,000
5. Aram Zobian moved all-in with the KQ and the rest of the competition folded.
The 652 was an action flop, giving Metalidi a set of fives and Zobian a flush draw. The K on the turn kept Metalidi ahead, but the 4 on the river complete Zobian’s flush draw. The 29-year-old Ukrainian poker pro was knocked out in eighth place, taking home $1,250,000 for his strong showing. Zobian chipped up to over 32 million after the hand, nearly twice what he came into the day with.
Alex Lynskey finished seventh for $1,500,000
Q and found himself in a coin flip situation against Lynskey’s 66. The board ran out 109310J and Cynn rivered a straight to win the pot and knock out Lynskey in seventh place. With that Cynn further secured his hold on the third-place spot on the leaderboard, while Lynskey hit the rail in seventh place with $1,500,000.
Play continued six-handed until the completion of level 37 before the remaining players counted and bagged up their chips for the night. Action will resume at 5:30 p.m. Pacific, with the final six coming back to increased blinds of 500,000-1,000,000 with an ante of 150,000. Stay tuned to Card Player to find out which of the six remaining players will become poker’s newest world champion.
Here is a look at the chip counts of the final six players:
| Player | Chip Count |
| Michael Dyer | 156,500,000 |
| Nicolas Manion | 72,250,000 |
| John Cynn | 61,550,000 |
| Tony Miles | 57,500,000 |
| Joe Cada | 29,275,000 |
| Aram Zobian | 16,700,000 |
For more coverage from the summer series, visit the 2018 WSOP landing page complete with a full schedule, news, player interviews and event recaps.
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