The sixth day of the most prestigious poker tournament in the world has come to a close with just 26 players still standing from a starting field of 7,874. The pressure and anticipation are now building quickly at the Rio, with $74,015,600 in the prize pool, and $8,800,000 set aside for the eventual winner. By this time tomorrow, we will know who our final 9 players will be.
Here are some of the key stories from day 6.
Notable stacks
Out in front of the chasing pack going into the seventh day is Aram Zobian. He rose quickly through the ranks yesterday to bag up 41,585,000 in chips, around 11 million ahead of his nearest challenger, who is Artem Metalidi with 30,845,000.
Australian pro Alex Lynskey is another of the big stacks still in contention, currently sitting in 5th on the counts with 22,045,000.
Bagged 22mil which puts me 4/26 left in #WSOPMainEvent2018. Casual 8.8mil up top. #itsfuckingcominghome
— Alex Lynskey (@lynskey_99) July 11, 2018
Further down the order is two-time bracelet winner Eric Froelich with 15,285, with former Main Event final tablist from 2013, Sylvain Loosli also in contention with 11,635,000.
One of the biggest stories of the day is undoubtedly that of Joe Cada. The US pro outlasted a Main Event final table that included Phil Ivey back in 2009 and now chases his second Main Event title. Cada is currently sitting on a stack of 8,850,000.
Just behind him is another former WSOP bracelet winner, Ivan Luca, who has 8,820,000.
Chinese hopes
The latter stages of this event saw two players with close links to China building threatening stacks, including Chinese- American player Yueqi Zhu.
Zhu He has won his first career bracelet earlier in this series and is in the hunt with 19,245,000. In addition, Chinese player Ming Xi is also still in with a chance, bringing 7,550,000 back for the seventh day.
Fallers on day 6
There were several interesting players vying for the title yesterday who did make it through the trials of today, the first of which was Indian player Kartik Ved, who fell in 128th place for $57,010. He was followed by former final tablist Cliff ‘JohnnyBax’ Josephy in 123rd who took home the same amount of prize money.
US pro and three-time bracelet winner Shaun Deeb soon found his way to the rail in 105th place, also picking up $57,010. Vivek Rughani’s elimination in 88th place for $77,695 saw India’s hopes of a homegrown champion evaporate, while Australian James Obst later saw his chances go up in flames, falling in 46th place for $156,265.
French pro Benjamin Pollak had been looking strong during the fifth day, but he also could not convert his momentum into a final table run, bowing out in 42nd place for $189,165.
Hong Kong’s Danny Tang ended up in 31st place’in 31th place, picking up $230,475 after squeeze-shoving with A8 and getting looked up by AT.
GG 31/7874 in the Main. Had a blast ! The journey goes on. pic.twitter.com/OQ6ifwUG32
— Danny Tang (@DannyTang2) July 11, 2018
Top 10 Chip Counts:
1st: Aram Zobian – 41,585,000
2nd: Artem Metalidi – 30,845,000
3rd: Antoine Labat – 28,445,000
4th: Michael Dyer – 26,515,000
5th: Alex Lynskey – 22,045,000
6th: Yueqi Zhu – 19,245,000
7th: Kao Saechao – 18,985,000
8th: Martijn Gerrits – 17,790,000
9th: Nicolas Manion – 17,630,000
10th: Eric Froehlich – 15,285,000
Join us tomorrow as we bring you all the action from day 7.
Louis Hartwell
Graduated in Media Communication at the University of Lausanne, Louis Hartman is a co-founder of somuchpoker.com. He began his career in Cambodia as freelance journalist. In same time he was making his living by playing poker every night at that time. Intense learner, he read dozens of poker strategy books to improve his skills during many years. With a strong interest about poker "behind the scene" in Asia and his communication skills, Louis launched Somuchpoker in 2014.
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