2021 WSOP Main Event final 9! Koray Aldemir up top with a massive stack; Norbert Koh finishes 27th 

After twelve days of action that drew a jam packed house of 6,650 players, the World Series of Poker $10,000 Main Event No Limit Hold’em World Championship is now down to the final 9 players. In just two days, one player will take the crown and carve his name in history as the 52nd WSOP Main Event champion. For each of the finalists, a hefty one million dollars is already ensured, however, what they will be gunning for is the immense US$ 8,000,000 top prize and the coveted championship gold bracelet. Here’s a look at the finalists and a brief review of Day 6 and 7. 

Main Event – Final 9 players

Koray Aldemir – Germany – 140,000,000  
George Holmes – USA – 83,700,000
Alejandro Lococo – Argentina – 46,800,000
Joshua Remitio – USA – 40,000,000
Jack Oliver – UK – 30,400,000
Ozgur Secilmis – Turkey – 24,500,000
Hye Park – USA – 13,500,000
Chase Bianchi – USA – 12,100,000
Jareth East – UK – 8,300,000

Total chips in play: 399,300,000
Average stack: 44,366,667 / 55 BB

Leading the pack is Germany’s Koray Aldemir who emerged from the middle of the pack in Day 5 to bag the chip lead, he ended Day 6 ranked fifth, then amassed an enormous 140,000,000 stack (175 BB) – equivalent to 35 percent of the chips in play – at the end of Day 7. Among the numerous players he cleaned out, it was the elimination of Ark Onikul in 12th place that sent his stack soaring past 100 Million. On a board , both players improved on the river, Aldemir shoved his full house, Oniklul called with flush. To close out the heat, Aldemir eliminated Demosthenes Kiriopoulos in 10th place. The hot running German will be looking to clinch his first WSOP title and first gold bracelet. Back in 2016, he came very close with a 3rd place finish at the $111,111 No Limit Hold’em High Roller One Drop for a career high US$ 2,154,265 payout. 

The next five players down the rung, George Holmes, Alejandro Lococo, Joshua Remitio, Jack Oliver, and Ozgul Secilmis are fairly newcomers to the world stage. Among them, Secilmis has cashed the most with six through the years amounting to a combined US$ 19K, Holmes is the richest of one prior cash worth US$ 50.8K earned at the 2019 WSOP Main Event, while Remitio is the only player soon to be posting his first cash. Despite where each of these five players finish, they will be pocketing a life changing seven figures. Lococo hopes to follow in Damian Salas’ 2020 victory and bring home a second championship gold for Argentina. Secilmis aims to be the first Main Event champion from Turkey. 

Ranked seventh in chips is Hye Park who topped the counts in Day 6. This past summer, Park shipped the WSOP.com Circuit NLH Deep Turbo to claim his first WSOP title and gold ring. It was also his only known tournament win. Park has been frequenting the series since 2012 and earned his largest WSOP score that year at the Main Event, placing 222nd for US$ 44,655. Another decorated player at the final table is Chase Bianchi who boasts a bracelet for his victory at the 2016 $1,000 No Limit Hold’em event. Bianchi pocketed US$ 316,920 which will soon be dusted by the seven figures he will be pocketing. Rounding out the final nine is Jareth East who has 24 prior series cashes however 19 of them were earned online. East’s deepest WSOP live run was at the 2015 Main Event where he placed 293rd for US$ 29,329. Both East and Oliver are looking to be the first player from the UK to win the championship title in the United States. Past UK champions James Bord (2010) and Jack Sinclair (2018) both won it at WSOP Europe. 

Final 9 payouts

1st US$ 8,000,000
2nd US$ 4,300,000
3rd US$ 3,000,000
4th US$ 2,300,000
5th US$ 1,800,000
6th US$ 1,400,000
7th US$ 1,225,000
8th US$ 1,100,000
9th US$ 1,000,000

Day 6 and 7 recap

Day 6 got underway with 96 players led by Germany’s Koray Aldemir. No past Main Event champions were in the lineup with the last two busting out the day prior – Chris Moneymaker was eliminated 260th and Qui Nguyen out 241st. The Asian contingent was also looking bleak with only three left holding the torch, Abhinav Iyer (India), Norbert Koh (Singapore), and Mikiya Kudo (Japan). By the end of day, Iyer exited 60th followed by Kudo in 51st, while Koh advanced to Day 7. Other dropouts were Stephen Chidwick (89th), Yuri Dzivielevski (81st), David Coleman (58th), Nick Petrangelo (45th), and Tyler Cornell (38th). 

Only 36 players moved on to Day 7. Koh fell to 2x bracelet winner Chance Kornuth in 27th place when his were outdrawn by straight. Despite the loss, Koh earned an impressive US$ 241,800 payout on his series debut. Down to two tables, Kornuth’s ran into George Holmes’ to pack up in 16th place, Spain’s last hope, Ramon Colillas, had a fantastic run that saw him top Day 4 and finish in 14th place, and Australia’s Sean Ragozzini who won a Main Event package via GGPoker charged all the way up to 11th place for a payout of US$ 585,000. The final 9 was established at the fall of Canada’s Demosthenes Kiriopoulos to Aldemir in 10th place with outdrawing on a board . 

The Main Event has been ongoing at the Rio All Suite Hotel & Casino since November 4. The 6,650 player field amassed a prize pool of US$ 62,011,250 with 1,000 players profiting. Stay tuned to Somuchpoker as we bring you the final conclusion of this exciting event.