Late last night, heading into the final stretch, the money bubble finally burst at the WPT World Championship. With the 300th place elimination, the remaining 299 players could wrap things up, knowing that they’ll return today with secured min-cash of at least $19,500.
It was a long and action-filled day, and as players busted and the money bubble got ever closer, everyone was on their toes, anxious to secure at least some profit for two full days of play.
That goal materialized only for 299 out of 800+ who returned to the tables yesterday. Many fell along the way, including the WPT Anchor Lynn Gilmartin. Gilmartin was doing well for most of the day but eventually got short-stacked and busted some 50 places before the money.
Straight Back to the Grind
After a good night’s rest, players are back at the tables today, continuing the steady grind that will eventually lead the select few to the final table and one of them to the coveted WPT Championship title.
Malcolm Traynor of Australia was the man to catch after the action wrapped up yesterday. He bagged the chip lead with over 3,000,000 in his stack. Although there were some movements in stacks during the first couple of levels, he is still doing well and is in the top three in chips.
Several WPT champions made it through the day as well, including David ODB Baker, Niall Farrell, Dylan Smith, and Andrea Dato. Last year’s WPT Prime winner, Calvin Anderson, is also in with a decent stack.
Of course, we are writing this as the action is happening, so all information can become obsolete at a minute’s notice. The fact remains, though, that there are some very strong players left in contention, and a few of them are bound to make it to the next day.
Will it perhaps be Calvin Anderson taking things up a notch and winning the WPT World Championship to improve on his Prime title from 2023? It’s impossible to tell, but it would make for an epic poker story.
A few dozen players have already been sent to the rail today, including WPT’s own Vince Van Patten, Nate Silver, J.C. Tran, and Mike Leah.
A Big Day Ahead
Today, players are set to play five 90-minute levels before calling it a day. Since bubble considerations are out of the way, there will be no reason to play any longer than what’s scheduled, and those with chips still in front of them will have the pleasure of bagging their stacks once more.
It will be an important day, as this is the time to try and build a big stack that can perhaps secure a safe journey to the final table. We’ll see many big flips, a few mandatory coolers, and everything else that comes with big poker tournaments.
When it is all said and done, a few players will likely emerge with big stacks, going away with dreams of WPT glory. For others, the journey will be cut short, leaving them to contemplate what might have been and make plans for the next major event.
In a few hours, we’ll know names of players from both groups, but in the meantime, you can keep up with all the action live over at the World Poker Tour website and the official YouTube channel, where featured table action is being streamed live.
