2016 WSOP Main Event: Just Three Players Remain

When the November Nine returned to the Rio in Las Vegas on Sunday to resume their quest to find this year’s WSOP Main Event champion, Cliff Josephy was out in front as the chip leader, followed by Qui Nguyen, and then Gordon Vayo. With two days down and just one more to play, the very same US players still remain in contention to claim WSOP glory and a first place prize of $8 million, although the players have now swapped their relative positions.
Chip Counts:
Qui Nguyen – 197.6m
Gordon Vayo – 89m
Cliff Josephy – 50m
In fact, Qui Nguyen had already secured his table leader position by the end of Day 1 with 128.625m in chips, but on Day 2 when five players returned to the action, Nguyen managed to extend his advantage further by knocking out two players to finish the day on a 197.6m stack.
In the first elimination, Gordon Vayo won most of Vojtech Ruzicka’s chips before Nguyen then sent him to the rail the very next hand in an AQ versus A7 showdown. Qui Nguyen (A-J) subsequently called a three-bet shove by Michael Ruane holding K-Q, and after the dealer laid out a 9-9-2-J-8 board, Ruane exited the main event in 4th place for a $2,574,808 payday. A halt was called to the action an hour-and-a-half later, with the remaining three hopefuls then stopping for an overnight break.
One thing that most of the players do agree on is that Qui Nguyen has been playing an unpredicatable style that is hard to play against, and that he certainly deserves to be out in front as the chip leader. Commenting on Nguyen’s performance so far, Gordon Vayo said:
“I just think he’s so enthusiastic about the game and he’s just embracing this moment so well. Every time I see him I just kind of light up. Even just the way he walks. He’s got so much swagger about him. He’s just like a cool personality that is so not the stereotypical poker player. He’s just out there holding his own. I just love him. He’s got a great personality, and it’s kind of contagious. It makes poker fun when he just gets so excited.”
Nguyen, Vayo, and Josephy will return for the action at 5 pm later today to decide who will be crowned the 2016 WSOP Main Event champion, with the blinds starting off at 600k/1.2m with a 200k ante.