2012 WSOP Final Table Gets Underway In Las Vegas Today
October 29, 2012 5:36 pmAlmost four months of waiting is now over and the 2012 WSOP Main Event final table is now set to resume today at 1 p.m. Las Vegas time (8:00 p.m. ET).
The tournament began back on July 7th at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino with 6,598 players putting up the $10,000 entry fee to create a prize pool worth over $62 million. In total, 666 places got paid with 10th place finisher and last woman standing Gaelle Baumann picking up $590,442 for falling just short of the final table.
Now the least any one of the ‘October Nine’ can expect to receive is a $754,798 paycheck, with a massive $8,531,853 going to the eventual champion. So far each of the finalists have played for 67 hours spread over eleven days and two more days of action is all that now stands between them and WSOP glory.
The Main Event will resume with blinds starting at 150k/300k with an ante of 40k, and entering the final table as chip leader is Jesse Sylvia (43.875m), with clear daylight between himself and lone non-US player Andras Koroknai (Hungary) in 2nd place with 29.375 million chips. Also at the table is Greg Merson (28.725m), Russell Thomas (24.8m), Steven Gee (16.86m), Michael Esposito (16.26m), Robert Salaburu (15.155m), Jacob Balsiger (13.115m) and Jeremy Ausmus on a short-stack with 9.805 million chips.
However, unlike many previous Main Event finals, even the short-stacks have enough chips left to play beyond just simple pre-flop push or fold poker. As Colorado resident Ausmus, explains: “In the past, the short stack usually had around 10 big blinds left. I have about 33 big blinds right now, so I’m in a much better spot. Luck really plays into it. We’ve all been running well, so a lot could come down to luck.”
Monday will see the nine finalists reduced to only three players, who will then return on Tuesday to settle the title. As we count down towards crowning the new champion, don’t forget to catch all the near live action (15-minute delay) on WSOP.com and ESPN3.com starting today at 8pm ET and 9pm ET on Tuesday.