The 2025 World Series of Poker Main Event – the $10,000 No Limit Hold’em World Championship – continued its fortnight march on Wednesday at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas. There was some unfinished business from Tuesday that had to be completed – popping the money bubble – but, with $90 million awaiting the survivors, there was a great deal of anticipation (except for those fifteen who would leave with nothing). By the end of the night, the numbers were down to around five hundred players, still a long slog to determining poker’s next World Champion.
Some Dissatisfied Customers on Day Four
1476 players returned for the Day Four festivities, but there was a noticeable air of apprehension – at least for some of those on the felt. While players like Day Three chip leader Shotaro Kobayashi, WSOP-Europe champion Max Neugebauer, and top female pro Juliet Hegedus were safe in the fact they would at least cash, fifteen players would face the reality that, for all of their hard work, they would leave the 2025 WSOP Main Event with absolutely nothing to show for it. For those players, the start of action on Day Four was one of trepidation.
It was a fairly merciful wait to eliminate those players who would leave without cash from the 2025 WSOP Main Event. After roughly 140 minutes of hand-for-hand play, three players – Mark Dickner, Matthew Frankland, and Sachin Joshi – were all eliminated on the same hand, meaning that the trio would divvy up the 1461st and 1460th place money, $30,000 in total, with each man receiving $10,000 (or their buy-in back). Then there was the formality of what to do with the additional prize.
Instead of offering a seat to next year’s WSOP Main Event, officials in charge decided to offer a $25,000 seat (and $5000 for travel) to the December running of the WSOP Paradise Super Main Event in the Bahamas. Their method of determining which man would get this package? A single hand of Texas Hold’em between the three men.
The cards were dealt, and this is what they got:
Joshi: 10-2
Dickner: pocket nines
Frankland: Q-4
A 6-5-3 flop hit both Joshi and Frankland, but Dickner would still lead with his pocket nines. A second trey on the turn solidified Dickner’s lead over his opponents, but the river would bring a thunderbolt. A deuce on the river completely reversed the fortunes, sending Frankland into the lead with his straight and earning him the $30K package to the 2025 WSOP Paradise in December.
Oh, There WAS a Poker Tournament Going On…
While the hubbub regarding the reward on the bubble subsided, there was a poker tournament going on, and they started handing out the money. Phil Laak was one of the first notable names to receive his $15K for making it into the money, but he was quickly followed by others. Players such as Christian Harder, Joe Kuether, Anthony Ribero, Viet Vo, and Anthony Zinno were among those who took the min-cash of $15,000, while Martins Adeniya, Andriy Kovalchuk, Day 2D chip leader San Kim, Vanessa Kade, and Darren Elias all slid up to the cashout cage for their $17,500 in earnings.
As the evening wore on, more players would be taking home a bit of the $90 million-plus prize pool. James Obst, Katie Lindsay, and Prahlad Friedman earned a $20K largess, while Justin Zaki, Matt Matros, Josh Arieh, and Mike Matusow took down $22,500. Sergio Aido, Chris Hunichen, Jason Mercier, Andrey Pateychuk, and Juliet Hegedus all made the jump to $25,000 finishes. Kathy Liebert, Liv Boeree, Yevgeniy Timoshenko, Day Three chip leader Kobayashi, and Mark Seif would pick up $27,500 for their efforts, and Dan Sepiol ($30,000), James Calderaro ($30K), JC Tran ($32,500), and Maria Lampropoulos ($32,500) rounded out the notables that left Day Four happy (or at least with some money).
522 players made it through the carnage of Day Four to still be in the running for the 2025 WSOP Main Event bracelet. Harold Lam is the only player over the four million mark in chips, but it is only about 350K back to second place Jeremy Kottler and another 125K back to third place Julien Mariani. Every player in the Top Seventeen has a three million-plus stack, indicating that it is still anyone’s tournament to win:
1. Harold Lam (USA), 4.195 million
2. Jeremy Kottler (USA), 3.725 million
3. Julien Mariani (France), 3.6 million
4. Kohei Arai (Japan), 3.585 million
5. Benjamin Williams (3.55 million
6. Arsenii Karmatckii (Russian Federation), 3.445 million
7. Ramon Pessoa (Brazil), 3.4 million
(tie) Michael Hawker (USA), 3.4 million
9. Mounir Tajiou (Sweden), 3.25 million
10. Luke Chung (USA), 3.18 million
Hanging just off the Top Ten is WSOP bracelet winner and high-stakes force Nick Pupillo (3.15 million), while Chad Power (3.01 million), Kenny Hallaert (2.805 million), Eric Afriat (2.71 million), Will Kassouf (2.45 million), Anthony Gregg (2.435 million), and four-time Poker Players’ Champion and seven-time WSOP bracelet winner Michael Mizrachi (2.27 million) are lurking in the Top 50. Ebony Kenney (315K), Alexandros Kolonias (350K), Allyn Shulman (355K), and former Main Event winner Damian Salas (450K) all still have chips, but they will have to get active early on Day Five to stay viable.
The second week of the 2025 WSOP Main Event begins today, and there is still a long way until the final table. That will not be reached until Sunday, so there’s still time for players to get a stack that will survive the next day. That is the trick now for the players – continue to survive and advance – as the drive to crown poker’s next World Champion hits high gear.
(Photo courtesy of PokerGO)