WSOP Final Table Reconvenes, First Bust-Outs Already Take Place

The 43rd World Series of Poker Main Event final table has finally started at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, and the final nine have sat to determine the winner of this year’s competition that featured a massive prize pool of $27 258 025.

In the fight for the main prize of $ 8 531 853 and a WSOP gold bracelet valued at $150 000 were eight Americans and one Hungarian: commodities broker Michael Esposito (44), insurance actuary Russell Thomas (24) and an Arizona State student Jacob Balsiger (21) as well as six poker professionals Steve Gee (57), Greg Merson (24), Robert Salaburu (27), Jeremy Ausmus (33), Jesse Sylvia (26) and Andras Koroknai (30).

Their chip counts at the start of the action were the following:

6 Jesse Sylvia 43 875 000

8 Andras Koroknai 29 375 000

5 Greg Merson 28 725 000

1 Russell Thomas 24 800 000

4 Steven Gee 16 860 000

9 Michael Esposito 16 260 000

7 Robert Salaburu 15 155 000

2 Jacob Balsiger 13 115 000

3 Jeremy Ausmus 9 805 000

In the first few hours of the action, four eliminations took place – including that of the single non-American final tabler, Hungarian Andras Koroknai.

The first casualty was Stephen Gee of California, who was eliminated by Russell Thomas and went home with a hefty payout of $754,798.

Later on, 27-year-old Texas player Robert Salaburu left the action as the eight-placed player, falling victim to Jesse Sylvia’s aggressive style and picking up a very comforting prize of $971,252.

After the break, Greg Merson took the chip lead by busting out 43-year-old Michael Esposito of Seaford, New York leaving him with the fist over-million paycheck to $1,257,790.

Finally, the sixth place was well-earned by magnificent Hungarian Andras Koroknai, whose bold style was not enough to match Merson’s winning drive – in return, he’ll remember this competition by the $1,640,461 he took back to his homeland.

General Poker News Live Poker Tournaments