Hand #100: Robert Heidorn raised to 1,800,000 from the cutoff and Timothy Su called from the big blind.
They checked to the river of a board where Su bet enough to cover Heidorn's remaining stack of 16,400,000. Heidorn folded.
Hand #101: Hossein Ensan raised to 1,600,000 from the cutoff, Timothy Su three-bet to 6,800,000 from the small blind and Ensan called.
The flop was , Su continued for 6,000,000 and Ensan called.
The turn was the , both checked, the river was the and Su bet 16,000,000. Ensan raised to 45,000,000 after about one minute, sending Su into the tank for a good five minutes before he called.
Ensan tabled for tens full of sevens, Su mucked and Ensan won the gigantic pot.
Hand #97: Kevin Maahs raised to 1,600,000 from the cutoff and Zhen Cai called in the big blind. The flop came , Cai check-folded to the 2,000,000 continuation-bet of Maahs.
Hand #98: Milos Skrbic raised to 1,600,000 from under the gun and Dario Sammartino called in the big blind. The flop came , Sammartino check-called the 1,600,000 continuation-bet of Skrbic. The turn was the , both players checked to see the complete the board. Sammartino bet 4,000,000 and Skrbic took some time to consider his options before making the call but mucked when Sammartino tabled .
Hand #99: Nick Marchington raised to 1,600,000 from the hijack and Skrbic called in the big blind. The flop came , Skrbic check-folded to the 1,200,000 continuation-bet of Marchington.
Hand #100: Marchington raised to 1,600,000 from under the gun and Cai three-bet to 4,500,000 from the cutoff. Sammartino four-bet to 10,500,000 from the button. The blinds folded and so did Marchington. Cai took some time to consider his options and then decided to five-bet shove for 27,100,000 in total. Sammartino asked for a count and then folded.
Hand #101: Alex Livingston raised to 1,800,000 from under the gun and Skrbic three-bet from the button to 23,000,000. Maahs called in the small blind for 15,500,000 and Livingston folded.
Kevin Maahs:
Milos Skrbic:
The board ran out for Maahs to hold with the rockets to double up.
Hand #102: Dario Sammartino raised to 1.7 million second to act. Nick Marchington stuffed it in from the small blind for 22.2 million. Sammartino called fairly quickly but his was behind .
The flop was dealt but then a long pause occurred. Sammartino was discussing things with a group of tournament directors. It seems an incorrect shove amount may have been announced, and everyone's still figuring out what will happen next.
Finally, a and a were dealt out after it was determined the bet and call will stand.
Main Feature Hand #112: Lu made it 1,800,000 to go from the cutoff and Garry Gates three-bet to 7,000,000 in the small blind. Lu called and the flop brought . Gates continued for 4,500,000 and Lu stuck around to create a pot of nearly 25 million. After the turn, Gates slowed down and checked, then faced a bet of 7,800,000 by Lu.
Gates spent a long time in the think tank and raised it up to give Lu the option to call all in or fold. Lu was also in the tank and counted his remaining chips. He then took off his sunglasses and glanced over at Gates, who stared at a fixed point at the table.
Lu spent nearly five minutes in the tank himself and called all in for 33,600,000 while both rails jumped to their feet as the cards were tabled.
Henry Lu:
Garry Gates:
The river sent Lu to the rail and the Thunderdome was filled with "GARRY GARRY GARRY" chants as the field was reduced to the final 10. Lu will take home $800,000 for his efforts and all remaining players now combine to one table.
Back in the day, Garry Gates was grinding poker in the low-limit cash game trenches in Las Vegas, trying to convert his passion for poker into something sustainable. He admitted it was harder than it seemed, but kept at it until he met someone who would change the trajectory of his life.
According to a post written by Gates on the PokerStars blog, he met a man named Gary Wise in Las Vegas - a feature poker writer for ESPN. That got him into the door of poker media and he ran the PokerNews live reporting team that covered the World Series of Poker back in 2008, the same media company now covering his deep Main Event run.
More than ten years back, Gates took a job as a consultant for the PokerStars Live Events team, which then led to Senior Consultant of Player Affairs for PokerStars Live, the position he still holds. All of his experience in the poker world has led to this moment — everyone in the industry rallying behind a man who has given so much to the poker community through his work.
I'm not a big believer in karma but my god after so many years of putting up with every single high roller diva in… https://t.co/FTVpnjV3gf
— Mike McDonald (@MikeMcDonald89)
Gates doesn't play much, but the $10,000 WSOP Main Event is something he fires almost every year. This marks his fourth cash in the Main Event, with his deepest run before this coming in 2011 where he finished in 173rd place for $47,107.
This week, all hearts and good vibes are behind Gates as he sits on the other side of the felt, eyeing the $10 million first-place prize and a shot at the 50th annual WSOP Main Event bracelet. The rail behind Gates in the 'mothership' in Amazon is completely full, with bellowing cheers coming every time Gates ships a pot.
"Garry Gates is one of the most incredible, loving, loyal people that we've ever known and he has done so much for other people in poker, so to watch him do this and make history is just incredible," said Kristy Arnett from Gates' rail. "You can tell how much he has done for people in poker by the support he's gotten."
Andrew Moreno also weighed in, talking about Gates' character and heart when it comes to poker. "He's an extremely powerful, motivated individual. While he's not a professional - he's a recreational player - I'm not surprised in the least to see him here, because he believes in himself."
Moreno continued: "To me, you can look at someone's rail and it says a lot about who you are in the world. It's no surprise to me that we can barely hold all of his friends here."
How He Got Here
Day
End-of-Day Chip Count
Rank
1c
57,800
2,291/3,647
2c
283,300
282/1,793
3
348,000
586/1,084
4
1,085,000
208/354
5
4,990,000
45/106
6
24,025,000
6/35
Key Hands
On Day 6, Gates found himself all in for his tournament life during Level 31: 125,000-250,000 with a 250,000 big blind ante. According to the live reporting on PokerNews.com, Robert Heidorn raised to 550,000 from middle position and Gates three-bet to 2,100,000 from the big blind. Heidorn thought for a moment before deciding to move all in. Gates called for his stack worth 11,350,000 after tanking for about a minute.
Gates tabled , needing to improve against Heidorn's . It was looking grim for Gates, but the board ran out to pair his ace on the river and give him a huge double to stay alive.
On Day 7, Gates found himself on the other side of the aforementioned showdown in another pivotal pot. During Level 34: 250,000-500,000 with a 500,000 big blind ante, Gates raised to 1,200,000 from the hijack. Hossein Ensan three-bet to 3,750,000 from the small blind and then Gates four-bet to 10,000,000. Ensan five-bet an amount that covered Gates' 23,500,000 stack and Gates called with pocket kings as Ensan tabled ace-king.
The board ran out and Gates held for yet another huge double. This propelled Gates into the top five stacks, putting him in prime position to make the final table.
What to Watch For
Gates has been working in the industry for over 10 years, with playing experience that extends well beyond that. He has around $250,000 in live earnings, so Gates is no stranger to playing under pressure. On top of this, Gates' rail is full of some of the best players in the world, so expect some solid play and a very deep run in this Main Event.
His relaxed demeanor and massive rail is going to make all of the difference in this tournament. With the entire industry behind him, he'll be tough to beat.
Main Feature Hand #129: Robert Heidorn pushed all in for 9,100,000 from middle position and Alex Livingston shoved for 26,200,000 on the button to isolate successfully.
Robert Heidorn:
Alex Livingston:
The flop gave Livingston a set, while the turn provided outs for a miracle straight escape. However, the river came a blank and Heidorn ended up as the final table bubble-boy.
Heidorn took home $800,000 for his efforts and the final nine players bagged and tagged their chips for the night.
They will return on Sunday, July 14th, 2019, to play from nine to six. All chip counts and a recap of today's action is to follow.
After a week of 12-plus hour days grinding away at the felt in the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, the 2019 World Series of Poker Main Event has come down to nine players. Nine players, and one will walk away with $10 million and poker immortality.
Five North Americans and four Europeans. An EPT champion with a monstrous chip lead. A poker industry lifer who crushes the WSOP Main Event. A nosebleed regular with over $8 million in cashes. A little-known software engineer who busted a legend with the semi-bluff shove heard 'round the poker world.
Each has his own story, but they all have one thing in common: they've spent the past week making their way through a field of 8,569, and they all earned the right to play for $10 million on poker's grandest stage.
Official Final Table
Seat
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Hossein Ensan
Germany
177,000,000
177
2
Nick Marchington
United Kingdom
20,100,000
20
3
Dario Sammartino
Italy
33,400,000
33
4
Kevin Maahs
United States
43,000,000
43
5
Timothy Su
United States
20,200,000
20
6
Zhen Cai
United States
60,600,000
61
7
Garry Gates
United States
99,300,000
99
8
Milos Skrbic
Serbia
23,400,000
23
9
Alex Livingston
Canada
37,800,000
38
There is 1:31:35 remaining in Level 37 (500,000/1,000,000, with a 1,000,000-big blind ante).
The favorite heading into the final table appears to be German-based EPT reg Hossein Ensan. While he started the day second in chips and sports more than $2.6 million in cashes, including an EPT Prague title, few could have imagined the lead with which Ensan would end Day 7.
With 177 million, Ensan has nearly double the stack of second-place Garry Gates (99.3 million) and right around a third of the total amount in play. Ensan played two massive pots that accounted for his lapping the field.
First, he picked off an ambitious triple barrel bluff from Nick Marchington with flopped aces up. Marchington attempted to check-raise the flop with nothing but backdoor equity and blasted the turn and river with just a turned pair of deuces. Then, Ensan flopped middle set in a three-bet pot against Timothy Su and got huge value, checking back the turn when he hit a board and getting a river raise to 45 million paid off.
"[My game], it's working," he said with a smile when asked. "It's working very good. What can I say?"
Second in chips but certainly not in the hearts of a robust rail, Gates had the well wishes of many a high roller coming his way from the poker Twitterverse. They're familiar with Gates from his years working in the industry, formerly with PokerNews and for the past 10 years so helping run PokerStars' live events and VIP services.
"I love having everybody in my corner," he said. "It means everything. I got some text messages this morning from guys like Erik Seidel, John Juanda, Jason Koon. People I've worked with in the industry forever. Every colleague and industry person has reached out and sent me well wishes.
"It's special — it's really, really special."
All of the time around the elite has apparently rubbed off on Gates enough to sharpen his game and lead him to four Main Event cashes. Prior to this year, his best run came in 2011, but that $47K is a pittance compared to the $1 million he's locked up here.
Ensan and Gates have separated themselves from the rest of the pack as only Zhen Cai with 60.6 million is anywhere near Gates. However, plenty of play still remains as even the shortest stacks — belonging to start-of-day leader Marchington and Day 6 giant slayerTimothy Su — are good for 20 big blinds. In the WSOP Main Event's famously slow structure, they'll have a bit of time to look for a spot to double right back into contention.
One player nobody wants to see gain any momentum is high-stakes pro Dario Sammartino. The Italian with the piercing stare and $8 million in cashes would be the clear favorite, all things being equal. Luckily for everyone else, all things aren't equal and he sits sixth in the counts with a little more than 30 big blinds.
That may in part be due to an unfortunate situation that unfolded during the final two tables. With 11 players left, Sammartino opened and faced what he thought was a shove of a little more than 20 big blinds from Marchington. However, the dealer apparently miscounted the shove and it was closer to 30 big blinds. Sammartino, holding tens, committed himself to a call before the count was correctly relayed to him.
First one then a second, higher up, tournament supervisor ruled the call would stand in spite of the error. Sammartino protested vigorously but had to send a double when he couldn't improve against pocket queens.
He called the hand "sick" but he managed to keep his composure and put himself in position etch his name in poker history.
He and the rest of the remaining players have a day off on Saturday to relax and ready themselves for showtime on Sunday evening, when play resumes at 6:30 p.m. for the first of three days that will determine poker's next world champ.
Ensan said despite his chip lead, he isn't counting his chickens. He acknowledged variance will likely be the determining factor in who walks away with $10 million.
"In poker, you need skill," he said. "But after skill, you need luck. In final table, you need more luck than skill. You need cards. If you have cards and good run, you can win."
Nine players remain and each will be hoping he's the one with the luck, while also applying whatever skills he can summon. Millions of dollars depend on it, and the action resumes on Sunday.