Ren Lin raised the pot in the cutoff for about a third of his stack and was re-potted by Peter Neff on the button. Action folded back to Lin who committed the rest of his roughly 330,000 and was at risk.
Ren Lin:
Peter Neff:
The flop came , giving Neff a set of kings. The turn came the and the river brought the , leaving Lin to search for some semblance of a low to chop the pot, but he couldn't find it as Neff scooped to send the popular Lin to the rail in 17th place.
Men Nguyen bet 60,000 from the cutoff and was met with an all in from Youcef Zalagh for 195,000 on the button. William Slaght in the small blind announced pot which gained a quick fold from Nguyen.
Youcef Zalagh:
William Slaght:
Zalagh was drawing pretty thin after the flop of [kdqd10] giving Slaght a Broadway straight. Zalagh's only hope was to hit a boat with his two pair of kings and queens.
Alas, there was no help for Zalagh as the completed the board to allow Slaght to take the whole pot.
Mark Erickson in the hijack bet the pot for 105,000 and was called by Jarod Minghini on the button. Michelle Roth in the big blind moved all in for 90,000
The board of was checked down to the river where Erickson bet 50,000 and was called by Minghini.
Mark Erickson:
Jarod Minghini:
Michelle Roth:
Erickson took the high pot with the straight to the jack, Minghini had the nut low which meant Roth was eliminated in 19th place.
After Wiliam Slaght opened to 50,000 in middle position, Bradley Anderson raised to 140,000 in the small blind. Mel Judah then potted it from the big blind and Slaght got out of the way. Anderson then said "let's play for it," and moved all-in covering Judah's final 675,000.
Judah called and was at risk.
Mel Judah:
Bradley Anderson:
The board came , and despite not liking the appearance of the board, Anderson discovered that his nine and deuce made two pair to win the pot in an unlikely way, sending Judah to the rail in stunning fashion.
All the chips were in the middle preflop with John Zable on the button at risk for 210,000. Zable was against Peter Neff in the big blind.
John Zable:
Peter Neff:
Neff hit hard on the flop hitting trip-jacks leaving Zable drawing thin. The and completed the board to eliminate Zable and Neff chipping-up towards average stack.
Saturday’s final 23 of WSOP Event #72: $1,500 Mixed Omaha provides a wide-ranging and eclectic bunch of players that could make for one of the most entertaining and exciting final tables of the entire 53rd World Series of Poker.
On one hand, there’s the crew of poker veterans like Barny Boatman (2nd – 2,480,000), Men “The Master” Nguyen (3rd – 1,630,000) and Mel Judah (10th – 815,000), who bring 11 bracelets on their collective resumes to the table, with the most recent WSOP win of that group coming from Boatman in 2013, while Nguyen’s last win came in 2010 and Judah’s in 1989.
Then there’s the new establishment of bracelet winners and mixed game stars led by five time-bracelet holder and three-time $10,000 Dealer’s Choice champion Adam Friedman (7th – 1,190,000). Last year's third-place finisher in this event Scott Abrams (8th – 890,000), is also poised to make another run at the final table.
There’s also two-time bracelet winner Rami Boukai (15th – 385,000) who almost fits in the middle of these groups as his previous wins came in the 2019 $1,500 8-Game and in 2009’s $2,500 Pot-Limit Hold’em / Omaha mix.
Saturday’s field isn’t short on entertaining characters as well, with the exuberant Stanley “Stan Diego” Krimerman (4th – 1,620,000) and the fun-loving Ren Lin (18th – 260,000) among the final 23. Lin may have to invoke one of his trademark catchphrases “no gamble, no future” if he’s to make a run Saturday as he comes in with one of the shorter stacks in play.
Last but certainly not least to mention is chip leader Mark Erickson (2,580,000), who comes in as a true wild card and potential Cinderella story. He enters Day 3 with just one previous WSOP cash for just over $10,000 in a 2008 $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em event, but you don’t get to the Day 3 chip lead of a WSOP event without showing plenty of skill to that point.
This is going to be a final day to watch, with someone taking home $195,565 and a prestigious World Series of Poker gold bracelet. It all gets underway at 2 p.m. in the green section of the Paris Ballroom.
PokerNews will have all the action, so keep your browsers locked here for all the excitement from this and every WSOP event from its new home at Bally’s and Paris Las Vegas.