Action was heads up with a big pot in the middle and A♥2♣8♠ in the pot when Zachary Zaret bet 250,000 while leaving 40,000 behind. Katelin Koper raised to 500,000 and Zaret went deep into the tank to try to catch the pay jump.
The clock was eventually called and Zaret committed the last of his chips.
Zachart Zaret: K♣K♥
Katelin Koper: A♣Q♥
The board ran out with 8♥5♠ and Koper's aces held to eliminate Zaret in 18th place for $6,400.
Wissam Gahshan opened from late position and Frank Lagodich defended from the big blind to see a flop of Jx9x5x.
Both players checked the flop to see 10x on the turn. Lagodich checked again and Gahshan fired 115,000. Lagodich raised to 270,000 and Gahshan called.
The river was 2x and Lagodich shoved his last 355,000. Gahshan called and turned over Qx10x for a pair of tens while Lagodich showed Kx3x. The tens were good and Lagodich was out of the tournament in 15th place for $7,800.
Jayce Palmer was all in from the small blind for over 500,000 and Patrick White had him at risk from the big blind. The cards were already turned up and the dealer was ready to go.
Jayce Palmer: K♠J♠
Patrick White: A♥K♥
The board ran out 8♣10♠4♦J♣A♦ and Palmer turned a pair of jacks but White's rivered ace sent him home in 14th place for $7,800.
Action was heads up with J♠6♣6♥ on the board when Katelin Koper bet 300,000 and Hunter Mcclelland shoved with the bigger stack. Koper considered her options and tossed in a chip to call with a total of over 800,000.
Katelin Koper: 9♣9♠
Hunter Mcclelland: A♠J♥
The board ran out Q♠A♦ and Mcclelland held on with aces and jacks to send Koper home in 11th place for $12,300.
The tournament is now paused while preparations are made for the unofficial final table.
Zachary Gruneberg was all in for around 1,500,000 and Wissam Gahshan was the one to put him at risk from the button. The cards were already turned up and the dealer was ready to go.
Zachary Gruneberg: K♥K♠
Wissam Gahshan: A♠A♥
The board ran out J♥6♣10♠Q♠7♦ and Gahshan held on with aces to send Gruneberg to the rail in ninth place for $16,000.
Event #4 of the 2023 World Series of Poker will enter its final day with Wissam Gahshan leading the remaining seven players at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.
The invitation-only Tournament of Champions boasted a $1,000,000 guaranteed prize pool and was open to players who had won a WSOP bracelet or WSOP circuit ring in the last year, with 741 players entering out of 989 qualifiers to attempt to claim the top prize of $200,000.
Gahshan finished the day atop the leaderboard with 5,130,000 in chips and his closest competitor, Patrick White, was not far behind with 3,885,000. Gahshan qualified for the tournament with a win at The Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles in December of last year. White punched his ticket at the March stop in New York at Turning Stone.
From there, it’s anyone’s game, as the chip counts run fairly close together. Brent Gregory finished with 3,400,000, while Justin Hotte-Mckinnon and Hunter Mcclelland both ended the day with 2,700,000. Gregory won his way in with a victory at the March stop in Tulsa and Hotte-Mckinnon picked up his ring on WSOP.ca in March. Mcclelland won two rings on WSOP PA and he is looking to add a gold bracelet to his trophy shelf.
Ronnie Day and Barry Schultz finished with 2,300,000 and 2,005,000, respectively, to round out the lineup for the final day. Day is a recent winner from the May circuit stop in Southern Indiana and Schultz won the Seniors event at Horseshoe Tunica in January.
Final Table Chip Counts
Seat
Name
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Wissam Gahshan
United States
5,130,000
51
2
Barry Schultz
United States
2,005,000
20
3
Ronnie Day
United States
2,300,000
23
4
Justin Hotte-Mckinnon
Canada
2,700,000
27
5
Patrick White
United States
3,885,000
39
6
Brent Gregory
United States
3,400,000
34
7
Hunter Mcclelland
United States
2,700,000
27
Six of the seven remaining players will hope to keep the bracelet on American soil, with one, Hotte-Mckinnon, looking to bring the gold back to Canada. The players have already locked up a payday of $26,000, which for some is already a nice boost to their bankroll.
Justin Hotte-Mckinnon
The action was fast and furious throughout the day, as Dylan Lemery was the first one eliminated from the “unofficial” final table, losing most of his chips when his pocket aces were cracked by the pocket nines of Daniel Marx. Left with only one big blind, Lemery tossed it in a few hands later after it was folded to him on the button. It was Gahshan who eliminated him with a dominating hand from the small blind, as Lemery's ace-five offsuit went down in flames to Gahshan's ace-queen.
Soon after, Zachary Gruneberg moved all in from middle position with pocket kings, but ran straight into the aces of the new chip leader, Gahshan. Gahshan's aces held and sent Gruneberg to the payout desk to collect a $16,000 payday.
Remaining Payouts
Place
Prize
1
$200,000
2
$120,000
3
$87,000
4
$63,000
5
$46,000
6
$35,000
7
$26,000
Players will return at 4 p.m. on Saturday to play down to a winner in a final table that will be streamed with cards-up coverage by PokerGO on a security delay. The action picks up in Level 28 with around 42 minutes remaining and blinds at 50,000/100,000/100,000.
Be sure to keep it with the PokerNews team for live updates from the floor of the 2023 World Series of Poker.