Yingui Li raised to 165,000 from the hijack and the action folded to the shortest stack on the table, Joey Weissman in the big blind. He three-bet to 350,000 chips, leaving 450,000 behind.
Li then used a time bank extension before putting his opponent all in, and a snap call followed from Weissman.
Joey Weissman: A♥K♥
Yingui Li: 4♠4♣
Weissman flopped extra outs on J♥7♠Q♦, and the 6♥ turn gave him a flush draw as well. The K♣ river saw him pair up his king and win the pot as a result, doubling up.
Krasimir Yankov opened the action from the hijack with a raise to 160,000, and Samuel Laskowitz called from the big blind.
On the 2♥9♣7♠ flop, Laskowitz check-called Yankov's 240,000 bet.
Both players checked the 9♦ turn.
Laskowitz took his time before betting 920,000 on the J♣ river. Yankov called at the last second of his time bank. Laskowitz declared "nine" and revealed 9♥3♥ to win the pot.
Certain household names in poker immediately come to mind when one thinks of the World Series of Poker and Shaun Deeb is certainly one of them. The six-time bracelet winner is always among the contenders for WSOP Player of the Year and today he can make good progress in the 2024 standings. He returns at noon local time to the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas for the final day of Event #26: $25,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em (8-Handed).
Deeb will enter Day 3 as fourth in chips of the 19 returning players, his stack of 3,510,000 equaling nearly 44 big blinds. With a record-breaking turnout of 318 entries in the $25,000 High Roller, the $1,667,842 lion's share of the $7,473,000 prize pool would result in Deeb's biggest-ever score were he to come out victorious.
Also still in contention is Nick Schulman, who will bring 2,815,000 chips to the table, good for eighth place on the leaderboard. None of Schulman's four bracelets were won in hold'em events. Still, he is not to be underestimated in the two-card game, as he has had several deep runs in high roller events, including a third-place finish in the $100,000 WSOP High Roller in 2019 for a seven-figure score.
Nick Schulman
Both of them have an uphill battle in front of them, however, as they will need to chase down chipleader Yingui Li if they want another piece of WSOP gold to add to their already impressive prize cabinets. Li's stack of 5,600,000 chips is the only one over five million and he will be hoping to maintain that lead on the way to his first bracelet, after having two close calls in 2023 with second- and third-place finishes.
Other notable names in the top ten chip counts include Day 1 chip leader Samuel Laskowitz (2,885,000) and sports cards enthusiast Jared Bleznick (2,425,000), while Spain's Roberto Perez (3,185,000) and Bulgaria's Krasimir Yankov (2,545,000) add some more international representation.
Start of Day 3 Top Ten Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chips
Big Blinds
1
Yingui Li
China
5,600,000
70
2
David Stamm
United States
4,955,000
62
3
Andrew Ostapchenko
United States
4,215,000
53
4
Shaun Deeb
United States
3,510,000
44
5
Roberto Perez
Spain
3,185,000
40
6
Chongxian Yang
China
2,885,000
36
7
Samuel Laskowitz
United States
2,885,000
36
8
Nick Schulman
United States
2,815,000
35
9
Krasimir Yankov
Bulgaria
2,545,000
32
10
Jared Bleznick
United States
2,425,000
30
Further down, well-known hold'em crushers Dario Sammartino (1,750,000), Ben Heath (1,490,000), Kevin Rabichow (1,425,000), and Dan Smith (1,050,000) can be found. Meanwhile, Philip Sternheimer (840,000) and Joey Weissman (680,000) are the only players who will bring less than a million chips to the table and will have to spin up their short stacks to have a shot at winning the coveted bracelet.
Joey Weissman
All 19 players have secured themselves $62,737 for their efforts, but with the top two spots paying over one million dollars, that amount will hardly be satisfying for those unlucky enough to bust out early on Day 3.
Remaining Payouts
Place
Prize
1
$1,667,842
2
$1,111,897
3
$760,083
4
$529,833
5
$376,762
6
$273,414
7
$202,574
8
$153,302
9
$118,552
10-11
$93,730
12-15
$75,801
16-19
$62,737
The action will resume at Level 19, blinds 40,000/80,000 with a big blind ante of 80,000 chips. All levels will be 60 minutes in duration, with a break after every two of them. Details regarding a dinner break have yet to be determined, but the tournament is set to play down to a winner, meaning a long day is in store for the field.
Stay tuned to find out who will win a High Roller bracelet as PokerNews will provide all of the updates live from the tournament floor in Las Vegas.
