Danny Tang Leads Final Five in Event #79: $50,000 High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha
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The 2024 World Series of Poker is set to crown another champion on July 4 at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas. Only five players remain in contention for the seven-figure top prize in Event #79: $50,000 High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha.
After Day 1 brought with it a field of 131 entries, a new record attendance seemed unlikely in this high-stakes competition. However, the only remaining level during the registration period reeled in another 56 entries and reentries to boost the field to 187 entries and generate a prize pool of $8,929,250.
When the dust had settled after midnight, the field was reduced to the final five contenders from as many countries, and Hong Kong's Danny Tang emerged at the top of the leaderboard with a stack of 20,725,000.
There is already a decent gap to Ronald Keijzer (13,275,000) and Daniel Perkusic (12,150,000), who have distanced themselves from the bottom two. Jim Collopy (5,100,000) and Santhosh Suvarna (4,850,000) are separated by only one big blind.
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Santhosh Suvarna | India | 4,850,000 | 16 |
| 2 | Danny Tang | Hong Kong | 20,725,000 | 69 |
| 3 | Daniel Perkusic | Germany | 12,150,000 | 41 |
| 4 | Jim Collopy | United States | 5,100,000 | 17 |
| 5 | Ronald Keijzer | Netherlands | 13,275,000 | 44 |
Suvarna has three cashes to his name during the ongoing series in Sin City, all of which came in High Roller buy-ins. The businessman from India won his second WSOP gold bracelet in Event #55: $250,000 Super High Roller No-Limit Hold'em for a huge score of $5,415,152.
Chipleader Tang is no stranger to high-stakes competitions either, as he has already cashed for more than $26.9 million in live poker tournaments. Five years ago, the Hong Kong-based poker pro won his maiden gold bracelet in Event #90: $50,000 Final Fifty and can double his tally tomorrow. Collopy has three WSOP titles under his belt, whereas PLO specialist Keijzer has one from back in 2018 and Perkusic is the only finalist to seek a maiden victory.
They will return at 1 p.m. local time with 20:35 minutes left in Level 26 at blinds of 150,000/300,000 with a big blind ante of 300,000. All five finalists have secured a cash prize of $503,085 already, and the winner can look forward to a massive top prize of $2,100,325.
Action of the Day
The opening stages can only be described as fast and furious, as numerous late entrants attempted to run up their stacks and brought rapid changes on the leaderboard. Pot-Limit Omaha bracelet winners such as Lou Garza, 2022 winner Robert Cowen, Stephen Chidwick and Dash Dudley were all eliminated during the opening stages.
Defending champion Jesse Lonis was unable to run up his short stack, and the title defense came to an end well before the money bubble. Many other big names such as Michael Duek, Jared Bleznick, Eelis Pärssinen, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Ivey and Shaun Deeb came up empty-handed as well.
Close to the money bubble, Bryce Yockey and Isaac Haxton saw their hopes vanish and the elimination of the latter in a gigantic pot propelled Collopy atop the leaderboard. Soon after, the money bubble burst in cruel fashion and Dylan Smith was the last contender to leave empty-handed.
Dan Smith and Dylan Weisman bowed out in the money but before the three table redraw, after which the PLO specialists Richard Gryko and Veselin Karakitukov were among the next to fall. Jason Mercier was denied a shot at a seventh gold bracelet and online legend Viktor "Isildur1" Blom recorded another deep run without a maiden victory at the WSOP.
On the final three tables, Tang was among the short stacks but earned a double and triple up in quick succession. Former big stacks Joshua Ladines and Christopher Frank were unable to keep up the momentum. Frank as well as Cary Katz were knocked out by Tang in a three-way all in.
Once the final table was set, Keijzer led the way, but Tang leapfrogged him with the elimination of Ben Lamb. Brian Rast was eliminated by Perkusic before Tang notched up another knockout by sending David Benyamine to the payout desk. Last but not least, Keijzer held with kings to dispatch Gabriel Andrade and conclude the action for the night.
Final Table Results and Remaining Payouts
| Place | Winner | Country | Prize (in USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $2,100,325 | ||
| 2 | $1,400,217 | ||
| 3 | $973,882 | ||
| 4 | $692,232 | ||
| 5 | $503,085 | ||
| 6 | Gabriel Andrade | Ecuador | $374,020 |
| 7 | David Benyamine | France | $284,604 |
| 8 | Brian Rast | United States | $221,778 |
The final day will recommence at 1 p.m. local time inside the Horseshoe Event Center, and the PokerNews live reporting team will be back then to provide all the key hands en route to crowning a winner.