Sleiman and Tran Lead Eight Finalists; Lewis and Magalashvili in Contention
The official final table of the 2018 World Series of Poker Europe Event #3: �550 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Handed is set and eight players remain to battle for the coveted gold bracelet and payday of �59,625 that comes along with it. Only 46 players out of a 572-entry strong field returned to the tables of Europe's biggest poker arena at the King's Casino in Rozvadov and it took just over eight 40-minute levels to determine the eight finalists.
Austria's Hanh Tran and Chile��s Tarek Sleiman are tied at the top of the counts with 2,265,000, Sebastian Obermeier follows just a few big blinds behind the duo with 2,000,000. Tran already knows what it takes to win a WSOP bracelet after taking down Event #29: $1,500 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw for his first career bracelet earlier this year in Las Vegas. Tran followed that up with a 7th place in Event #44: $10,000 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw Championship and the Austrian is in prime position to claim a second gold bracelet in 2018.
Another player that has had a great summer in Sin City is Romain Lewis, who came agonizingly close to winning a bracelet three times and reached yet another final table, bagging 725,000. The Frenchman finished 2nd in Event #13: Big Blind Antes $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em and Event #69: $3,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 6-Handed, followed by a third-place finish in Event #74: Big Blind Antes $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed Championship. A win in Rozvadov would open up a possible late surge for the 2018 WSOP Player of the Year title, however, Shaun Deeb has cemented his lead with three cashes in as many events at the 2018 WSOPE.
The other finalists include Oleg Pavlyuchuk (1,750,000), Michael Magalashvili (1,090,000), Manish Goenka (970,000) and Florian Sarnow (375,000). Magalashvili can make it three WSOPE bracelets in a row for Israel in Rozvadov after the victories of Tamir Segal and Asi Moshe.
There will be 33:53 minutes left at blinds of 30,000/60,000 with Lewis on the button and Sarnow as the single big blind.
Final Table Seat Assignments
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Romain Lewis | France | 725,000 | 12 |
| 2 | Florian Sarnow | Germany | 375,000 | 6 |
| 3 | Oleg Pavlyuchuk | Latvia | 1,750,000 | 29 |
| 4 | Manish Goenka | India | 970,000 | 16 |
| 5 | Tarek Sleiman | Chile | 2,265,000 | 38 |
| 6 | Hanh Tran | Austria | 2,265,000 | 38 |
| 7 | Michael Magalashvili | Israel | 1,090,000 | 18 |
| 8 | Sebastian Obermeier | Germany | 2,000,000 | 33 |
Action of the Day
Only 46 players survived the two starting days and the first three levels of Day 2 reduced the field dramatically, as 20 players ran out of chips. Among the early casualties were Grant Hart, Netanel Amedi, one-time WSOP bracelet winner Dario Alioto, Roland Israelashvili and four-time champion Shaun Deeb. Especially the elimination of Deeb was a surprise after he had entered the penultimate day second in chips. Deeb busted in a big pot against Martin Rothaermel when his overpair and second nutflush draw on the flop couldn't hold against top pair, gutshot and nutflushdraw.
Down to the last three tables, Rothaermel was the overwhelming chipleader and he also claimed the stack of Viliyan Petleshkov. Chris Ferguson and Dutch Boyd were eliminated just shy of the three-table redraw. Boyd was all in preflop with queens versus aces and blocked one ace, a queen on the flop was great news for the three-time champion but Florian Sarnow spiked the case ace on the river.
The eliminations continued at a quick pace and such notables as Guillaume Diaz, Michael Soyza, Amar Begovic and Aaron Duczak departed. Peter Jaksland, who played his first live PLO tournament, eventually finished in 19th place. Aussie Poker Hall of Fame member Jason Gray and Alfredo Vega Meister followed and that set up the final two tables.
Max Pescatori was then sent to the rail in 15th place after being unable to beat the pocket kings of Dor Mey Tal. Only minutes later, it was Tal that could only shake his head and leave the tournament area devastated. The Day 1A chip leader flopped a pair, straight draw and nutflushdraw, however, Hanh Tran held up with an overpair and straight draw.
By then, Tarek Sleiman had taken over the chiplead and Tran was hot on his heels, while Martin Rothaermel went from hero to zero in 11th place. Rothaermel lost several pots in a row and Sleiman rivered a straight to send the German to the rail. A mere minute later, the field was reduced to the final nine after Christopher Back was eliminated from the other table.
Manish Goenka doubled up to remain in contention and the official final table bubble burst in classic Pot-Limit Omaha fashion. Norbert Burkhard defended his big blind and flopped middle set along with a gunshot and backdoor flush draw, but he was crushed by Sebastian Obermeier, who held top set and had the clubs covered. There was no miracle on turn and river, and the final table was set.
Here is what the last eight are playing for:
| Place | Prize in EUR) |
|---|---|
| 1 | 59,625 |
| 2 | 36,851 |
| 3 | 25,473 |
| 4 | 17,905 |
| 5 | 12,802 |
| 6 | 9,313 |
| 7 | 6,896 |
| 8 | 5,198 |
All remaining eight finalists will return to the feature table on Thursday, October 18th, 2018, as of 3 p.m local time to determine a champion. The action will be streamed live on the Twitch Channel of King's Casino with hole cards displayed on a security delay of 30 minutes and the PokerNews live reporting team will be there from start to finish.