The record-breaking 2021 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event is nearing the end, as just 32 players remain of the original 688 entries. Bulgaria’s Dimitar Yosifov is the chip leader at King’s Resort in Rozvadov, Czech Republic, with 5.880 million chips in his stack.
After Yosifov, it is a virtual tie for second place between Alexander Tkatschew and Guillaume Diaz, who have 4.925 and 4.905 chips, respectively. One other player, Ioannis Chaitas, has over 4 million (4.560 million, to be exact).
It was a rather slow day on Monday, as players took it easy, not wanting to bow out so close to the money. Fewer than 50 eliminations were needed heading into the day to hit the money bubble, but it still took three levels for that to happen. Being a short stack had to be extra stressful yesterday, six times someone moved all-in on the bubble only to double-up and stay alive. Someone eventually had to be the “bubble boy,” though, and that someone was the unfortunate Enrico Campanile.
One of the more amazing hands came toward the end of the night. Cristinel Costin, nursing one of the smaller stacks still left in the tournament, raised to 60,000, Guillaume Diaz, who, as we know, was one of the big stacks, moved all-in. That’s exactly what Costin wanted, as he called and showed pocket Aces, dominating Diaz’s A-Q.
The flop was T-7-7, helping neither player. The turn was another 7 and the river was…the case 7. Diaz needed not only runner-runner, but once the river came around, he had just one out and he hit it. It was extremely disappointing for Costin, who was almost guaranteed to double-up, but on the bright side, the chopped pot meant he was still alive and enters Tuesday’s action with 720,000 chips.
Everyone remaining in the 2021 WSOP Europe Main Event is guaranteed a minimum of €35,709. The next pay jump will happen at 24th place. Six-digit payouts won’t come until eight players remain. Of course, most players still in the tourney have their eyes set on the top prize of €1,276,712.
The original plan for Day 4 was to play down to the six-handed final table or 10:00pm, whichever came sooner. The 10:00pm was specific because of the current state of emergency in the Czech Republic, which dictates that as a curfew for bars, casinos, restaurants, and the like. Tournament officials later confirmed that the new plan is to play down to six players. To fit everything in with the time constraints, play resumes at 9:00am local time.
2021 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event – Day 3 Chip Leaders
Dimitar Yosifov – 5,880,000
Alexander Tkatschew – 4,925,000
Guillaume Diaz – 4,905,000
Ioannis Chaitas – 4,560,000
Arthur Conan – 3,675,000
Daniel Petri – 3,090,000
Boris Kuzmanovic – 3,085,000
Tolga Karakaya – 3,000,000
Josef Gulas – 2,970,000
Athanasios Kidas – 2,815,000