There were likely several poker players at the Bellagio who didn’t get much sleep Tuesday night after Day 4 of the World Poker Tour (WPT) World Championship came to a close with just 19 players remaining. Since 18 players will get paid, those still in the mix got to dream restless dreams about the money bubble. Additionally, three players still have a chance to pass Will “The Thrill” Failla in the WPT Player of the Year (POY) race. When the cards are dealt Wednesday, Hafiz Khan will have the biggest stack in the tournament, just shy of 2,000,000 chips.
There is clear-cut divide between the “haves” and “have nots” in the tournament right now. The top 9 stacks are all above the 1,000,000 chip mark with the 10th just below. After that, only one stack is above 500,000, one is above 300,000, two are above 200,000, and the rest are below 200,000. With blinds and antes at 8,000/16,000/2,000, there’s a good chance we could see some quick eliminations Wednesday.
As previously mentioned, there are now just three individuals remaining with a shot to overtake Will Failla for the WPT Player of the Year (POY) crown. Joe Serock still looks to have the best chance, as he needs only to finish 15th or higher to pass Failla. He’s not in great shape to win the tournament with just 244,000 chips going into Day 5, but he only needs to wait out four eliminations to make the top 15. Moon Kim is amongst the chip leaders with 1,194,000, but must finish 5th or better to pass Failla. And Matt Juttelstad, in the middle of the pack with 935,000, needs to win the whole thing.
Currently, Failla has 2,050 POY points, while Serock is in 2nd with 1,800. According to the WPT POY point system, a 13th through 15th place finish for Serock would earn him 300 POY points, giving him 2,100 and the top spot on the leader board. Kim has 1,200 points; a 5th place finish would give him another 900, allowing him to pass Failla. Juttelstad, with 800 points, will need all 1,400 points awarded for first place to win POY.
Of course, things get more complicated if more than one of the three remaining POY contenders passes Failla. As 1,400 points go to the winner of the WPT World Championship, Moon Kim can max out at 2,600 points. Should he accomplish that, Serock would still be able to tie him with a 6th place finish (800 points) or take the POY title outright with a 5th place or higher finish. If Kim hits his minimum mark to pass Failla and end up with 2,100 points, Serock would just need to finish 15th to tie and 12th to pass him. Should Juttelstad win the tournament, he’s still not guaranteed to be Player of the Year. Kim would be able to tie him with a 4th place finish and beat him with a 3rd place finish, while Serock would only need 12th to tie and 9th to keep Juttelstad out of the top spot.
Day 5 will commence at noon PST as the 19 remaining players try not to be the “bubble boy.” Five more 90-minute levels will be played before wrapping up for the night.
WPT World Championship – End of Day 4 Chip Counts
1. Hafiz Khan – 1,966,000
2. Marvin Rettenmaier – 1,870,000
3. Nick Schulman – 1,315,000
4. Trevor Pope – 1,300,000
5. Wil Wilkinson – 1,197,000
6. Moon Kim – 1,194,000
7. Michael Mizrachi – 1,168,000
8. John Esposito – 1,080,000
9. Steve O’Dwyer – 1,079,000
10. Matt Juttelstad – 935,000
11. Guillaume Darcourt – 571,000
12. Barry Shulman – 353,000
13. Rinat Bogdanov – 278,000
14. Joe Serock – 244,000
15. Tom McCormick – 186,000
16. Farzad Bonyadi – 182,000
17. Ron Coury – 135,000
18. Josh Arieh – 127,000
19. Philippe Ktorza – 86,000
