The 2014 World Poker Tour (WPT) Rolling Thunder Main Event is down to its last day with just six players remaining from the original 465 who plunked down $3,500 to chase a Champions Cup dream. Two players – Quoc Pham and Preston Harwell – lord over the proceedings with chip stacks that may make them fear only each other.
Pham enters final table play Wednesday with 5,580,000 chips, quite a bit ahead of Harwell and his 4,425,000. But after the two of them, nobody is even close. The next largest chip stack belongs to Benjamin Zamani, who has 1,990,000. 2013 World Series of Poker Main Event fifth place finisher, J.C. Tran, is next with just 710,000, followed by Ken Jorgensen with 510,000. Mimi Luu has but a chip and a chair, clutching only 35,000 chips. Combined, Pham and Harwell have over three-quarters of the chips in play.
There were a number of key hands on Day 3, but one of Harwell’s most significant came at the outset of seven-handed play, when the tournament was at the final table bubble. Ryan D’Angelo raised pre-flop to 45,000, Harwell re-raised to 120,000, and D’Angelo made the call. On the A♥-J♠-2♠ flop, D’Angelo check-called another 120,000 chip bet and again check-called, this time for 275,000, when the T♥ fell on the turn. When the T♣ was dealt on the river, another check-call was in order in the amount of 575,000 chips. Harwell revealed his pocket Aces, giving him a full house, and D’Angelo mucked his hand. The pot was worth nearly 2 million chips, sending Harwell’s stack to over 5 million at that time.
But of course, Harwell is not the chip leader. That honor goes to Quoc Pham. Pham trailed Harwell for most of Tuesday, but began to turn it on late, winning solid pot after solid pot to steadily climb the ladder. When Zamani doubled-up through Harwell late in the day, Quoc elevated to the top spot.
The first player eliminated today will receive a healthy $60,180 consolation prize. The ultimate goal for everyone besides Mimi Luu, though, is that $302,750 first prize and the Champions Cup. It certainly looks like it will come down to Pham and Harwell, but who knows? This is poker. Zamani is one big hand away from both getting back into contention and damaging one of the chip leaders. And while it will take more of an effort from Tran and Jorgensen, they could certainly double-up a couple times to make it a contest. We’ll see what happens when the action gets underway in a few minutes. The final table will also be streamed with a half-hour delay at WPT.com starting at 12:30pm Pacific.
2014 World Poker Tour Rolling Thunder Main Event – Final Table Chip Counts
1. Quoc Pham – 5,580,000
2. Preston Harwell – 4,425,000
3. Benjamin Zamani – 1,990,000
4. J.C. Tran – 710,000
5. Ken Jorgensen – 510,000
6. Mimi Luu – 35,000
