Three days and thirteen levels and there is still so much more poker to be played. The WPT World Championship isn’t even halfway to the finish, but with just 44 players remaining, it already feels like it’s getting down to the nitty gritty. Leading the way is Curt Kohlberg with 918,300 chips, a full 150,000 ahead of his next closest competitor, Nick Schulman.
As tournament officials allowed late entrants all the way until the end of level 12, another 17 players entered the fray Monday, increasing the field from 135 to a final total of 152. With the $25,000 buy-in (plus $500 fee), the total prize pool stands at $3,660,500. A total of 18 players will end up making the money, with the winner receiving $1,196,858. Here is a look at the entire payout structure:
1. $1,196,858
2. $805,310
3. $424,618
4. $256,235
5. $192,176
6. $155,571
7. $118,966
8. $82,361
9. $58,568
10 – 12. $47,587
13 – 15. $43,926
16 – 18. $40,266
Though he doesn’t have a recorded live tournament cash in over a year, Curt Kohlberg is familiar with success on the World Poker Tour. He has made three final tables, including a 5th place finish at the 2005 WPT Rendez Vous a Paris ($107,704), another 5th place at the 2009 WPT World Poker Finals ($199,283), and a runner-up at the 2011 Seminole Hard Rock Showdown ($586,109). He also has a fourth top ten finish, just missing out on another televised final table. In his career, Kohlberg has won almost $2.2 million in live poker tournaments.
With current WPT Player of Year leader Will Failla out of the tournament, there are a number of players remaining who could overtake him in this final tourney of the season. Joe Serock looks to be in the best shape to pull it off, needing “just” a top 15 finish to jump up into the top spot while currently sitting in 17th place with 400,800 chips. Other players still with a chance at the WPT POY title include:
Moon Kim – must finish 5th or better (currently with 388,500 chips)
Matthew Waxman – 5th or better (165,400)
David Sands – 5th or better (87,100)
Byron Kaverman – 4th or better (227,000 chips)
Noah Schwartz – 4th to tie, 3rd or better to win (169,000 chips)
Tony Ruberto – 3rd or better (581,400)
Mohamed Ali Houssam – 3rd or better (141,400)
Antonio Esfandiari – 1st place (630,100)
Matt Juttelstad – 1st place (225,400)
Miha Travnik – 1st place (104,500)
Day 4 will pick up on Monday at noon PST. The players will go through another five 90-minute levels before calling it a night.
WPT World Championship – End of Day 3 Chip Leaders
1. Curt Kohlberg – 918,300
2. Nick Schulman – 768,000
3. Guillaume Darcourt – 641,000
4. Antonio Esfandiari – 630,100
5. Rinat Bogdanov – 624,100
6. David Steicke – 589,700
7. Tony Ruberto – 581,400
8. Viacheslav Igin – 567,000
9. Farzad Bonyadi – 519,900
10. Nicolas Fraioli – 501,600