Steven McKoy Leads as WPT Seminole Hard Rock Tampa Reaches Final Table
The $3,500 buy-in World Poker Tour Seminole Hard Rock Tampa Main Event started with 1,165 entrants and is now down to the final six, one of whom will collect $615,050 on Wednesday.
When the final table begins at noon ET. Steven McKoy will have more chips than anyone else remaining at 13,350,000, the equivalent of 65 big blinds. Everyone at the table will have a manageable stack, with Seth Berger the shorty at 25 big blinds (5,025,000). The blinds will resume at 100,000/200,000 (200,000 big blind ante) at the start of play.
At the beginning of Tuesday's session, 16 players remained and James Calderaro was the only past WPT champion in the field. He busted in 14th place ($39,400), which means there will be a brand-new World Poker Tour champion crowned in Tampa on Wednesday.
Day 3 Chip Leader Moves On
When Day 4 began on Tuesday, Fred Paradis, a Tampa Bay local who moved to town four years ago from Connecticut, held the chip lead. Although McKoy finished the session with the largest stack, Paradis increased his stack to over 11 million chips and will be among the favorites at the final table.
Perhaps the top favorite, however, is Brock Wilson, who has over $5 million in live tournament cashes, according to Hendon Mob, and is considered by many among the best tournament grinders in the world today. Wilson is not only the most accomplished player remaining, he is big-stacked at 12,100,000, barely behind McCoy for the chip lead.
Paradis, who told PokerNews he has a wife and two kids, said "I'm playing for my family." If he were to take down the tournament on, he said he plans on buying a new home in the area. He has over $700,000 in prior lifetime live tournament cashes, which includes a runner up finish for $100,000 in a $600 no-limit hold'em event in 2015 at Foxwoods, his home casino at the time.
Play concluded on Tuesday when Wilson called a 4,000,000-chip all in wager with A?A? from Kevin Ragusa, who was holding 9?9?. The board ran out J?8?2?10?J? and Ragusa was out in seventh place for $100,000, bubbling the final table.
Like Paradis, David Tuthill is a local player who calls the Seminole Hard Rock his home poker room. Tuthill finished the most recent session with 9,850,000 chips (49 big blinds). Corey Wade, who ended Day 2 with the chip lead, is the sixth member of the final table. He's no longer the chip leader, but he's still kicking at 6,550,000 (33 big blinds).
Each remaining player is guaranteed a minimum payout of $130,000, but they all have a goal of claiming the $615,050 first place prize and joining the exclusive WPT Champions Club.
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Photos courtesy of Drew Amato/WPT
