Eric Bunch raised to 22,000 with the 8?7? and folded when Frank Bonacci three-bet to 68,000 with the A?Q? on the three feature tables of the Horseshoe Event Center.
Shortly after, Corey Davila was forced all-in out of the big blind with the 10?7?. Dominik Nitsche had raised with the K?3? and the board ran out K?9?6?J?7? as Davila departed early on Day 4.
Adrian Bertini open-shoved under the gun for a remaining stack worth 105,000 and Tai Tran reshoved in in the cutoff for his last 125,000. Bertini looked at his cards on the button and also jammed for 210,000 to create a three-way showdown,:
Adrian Bertini: J?J?
Tai Tran: A?A?
Joshua Thibodaux: K?K?
Tran had good hopes for a triple-up, but the board revealed 8?7?9?6?7? to give the winning flush to Thibodaux, who scooped the pot and busted two opponents in the process, bringing us that much closer to a bursted bubble.
Adam Dunkle shipped all in for 27,000 in early position and the action eventually folded around to Andrew Hawksby in the big blind after a few minutes. Hawksby quickly called and the cards were tabled.
Adam Dunkle: J?J?
Andrew Hawksby: Q?Q?
The board ran out 9?4?3?10?4? and Hawksby's pair of queens were just good enough to eliminate Dunkle and his jacks. After the hand, the tournament director instructed the entire table that they would be on a 10-second shot clock because of the excessive tanking.
The board 10?4?9?3?7? was already dealt with a pot containing around 500,000. Senthuran Vijayaratnam moved a pile of chips in front of him for a bet worth 500,000, putting Bjorn Gravlien at risk for a remaining stack around 290,000.
After a few minutes of thinking, Gravlien eventually called, but only to see 3?3? in Vijayaratnam's hand for a set of threes.
Gravlien quickly made his way to the exit while the dealer showed he held A?10?.
Jing Wang was getting up from his seat while Yu Tang was adding a bunch of chips to his stack.
Wang's 10?9? were still visible and so were Tang's J?7? while the board read 7?10?2?7?3? as Wang had flopped a pair of tens while Tang had turned trip sevens to knock Wang out of the tournament and get closer to the bubble.
Davor Bojovic opened to 16,000 in the cutoff and Jordan Grant three-bet to 55,000 in the small blind. Bojovic called and they went heads-up to a flop of A?K?10?.
Grant led out with a bet of 50,000 and Bojovic stuck around to see the 6? on the turn. Grant dropped in a stack of 25,000 chips, enough to put Bojovic to the test for his remaining 255,000. Bojovic tanked for a couple of minutes and then finally stuck in the chips to call.
Davor Bojovic: A?K?
Jordan Grant: 10?10?
Grant flopped a set of tens, which left Bojovic drawing to just four outs. The river was the 6? and Grant improved to a full house to eliminate Bojovic. There are now 1,509 players remaining, just two eliminations away from the money.
Yehuda Dayan opened to 20,000 from the cutoff and action folded around to Seth Greenleaf, who was automatically all in and at risk from the big blind for his last 14,000 chips.
Seth Greenleaf: 10?3?
Yehuda Dayan: A?5?
Greenleaf was in dire straits when Dayan flopped top pair on the A?Q?8? flop. The J? turn gave Greenleaf outs in the form of a gutshot straight draw, but the 6? river was a brick and Greenleaf was eliminated from the main event just two spots away from making the money.
There were three all-ins during the last hand of hand-for-hand play:
Hand #1:
The action folded to Jeppe Bisgaard in the hijack, who opened for 17,000, and Quan Zhou three-bet to 53,000 next to act. Jonathan McCann shoved all in for just over 600,000 in the small blind, and action was back on Bisgaard, who went deep in the tank. After nearly a minute, Bisgaard called for his last 250,000, and Zhou got out of the way.
The tournament staff and camera crews surrounded the table as they awaited the showdown. Once Jack Effel was in place, the cards were on their backs.
Jeppe Bisgaard: K?K?
Jonathan McCann: A?A?
It was the ultimate cooler for Bisgaard to run into the only hand better than his. The board ran out 7?6?3?J?J?, and the aces for McCann held up to send Bisgaard out.
Jeppe Bisgaard Bubbles 2023 WSOP Main Event
Hand #2:
At Table #424, everybody crowded around Yueqi Wang when she was already at risk for around 200,000 chips on the river against Mikiya Kudo.
According to the Japanese player, he opened from under the gun to 17,000 and was called by the cutoff and by Yueqi Wang in the big blind.
On the 6?A?9? flop, Kudo continued for 25,000. The cutoff folded, and Wang check-called.
The K? came on the river, and Kudo fired a second barrel of 55,000, and Wang called.
The river was the 6?. Wang took the lead and fired out a bet of 100,000. Then Kudo raised to 300,000, more than Wang's stack. She called.
When she had to reveal her cards, Wang explained that she flipped a coin and that it landed on the "call" side. "I know I'm eliminated, but I call," she said.
Yueqi Wang: A?8?
Mikiya Kudo: 6?6?
Wang had a top pair but ran into quads. Just as she predicted, she was eliminated.
Yueqi Wang Bubbles 2023 WSOP Main Event
Hand #3:
Meanwhile, at Table 437, Peter Nigh was all in from the small blind for his last 148,000 and called by Eric Fields, who covered him, putting Fields at risk.
Peter Nigh: A?K?
Eric Fields: Q?Q?
The flop came J?6?9?, giving Fields plenty of outs in the form of two overcards and the nut-flush draw. Those outs failed to materialize on the 5? turn and 6? river, and Fields was sent to the rail on the stone bubble along with two other players.
As there were three eliminations simultaneously, Effel announced they would split $30,000 in prize money and flip for the stone-bubble $10,000 seat into next year's Main Event.
Peter Nigh Bubbles WSOP Main Event
The Flip
They were guided to an empty table for the 2024 WSOP Main Event seat flip. All three players took their seats and got their cards dealt.
Yueqi Wang: 7?3?
Peter Nigh: Q?4?
Jeppe Bisgaard: 9?2?
The flop came 10?3?K? for Wang to hit a pair of treys.
The turn was the Q? for Nigh to take the lead with the pair of queens but the river completed the board with the J? for Bisgaard to hit the straight to claim his spot for next year.
Jeppe Bisgaard Wins Seat to 2024 WSOP via Flip
The remaining 1,505 are now in the money and guaranteed a minimum cash of $15,000.
Steven Wang folded his big blind on the stone bubble leaving himself just a single 1,000 yellow chip behind. After the dust had settled from hand-for-hand play, Wang squeezed into the money with an eighth of a big blind.
Once the bubble had burst, Wang was forced all in from the small blind.
Ariel Celestino raised from the button to 16,000 and the big blind called. The flop of J?10?5? checked through to the 7? on the turn. The big blind checked and then folded to a bet of 18,000 from Celestino sending the hand to a showdown. Wang peeled his cards one at a time as this was the first time he'd seen them.
Steven Wang: A?2?
Ariel Celestino: 8?8?
The river came the 3? eliminating Wang. To his delight, he exited to the payout cage instead of a cashless rail.
"Payout!" is the most common yell heard across the room at the Horseshoe Event Center. Trevor Reardon was at risk of also getting payouts called for him when he jammed all in for 61,000 from the hijack and got called by Carly Gorman in the big blind.
Trevor Reardon: A?K?
Carly Gorman: 10?10?
It was a flop for Reardon's tournament life, and he would be eliminated when the tens held on 5?5?9?Q?4?.
Over at another table, it was bubble survivor Amin Hosein who jammed all in for 15,000 from middle position after a limp from Eric Stein in early position. Kevin Henderson then rejammed from the small blind for 153,000 and Stein folded.
Amin Hosein: A?8?
Kevin Henderson: 9?9?
No ace came on K?6?10?Q?5? and Hosein joined the payout line as well.
