With the WSOP 2021 being in its final stage, the action is now fast and furious. The vibe at the Rio has taken a leap with big names winning bracelets and shot takers living their dream. And this is turning out to be an incredible week with some heartwarming stories of Team India. The Indian superstars of the game continue showing off their elite skills and booking deep runs, one after another. Currently in the spotlight are India’s poker superstar Aditya Agarwal and the country’s first solo bracelet winner Abhinav Iyer. Both are in the hunt for the bracelet in the WSOP 2021 Event #76: $10,000 Super Turbo Bounty that drew 307 entries and generated $2,862,775 in the prize pool.
Unfortunately, Iyer’s run came to an end a little over an hour ago. He exited the event in 14th place for $18,501, but Agarwal is still there going strong and holding up India’s bracelet hope alive. He ended Day 1 of the event with a huge chip lead (8,750,000 -55 BBs) and will return on the final day as a strong contender for the bracelet. Agarwal began the unofficial FT as a chip leader and extended his lead further by busting three players. His first victim at the FT was John Hemme who ran his Jh 8h into Agarwal’s Ac Jc. While Hemme flopped a top pair, Agarwal hit the wheel on the river, ending Hemme’s run in 10th place for $27,429. Next was Rainer Kempe who pitted his Qh 4h against the Kc 9h of Agarwal whose king-kicker remained in the lead, busting Kempe in 9th place for $34,424.
Continuing his momentum, Agarwal then busted Haribhai Gopaul, who was the last casuality of the day. Gopaul shoved it from the big blind holding Ad Qc against the Ac Jd of Agarwal. The board was safe for him till the turn but a brutal jack on the river ended his run in 8th place ($44,060)
Known as India’s poker superstar, Agarwal has over a half-million in WSOP earnings but is chasing his first bracelet and has put himself in a strong position for the bracelet and the $463,885 top prize.
Coming back to Iyer, he has been doing amazingly well at the ongoing series and has notched up five cashes so far, headlined by his 60th place finish for $113,800 in the Main Event. When this event was down to the last two tables, Iyer held a massive stack of around 700k chips and was looking in a good shape on his chase for the second bracelet. Unfortunately, he could not reach the final table and exited during level 26 when he jammed with As Qc and Yevgeniy Timoshenko made the call with Ad 8d. The board 6h 10s Kd 2d 6d gave Timoshenko a flush to bust Iyer in 14th place ($18,501).
Agarwal is followed by the US pro Barth Melius with 3,550,000 (22 BBs) in chips. Sitting behind Melius is the former WSOP bracelet winner Stephen Chidwick with a stack of 2,600,000 (14 BBs).
While everyone among the final seven is assured at least $57,489, they will have their eyes on the $463,885 top prize and the coveted bracelet when they return for the final day action on Tuesday, November 16. The action will resume from Level 29 with blinds of 80,000/160,000/160,000 ante.
Final Day Chip Counts:
- Aditya Agarwal – 8,750,000
- Barth Melius – 3,550,000
- Stephen Chidwick – 2,270,000
- Romain Lewis – 2,050,000
- Dario Sammartino – 1,930,000
- Uri Reichenstein – 1,795,000
- Yevgeniy Timoshenko – 1,065,000
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