Jean-Robert Bellande Leads the Final Six in Event #58: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed
The final six players have bagged up their chips after just seven levels in Event #58: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed. The chipleader heading into the official final table will be none other than Jean-Robert Bellande who made sure everyone knew that he bagged a whopping 5,050,000 chips.
The man they call "JRB" entertained the railbirds throughout the latter half of the day, popping bottles of wine at the table, cracking jokes, and jamming to his music. All the while, he was slowly gathering chips and throwing knockout punches to many of his opponents. Heading to the final day of the tournament, Bellande holds around 33% of the chips in play as he searches for his first World Series of Poker gold bracelet.
While Bellande has over $2.2 million in career tournament earnings, he has yet to find himself at the top of the podium in a WSOP event. He has finished in second place twice and will be looking to improve on that tomorrow. There will be some stiff competition, however, as the other five players at the table all have the same goal in mind.
Dean Lyall finished the day in second place with 2,700,000 chips while Kacper Pyzara made a late rally to round out the top three with 2,605,000 chips. Andrew Graham came into the day as the chipleader and had a rollercoaster of a day, still managing to put 2,430,000 in the bag. Tay Nguyen (1,485,000) and Eric Blair (1,310,000) round out the final six players and will have their work cut out for them when the action resumes.
Final Table Seating Draw
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eric Blair | United States | 1,310,000 | 22 |
| 2 | Andrew Graham | United States | 2,430,000 | 41 |
| 3 | Tay Nguyen | United States | 1,485,000 | 25 |
| 4 | Kacper Pyzara | Poland | 2,605,000 | 43 |
| 5 | Jean-Robert Bellande | United States | 5,050,000 | 84 |
| 6 | Dean Lyall | United Kingdom | 2,700,000 | 45 |
There were 27 players that returned for the start of Day 3, but that number quickly dwindled as the short stacks fell early and often. On the verge of merging down to the final three tables, former WSOP Main Event champion Greg Merson was eliminated in 19th place for $21,018. It was a quick jump from three to two tables as Bellande made short work of his tablemates, amassing a stack upwards of 3,000,000 chips which was easily at the top of the leaderboard.
When the final 12 players assembled at two tables, Jimmy Guerrero (12th Place - $34,545) was the first to fall when he ran his pocket fives into the pocket aces of Lyall. The next to make his way to the payout desk was Dave Stefanski (11th Place - $34,545) who was unable to improve his king-queen against Pyzara's pocket jacks.
Arsenii Karmatakii (10th Place - $45,764) was left on the short stack and got the rest of his chips in the middle against Sergio Aido. Aido held the dominating hand, and although both players made a pair of aces on the flop, the Spaniard's kicker held on to eliminate Karmatakii. Aido (9th Place - $45,764) lost a huge flip moments later and left himself with just one big blind. He tripled up, then doubled up, but it wasn’t enough as he shoved with jack-nine and was called by Nguyen's pocket eights.
James Mackey (8th Place - $61,931) just missed out on the unofficial final table in what was a rollercoaster of a hand. He shoved all in on the button with king-ten and was snap-called by Eric Blair holding pocket kings. Mackey turned a straight but Blair countered with a full house on the river. That left the final seven players to meet up at the final table. Chips moved back and forth but it was Bellande who took the lead on dinner break. It took a whole level until the final bustout of the day occurred when Arthur Morris (7th Place - $61,931) ripped his 20 big-blind stack in with nine-seven. He was called by Bellande's pocket tens and the board provided no help for Morris.
There is still plenty of money up for grabs with the top five finishers each earning a six-figure payday. The winner will be taking home $616,302 along with that coveted WSOP gold bracelet.
Final Table Payouts
| Place | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|
| 1st | $616,302 |
| 2nd | $380,595 |
| 3rd | $254,684 |
| 4th | $173,598 |
| 5th | $120,669 |
| 6th | $85,570 |
The action will resume at 2pm tomorrow on the feature table inside the Brasilia Room. The blinds will kick off on level 28 at 30,000/60,000 and a 10,000 ante. There will be a live stream available with a 30-minute delay on Twitch. Tune in to the PokerNews coverage again to find out who will be crowned the champion and take home their first-ever WSOP title.