Day 3 Ends With Idema in Pole Position to Win Fourth Bracelet
Day 3 of of Event #22: $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship has reached an unplanned conclusion here at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas as a WSOP gold bracelet has yet to be awarded. However, with three players remaining, it was Daniel Idema who bagged the lead after a hot late-night run left him with 4,400,000 in chips. Nozomu Shimizu will enter Day 4 with 2,385,000 in chips and Josh Arieh will enter as the short stack with 1,060,000.
Chip Counts of the Final Three Players
| Position | Name | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daniel Idema | Canada | 4,400,000 | 44 |
| 2 | Nozomu Shimizu | Japan | 2,385,000 | 24 |
| 3 | Josh Arieh | United States | 1,060,000 | 11 |
Idema, who won this very event back in 2011 will be seeking his fourth WSOP gold bracelet. The former hockey pro's last bracelet came in 2015, when he won a $3,000 H.O.R.S.E. event.
Idema's competition will be tough, however, as Shimizu is coming hot off a third-place finish in Event #12: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em Freezeout just a few days ago. The Japanese player is currently 18th on the Japan all-time money list and will be looking to vault up that ranking with a win.
Although short-stacked, Arieh will be seeking his fifth WSOP bracelet and second Limit Hold'em bracelet overall. Arieh has been a poker force to be reckoned with recently, having won two bracelets alone in 2021 in addition to being crowned the 2021 WSOP Player of The Year.
Day 3 Action
Day 3 began with 14 players vying for WSOP glory, but it only took a bit more than a single level to get down to the final table of nine. After Yong Wang, Motoyoshi Okamura, and Joseph Beasy were eliminated in short order, four-time bracelet winner Ben Yu found himself outkicked with trips to bust in eleventh.
Robert Como, having come in as one of the short stacks, was able to nurse his stack for a while before running into a set of Shimizu to bust in tenth place.
It was a star-studded final table, with six of the nine players having at least one WSOP bracelet to their name.
Ronnie Bardah, whose only bracelet came in Limit Hold’em back in 2012, was the first to be eliminated after committing his stack with pocket sevens and running into the pocket nines of Shimizu.
Kevin Song, who also holds a Limit Hold’em bracelet from back in 1997, would be next to go after getting short and being forced to commit the last of his chips with six-trey, which failed to materialize into anything.
Fan-favorite Nick Schulman, who already won a stud bracelet just one week ago, came back from crumbs early in the day to make a run at the final table. However, Schulman was unable to build any momentum with seven remaining and made his last stand with eight-six of diamonds that ended up running into a flush of Muzimu to bust in seventh.
Nick Pupillo was sent to the rail in sixth place, at which point the pace of play slowed considerably with players trading small blows back and forth. It would be more than two full levels before Louis Hillman, who, despite managing to double up several times during the final table, fell in fifth place after getting all in dominated with ace-ten against Shimizu's ace-queen and failing to improve.
Despite entering the final table with the chip lead, 2015 Main Event Champion Joe McKeehen struggled to get anything going on the final table and suffered a similar fate as Hillman by getting all in preflop dominated and getting no help from the runout.
Idema, Shimizu, and Arieh jousted for a level, trading chips back and forth until eventually, Arieh was all in and at risk on the last hand of the night.
Play will resume on Sunday, June 11, at 12 p.m. and play down to a winner. Players will return to Level 25, which features 50,000/100,000 blinds and 100,000/200,000 limits. Any breaks will be discretionary for the players.
Stick with PokerNews as we bring you all the action from the final three of Event #22: $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship leading to the newest bracelet winner!