The 2023 World Series of Poker Main Event has entered final-table play, as Taiwan's Ting-Yi "Eric" Tsai dominated Day 4 action on Tuesday to take a sizeable chip lead into Wednesday's Day 5 finale. Tsai amassed a 23,650,000 chip during a session that saw a field of 35 Day 3 survivors trimmed all the way to eight, with the final elimination of the day coming after the official nine-player final table was set.
Tsai's huge stack is nearly twice as large as his nearest competitor, Lithuania's Kasparas Klezys, who moved from fifth place to second place on the day. Klezys bagged 13,950,000 in chips to hold a comfortable second position when Tuesday's action concluded, while Austria's Max Neugebauer, with 10,325,000, was the only other player over the 10-million-chip plateau.
The stack sizes for the 2023 WSOP Europe Main Event's final day are as follows, with a €1,500,000 payday awaiting the winner:
- Eric Tsai (Taiwan) - 23,650,000
- Kasparas Klezys (Lithuania) - 13,950,000
- Max Neugebauer (Austria) - 10,325,000
- Nils Pudel (Germany) - 9,875,000
- Michael Rocco - (United States) - 8,000,000
- Michele Tocci (Italy) - 6,525,000
- Ruslan Volkov (Ukraine) - 6,000,000
- Alf Martinsson (Sweden) - 3,125,000
Martinson's 3.125 million stack represents just 13 big blinds, illustrating that most of the remaining players are already under short-stack pressure, and early collisions are likely in Wednesday's play.
Yulian Bogdanov first player to bust at final table
Bulgaria's Yulian Bogdanov led all 35 survivors into Tuesday's Day 4, and though he negotiated his way through the day, he was the first player to be eliminated from the official final table. Bogdanov's stack melted away in two late hands where he got his chips in with the better hand but saw his opponent spike a pair to take the pot. Bogdanov still earned €115,300 (about US $125,400) for his four days of work.
Before Bogdonov's exit marked the end of Day 4 play, 26 others hit the rail and collected five-figure paydays. For some the day was very brief; Belgian star Davidi Kitai, a Winamax brand ambassador and three-time WSOP bracelet winner, exited in 33rd place to collect €35,500. The only other bracelet winner to make Day 4, France's Jonathan Pastore, suffered a similar fate, exiting in 30th place for a €41,500 payout.
Other players lasted longer but still bowed out before the final table, including Italy's Dario Sammartino, whose 14th-place exit was worth €59,500. Another Italian pro, Andrea Radicchi, made the unofficial ten-player final but busted in tenth for a €91,000 cash.
The remainder of the final table will be streamed nearly live (with a one-hour delay), on the official King's Resort YouTube channel. The stream is scheduled to begin at 3 pm CET (Central European Time), which is one hour ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).
