The final 44 players in the World Poker Tour (WPT) Montreal Main Event played down to a final table of six and Dongwoo Ko is still at the top of the counts for the third straight day.
Ko, the Day1A chip leader, returned to bag the top stack on Day 2 and he continued his dominance into Day 3 with 15,100,000 (151bb.)
"This is probably the first WPT championship I've played, and what a great start," Ko told PokerOrg after the final elimination.
Ko built a big lead over the first two days by catching a lot of bluffs from a field that wasn't afraid to fire into him. On Day 3 he changed gears to leverage his lead against the shrinking field.
"Today there were some ICM implications, and a lot of people wanted to make a final table, so there was more pressure I could put on with the bigger stack."
The closest competitor to Ko is Tommy Nguyen — the only other player over 10 million with 11,500,000 (117 bb.) Tamer Alkamli is in third with 5,575,000 (76 bb) and Rayan Chamas has 5,225,000 (52 bb) for the fourth spot on the leaderboard. Dan Stavila has 3,775,000 (38 bb) for fifth and Charles Kassin has 2,700,000 (27 bb) to round out the final six.
Chamas — better known to some as online crusher 'Beriuzy' — is back at another WPT final table after his near miss at last year's Seminole stop in November. He finished second to Istvan Briski only two years after another runner-up finish right here in Montreal.
Kassin, the short stack, ran deep to 30th in the Borgata Spring Poker Open in Atlantic City earlier in the month. This is the first poker he's played all year.
"I've been playing poker for over 20 years, and I hadn't played until the Borgata tournament," Kassin said to PokerOrg as the final six bagged up. "I was telling my buddy I should go, and it was literally the last day or two when I booked it. I said 'fuck it' I'm going to crush this tournament, and here we are."
Also on the hot streak is Stavila, who will compete in the WPT Prime championship final table on Tuesday for his first of two final tables in two days. A circumstance that he credits to being on the right side of variance.
"I had a lot of hands that went my way. Pocket aces are just following me this trip. Everything is holding up."
It's a feeling, Stavila says, that he isn't taking for granted.
"It's a surreal feeling. I've been loving Montreal. These times don't come up too often and I'm blessed to be here."
The final six will return on Wednesday with around 70 minutes remaining in Level 29 with blinds at 50,000/100,000/100,000. Action will kick off at 4pm Eastern with the WPT livestream to start at 4:30pm on a 30-minute delay.
Photos courtesy of World Poker Tour/Enrique Malfavon
