The final table of the 2023 $10,3000 buy-in WCOOP Main Event plays out later today, and you can watch it all, cards-up and with commentary from James Hartigan and Joe Stapleton.
The tournament attracted 600 entries in total, exactly enough to hit the $6 million guarantee. 38 runners made it to Day 3, where Ivan ‘ILS007’ Stokes held a monstrous chip lead – almost double that of Niklas ‘Lena900’ Astedt in second.
Stokes ended Day 3 with the chip lead too, guaranteeing himself $94,330.20 and giving him a great shot at the $1,047,257.40 first prize. He didn't hold it throughout Day 3, but never looked back after picking up aces and knocking FourSixFour and his AK out in 14th in a 28,367,564 pot.
His lead might have been whittled down from the start of Day 3, but it's still a big one. Stokes has 31,727,368 chips, ahead of Leonard 'Grozzorg' Maue in second with 25,827,094, and Astedt in third with 23,258,260.
Juan 'xPastorcitox' Pastor and Kelvin 'Kelvin_FP:AR' Kerber are still in the running, too, with plenty of play left for everyone. Settle in with some snacks when the action starts on the PokerStars Twitch channel at 1pm Eastern.
'I Can Dewey It' was out in tenth and was brutally unlucky at the end, getting into a 13,279,816 pot with his AK dominating Pastor's AQ, only to see a queen drop on the flop.
Who is Ivan 'ILS007' Stokes?
Stokes has an interesting background. Originally a chess player, he switched to poker in 2007, at the age of 18, and started playing professionally. He was an SNG specialist before broadening out to cash and tournaments.
He made Supernova Elite twice on PokerStars and coached other players to the same level. When Stars did away with Supernova Elite, Stokes switched to focusing on MTTS and still coaches players today. If he goes on to hold his monster chip lead through the final two days of the WCOOP Main Event, he might find himself with a few more interested students.
According to the Poker Detox coaching site, Stokes "has Bachelor and Masters degrees from the University of Edinburgh and the University of Queensland and researched game theory applications to nuclear war theory for his Masters thesis. He also has a passion for strength training and is a fully qualified personal trainer."
Is there nothing the man can't do?
2023 $10,300 WCOOP Main Event final table
| Place | Player | Chips |
| 1 | ILS007 | 31,727,368 |
| 2 | Grozzorg | 25,827,094 |
| 3 | Lena900 | 23,258,260 |
| 4 | ShipitFTW911 | 18,433,496 |
| 5 | xPastorcitox | 15,344,772 |
| 6 | Kelvin_FP:AR | 11,586,558 |
| 7 | Jamil11 | 9,607,366 |
| 8 | KayhanMok | 7,558,355 |
| 9 | livinmydream1 | 6,656,731 |
Two other Main Events playing out
All focus might be on the $10,300 Main Event, but two other WCOOP Main Event final tables are also playing out later today: the $1,050 and $109 buy-ins.
Brazil's 'BLEFE GOD' is the chip leader in the $1,050 and will have one eye on the $619,300.49 first prize – not that far off first place in the $10,300. A total of 4,342 entries made up a huge prize pool of $4,342,000.
Meanwhile, 27,184 runners in the $109 have also been whittled down to nine, with 'Stoqnov303' sitting with a big chip lead over Brazil's 'CadeMito'. His decision to fire four bullets has paid off handsomely; he's now guaranteed $18,272.81, with $274,121.18 up top.
Stapes and Hartigan will keep you abreast of both of these tournaments as the $10,300 plays out. Watch all the action on the PokerStars Twitch channel at 1pm Eastern.
