Day 3 of the World Poker Tour Rolling Thunder Main Event returned 32 players and after around ten hours of play, action wrapped up with six players remaining. Yunkyu Song holds a touch over half the chips in play with 13.5 million in the bag.
Song returned on Monday with the chip lead and lost a key hand midway through the day that brought him back down to average. But he managed to hit some key hands and went on a tear to end with a commanding stack.
Song holds half the chips in play
“My day went pretty good overall I think,” Song said. “I got lucky in a few big spots and once I got a big chip stack I used ICM for pressure.”
Song played with a smile on his face for most of the day. “It’s fun for me when I have chips,” he added. “When I have the chip lead, it’s always fun.”
Rounding out the final table
Michael Kinney sits in a distant second place with 2.3 million and is 20 years removed from his WPT title. He took down the World Poker Challenge at the Reno Hilton, where he beat Eskimo Clark for the win.
“It’s definitely a different game now,” Kinney said. “The betting is smaller but with better overall players. It’s still just as much fun the second time around. I’m not near as aggressive I used to be and I probably enjoy it more than I did 20 years ago.”
Cody Wiegman (2.175 million), Casey Sandretto (2 million) and Travis Egbert (1.75 million) sit in the middle of the pack. Brock Wilson returns as the short stack with 1.07 million but is the most experienced player remaining with $7 million in tournament earnings.
Egbert is the youngest player at the final table and already has four WPT cashes. It’s his first final table that will be streamed and he said, “I’m ready for it. I’m a little nervous with the lights and everything.”
“I’ve been watching the WPT on YouTube for years,” Egbert added. “I hope to get some rest tonight but I’m pretty excited.”
Kinney, Wiegman and Sandretto were all at the same table together for most of Day 1. The typical “see you at the final table” salutation when a Day 1 table breaks proved to be prophetic.
Short of the final table
Soheb Porbandarwaia made a deep run to 11th place, Stephen Song (13th), Nam Le (14th), Ben Ludlow (21st), Harrison Gimbel (22nd) and Dan Sepiol (26th) all returned for Day 3 but didn’t make the final table.
Song busted against his friend and study partner Brock Wilson. Song opened, Wilson three-bet shoved and Song called off with A-9. Wilson showed him bad news with pocket aces, Song never improved and earned $16,900 for his efforts.
Le returned to play with the most WPT experience with 21 cashes and six final tables, but couldn’t get any momentum to stick on Monday. He got his short stack in with pocket fives against Hemingway’s flush draw that got there on the river.
Ludlow’s day saw him grind his short stack up 11 positions to finish in 21st place for $11,500 – for his second WPT main event cash. He made his final stand with A-9 but was out-pipped by Hemingway’s A-T. They paired their ace, but the kicker played and Ludlow was out.
Six-figure payouts looming
Each returning player has $60,000 locked up, but if they ladder up two spots to fourth place it’s a cool six-figure prize, while the winner earns $296,600 and a seat to the 2024 WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas.
The final table kicks off promptly at 11:00 am local time with an approximate 30-minute delay. You can watch it below or on the WPT YouTube channel. Matt Savage and Tyler Patterson will be in the booth for commentary.
Final Table Chip Counts
- Yunkyu Song – 13,525,000
- Michael Kinney – 2,375,000
- Cody Wiegmann – 2,175,000
- Casey Sandretto – 2,000,000
- Travis Egbert – 1,750,000
- Brock Wilson – 1,075,000
All photos courtesy of WPT - Drew Amato.
