From a total starting field of 6,650 players, just 36 remain in the 2021 World Series of Poker $10,000 Main Event. Sunday's Day 6 found the field's 92 survivors whittled down to a final four tables, with New Jersey pro Hye Park leading the field heading into Monday's Day 7.
Park began Sunday's action in 28th place, well behind the early leaders, but he chipped up early, then surged shortly after the day's dinner break. Park's rush included back-to-back knockouts of Jon Shoreman and Gabriel Sack that pushed Park over 15 million in chips. Park picked up another knockout a short while later and continued to pad his stack, which ended the night at 29,500,000 chips.
Park's closest competitors as Sunday's play ended were Canada's Demosthenes Kiriopoulos, at 24,905,000, and American amateur Joshua Remitio, at 21,490,000. The unheralded Remitio held the lead early in the evening before being overtaken by Park and Kiriopoulos. American pro Chase Bianchi and Austria's Koray Aldemir, who began the Day with the lead, rounded out the top five.
Stephen Chidwick busts early
More famed players were sent to the rail throughout Day 6. One of the very first to bust was British superstar Stephen Chidwick, who lost a race with A-Q against pocket nines when his opponent rivered a straight. Other well-known pros exiting on Day 6 included Stephen Song, Yuri Dzivielevski, Asher Conniff, Josh Prager, nine-time Circuit ring winner Jeffrey Trudeau, and Nick Petrangelo.
Tennessee's Preston McEwen, featured here in a piece about how he honored his SMA-stricken friend David Hendrix on his birthday (which happened to be the Main Event's Day 4), saw his deep run end in 57th place. And the last two women in the Main Event field, Fatima Nanji and Dragana Lim, also busted on Day 6.
The final 36 still boasts a bit of star power. Three-time bracelet winner Chance Kornuth remains in contention in 11th position, even as a minor controversy over one of his in-hand actions on Day 5 continues to swirl. Well-known Oregon cash-game pro Jesse Lonis returns in 26th place. And in eighth place is Argentina's Alejandro Lococo, who's moonlighting at the WSOP from his normal gig as one of Argentina's most famous rappers.
Monday's Day 4 begins at noon Pacific Time and may play well into Tuesday's early hours. The field begins with the 36 players and is currently scheduled to play all the way down to an official final table of nine, despite a payout structure that may make for very tight play at the final-table bubble.
Here are the top ten players in chips after Day 6 of the Main Event:
- Hye Park (United States) - 29,500,000
- Demosthenes Kiriopoulos (Canada) - 24,905,000
- Joshua Remitio (United States) - 21,490,000
- Chase Bianchi (United States) - 20,765,000
- Koray Aldemir (Germany) - 18,905,000
- George Holmes (United States) - 18,425,000
- Ramon Colillas (Spain) - 18,200,000
- Alejandro Lococo (Argentina) - 17,950,000
- Ozgur Secilmis (Turkey) - 14,700,000
- David Cabrera (Spain) - 14,530,000
Featured photo source: Haley Hintze
