Dan Heimiller Eyeing Second Seniors Bracelet as Day 4 Concludes
A crazy day in Event #39 $1,000 Seniors No Limit Hold’em Championship has come to an end, with former champion Dan Heimiller in pole position to take the crown for a second time at the 2023 World Series of Poker at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.
Heimiller will come into the final day with 59,100,000 chips, only slightly ahead of Canadian farmer Lonnie Hallett with 55,300,000. The pair are in a commanding position over their table mates as they have over two-thirds of chips in play between them and will be the odds-on favorites to pick up the heralded WSOP gold bracelet and the top prize of $765,731.
However, the third-placed Poker Hall of Famer Billy Baxter cannot be counted out of the discussion with 15,500,000. The 82-year-old has shown for the last four days that he still has the spark which earned him seven gold bracelets in an illustrious career spanning six decades.
Final Table Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dan Heimiller | United States | 59,100,000 | 99 |
| 2 | Lonnie Hallett | Canada | 55,300,000 | 92 |
| 3 | Billy Baxter | United States | 15,500,000 | 26 |
| 4 | Shannon Fahey | United States | 12,500,000 | 21 |
| 5 | Gordon Eng | United States | 9,200,000 | 15 |
| 6 | Loren Cloninger | United States | 8,400,000 | 14 |
| 7 | Rudolf Fourie | South Africa | 3,700,000 | 6 |
The last lady standing, Shannon Fahey, is holding her own with an aggressive style of poker and will take 12,500,000 into the final table. Fahey, who resides in Arlington Heights, Michigan, has not only locked up her first five-figure cash but bypassed it and guaranteed a six-figure score for the first time.
Loren Cloninger, Gordon Eng, and South Africa’s Rudolf Fourie will have to get to work early tomorrow if they want to climb the pay ladder. All three are short-stacked and will need to secure early spin-ups.
Day 4 Action
Day 4 got off to a fast and frenetic pace as ten players were eliminated in the space of an hour. Amongst the early casualties were Bryant Morrison and Ross Tesser. The three-table redraw occurred after only ten minutes of play. Hallett, nicknamed ‘The Avenger’ at his home game, took full advantage of the carnage and quickly assembled a monster stack.
Thoughts go out to David Allison, who busted out in 12th place. It was their dream to appear on a WSOP final table, and had their mother on standby to watch the live stream to see his dream come true. Unfortunately, they fell short by two spots after Heimiller flopped Broadway to leave them virtually drawing dead.
A hand that will be recalled repeatedly was Ron Fetsch’s blow-up when he lost a 50,400,000 pot shoving ace-high into Heimiller’s pocket queens. It was described by the PokerGO commentary team as ‘The Hand of the Summer’, and it probably will be hard to surpass.
Play will resume June 26 at noon local time, and PokerNews will provide live updates concurrently with the PokerGO live stream on a short delay. There will be 6:42 left on the clock in Level 36 with the blinds at 300,000/600,000 and a big blind ante of 600,000.
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