More than 12 hours of play weren’t enough to crown a champion of Event #74: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship as Richard Sklar and Arash Ghaneian will need an extra day to decide the winner.
Sklar, the notorious golf bettor who has won millions competing against some of the top hustlers and gamblers in Las Vegas, ended Day 3 as the chip leader with 5,530,000. Ghaneian, meanwhile, bagged up 4,495,000 as he chases his second World Series of Poker bracelet.
Day 3 Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Bets
1
Richard Sklar
United States
5,530,000
28
2
Arash Ghaneian
United States
4,495,000
22
Sklar’s exploits on the golf course have become legendary. He’s taken on the likes of Phil Ivey and even PGA Tour professionals in big-money games where thousands of dollars can change hands. The 71-year-old is also a proven poker player, with four WSOP final tables on his resume. He’s already surpassed his previous best WSOP result, a third-place finish in the $10,000 H.O.R.S.E Championship in 2014.
Ghaneian, the Las Vegas financier, already owns a WSOP bracelet, which he won in the $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. in 2015. He was backed by a loud and passionate rail today, which chanted, “AG is the OG” whenever he won a pot. They’re both guaranteed $250,984 for making this far out of a field of 167 of the game’s best, while the champion will take home $376,476. They’ll return to play tomorrow at 1 p.m. local time inside the Horseshoe Las Vegas Event Center.
Arash Ghaneian
Day 3 Action
Day 3 began with 18 players remaining, and reaching the final two tables of eight wouldn't take long. Naoya Kihara and Owais Ahmed were eliminated within the first few minutes to bring the field down to 16.
Thomas Taylor made the nut flush to scoop a massive pot off Jared Talarico and Todd Ivens to take the chip lead. Michael Noori was then eliminated in 16th place, while poker commentator Norman Chad fell in 15th against Dario Alioto’s straight.
Norman Chad
Ivens, the start-of-day chip leader, had his run end in 14th place as Sklar made the nut flush on seventh. Brad Ruben’s aces were cracked by Todd Brunson’s straight as the four-time bracelet winner was sent to the rail in 12th place, while Jake Schwartz (13th), Talarico (11th), and Maximilian Schindler (10th) followed to set the nine-handed final table.
Taylor led at the start of the final table with 2,760,000, with Ghaneian in second with 1,820,000. Hisashi Yamanouchi was the first to depart as Brunson made a pair of fives. Michael Rocco then ran into Taylor’s full house and missed all his outs on seventh, slamming his last card on the felt before heading off in eighth.
Taylor led with nearly 4,000,000, more than double his closest challenger. He took part in the next bustout, as well, as he and Ghaneian chopped a pot to send Russian bracelet winner Andrey Zhigalov to the rail in seventh. Taylor also made a full house on seventh to eliminate Alioto in sixth.
Thomas Taylor
Taylor scooped a pot to leave Eric Wasserson on a short stack, and Wasserson busted in fifth shortly after as Taylor surpassed 5,000,000. Sklar then won two big pots off Brunson, making a flush to beat trip queens and then hitting a straight as he crossed over 2,000,000. Brunson was eliminated in fourth when Taylor scooped a pot with two pair and a low.
Todd Brunson
Then began Taylor’s long downfall. Sklar scooped Taylor with a pair of fives and a low to take over the chip lead, then won another big pot off the former chip leader with aces and tens as he widened the gap. Ghaneian scooped Taylor with a flush and a low, and scooped him again shortly after with two pair as Taylor fell to 520,000. Taylor doubled twice until Ghaneian made jacks up to bust him in third place.
Final Table payouts
Place
Player
Country
Prize
1
2
3
Thomas Taylor
Canada
$173,533
4
Todd Brunson
United States
$122,663
5
Eric Wasserson
United States
$88,686
6
Dario Alioto
Italy
$65,620
7
Andrey Zhigalov
Russia
$49,715
8
Michael Rocco
United States
$38,589
Sklar took a 5,500,000 to 4,500,000 advantage into heads-up play, and with the clock nearing 2:00 a.m., the two players agreed to end play for the night and come back tomorrow. The action picks up on Level 25 with limits of 100,000-200,000. Both players still have over 20 big bets each, so they could be in for a long heads-up duel tomorrow.
PokerNews will follow all the action until a champion is crowned, so stay tuned tomorrow.
