button in SafariAdriaan Jacobs Leads Final Five in $600 Deepstack Championship
Just 50 players from the original field of 5,177 entrants returned for Day 3 of Event #78: $600 Deepstack Championship No-Limit Hold'em at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas. After nearly ten hours of relentless action, the field was whittled down at a rapid pace. An unofficial final table was reached shortly after the dinner break, and by night's end, only five players remained in contention for the coveted WSOP gold bracelet. All remaining players have locked up $78,876.
Leading the final five is South Africa's Adriaan Jacobs, who bagged a commanding 67,200,000 chip stack. Jacobs began the day among the top ten in chips, maintained his composure throughout the marathon session, and will return with a sizable lead as he chases his first WSOP gold bracelet. He doubled his stack near the end of the night versus Lisa Tan, when he made a full house that he played to perfection.
Day 2 chip leader Seong Han of South Korea finished the night second in chips with 30,000,000. Han has already put together several deep runs during this summer's WSOP, and this marks his deepest run of the series.
Rounding out the top three is the lone American remaining, Paul Merlette, who ended the day with 27,700,000. Regardless of the outcome, Merlette has already secured the best recorded live tournament finish of his career and now has an opportunity to cap it off with a bracelet.
China's Xingwei Chen returns fourth in chips with 17,500,000. With more than $100,000 in live tournament earnings according to The Hendon Mob, Chen also began the day among the top ten chip counts and remains firmly in contention.
Bringing up the rear is Japan's Junichi Murakami, who will return with 13,500,000. This deep run will mark the largest recorded cash of his career, and despite starting the final day as the short stack, he remains just a few double-ups away from contention.
The night's final elimination was Tan, who bowed out in sixth place to set the official final table. Tan saw her tournament end heartbreakingly when Seong Han completed a rivered flush to eliminate her just one spot shy of the final day. Tan is fresh off a deep run in the $1,000 Ladies Event, where she finished seventh out of 1,475.
Final Table Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Adriaan Jacobs | South Africa | 67,200,000 | 112 |
| 2 | Seong Han | Korea, Republic of | 30,000,000 | 50 |
| 3 | Paul Merlette | United States | 27,700,000 | 46 |
| 4 | Xingwei Chen | China | 17,500,000 | 29 |
| 5 | Junichi Murakami | Japan | 13,500,000 | 23 |
Several notable players fell just short of the final five. Michael Starek, who entered Day 3 fourth in chips, spent much of the day battling a short stack before his run came to an end in 12th place for $17,309.
Canada's Yoann Saubot, originally from France, was all smiles after reaching the final table. His deep run was made even more memorable as his roommate Christopher Summers-James also enjoyed a strong showing in the event, finishing in eighth place. Saubot's tournament concluded in ninth place.
Remarkably, five of the ten players who began Day 3 at the top of the chip counts converted their strong starts into final-table appearances: Han, Tan, Jacobs, Chen, and Saubot.
Remaining Payouts
| Rank | Prize |
|---|---|
| 1 | $282,817 |
| 2 | $188,231 |
| 3 | $139,723 |
| 4 | $104,555 |
| 5 | $78,876 |
Players will return to the Paris Gold section tomorrow, July 4th, at 11 a.m. Blinds will remain at Level 36, 300,000/600,000/600,000 for another three minutes. Blind levels will be one hour in length with 15-minute breaks every two levels.
Day 4 is shaping up to be an action-packed finale. For all the latest updates, stay tuned to PokerNews throughout.