World Series of Poker Main Event Down to 3 Players at Final Table

The Cinderella poker dream of George Holmes, the home game player from Atlanta, is still alive as Holmes finds himself among the three survivors at the World Series of Poker Main Event. The event will conclude Wednesday at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

WSOP is being broadcast live on PokerGO, a paid website service, beginning at 6 pm., ET. CBS Sports will broadcast an edited version at a later date. For more about online poker, you can check out our online poker guide.

Holmes, who has just one previous cash in live tournament play, is in third place. He’s behind chip leader Koray Aldemir, a German with more than $12 million in career tournament winnings, and Jack Oliver, from Manchester, England, whose poker resume is far more modest than Aldemir but who still counts almost two dozen cashes, mostly in England, for about $117,000.

Moving to Vegas Strip Next Year

The 52nd edition of the Main Event, otherwise known as the $10,000 No-limit Texas Hold ‘em World Championship, began with 6,650 entrants back on Nov. 4. It is being contested at the Rio this year after last year’s move to an online poker and live poker combo format because of COVID-19. The event has had a 17-year run at the Rio.

Caesars Entertainment announced Wednesday that next year's World Series of Poker tournament will be held at Bally's and Paris Las Vegas Hotel & Casino from May 31 to July 19. It’s the first time the WSOP will be held in the heart of the Las Vegas Strip inside Bally's and Paris, according to a news release. Actor and card player Vince Vaughn was named as the 2022 event’s official celebrity Master of Ceremonies.

German Player Has Big Chip Lead

When play resumes later Wednesday, Aldemir, who has a vocal rail of German players rooting for him, has a commanding lead with 264.6 million chips. England’s Oliver enjoyed a late rush on Tuesday and has 77.3 million chips with Holmes, who has been steady up against more experienced players, close behind with 57.4 million.

Holmes has just one career cash but it was a decent one. He was 213th in the 2019 WSOP Main Event for almost $51,000.

Winner Gets $8 Million

On Tuesday, the final table of nine was reduced to the three who are still in the hunt. The winner will earns $8 million, second place is worth $4.3 million and third place gets $3 million. All the players who reached the final table cashed for at least $1 million.

An Arizona player who also qualifies as a Cinderella story, Joshua Paige Remitio, of Gilbert, finished fourth for $2.3 million. Previously, his career earnings, playing around Phoenix, were just $1,800.

The rest of the final table (in order): Ozgur Secilmis, Turkey, 5th, $1.8 million; Hye Park, Edgewater, New Jersey 6th, $1.4 million; Alejandro Lococo, Argentina, 7th, $1.225 million; Jareth East, England, 8th, $1.1 million; and Chase Bianchi, Columbia, Maryland, 9th, $1 million.