Friedman Leads Makarov and Rutter in $10,000 Dealer's Choice Finale
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Welcome back to the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino and the 2018 World Series of Poker (2018) for Day 4 of the Event #18: $10,000 Dealer's Choice!
Day 3 saw just 13 players return from the 111 total entrants to battle down until the winner was crowned. Out of the gate, Aditya Prasetyo fell in 13th on one of the first hands of the day, but then a stalled rate of play would occur before Joey Couden (12th), Dylan Linde (11th), Jesse Martin (10th), Ryan Miller (9th), Anthony Zinno (8th), and Nikolai Yakovenko (7th) all fell before the final table was set.
With the final six ready to battle down to the winner, Marco Johnson was a quick exit in 6th before five-handed play continue for hours. As the end-of-the-night began to close in, and the limits began to rise, David "ODB" Baker exited in 5th, and then Chris Klodnicki fell in 4th before play ended for the night with three players remaining.
| Seat | Player | Country | Chips | Big Blinds | Big Bets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Alexey Makarov | Russia | 1,325,000 | 22 | 5.5 |
| 3 | Stuart Rutter | United Kingdom | 1,145,000 | 19 | 5 |
| 6 | Adam Friedman | United States | 3,075,000 | 51 | 12.5 |
Note: The limits when play resumes on Day 4 will be 120,000/240,000.
Adam Friedman is chip leader heading into the final day with 3,075,000; good for 12.5 big bets and over 50-big blinds in the No- and Pot-Limit games. Friedman's run in this tournament has been fairly epic as he ended both Day 1 and 2 second in chips before finally becoming the top dog on the penultimate day. Russia's Alexey Makarov sits with 1,325,000 and at various times on the final table held the chip lead before giving it up late to Friedman. The United Kingdom's Stuart Rutter battled the short stack throughout the day before bagging 1,145,000 in chips.
Friedman is searching for validation as a mixed games specialist as a win here will be his second WSOP bracelet to go along with his 2012 $5,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo bracelet. Makarov and Rutter are both without a WSOP bracelet, but both have had some close calls in the past and will hope that this run here in Event #18 will be the time they break through.
Three-handed play is set to resume at 2:00 p.m with the PokerNews Live Reporting Team on hand to continue providing all the live updates from the Event #18 final table. So stay tuned right here to PokerNews.com to see who will be come the next Dealer's Choice Champion, along with all the future 2018 WSOP winners!