Hand #23: Gary Hasson was first to act and opened for 90,000. The action folded to Ana Marquez in the small blind and she didn't hesitate to move all in for around 300,000. James Mackey folded his big blind, Hasson called instantly.
Ana Marquez:
Gary Hasson:
The flop came and that just about did it for Marquez who got up and gathered her belongings. The on the turn made things official, the river was inconsequential.
Ana Marquez eliminated in sixth place for $67,116, the remaining five players are now guaranteed $93,917.
Hand #51: Gal Yifrach opened to 100,000 in the hijack. Aaron Mermelstein, in the small blind, called. Darren Rabinowitz, in the big blind, raised all in for 1,200,000. Yifrach folded. Mermelstein made the call.
Aaron Mermelstein:
Darren Rabinowitz:
Mermelstein hit a pretty favourable flop of . The turn and river completed the board and that was it for Rabinowitz, eliminated in fifth place for $93,917.
Hand #129: Down to just 385,000, Aaron Mermelstein shoved all in from first position. Right next to him, on the button, Gal Yifrach called. The blinds got out of the way.
Aaron Mermelstein:
Gal Yifrach:
The board ran out and by the time the dealer had placed the river on the table, Mermelstein had already gotten up to pack his belongings.
Down to three players now, all guaranteed $193,716.
Day 3 of Event 28: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed was supposed to be the last day. But, not for the first time at the 2018 World Series of Poker, an extra day is needed to determine a winner as three players are left standing.
Going into 60,000/120,000, the following three players will battle it out on Saturday at noon for the coveted WSOP hardware with the following stacks:
Day 4 Seating and Chip Counts
Seat
Player
Country
Chip Count
1
Gal Yifrach
United States
6,965,000
2
James Mackey
United States
3,100,000
3
Gary Hasson
Belgium
1,960,000
Final Table Results
Place
Winner
Country
Prize (USD)
1
$461,798
2
$285,377
3
$193,716
4
Aaron Mermelstein
United States
$133,731
5
Darren Rabinowitz
United States
$93,917
6
Ana Marquez
Spain
$67,116
The day started with 20 remaining players and some big names were still in the mix. Most of them exited early on, with five-time bracelet winner Jason Mercier being one of the first to bow out. Mercier started out winning some small pots but eventually ran pocket queens into the kings of Darren Rabinowitz to exit in fifteenth place.
Tony Dunst, another bracelet winner looking for more jewelry, lost with eights versus ace-king to go out in 13th place.
Anatoly Filatov (fours into kings), Luiz Duarte (fives into ace-ten), and Yorane Kerignard (ace-queen versus ace-king) all headed to the rail before Ben Palmer became the official final table bubble. Palmer got it in with ace-queen for top pair against the ace-five of Gary Hasson who had two pair by the time the chips got in the middle. No lucky river for Palmer and the tournament was down to a final table of six.
One of Spain's most accomplished players, Ana Marquez, found herself on the short stack. After hanging in for a bit, she eventually got it in with sixes versus nines. Her opponent, again Hasson, flopped a set and had Marquez drawing dead by the time the turn hit the felt.
Darren Rabinowitz, another longtime grinder looking for his first bracelet, was next to go. Squeezing with ace-king, he found a caller in Aaron Mermelstein with eights. The flop came eight-high and like Marquez, Rabinowitz was drawing dead by the time the turn hit.
While Mermelstein was the one to knock out Rabinowitz, he was the next in line at the payout desk. That, though, took quite some time as four-handed play lasted several levels. In the end, Mermelstein found himself short and in need of a double-up. He shoved with jack-seven suited but couldn't get passed the ace-queen of Gal Yifrach.
Three-handed play took nearly as long and as the clock struck midnight, the tournament staff announced the last level had started. Would the tournament not be heads-up before the end of the level, play would be stopped and the bags would come out. Despite several all-ins, three remained as the last seconds of level 30 ticked away.
Gal Yifrach, James Mackey, and Gary Hasson return to the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino for an additional fourth day in this prestigious tournament. PokerNews, of course, will be on the floor to bring you all the updates from the conclusion of this event.