Joshua Suyat and Sarah Lee both qualified through a satellite for the Main Event and the couple not only advanced to Day 4 and survived the money bubble, but they are also still in contention to make an even deeper run with just over 1,000 players still in the mix.
Tyler Hatchel raised from middle position to 20,000 and got called by Danny Tang in the cutoff & Carl Oman in the big blind.
On the 5♦A♠J♦ flop, Oman checked, Hatchel bet 15,000, Tang folded, and Oman called.
A 7♣ hit the turn and after Oman checked, Hatchel made another bet of 45,000. Once again, Oman called.
When the 4♠ landed on the river, Oman switched up his strategy and led for 75,000, which sent Hatchel into the tank. After some time considering, Hatchel elected to fold, and Oman was pushed the pot.
Keith McKuin raised preflop from under the gun and was three-bet by Hector Berry in the seat next to him. McKuin called to create a pot of 150,000 chips and see the flop of Q♥J♦5♠.
McKuin checked, Berry continued for 55,000 chips, and McKuin called. Both players checked on the 10♦ turn before the 9♦ river completed the board.
McKuin checked for a third time, but Berry piled in a massive bet of 325,000 chips. McKuin spent some minutes in the tank before calling off about half his stack.
Berry opened up K♦Q♦ for a rivered straight flush, sending McKuin's cards into the muck.
Picking up the action on the turn, Wai Kit Lo in the big blind was involved in a hand with a player in the cutoff. With the board reading 7♦6♦9♥K♣ Lo checked. His opponent bet 60,000 only to see Lo raise to 200,000. After some thought, the cutoff flatted to see a river.
The river came 10♦ prompting Lo to check. The cutoff player did not immediately check back but eventually chose not to put more chips in the pot. Lo tabled 8♠8♥ for the straight to take down a sizable pot and continue his ascent up the leaderboard.
Three players saw the turn on a board of 8♥Q♥J♣9♣ with around 150,000 in the pot when a player in early position bet 125,000.
Only Daniel Jones on the button called and the K♥ fell on the river. The early-position player checked and Jones then moved all in.
His opponent had around 430,000 behind and didn't take too long before folding. Jones turned over 8♣7♣ for a pair of eights and missed flush draw as he took the pot to climb past 1,000,000.
Life Outside Poker is a new podcast for PokerNews hosted by Connor Richards that seeks to pull back the curtain on poker players and allow viewers and listeners to get to know them on a personal level.
In the eighth episode, Connor speaks with legendary UFC ring announcer Bruce Buffer in an exclusive in-depth interview after Buffer's deep run in the 2024 World Series of Poker (WSOP) $50,000 High Roller. Buffer, a longtime poker player, finished in eighth place for a career-best $212,423 after kicking off Day 3 with his trademark "it's time" introduction.
Buffer talked about finding his long-lost half-brother, Michael Buffer, and becoming his manager, the early days of the UFC, the similarities between poker and martial arts, his relationships with Joe Rogan and Dana White, playing poker with Tobey Maguire and Leonardo DiCaprio and the time he injured himself in a poker tournament before announcing the biggest UFC fight in history.