Luigi Pignataro raised to 1,025,000 from the cutoff with 5♥5♣ and Frederic Marechal made a three-bet to 2,700,000 holding A♥Q♣ out of the big blind. Pignataro had around 15,000,000 chips behind and elected to make the call.
They saw a flop of J♣6♠4♦ where Marechal continued with a sizing of 1,800,000, and Pignataro made a quick call.
When the 10♠ dropped on the turn, Marechal reached for chips and swiftly bet 3,500,000. Pignataro was pretty motionless with his head resting against his hand, then eventually folded.
Since eliminating Luc Ramos, Xiaohua Yang has kept up his aggression by raising three pots in a row.
In the first, he folded to a three-bet from Luigi Pignataro, but got the next two through uncontested, with the latest being an open with A♦J♠ from under the gun.
Luc Ramos was first to act and pushed in his stack of 3,775,000. Xiaohua Tang isolated on the button, receiving folds from the blinds and getting to a heads-up showdown.
Luc Ramos: A♥8♥
Xiaohua Yang: A♠K♦
The 10♦J♠3♥ flop brought Yang a gutshot, while the 9♥ turn also gave Ramos a gutshot in addition to a flush draw.
The 6♣ river bricked, however, seeing Ramos depart on the second hand of the final table.
The final table of the €1,350 Mini Main Event will be delayed by a few minutes as the players are being prepared for the stream and some photos are being made.
The final table of Event #3: €1,350 Mini Main Event at the 2024 World Series of Poker Europe has been set. Among the eight players returning today to King's Resort Rozvadov is German player Andreas Krause. Krause's first-ever recorded live cash dates back to 1999, and he has been racking up results continuously since then.
Krause is the only player left with WSOP final table experience, having made three of them throughout his lengthy career. The closest he has ever come to capturing a bracelet was his runner-up finish in a $2,500 Stud Hi/Lo event at the 2000 WSOP in Las Vegas. Today, over 24 years since that day, he will be aiming to go one better and be crowned the champion, walking away with the top prize of €213,350.
However, Krause is facing an uphill battle. Even though he comes back as third in chips with a stack of 14,000,000 or 28 big blinds, chipleader Frederic Marechal will sit down with 43,000,000, more than three times as much. Even Luigi Pignataro, who sits in second place with 17,550,000, is not within reaching distance of taking over Merachal's enormous lead.
Frederic Marechal
The other players who have made the final eight of a field of 1,286 include absolute short stack Luc Ramos, whose 3,775,000 chips represent less than eight big blinds, Day 1 chipleader Xiaohua Yang (11,450,000), and Dimitrios Anastasakis (12,250,000), whose eighth WSOP cash is resulting in his deepest run yet.
Final Table Seating and Chip Counts
Seat
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Frederik Thiemer
Germany
8,950,000
18
2
Luc Ramos
Switzerland
3,775,000
8
3
Christopher Campisano
Italy
12,600,000
25
4
Frederic Marechal
Belgium
43,000,000
86
5
Andreas Krause
Germany
14,000,000
28
6
Dimitrios Anastasakis
Greece
12,250,000
25
7
Xiaohua Yang
China
11,450,000
23
8
Luigi Pignataro
Italy
17,550,000
35
The guaranteed prize pool of €1,500,000 was just shy of being met, meaning that the €31,050 all players have guaranteed themselves include a little bit of overlay. Meanwhile, all podium finishers will walk away with six-figure sums, while second and first receive more than 100 buy-ins for their performances.
Remaining Payouts
Place
Prize*
1
€213,350
2
€145,550
3
€105,850
4
€78,650
5
€59,950
6
€46,850
7
€37,650
8
€31,050
* All remaining payouts include a ticket to the €10,350 WSOP Europe Main Event
The final table will kick off at 1 p.m. local time with 28 minutes and 27 seconds remaining in Level 33: 250,000/500,000 with a 500,000 big blind ante. Each subsequent level will have a duration of 60 minutes, and the players will be sent on break after every two levels.
A cards-up live stream will also be broadcast on King's Resort's Twitch and YouTube channels. The streams are on a 30-minute delay, with the live report following the same delay to avoid any spoilers.
Be sure to stick to PokerNews to find out who etches their name in WSOP history as the final table of the Mini Main Event plays down to its winner.
