Event #20: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em Day 3 | 2018 World Series of Poker

Event #20: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em

Day 3 Completed

06-10-2018 19:33 UTC-8

Buchanan Eyes His First Bracelet, Leads Final Eight in $5K No-Limit Hold'em Event

Jan_Kores

Level 25 : 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante

He has three runner-up finishes under his belt, but the elusive WSOP bracelet is still missing from his showcase. Now he's making another push to change that and finally take home the gold. Shawn Buchanan is pacing the eight-handed final table in Event #20: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em, with $537,710 and a bracelet lying at the top.

Buchanan will bring 2,580,000 into the final day, equaling 64.5 big blinds. He had a rocket start into Day 3, dispatching Arne Ruge and Ran Ilani in the same hand, vaulting to the lead. And while he lost the pole position for a certain period, he restored his lead on the very last hand of the day when he knocked out Patrick Truong in ninth place.

It was a fast-paced tempo right off the bat. It took only five hours of play to see the 24-player field dwindle to just a third. David Peters was one of the shortest stacks but he quickly established himself near the top. He doubled through Kenny Smaron thanks to an ace on the river and then eliminated Kristen Bicknell in 24th place.

Bicknell's exit kicked off a bustout festival with Buchanan in the epicentre, scoring the aforementioned double knockout. Star players such as Seth Davies and Stephen Chidwick were sent to the rail while Asi Moshe and Truong battled on another table in preflop raising wars.

Moshe was pulling the strings on the last two tables with his big stack, but he'd eventually fall short of the final table. He bluffed a huge part of his stack in a clash against Jeremy Wien, overbetting the river with ace high. Wein picked him off with top two pair. Moshe's farewell bid came shortly after he ran with top two into a bottom set of John Amato which cost him almost all of his chips.

The players were originally supposed to unite at the last table with 10 players left, but Michael Gagliano busted simultaneously with Moshe, so they combined at nine. The official final table continued for another 30 minutes (or 12 hands).

It might seem that Buchanan has a preferable seat on the table, sitting directly to the left of Peters who is third in chips (1,925,000). But it isn't as comfortable position as one would think, with David Laka directly to Buchanan's left. Laka is an accomplished Spanish pro and being squeezed between such great players is never a walk in the park.

However, Buchanan himself is one of the most decorated players in online poker history. He's been regularly rubbing elbows with the toughest competition for a decade. On top of that, 2018 saw him in fine form as he's already notched a second place in the PCA Main Event.

But Buchanan will surely aim higher than for a silver medal this time, trying to finally scratch his name off of the annual list of the most talented players without a bracelet.

The final table continues June 11 at 12 p.m. local time and PokerNews will be on the ground to provide hand-for-hand live updates until the champion is crowned. So make sure to tune back before noon.

Seat Assignments for the Final Day

Seat	Player	Country	Chip Count	Big Blinds
1	Richard Tuhrim	United States	625,000	16
2	John Amato	United States	1,005,000	25
3	Eric Blair	United States	1,825,000	46
4	Jeremy Wien	United States	2,455,000	61
5	Jake Schindler	United States	880,000	22
6	David Peters	United States	1,925,000	48
7	Shawn Buchanan	Canada	2,580,000	65
8	David Laka	Spain	1,655,000	41

Tags: Asi Moshe David Laka David Peters Kristen Bicknell Shawn Buchanan

06-10-2018 18:41 UTC-8

End-of-Day Chip Counts

Jan_Kores

Level 25 : 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Shawn Buchanan	2,580,000

Jeremy Wien	2,455,000 -60,000	-60,000

David Peters	1,925,000

Eric Blair	1,825,000 55,000	55,000
David Laka	1,655,000 155,000	155,000
John Amato	1,005,000 5,000	5,000
Jake Schindler	880,000 -30,000	-30,000

Richard Tuhrim	625,000 -60,000	-60,000

06-10-2018 18:40 UTC-8

Patrick Truong Eliminated in 9th Place ($34,862)

Jan_Kores

Level 25 : 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante

Hand #12: On the last hand of the day, Shawn Buchanan raised to 75,000 in the third position. Patrick Truong moved all in from the cutoff and Buchanan called it off.

Patrick Truong:
Shawn Buchanan:

The flop gave Buchanan a top set, but Truong was still looking for a jack to make a straight. The turn was the instead, leaving Truong drawing dead as Buchanan sealed it with quads. The river made things official and Truong busted just before bagging.

The final eight players will return tomorrow at 12 p.m. local time to play down to a winner.

Player	Chips	Progress
Shawn Buchanan	2,580,000 530,000	530,000

Patrick Truong	Busted

Tags: Patrick Truong Shawn Buchanan

06-10-2018 18:36 UTC-8

Hands #10-11: Blair Doubles with Kings

Jan_Kores

Level 25 : 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante

Hand #10: David Laka raised in the cutoff and took the blinds and ante.

Hand #11: Shawn Buchanan made it 70,000 in a middle position and John Amato flatted in the small blind. Eric Blair squeezed to 330,000 out of the big blind, getting rid of Buchanan. But Amato woke up with a back-shove and Blair called after a quickly double-checking his cards.

John Amato:
Eric Blair:

The board of locked it up for Blair who doubled his 870,000.

Player	Chips	Progress
Eric Blair	1,770,000 870,000	870,000
John Amato	1,000,000 -1,070,000	-1,070,000

Tags: Eric Blair John Amato

06-10-2018 18:30 UTC-8

Hands #5-9: Laka Check-Raises Buchanan

Christian Zetzsche

Level 25 : 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante

Hand #5: Shawn Buchanan raised to 75,000 first to act and was called by David Peters in the big blind. The duo checked down the flop and the turn. The river was also checked through and Peters briefly flashed his cards, but couldn't bet the of Buchanan.

Hand #6: John Amato made it 70,000 to go in late position and Jeremy Wien three-bet to 170,000 in the cutoff, which forced a fold from all opponents including Amato.

Hand #7: Buchanan limped in from the small blind and David Laka raised to 90,000 from the big blind. Buchanan folded.

Hand #8: Buchanan opened to 70,000 on the button and was called by Laka in the small blind and Patrick Truong in the big blind. On a flop of , action checked to Buchanan and he bet 85,000. Laka check-raised to 215,000 and claimed the pot without further resistance.

Hand #9: Buchanan's raise to 75,000 in the cutoff was called only by Richard Tuhrim in the big blind. The flop came and both players checked. After the turn brought no betting action either, Tuhrim checked the river and folded to a bet worth 80,000 by Buchanan.

Player	Chips	Progress
Shawn Buchanan	2,050,000 360,000	360,000

David Peters	1,925,000 -75,000	-75,000

David Laka	1,500,000 200,000	200,000
Patrick Truong	540,000 -105,000	-105,000

Tags: David Laka David Peters Jeremy Wien John Amato Patrick Truong Shawn Buchanan

06-10-2018 18:18 UTC-8

Hands #1-4: Truong Cracks Queens to Double

Jan_Kores

Level 25 : 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante

Hand #1: David Peters raised to 70,000 in the middle position, earning a call from players in the next two seats: hijack Shawn Buchanan and cutoff David Laka. John Amato came along from the big blind and they went four-way to the flop. The action checked to Laka who fired 80,000 and only Peters called.

Both checked the turn before Peters led out 335,000 on the river, scooping the pot.

Hand #2: Amato raised in the small blind and took Eric Blair's big blind and ante.

Hand #3: Buchanan made it 75,000 in the third position and David Laka called. Big blind Jeremy Wien joined as well but he folded on the flop where Buchanan continued for 80,000 and Laka called.

The saw Buchanan check-call 130,000 and the river ceased fire. Buchanan showed for the winner.

Hand #4: Patrick Truong jammed for 285,000 in the middle position and Blair reshoved on the button. Truong trailed with versus , but he hit a king on the texture which secured him a double.

Player	Chips	Progress
David Peters	2,000,000 290,000	290,000

David Laka	1,300,000 -500,000	-500,000
Eric Blair	900,000 -375,000	-375,000
Patrick Truong	645,000 360,000	360,000

Tags: David Laka Eric Blair Patrick Truong Shawn Buchanan

06-10-2018 18:06 UTC-8

Redraw of the Final Table

Christian Zetzsche

Level 25 : 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante

There are 30 minutes left in the current level and the remaining nine players have been informed that the chips will be bagged and tagged at the end of the level. The redraw of the nine-handed final table can be found below:

Seat	Player	Country	Chip Count	Big Blinds
1	Patrick Truong	United States	285,000	10
2	Richard Tuhrim	United States	685,000	23
3	John Amato	United States	2,070,000	69
4	Eric Blair	United States	1,275,000	43
5	Jeremy Wien	United States	2,515,000	84
6	Jake Schindler	United States	910,000	30
7	David Peters	United States	1,710,000	57
8	Shawn Buchanan	Canada	1,690,000	56
9	David Laka	Spain	1,800,000	60

Player	Chips	Progress
Jeremy Wien	2,515,000

John Amato	2,070,000
David Laka	1,800,000
David Peters	1,710,000 40,000	40,000

Shawn Buchanan	1,690,000 -10,000	-10,000

Eric Blair	1,275,000 -55,000	-55,000
Jake Schindler	910,000 70,000	70,000

Richard Tuhrim	685,000
Patrick Truong	285,000 -95,000	-95,000

06-10-2018 18:02 UTC-8

Michael Gagliano Eliminated in 10th Place ($27,208)

Christian Zetzsche

Level 25 : 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante

The field was about to be combined to the 10-handed unofficial final table, but the current hand over on the other table wasn't finished yet, and it would end in yet another elimination. Short-stacked Michael Gagliano pushed all in for just over 200,000 and Shawn Buchanan on the button reshoved to isolate successfully.

Michael Gagliano:
Shawn Buchanan: