Casino City’s Friday Five: 2018 WSOP Main Event edition

The World Cup is coming to a close with Croatia taking on France in the final on Sunday. However, as the week has gone on, the focus has shifted to the World Series of Poker at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. The 49th Main Event is down to the final six players and closing in on crowning a champion. There was also a WSOP record that was extended this week along with another jackpot winner. But first, let's start with another big jackpot winner. 5. Fair Go Casino player wins $180,000 jackpot Shari S., who is a Fair Go Casino regular, began playing her favorite game Sweet 16 from Realtime Gaming. She was absolutely stunned when the jackpot hit and couldn’t believe her eyes when she realized she had won $180,000. Rebecca Ryder, general manager at Fair Go Casino, said, “We were thrilled and delighted to hear about Shari’s jackpot win. It really couldn’t have been won by a more deserving player. “And it just goes to show that you don’t really need beginner’s luck. Keep on playing regularly at Fair Go Casino and you could be a jackpot winner, too!” 4. Hellmuth extends WSOP bracelet record Phil Hellmuth, the World Series of Poker's all-time leading bracelet winner, extended his own record on Wednesday night by winning his 15th career bracelet in Event #71 of the 2018 WSOP, $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em (30-minute levels).

It’s official: @phil_hellmuth wins his record 15th @WSOP bracelet in the $5,000 No Limit Hold’em Event 71, at the exact same time the Main Event (“that little tournament down the hall” as Phil referred to it) was one bust out from deciding the final table. pic.twitter.com/IEQnsoBApI
— Casino City (@casinocity) July 12, 2018

The win for Hellmuth pushes him five clear of all other players in the WSOP's lifetime bracelet standings. Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan and Phil Ivey remain Hellmuth's closest competitors, with 10 event wins each. Not only that, but the cash was also the 134th of Hellmuth's WSOP career, extending another record. Hellmuth is the only person to have ever won both the WSOP Main Event (1989) and the WSOP Europe Main Event (2012). He has also won a WSOP gold bracelet in four different decades. He has come very close to taking home even more gold with 10 second place finishes in different events throughout his WSOP career.

Phil Hellmuth earns record 15th bracelet, posts record 134th WSOP cash, and earns $485,082 in winning Event #71 of the 2018 WSOP, $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em (30-Minute Levels). https://t.co/rZ0ojRcf6B pic.twitter.com/AbL1HrQ4rW
— WSOP (@WSOP) July 12, 2018

3. With her father on the rail, Minkin falls short at WSOP Main Event Kelly Minkin was the Last Woman Standing in the 2018 WSOP Main Event for the second time in four years. Her proud father, Jeff Minkin, was on her rail to watch her on Tuesday and Casino City's Gary Trask sat down with him to hear more about his daughter's upbringing and how she got into poker. Any time Kelly was in a pot, Jeff would get up on the rail and lean in to get a closer look at the action. Her tournament would eventually come to an end as she was eliminated in 50th place out of a near-record 7,874 entries for this year’s Main Event. Kelly had her eyes set on becoming the second women in WSOP history to make the final table, with the first being Barbara Enright in 1995.

Ran into Jeff Minkin, father of @WSOP Main Event "Last Woman Standing" @The_Illest, at the Rio Tuesday. Had fun watching and talking to him as he cheered on his daughter and explained why Kelly has been so successful, and how she got her start in poker: https://t.co/IvnSpZGxgt pic.twitter.com/zDE3yhxrah
— Gary Trask (@casinocityGT) July 11, 2018

2. Zobian survives rocky Day 7 to advance to WSOP Main Event final table Aram Zorbian had the chip lead after Day 6 of the WSOP Main Event. He had 41.5 million chips at the start of Day 7 but saw his stack dwindle down to just over 11 million chips. Despite having a tough Day 7, Zorbian found himself to be in the final table. The poker player from Rhode Island made it through the first day at the final table and is now one of the final six players left in the event who are all looking at that $8.8 million first place prize. Unfortunately, Zorbian is the current short-stack heading into day two of the final table with 16.7 million chips.

The first day of the Main Event final table is in the books with six players returning at 5:30pm.

Michael Dyer 156,500,000
Nicolas Manion 72,250,000
John Cynn 61,550,000
Tony Miles 57,500,000
Joe Cada 29,275,000
Aram Zobian 16,700,000

A full recap of Day 8 posted shortly.
— WSOP (@WSOP) July 13, 2018

1. Dyer with commanding lead over final six in WSOP Main Event We are now entering the second day of the WSOP Main Event final table and Michael Dyer is in a comfortable lead currently. Dyer has 156.5 million chips which is more than double than the second largest stack at 72.25 million chips held by Nicolas Manion. Manion was the chip leader at the start of the final table. The 2009 WSOP Main Event champion, Joe Cada, is still alive with 29.275 million chips, being the second lowest of the six that remain. The three players who busted on the first day of the final table were Antoine Labat (9th place, $1,000,000), Artem Metalidi (8th place, $1,250,000) and Alex Lynskey (7th place, $1,500,000). The final six will return at 5:30 PT today and play down to the final three. If you're looking for sentimental choice to root for this weekend, you can't do much better than Tony Miles, who spoke with Casino City after Thursday night's action in an emotionally charged interview.

Fighting back tears, Tony Miles (@Storm253) explains how the memory of his recently passed stepmother, and a tribute to his favorite athlete @DangeRussWilson @Seahawks, have helped guide him to the final six of the @WSOP Main Event final table: https://t.co/Q5vszr5dXE pic.twitter.com/KL7QNXA9is
— Gary Trask (@casinocityGT) July 13, 2018