Final Table Set at WPT Cgame like mplhoctaw Championship; Six Chasing $338,000 Prize

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Table Of Contents

• Vanier Out in Front
• WPT Choctaw Championship Final Table Chip Counts

The annual World Poker Tour (WPT) stop at Choctaw Casino in Durant, Oklahoma played down to the final table of six Monday evening. But the action won't resume until May 30 in Las Vegas.

Mike Vanier, who has over $1 million in career WPT cashes, will bring the biggest stack to Sin City as he attempts to join the WPT Champions Club. Oh, and also collect the $338,000 first place prize.

Vanier Out in Front

The $3,800 buy-in WPT Choctaw Championship began May 1 and had 586 entrants. Day 3 began on Monday with Trung Pham, Logan Hoover, Mason Vieth, and Lifu Zhang at the top of the final 24 players. Three of those individuals reached the upcoming Las Vegas final table.

Pham was the odd mann out as he busted in seventh place ($54,000) when he lost a 60/40 to Vanier. That ended play in Oklahoma and gave the remaining six players reason to celebrate knowing they had reached the final table.

WPT Choctaw Championship Final Table Chip Counts

Place	Player	Chip Stack
1	Mike Vanier	7,950,000
2	Lifu Zhang	6,150,000
3	Mason Vieth	4,375,000
4	Logan Hoover	4,325,000
5	Ryan Brown	3,650,000
6	Charlie Adkins	2,850,000

Vanier will return to the felt later this month with 7,950,000 chips, or about 80 big blinds (50,000/100,000). While there's a relatively sizable gap between first and second, no player at the table is short-stacked, which means Vanier still has plenty of work to do if he's going to finish it off.

Zhang, who entered Day 3 with a large stack, continued to build his stack throughout the most recent session, and he can thank a lucky river card for the position he's in.

With 12 players remaining, Rick Alvarado got it all in preflop with A♠K♣. Zhang called off the large bet with A♣Q♥and was well behind. The flop and turn ran out 10♥8♥5♥10♣, giving some hope to Zhang, who spiked his flush on the 3♥river, sending Alvardo home in 12th place ($29,500) on a bad beat.

Zhang will enter the final table with 6,150,000 chips (61 big blinds). Each of the six remaining players have a minimum guaranteed payout of $70,000. Fifth place pays $92,000, and the first six-figure cash goes to fourth place ($122,000), followed by $163,000 to third place, $220,000 to second place, and $338,000 to the champion.

There were a number of big name pros among the 74 players who earned a piece of the $2,051,000 prize pool. That list includes Michael Wang (69th for $7,000), Andrew Moreno (67th for $7,000), Will Failla (62nd for $8,100), Harrison Gimbel (50th for $9,500), and Faraz Jaka (13th for $26,000).

The defending champion, James Mackey, who has won this event twice, did not cash.

James Mackey Wins WPT Choctaw Championship for the Second Time

*Images courtesy of the World Poker Tour.