Wednesday, July 11, 2018 2:40 PM Local Time
Nicolas Manion Freerolling Through His First-Ever Main Event
While he may be missing his three dogs back home in Michigan, Nicolas Manion is sure to be bringing home the puppy chow from his Vegas trip and unbelievable Main Event run that started out as a freeroll.
Friends with the SolveForWhy guys, especially Jordan Young who also hails from Michigan, there was an offer a few months back to freeroll Manion in a couple $2,175 Main Event satellites and give him 50 percent of the action in Main if he were to qualify. Manion snap-called, and was content to just hang out in Vegas and play some cash if it didn't work out.
That wouldn't be necessary though, as Manion got through in both satellites to even pocket a little extra cash, for the Main Event freeroll of his life.
Manion may be a small-stakes grinder per usual, but hey — so was Ryan Riess. Manion has mostly built up his tournament chops playing smaller online events, but has very little live tournament experience and only a few small results on Hendon Mob. He talked to PokerNews after bagging the ninth biggest stack of the remaining 26 players on Day 6.
"Recently I've just been doing really well, playing well, and running even better. And that's what's been going on in the Main Event. So it's been great."
Main Event Journey
Though it's a very big spot for the small-stakes grinder, Manion hasn't really felt the full effects of the pressure grinding a short stack for much of the tournament.
"The craziest thing about this tournament is I really haven't had many chips to have to have big decisions. So it's either, I'm going with my hand or I'm not. And now that I've got chips, I'm a little bit more nervous, but I think I'm playing well so it kind of cancels that out."
Manion started Day 6 as one of the shorter stacks of the final 109 players with 23 big blinds and was just bleeding off, getting no hands to work with, but that all changed in the second level of the day. Down to eight big blinds in the big blind, Manion got pocket sevens in against ace-king and hit a seven on the river to stay alive.
Manion proceeded to chip up from there for the remaining few levels of the day, and made a huge laydown with pocket kings preflop at the very end of the night to preserve his stack and finish the day ninth in chips. Oh, and the fold was correct. He filled us in on his thought process after the hand.
"I've shown nothing but nut hands today, and he shoved all in for 16 million. To me, that's just one hand and one hand only, so I'm not going to put my tournament life on kings when I'm 99 percent sure he has aces."
Now it's Day 7, the day the elite and elusive final table will be determined. Manion started with a respectable 17.63 million chips and through the first level of the day, has nearly doubled that to jockey into a top-five stack. The big hand that got him there? Pocket kings.
Manion is on top of the world, and his SolveForWhy buddies are understandably also elated for his deep Main Event run.
"They can't believe it either."
While his good buddy and top poker pro Jordan Young only found his first cash in the Main Event this year after nine years of playing the event, the fact that Manion will be cashing it in a big way on his first shot at it is cause for some friendly needles.
"He's just like, 'I play for nine years before getting a cash; You come out here and play your first time and you're possibly going to make the final table,'" Manion laughed, enjoying his amazing ride on the biggest poker tournament stage in the world.
Wednesday, July 11, 2018 2:30 PM Local Time
Level 33 started
Level: 33
Blinds: 150000/300000
Ante: 50000
Wednesday, July 11, 2018 2:28 PM Local Time
Feature Table Chip Counts On Break
Aram Zobian | 35,100,000 | 3,600,000 |
Nicolas Manion | 32,450,000 | -50,000 |
Artem Metalidi | 31,575,000 | -3,525,000 |
Ryan Phan | 11,500,000 | 0 |
Joe Cada | 10,075,000 | 75,000 |
Frederik Brink | 8,875,000 | 75,000 |
Sylvain Loosli | 5,725,000 | 25,000 |
Wednesday, July 11, 2018 2:26 PM Local Time
Outer Table Chip Counts at Break
Alex Lynskey | 40,100,000 | -2,750,000 |
Antoine Labat | 32,950,000 | 1,350,000 |
Martijn Gerrits | 22,725,000 | 725,000 |
Yueqi Zhu | 20,050,000 | 650,000 |
Tony Miles | 12,225,000 | 1,275,000 |
Alexander Haro | 11,300,000 | 800,000 |
Ming Xi | 9,725,000 | -1,175,000 |
Wednesday, July 11, 2018 2:24 PM Local Time
Secondary Table Chip Counts at Break
John Cynn | 27,950,000 | 3,250,000 |
Michael Dyer | 23,550,000 | -650,000 |
Paulo Goncalves | 21,075,000 | -25,000 |
Kao Saechao | 12,475,000 | -525,000 |
Hari Bercovici | 10,725,000 | -75,000 |
Konstantin Beylin | 7,650,000 | -1,450,000 |
Ivan Luca | 4,550,000 | -50,000 |
Wednesday, July 11, 2018 2:22 PM Local Time
Break
The final 21 players are now on a 15-minute break.
Wednesday, July 11, 2018 2:18 PM Local Time
Feature Table Hands #39-42: Loosli Doubles Through Metalidi Before the Break
Hand #39: Ryan Phan opened to 525,000 from under the gun and action folded to the big blind where Sylvain Loosli also folded, so Phan took down the pot.
Hand #40: Frederik Brink opened to 550,000 from under the gun and action folded around, allowing Brink to take down the pot.
Hand #41: Artem Metalidi opened to 500,000 from under the gun and Sylvain Loosli jammed all in on the button for 2,910,000. Action was back on Metalidi and he called.
Artem Metalidi:
Sylvain Loosli:
The board ran out and Loosli doubled through with his pocket kings.
Hand #42: Aram Zobian opened to 600,000 from under the gun and Artem Metalidi called in the big blind.
The flop was and Metalidi checked as did Zobian.
The turn was the and Metalidi bet 850,000. Zobian called.
On the river Metalidi bet 1,700,000 and Zobian released his hand, allowing Metalidi to scoop the pot.
Artem Metalidi | 35,100,000 | -1,200,000 |
Nicolas Manion | 32,500,000 | -100,000 |
Aram Zobian | 31,500,000 | -1,500,000 |
Ryan Phan | 11,500,000 | -500,000 |
Joe Cada | 10,000,000 | -100,000 |
Frederik Brink | 8,800,000 | 200,000 |
Sylvain Loosli | 5,700,000 | 2,600,000 |
Wednesday, July 11, 2018 2:15 PM Local Time
Secondary Table Hands #39: One For Cynn
Hand #39: Konstantin Beylin raised to 600,000 from under the gun, John Cynn called from the button and Michael Dyer called form the big blind.
The flop came down and Dyer checked to Beylin who continued for 800,000. Cynn called, Dyer foled and the turn was the . Both checked, the river completed the board and Beylin checked. Cynn checked behind.
Beylin showed , but Cynn took it down with for a flush.
Wednesday, July 11, 2018 2:12 PM Local Time
Outer Table Hands #46-48: Miles Calls Down Lynskey
Hand #46: Tony Miles raised to 500,000 on the button and the blinds folded.
Hand #47: Antoine Labat opened to 550,000 on the button and Alexander Haro called from the small blind. The flop came and Haro check-folded to a bet of 600,000 from Labat.
Hand #48: Miles made it 575,000 to go from the hijack and Alex Lynskey defended his big blind. The flop came and Lynskey check-called a bet of 450,000 from Miles.
The turn brought the and both players checked to the on the river. Lynskey led out for 650,000 and Miles snap-called. Lynskey tabled but Miles held for the best hand to win the pot.
Wednesday, July 11, 2018 2:11 PM Local Time
Outer Table Hands #41-45: Haro Over Labat in Flop War
Hand #41: Yueqi Zhu raised to 550,000 under the gun and got action from Alexander Haro on the button and Alex Lynskey in the big blind. Everyone checked the flop, bringing an . Haro won it with a bet.
Hand #42: Antoine Labat won with a raise to 550,000 in middle position.
Hand #43: Labat opened for 550,000 second to act and Lynskey called on the button. Ming Xi slid in a massive raise to 4,240,000 and that won him the pot in short order.
Hand #44: Haro opened for 550,000 second to act and folded to a three-bet from Zhu.
Hand #45: Haro opened for 550,000 again and Labat defended big blind. The flop came and Haro bet 600,000. Labat check-raised to 1.9 million. Haro came back with 4.6 million, most of his remaining chips. Labat tanked a couple of minutes and folded.
Antoine Labat | 31,600,000 | -2,700,000 |
Alexander Haro | 10,500,000 | 1,750,000 |
Wednesday, July 11, 2018 2:09 PM Local Time
Feature Table Hands #35-38: Metalidi and Manion Take From Zobian
Hand #35: Joe Cada raised it up to 525,000 and Artem Metalidi called in the big blind. On a flop of , Metalidi checked and Cada's continuation bet of 450,000 did the trick to win the pot uncontested.
Hand #36: Metalidi raised to 840,000 in the small blind and Aram Zobian called out of the big blind. The flop fell and Metalidi continued for 900,000, Zobian didn't go anywhere and tossed in calling chips. The board paired on the turn and Metalidi checked, Zobian made it 2,325,000 to go, Metalidi called.
Metalidi checked the , as did Zobian, and the former tabled as the winning hand to somewhat close the gap to Zobian on the main feature table.
Hand #37: Frederik Brink raised to 550,000 in the cutoff and won the blinds and antes.
Hand #38: Zobian made it 530,000 to go from the button and Nicolas Manion three-bet to 1,500,000 out of the big blind, Zobian called. The flop came and Manion quickly continued for 1,350,000, Zobian wasted no time to put in calling chips. After the turn, Manion checked and called a bet of 1,675,000 by Zobian to see the on the river.
Manion checked once more, and Zobian bet big, making it 6,225,000 to go. Manion called and Zobian tabled a bluff with the , which Manion had beat with to let his rail applaud.
Artem Metalidi | 36,300,000 | 3,600,000 |
Aram Zobian | 33,000,000 | -15,300,000 |
Nicolas Manion | 32,600,000 | 10,100,000 |
Ryan Phan | 12,000,000 | -1,100,000 |
Joe Cada | 10,100,000 | 200,000 |
Frederik Brink | 8,600,000 | -1,700,000 |
Sylvain Loosli | 3,100,000 | -1,000,000 |
Wednesday, July 11, 2018 2:09 PM Local Time
Secondary Table Hands #35-38: Luca Shoves and Cynn Wins a Big One
Hand #35: Michael Dyer raised to 480,000 from the cutoff and Hari Bercovici called in the big blind.
The flop landed and Bercovici checked to Dyer who bet 425,000. Bercovici folded, and Dyer collected the pot.
Hand #36: John Cynn opened to 500,000 from under the gun, and Ivan Luca called in the big blind.
The flop landed and Luca checked to Cynn who bet 425,000. Luca folded, and Cynn was pushed the pot.
Hand #37: Michael Dyer opened to 480,000 from middle position, and Hari Bercovici called on the button. From the small blind, Ivan Luca moved all in for 7,370,000.
Dyer folded, as did Bercovici, and Luca took the pot.
Hand #38: Ivan Luca opened the button to 520,000 and John Cynn called in the small blind.
The flop fell and Cynn checked to Luca who continued for 500,000. Cynn called, and the turn landed the .
Cynn checked, Luca bet 1,100,000, and Cynn called as the completed the board on the river. Cynn checked for a third time, and Luca bet out 2,100,000.
Cynn called, and Luca tabled his for a busted flush draw while Cynn revealed his to scoop the pot.
John Cynn | 24,700,000 | 5,200,000 |
Michael Dyer | 24,200,000 | 300,000 |
Paulo Goncalves | 21,100,000 | -200,000 |
Kao Saechao | 13,000,000 | -100,000 |
Hari Bercovici | 10,800,000 | -1,300,000 |
Konstantin Beylin | 9,100,000 | -100,000 |
Ivan Luca | 4,600,000 | -3,400,000 |
Wednesday, July 11, 2018 1:59 PM Local Time
Outer Table Hands #35-40: Lynskey and Haro Trade Pots
Hand #35: Antoine Labat raised to 550,000 from the hijack and everyone folded.
Hand #36: Martijn Gerrits opened to 550,000 from the cutoff and picked up the blinds and antes.
Hand #37: Alex Lynskey raised it up to 500,000 in the cutoff but could not get any action.
Hand #38: Alexander Haro bumped it up to 550,000 from under the gun and Lynskey three-bet to 1,700,000 from the hijack. The action folded back to Haro who instantly shoved all in and Lynskey folded.
Hand #39: Lynskey raised to 500,000 from middle position and Haro called from the big blind. The flop fell and both players checked to the on the turn and the on the river. Haro quickly placed a bet of 500,000 and Lynskey mulled it over before making the call. Haro tabled and Lynskey showed to rake in the pot.
Hand #40: Haro limped in from the small blind and Gerrits raised to 840,000 out of the big blind. Haro called and the flop came . Gerrits led out for 1,200,000 and Haro sent his cards to the muck.
Wednesday, July 11, 2018 1:55 PM Local Time
Secondary Table Hands #30-34: Bercovici Fill Up on Cynn
Hand #30: The action folded to Ivan Luca in the small blind, and he limped in. John Cynn checked his option, and the flop landed .
Both players checked, and the landed on the turn. Luca led out for 510,000, and Cynn folded.
Hand #31: Hari Bercovici raised to 550,000 in the cutoff as John Cynn called in the small blind.
The flop fell and both players checked to reveal the on the turn and action checked through again.
The river landed the and Cynn bet out 1,200,000 and Bercovici called. Cynn revealed his for aces-up, and Bercovici tabled his for fives-full.
Hand #32: Hari Bercovici opened to 480,000 in the hijack and Kao Saechao called in the small blind. From the big blind, Michael Dyer three-bet to 1,630,000.
Bervocici folded, as did Saechao, and Dyer collected the pot.
Hand #33: The action folded to Michael Dyer in the small blind, and he limped in. Konstantin Beylin raised to 900,000 from the big blind. Dyer folded, and Beylin collected the pot.
Hand #34: Konstantin Beylin limped in the small blind and Paulo Goncalves checked.
The flop landed and Beylin checked to Goncalves who bet 240,000. Beylin folded, and Goncalves folded.
Michael Dyer | 23,900,000 | 800,000 |
Paulo Goncalves | 21,300,000 | 300,000 |
John Cynn | 19,500,000 | -2,200,000 |
Kao Saechao | 13,100,000 | -1,000,000 |
Hari Bercovici | 12,100,000 | 1,700,000 |
Konstantin Beylin | 9,200,000 | 0 |
Ivan Luca | 8,000,000 | 300,000 |
Wednesday, July 11, 2018 1:54 PM Local Time
Nirath Rean Eliminated in 22nd Place ($282,630)
Feature Table Hand #34: Artem Metalidi opened under the gun with a raise to 500,000. Action folded to Nicolas Manion in middle position and he called. Ryan Phan called on the button. Nirath Rean then moved all in from the small blind for 3,760,000. Frederik Brink was in the big blind and he tanked for a while before folding. Metalidi called while the other two players folded and it was on to a showdown
Nirath Rean:
Artem Metalidi:
The flop came down which gave Rean a straight draw while Metalidi made a pair of tens. The turn was the which changed nothing. The river was the and that wasn't what Rean needed to stay alive and he was eliminated in 22nd place.
For his run, Rean will collect $282,630.
Artem Metalidi | 32,700,000 | 4,300,000 |
Nirath Rean | 0 | -4,200,000 |
Wednesday, July 11, 2018 1:52 PM Local Time
Feature Table Hands #31-33: Zobian Recovers a Bit
Hand #31: Ryan Phan opened under the gun with a raise to 525,000. Frederik Brink three-bet to 1,550,000 from two seats over. Aram Zobian four-bet from the cutoff with a raise to 3,150,000. Action folded back to Phan who thought for a bit before folding. Back on Brink and he folded as well so Zobian scooped the pot with his four-bet.
Hand #32: Aram Zobian opened from the hijack to 560,000 and everyone folded allowing Zobian to take down the pot.
Hand #33: Artem Metalidi opened to 500,000 from early position and Aram Zobian called from the next seat over.
The flop was and both players checked to the on the turn and they both checked again.
The river was the and both players checked again. Zobian showed down his for ace-king high while Metalidi held for a worse hand, so Zobian took down the pot.
Aram Zobian | 48,300,000 | 5,000,000 |
Wednesday, July 11, 2018 1:45 PM Local Time
Outer Table Hands #29-34: Miles Shoves on Haro
Hand #30: Yueqi Zhu raised to 550,000 in the cutoff and Tony Miles defended big blind. The flop came and Miles check-folded to about 740,000.
Hand #31: Martijn Gerrits raised to 550,000 second to act and Antoine Labat defended big blind. Labat check-folded to 700,000 on the flop.
Hand #32: Alex Lynskey opened for 500,000 second to act and Alexander Haro defended big blind. He check-folded on the flop.
Hand #33: Miles opened for 500,000 in the cutoff and Labat made it 1.5 million on his left. That was enough to win the pot.
Hand #34: Miles again opened for 500,000, with Haro calling from the button. The flop came and Miles checked. Haro bet 500,000 and Miles called. On the turn, Miles checked again and Haro instantly announced 1 million. Miles jammed for about 7 million and Haro quickly folded.
Tony Miles | 10,950,000 | 950,000 |
Alexander Haro | 8,750,000 | -4,190,000 |
Wednesday, July 11, 2018 1:42 PM Local Time
Secondary Table Hands #24-29: Saechao and Cynn Collecting Pots
Hand #24: Michael Dyer opened to 480,000 from under the gun and collected the blinds and antes.
Hand #25: Paulo Goncalves opened to 500,000 from early position and John Cynn three bet to 1,500,000 from the button. Goncalves called, and the flop landed .
Goncalves checked, Cynn bet 1,200,000, and Goncalves folded.
Hand #26: John Cynn raised to 500,000 and Konstantin Beylin called in the big blind.
The flop landed and and both players checked as the fell on the turn. Both players checked, and the river landed the and both players checked again.
Beylin tabled his , and Cynn mucked.
Hand #27: Kao Saechao opened to 500,000 in the cutoff and Paulo Goncalves called in the big blind.
The flop landed and action checked through to see the land on the turn.
Goncalves checked, Saechao bet 450,000, and Goncalves folded.
Hand #28: Michael Dyer raised to 480,000 from the cutoff and collected the blinds and antes.
Hand #29: John Cynn opened to 500,000 from under the gun, and Ivan Luca called in the big blind.
The flop fell and Luca checked to Cynn who bet 500,000. Luca called, and the turn landed the and both players checked.
The river landed the and both players checked. Luca tabled his , but Cynn's took down the pot.
Michael Dyer | 23,100,000 | 700,000 |
John Cynn | 21,700,000 | 2,700,000 |
Paulo Goncalves | 21,000,000 | -2,300,000 |
Kao Saechao | 14,100,000 | 300,000 |
Hari Bercovici | 10,400,000 | -600,000 |
Konstantin Beylin | 9,200,000 | 500,000 |
Ivan Luca | 7,700,000 | -1,400,000 |
Wednesday, July 11, 2018 1:36 PM Local Time
Feature Table Hands #26-30: Metalidi Takes From Zobian
Hand #26: Aram Zobian got involved in the action and raised it up from early position, making it 560,000 to go. All opponents folded and the start-of-day chip leader claimed the blinds and antes.
Hand #27: Nicolas Manion raised it up to 600,000 in late position, and that ended all further action right there.
Hand #28: Artem Metalidi limped from the small blind and Zobian checked his option out of the big blind. On the flop, Metalidi bet 275,000 and Zobian called to see the on the turn. Metalidi slowed down and checked, prompting Zobian to bet 450,000. Metalidi called and the duo checked the on the river. Metalidi showed the for a pair of sevens and that won the pot.
Hand #29: Metalidi raised to 500,000 on the button and won the blinds and antes.
Hand #30: Zobian raised to 530,000 from the button and Joe Cada, as well as Manion in the blinds, sent their cards into the muck.
Aram Zobian | 43,300,000 | 100,000 |
Artem Metalidi | 28,400,000 | 1,600,000 |
Nicolas Manion | 22,500,000 | 300,000 |
Ryan Phan | 13,100,000 | -200,000 |
Frederik Brink | 10,300,000 | -500,000 |
Joe Cada | 9,900,000 | -600,000 |
Nirath Rean | 4,200,000 | -300,000 |
Sylvain Loosli | 4,100,000 | -200,000 |
Wednesday, July 11, 2018 1:33 PM Local Time
Eric Froehlich Eliminated in 23rd Place ($282,630)
Outer Table Hand #29: Antoine Labat opened to 550,000 in early position and Martijn Gerrits three-bet to 1,700,000 from the hijack. Alex Lynskey put in a four-bet to 4,100,000 from the cutoff and Eric Froehlich five-bet shipped for around 16,300,000 from the small blind. Labat and Gerrits both quickly folded and Lynskey made the call.
Eric Froehlich:
Alex Lynskey:
Lynskey was in a great position to eliminate Froehlich and win a monster pot. The flop came and Lynskey was still well in the lead. The on the turn meant Froehlich would need to hit one of two remaining queens in the deck. The river brought the and Froehlich headed to the payout desk in 23rd place.
Alex Lynskey | 42,850,000 | 18,550,000 |
Eric Froehlich | 0 | -17,200,000 |