JESSE WILKE LEADS HARVEYS LAKE TAHOE FINAL SEVEN
Play resumes Monday at noon PT with a $125K first prize and National Championship berth up for grabs.

Stateline, Nev. (November 10, 2014) — After three days and nearly 30 hours of play, the Harveys Lake Tahoe World Series of Poker Circuit Main Event is down to just seven players remaining with Seattle’s Jesse Wilke leading the way. Wilke amassed 2,200,000 chips and begins Monday’s final playing session as the only player over the 2,000,000 mark.

Wilke’s WSOP resume boasts nine cashes and more than $120,000 in earnings since June of 2012. His deep run in the Harveys Lake Tahoe championship already bests his previous highest finish of eighth which came in last season’s Caesars Palace series. If he’s able to parlay his chip lead into a gold ring victory he’ll more than double his career earnings at the WSOP.

Beginning the day second in chips is Richard Fitzgerald with 1,435,000. Like Wilke, Fitzgerald has experienced past success in Circuit events with 13 career cashes including a final table earlier this series. Others joining the pair at the top for Day 2 include Gerald Cohen, who starts the day fifth with 685,000, and the table short stack Barry Kay who lays to claim to 435,000 or just 14 big blinds.

Here’s a look at how the remaining seven players stack up:
  • Seat 1: Jesse Wilke - 2,200,000 (73 BBs)
  • Seat 2: Dan Stir - 1,250,000 (41 BBs)
  • Seat 3: Barry Kay - 435,000 (14 BBs)
  • Seat 4: Richard Fitzgerald - 1,435,000 (47 BBs)
  • Seat 5: Jasthi Kumar - 565,000 (18 BBs)
  • Seat 6: Allen Hickman - 1,025,000 (34 BBs)
  • Seat 7: Gerald Cohen - 685,000 (22 BBs)
Sunday’s action began at 12 p.m. with just 72 remaining players from 380 starting. Kumar lead the way with 295,000 chips — more than 50,000 more than second place Daniel Turner. Others on the leader’s heels included three-time ring winners La Sengphet and Daniel Lowery, the Bike’s 2013 Casino Champion Nathan Bjerno and bracelet winner Sean Drake.

As play progressed, Kumar’s solid play continued while Bjerno sputtered busting short of the money. After less than two hours of Day 2 action, the field was down to the final 46 and in the midst of hand-for-hand play with the top 45 players finishing in the money. The bubble lasted just two hands with Sinh Nguyen heading home as the unlucky 46th-place finisher at the hands of Hickman. From there, play narrowed to the 10-handed final by 8:30 p.m. but hit a road block as it took more than two hours to lose Stanley Solis in 10th giving us the official nine-handed final table.

Of the aforementioned notables, Sengphet carded the deepest run finishing in 14th place for $7,877. Lowery (35th, $2,839), Drake (20th, $5,523) and Turner (19th, $5,523) also joined her in the money.

Updated results from the event are available on WSOP.com.

The final seven retake their seats Monday at 12 p.m. PT. Each remaining player is assured $18,844 while the tournament’s champion is set to head home with $125,401, a Circuit gold ring and berth in the season-ending National Championship.

Live updates from the tournament floor will be made available from start to finish, so don’t forget to check back with us here at WSOP.com.