Jamie Shaevel Goes Into WSOP Main Event Final Table With 56 Million Chips
The Santa Monica cash-game regular has at least $1 million locked up and a real shot at the $10 million top prize.
Jamie Shaevel goes into the WSOP Main Event final table with 56 million chips, third among the final nine, and at least $1 million already locked up. The Santa Monica regular also still has a shot at the $10 million first prize when play resumes Aug. 3.
Card Player described the 39-year-old as a cash-game grinder who has played the Main Event 18 times. His best result before this year was 100th place in 2011 for $54,851, and his prior tournament cashes totaled just over $402,000.
Shaevel has been open about how unusual the run is for him. He told PokerNews that the Main Event is basically the only tournament he plays all year, and that the slower, deeper structure fits his cash-game background better than most events.
His path to the final table took a few key swings on Days 6 through 8. On Day 6, he first made a nut flush to beat Christopher Chaudey’s flopped set of fours, then later knocked out Chaudey with aces against jacks. He ended the night just outside the top 10 with 62 players left.
Day 7 began rough, but Shaevel got back on track with pocket aces against Rami Hammoud’s pocket kings, a pot that pushed him back into eight-figure territory. He started Day 8 near the bottom of the remaining 21 players, then doubled through Evagoras Evagorou when a river bluff ran into sevens full of tens, before finishing off Tolga Karakaya in 11th place with jacks against ace-ten.
Lucas Jumalon took the final-table chip lead with 194 million, Hammoud had 79 million, and Shaevel sat third. The final table is set for Aug. 3 at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN2, moves to ESPN on Aug. 4, and the finale airs Aug. 5 at 10:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.
