Final table set for US portion of WSOP Main Event

The World Series of Poker Main Event is down to nine players — at least in the United States.

Joseph Hebert dominated play Monday and took a huge chip lead into the final table of the U.S. portion of the $10,000 buy-in No-limit Hold’em Championship.

Hebert compiled 13.05 million chips. The next closest was Shawn Stroke with 5.25 million. Ryan Hagerty has 5.07 million.

The first two days of the tournament were played online on WSOP.com. The remaining players will come to Las Vegas for a live final table Dec. 28 at the Rio.

The live final table for the international portion of the Main Event is being held Tuesday at King’s Casino in Rozvadov, Czech Republic.

The U.S. and international winners will then play heads-up Dec. 30 at the Rio to crown the Main Event champion.

A total of 705 players entered the U.S. portion, and the international portion attracted 674 players for a total field of 1,379.

The U.S. and international tournaments have separate prize pools, but first prize in each is about $1.55 million. The heads-up match will be played for an additional $1 million.

The tournament is being held in a hybrid online/live format this year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Because of U.S. online poker laws, the world cannot play online together. That forced the WSOP to divide the Main Event into two separate tournaments, one for U.S. players on WSOP.com and one for international players on GGPoker. (U.S. players had to be physically located in Nevada or New Jersey to play, but they didn’t have to be residents.)

Hebert has 41 cashes for career earnings of $344,297 in WSOP bracelet and circuit events, according to WSOP.com. He has career tournament earnings of $667,663, according to the Hendon Mob Poker Database.

The only final table participant who has won a WSOP bracelet is Upeshka De Silva, who has three. He was the chip leader after the first day and comes into the final table in eighth place with 2.15 million chips.

Contact Jim Barnes at jbarnes@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0277. Follow @JimBarnesLV on Twitter.