Bubble Boy Adam Furgatch Gets Entry Into Next Year’s Championship

The biggest news of the day Thursday was reaching the money, somewhat ahead of schedule. 

Tournament organizers expected to get down to 1,011 players – which constitutes 15 percent of the field, all of whom will receive at least $15,000 in prize money – sometime early on Day 4.  However, by midnight on Day 3, with more than an hour still left of play, a poker player named Adam Furgatch received a mixed blessing.  The Marina Del Rey, California resident busted out of the Main Event as the official 1,012th-place finish, just one person short of reaching the money. 

He did get a parting gift, however: Entry into the 2017 championship compliments of Caesars Entertainment.

All remaining players were guaranteed at least $5000 in profit moving forward with the grand prize set at $8 million.

Among the more well-known names in the top 50 are Shaun Deeb, Melanie Weisner, the highest-ranking female at the moment, Steve O’Dwyer, Antonio Esfandiari, and Gavin Griffin – all of whom appear in the top 30. 

As for females, in addition to Weisner, French player Gaelle Baumann is making another deep run this year after nearly cracking the final table in 2012.  She’s ranked 32nd overall with 845,000 chips. Other females still alive included Maria Ho, Jennifer Shahade, Liv Boeree, Wendy Freedman, Ana Marquez.  All were in the top 100 heading into Friday.

- Ace King, Gambling911.com