Arthur Morris Leads Final 31 Players into WPT Choctaw Day 3; Ping Liu Looks for Hublot WPT Player of the Year Lead

Six seats at HyperX Esports Arena are on the line today at Choctaw Casino & Resort as Day 3 of WPT Choctaw is close to getting started. The field of 577 players is down to 31 with Arthur Morris (pictured) in the lead with 1.482 million. All players are chasing the $379,990 first-place prize along with a $15,000 seat into the Baccarat Crystal WPT Tournament of Champions. The final six will play to a winner on May 31 at HyperX Esports Arena in Las Vegas and are a day away from making the WPT official final table.

All players remaining are looking for to write their name on the WPT Champions Cup for the first time.

The leaderboard is crowded behind Morris with Trung Pham (1.325 million), WPT500 champion and Season XV WPT Choctaw final tablist Craig Varnell (1.29 million), Nick Pupillo (1.272 million), Will Berry (1.246 million), and Ahmad Popal (1.23 million) all one pot away from taking over the chip lead.

Lurking just below that group of players is Ping Liu (1.006 million). Reaching the final table is the goal for every player today but that result means a bit more to Liu. If Liu finishes at least sixth in WPT Choctaw, he passes Erkut Yilmaz for the points lead in the Hublot WPT Player of the Year race. Liu is one of the most key players to keep an eye on today as he chases his third final table of Season XVII.

Also advancing to Day 3 are Denny Tran and Linds Stockstill. Both players qualified for WPT Choctaw for just $20 as part of the Gardens Casino WPT Satellite Spectacular promotion. The pair have locked up at least $11,350 and are looking to complete their unlikely run to a WPT final table.

Other players to watch in Day 3 are Choctaw WSOP Circuit Main Event winners Dave Alfa and Jason Strasser. Both have a banner hanging in the rafters of the Choctaw Grand Theater and have a chance to add one more to their collection. Some more pros and WPT final tablists of past seasons with another trip in sight include Joe Elpayaa, David “The Dragon” Pham, and Eric Baldwin.

Check out the full list of chip counts and the start of Day 3 seat draw.

Day 3 starts at 12 p.m. and 60-minute levels are on tap until the official final table of six is reached. Make sure to stay tuned to WPT.com for complete coverage of WPT Choctaw.

Photography by Jamie Thomson / PokerPhotoArchive.com

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