Dec 18, 2019
By Sean Chaffin
As Day 3 of the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic plays out on Wednesday, Table 22 may be one to watch. As Kitty Kuo noted on Twitter, there will be several big names at this “table of death” that should bring some fireworks to the Bellagio poker room.
How is my day3 table draw
who said @WPT is easy ?
22-1: Markus Gonsalves – 210k
22-2: Will Failla – 90k
22-3: Kitty Kuo – 124k
22-4: Isaac Baron – 557k
22-5: Darren Elias – 334k
22-6: Carlos Rodriguez – 161k
22-7: Vuong Do – 35k
22-8: Daniel Negreanu – 78k
22-9: Dan Smith – 473k pic.twitter.com/K2YfqaCrEm— kitty kuo thomas (@kittykuopoker) December 18, 2019
How does this table of sharks stack up? Here’s a look at some of the players Kuo faces today:
Markus Gonsalves (Seat 1, 210,000 chips) – This player has $1.5 million in live tournament winnings in a career dating back to 2006 and a 10th place finish in the Season XIV WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic.
Will Failla (Seat 2, 90,000) – A WPT Champions Club member with $5.8 million in winnings including $1.4 million on the WPT. His tour win came in Season X at the Legends of Poker, where he took home $758,085.
Isaac Baron (Seat 4 , 557,000) – Brings $6.4 million in tournament winnings including winning a WSOP bracelet this summer and a Poker Masters title in November. That total includes $1.1 million on the WPT.
Darren Elias (Seat 5, 334,000) – The king of the WPT hill with four titles, 13 final table appearances, and $3.8 million in tour winnings. In total, he now has $7.4 million in tournament earnings.
Daniel Negreanu (Seat 8, 78,000) – One of the biggest names and most successful players in poker, the two-time WPT champion has almost $6.5 million in tour winnings and was the Season III Player of the Year and WPT Five Diamond champion. His lifetime tournament earnings total $42 million and he also has six WSOP bracelets.
Dan Smith (Seat 9, 473,000) – One of the winningest tournament players in history with $36.7 million. Smith also holds one WPT title, winning the Five Diamond in Season XII. Smith also has numerous wins in events all around the world.
Of course, Kuo will be in Seat 3 with 124,000 in chips and is certainly no slouch at the table either. She has $2.2 million in tournament winnings including $490,000 on the WPT. Her record also includes two WPT final table appearances with a runner-up finish in Season XVI in the Bobby Baldwin Classic for $248,380.
Her opponent in that heads-up battle in Las Vegas? None other than her tablemate today, Darren Elias.
Kuo was apparently taking the challenge in good spirits, but planning ahead a bit for the day’s action.
My day3 game plan is
1. Play good poker
2. Less talk
3. Bring headphone ( @RealKidPoker talk too much)
4. Maybe bring sunglasses ? Since @DarrenElias & @DanSmithHolla too good to read my body language— kitty kuo thomas (@kittykuopoker) December 18, 2019
Sean Chaffin is a freelance writer in Crandall, Texas, and his work appears in numerous websites and publications. Follow him on Twitter @PokerTraditions.