WPT Final Table: Soheb Porbandarwala Leads, While Balakrishna Patur Could Become a POY Contender

Photo:  Soheb Porbandarwala (MyCousinVinny5)

There were 84 players in the field at the start of Day 2 of the WPT Online Poker Open powered by partypoker US Network, but only eight would advance to Tuesday evening’s WPT Final Table, which will be live-streamed on the WPT’s Twitch channel.

When the virtual dust settled, the chipleader was Soheb Porbandarwala (MyCousinVinny5), who started the day third in chips. Porbandarwala has 88.6 million in his stack, good for 148 big blinds when play resumes tomorrow at 7:00 p.m. EST.

Here are the official chip counts for all eight players:

1.  Soheb Porbandarwala (MyCousinVinny5)  –  88.55 million  (148 bb)
2.  Matt Iles* (Boozehound)  –  83.74 million  (140 bb)
3.  Balakrishna Patur* (pbkreddy)  –  60.65 million  (101 bb)
4.  anomalous*  –  48.94 million  (82 bb)
5.  Obli Prabu* (PokerKarma)  –  47.95 million  (80 bb)
6.  Alex Farin* (luckyman10)  –  29.44 million  (49 bb)
7.  Tim Kuder (timkuder)  –  20.17 million  (34 bb)
8.  Daniel Buzgon* (leinad)  –  15.57 million  (26 bb)

And these are the payouts they’ll be playing for:

1st:  $239,820**
2nd:  $164,868
3rd:  $127,398
4th:  $95,948
5th:  $75,565
6th:  $56,830
7th:  $41,217
8th:  $28,727

In addition to the prize money and the seat into the WPT Tournament of Champions presented by Baccarat Crystal, the winner will receive a Hublot Big Bang E Titanium watch (valued at $5,200) and a set of Baccarat Crystal Beluga Highball Glasses.

Some big stacks came up a bit short on Day 2, including Day 1 chipleader Alex Butcher (JinYang), who finished 15th. Frederick Ferrell (Got_Milk) started the day second in chips, but only made it as far as 11th.

The unfortunate soul who bubbled the final table was Andrew Benedict (pokasmoka7) — though he was fortunate to even be in the event. Benedict won his entry in a contest called “Give the Gift of the WPT,” which was awarded by PokerNews and the partypoker US Network. They asked poker fans to nominate players they felt were deserving of a $3,500 seat into this event, and Benedict was the player chosen.

Benedict was nominated for this honor by poker pro Michael Marder (ParxBigStax), who finished in 45th place today, earning $5,621.

“I, for one, would like to see [the $3,500 WPT seat] go to a life-long, die-hard, down-on-his-luck gambler,” said Marder when he made his nomination. “Someone who has done his best to stay in the game and keep his head up while searching for that elusive big break. My guy Andy [Benedict] is that person.”

While Benedict busted one spot away from the live-streamed WPT Final Table, the $22,170 he earned should hopefully give him momentum to turn his luck around.

Photo:  BorgataPoker Ambassador Daniel Buzgon (leinad)

But now all eyes turn to the final eight players, including BorgataPoker ambassador Daniel Buzgon (leinad). While he will be the short stack when the final table begins, he also brings experience with him, as this will be his fourth WPT Final Table.

Then there’s Balakrishna Patur (pbkreddy), who is third in chips here, but he’s also the chipleader heading into another WPT Final Table — the 2020 WPT L.A. Poker Classic, which had its final table postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

So while Patur doesn’t currently show up in the Season XVIII WPT Player of the Year standings (POY points aren’t officially awarded until a player finishes their run in a tournament), a first- or second-place finish here means he could catapult into second place on the POY leaderboard at his WPT L.A. Poker Classic final table. (POY points-leader Brian Altman also has a postponed WPT Final Table where he’ll earn at least 800 more POY points.)

Photo:  In addition to this WPT Final Table, Balakrishna Patur currently holds the chip lead for the six-handed final table of the WPT L.A. Poker Classic, which was postponed due to the pandemic.

The WPT Final Table begins tomorrow (Tuesday) at 7:00 p.m. EST, and it’ll be live-streamed on the WPT’s Twitch channel on a one-hour delay starting at 8:00 p.m. EST. As always, there will also be live updates right here on WPT.com.

* Indicates an online qualifier

** First-prize amount includes the winner’s $15,000 entry into the season-ending WPT Tournament of Champions presented by Baccarat Crystal.