After two lengthy Day 1 flights and an even longer Day 2, the third day of the Season XIII World Poker Tour bestbet Bounty Scramble completed somewhat more rapidly with tomorrow’s final six-handed table being reached just a little after 10 p.m. When the last knockout of the night came and the bagging of chips commenced, it was Ryan Van Sanford of Ft. Lauderdale — who only turned 21 on Saturday — leading the final six with 4.85 million.
Back at noon there were 27 returners from the big 461-entry starting field coming back, each with hopes of securing the next WPT title. The eliminations came rapidly at the start of play, starting with Anthony Zinno (27th) and followed by the last bounty player standing in the event, Shannon Shorr (26th). Darryll Fish (21st), David Diaz (18th), and 2006 World Series of Poker Main Event champion Jamie Gold (17th) were among the group following those two to the rail thereafter.
Daiane Mendes next went out in 16th, the highest finish for a woman in the event, with Jacob Bazeley (15th), Mike Gracz (11th), and Christian Harder (10th) also falling shy of the final table.
Jason Helder started the day as chip leader, and Helder held onto the lead for much of the afternoon and evening, his stack big enough to withstand some late-night double-ups by the short stacks. But near night’s end it was Sanford surging past Helder after winning a big pot versus Farhad Madhani.
Saied Zamiri (ninth), Andrew Ziskin (eighth), and then finally Madhani (seventh) were the last knockouts of the night, and in the middle of Level 25 action halted with six left.
Here are the final table seat assignments and starting stacks of the final six:
Seat 1: Jared Reinstein — 1,090,000 (36 bb)
Seat 2: Ryan Van Sanford — 4,850,000 (162 bb)
Seat 3: Corey Hochman — 695,000 (23 bb)
Seat 4: Jason Helder — 3,670,000 (122 bb)
Seat 5: Brian Reinert — 2,150,000 (72 bb)
Seat 6: Chris Bolek — 1,345,000 (45 bb)
It’s been quite a week already for Van Sanford — who as the winner of the Skrill Last Longer Bet in fact won $5,000 (the equivalent of his buy-in).
Play picks back up tomorrow at 4 p.m. Come back then to see if Van Sanford will be celebrating his 21st birthday this week with a WPT title, or if one of the other five will be earning the $421,068 first prize.