The official World Poker Tour final table of the Season XV WPT Rolling Thunder $3,500 Main Event was set on Tuesday night. From the field of 421 entries, just six remain in contention for the $284,638 top prize from Thunder Valley Casino Resort. Topping the final six was Mike Del Vecchio with a stack of 4.27 million, which is almost 1.3 million in chips more than his closest competitor.
At the end of Tuesday’s Day 3, Del Vecchio could do no wrong it seemed. First, it was his 
coming from behind to defeat the 
of Jaroslaw Markowiak and send Markowiak out the door in 12th place. After that, Del Vecchio came from behind again for a sizable pot, this time with pocket queens against the pocket aces of Denzel Suntay.
In the hand against Suntay, action folded to him in the small blind, and he called. Del Vecchio raised to 65,000 out of the big blind with the blinds at 10,000/20,000 with a 3,000 ante, and Suntay made the call to bring about the 
flop. Suntay checked, Del Vecchio bet 55,000, and Suntay called to see the 
land on the turn. Both players checked fourth street, and the river completed the board with the . Suntay led with a bet of 145,000, but Del Vecchio met him with a raise to 415,000. Suntay called with the 
, but his hand was no good against the 
of Del Vecchio that rivered a set of queens.
“I feel like I’m walking on water,” Del Vecchio said after the hand against Suntay.
Season XV WPT Rolling Thunder Final Table
Seat 1: John Hadley – 2,978,000
Seat 2: Sorel Mizzi – 2,283,000
Seat 3: Mike Del Vecchio – 4,270,000
Seat 4: Steven Tabb – 1,075,000
Seat 5: Olivier Busquet – 676,000
Seat 6: Connor Drinan – 1,349,000
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Joining Del Vecchio at the final table was WPT Champions Club member Olivier Busquet, in line for his second World Poker Tour title. With nearly $7.3 million in live tournament earnings, a WPT title, and a career-best score of nearly $1.2 million, Busquet is someone who needs little introduction. He won his WPT title in Season VIII in 2009 at the WPT Borgata Poker Open when he defeated a field of 1,018 entries to win $925,514.
Another player in line for a second WPT title was Pat Lyons, and his Day 3 was quite a roller coaster. Lyons was in the middle of the pack for most of the day, but then stormed to the lead after a couple of hands he played against Chuck Nguyen. First, Lyons barreled with a flush draw, turning top pair and hitting a flush on the river. Nguyen paid him off. Shortly after that, Lyons went barreling again, this time with pocket fours, which was an underpair to the board until he spiked a full house on the river. Again, Nguyen paid him off, and went on to bust in 27th place.
Lyons upped the ante with 20 players left when he opened and four-bet shoved blind against a three-bet from Charlie Carrel. Carrel found a call with the 
, and Lyons turned over the 
. Lyons spiked an eight, and Carrel was out in 20th place.
After that, the slide started for Lyons. He first doubled up Suntay when Suntay was still in, then he doubled up Connor Drinan with he raised to 75,000 and called off with the 
when Drinan shoved for 781,000. Drinan had the and held. Finally, Lyons three-bet jammed over a raise from Steven Tabb with the and lost to Tabb’s pocket tens to bust in eighth place.
After Ankush Mandavia, last year’s WPT California Swing winner, busted in seventh place, the official WPT final table was set.
Speaking of the WPT California Swing, with the elimination of Dean Baranowski in 14th place, Rainer Kempe was crowned the Season XV WPT California Swing champion.
The WPT Rolling Thunder final table will get underway on Wednesday at 12 p.m. PT from Thunder Valley Casino Resort. A live stream will be available on a 30-minute delay at 12:30 p.m., and you’ll also be able to follow along with hand-for-hand coverage right here on WPT.com.
Looking to win your way to a World Poker Tour event for your shot at becoming a WPT champion? Play for your chance on ClubWPT.com, where eligible VIP Members can play for over $100,000 in cash and prizes each month, including seats to WPT events, no purchase necessary.