$400 Limit Omaha 8
Structure  |  Payouts
Level 20:  20,000/40,000 Limits
Players Remaining:  3 of 82

Jyri Merivirta was all in for 78,000 in the big blind against Josh Smith on the button.

The final board read and Smith’s for a set of fours was best, eliminating Merivirta in fourth place.

Josh Smith  –  1,400,000  (35 BB)
Jyri Merivirta  –  Eliminated in 4th Place  ($2,220)

With three players remaining from a field of 82 entries, the average chip stack is around 683,000 (17 Big Bets). The remaining players are guaranteed at least $3,280 each.

$400 Limit Omaha 8
Structure  |  Payouts
Level 20:  20,000/40,000 Limits
Players Remaining:  5 of 82

Josh Smith raised to 40,000 from the hijack and Robert Poolos was forced all in for 6,000 in the small blind.

Smith: 
Poolos: 

The board ran out , giving Smith aces and nines to eliminate Poolos in fifth place.

Josh Smith  –  1,230,000  (31 BB)
Robert Poolos  –  Eliminated in 5th Place  ($1,690)

With four players remaining from a field of 82 entries, the average chip stack is around 513,000 (13 Big Bets). The remaining players are guaranteed at least $2,220 each.

$400 Limit Omaha 8
Structure  |  Payouts
Level 20:  20,000/40,000 Limits
Players Remaining:  5 of 82

Josh Smith raised to 40,000 from under the gun, Michael Dreese reraised all in for 45,000 in the hijack, Efthimios Piperakis called in the cutoff, and Smith called.

The flop was , Smith bet 20,000, and Piperakis called.

The turn was the , Smith checked, Piperakis bet 40,000, and Smith folded.

Piperakis showed , while Dreese tabled .

The river completed the board, giving both aces and queens, but Piperakis’ nine kicker played to eliminate Dreese in sixth place.

Efthimios Piperakis  –  340,000  (9 BB)
Josh Smith  –  1,190,000  (30 BB)
Michael Dreese  –  Eliminated in 6th Place  ($1,355)

With five players remaining from a field of 82 entries, the average chip stack is around 410,000 (10 Big Bets). The remaining players are guaranteed at least $1,690 each.

$400 Limit Omaha 8
Structure  |  Payouts
Level 19:  15,000/30,000 Limits
Players Remaining:  6 of 82

David Simpson was just eliminated as a short stack in a pot that was split between Robert Poolos and Efthimios Piperakis.

David Simpson  –  Eliminated in 7th Place  ($1,125)

With six players remaining from a field of 82 entries, the average chip stack is around 340,000 (11 Big Bets). The remaining players are guaranteed at least $1,355 each.

$400 Limit Omaha 8
Structure  |  Payouts
Level 19:  15,000/30,000 Limits
Players Remaining:  7 of 82

Cynthia Yannette moved all in from the button for 14,000, and she was up against Josh Smith (big blind) and Michael Dreese (UTG).

The flop came , Smith bet 15,000, and Dreese called.

The turn card was the , and Smith and Dreese put in 30,000 each.

The river card was the , Smith bet 30,000, and Dreese folded. Smith took the side pot, and then he and Yannette showed their cards for the main pot.

Josh Smith:    (nine-high straight)
Cynthia Yannette:    (trip fives)

With no possible lows, Smith won the pot with his flopped straight to eliminate Yannette in eighth place.

Josh Smith  –  975,000  (33 BB)
Cynthia Yannette  –  Eliminated in 8th Place  ($955)

With seven players remaining from a field of 82 entries, the average chip stack is around 295,000 (10 Big Bets). The remaining players are guaranteed at least $1,125 each.

$400 Limit Omaha 8
Structure  |  Payouts
Level 19:  15,000/30,000 Limits
Players Remaining:  8 of 82

Christian Ivens was forced all in from the big blind for 13,000, and he was up against David Simpson (middle position) and Robert Poolos (cutoff).

The flop came , Simpson checked, Poolos bet 15,000, and Simpson folded. Poolos took the side pot.

For the main pot, Poolos and Ivens turned over their cards:

Robert Poolos:    (two pair, queens and tens)
Christian Ivens:    (two pair, tens and nines)

Ivens needed to improve to stay alive, but the turn was the , the river was the , and Poolos won the pot with his higher two pair to eliminate Ivens in ninth place.

Robert Poolos  –  280,000  (9 BB)
Christian Ivens  –  Eliminated in 9th Place  ($875)

With eight players remaining from a field of 82 entries, the average chip stack is around 255,000 (9 Big Bets). The remaining players are guaranteed at least $955 each.

$400 Limit Omaha 8
Structure  |  Payouts
Level 19:  15,000/30,000 Limits
Players Remaining:  9 of 82

After the elimination of Robert Wirth in 10th place, the final nine players redraw for random seats at the final table. Here is the lineup with approximate chip counts:

Seat 1.  Robert Poolos  –  250,000  (8 BB)
Seat 2.  Jonathan Moschel  –  245,000  (8 BB)
Seat 3.  Cynthia Yannette  –  40,000  (1 BB)
Seat 4.  Christian Ivens  –  13,000  (<1 BB)
Seat 5.  Josh Smith  –  900,000  (30 BB)
Seat 6.  Michael Dreese  –  177,000  (6 BB)
Seat 7.  David Simpson  –  120,000  (4 BB)
Seat 8.  Efthimios Piperakis  –  365,000  (12 BB)
Seat 9.  Jyri Merivirta  –  70,000  (2 BB)

And here are the remaining payouts at stake, followed by recent eliminations:

1st:  $8,705 + LHPO Trophy
2nd:  $5,275
3rd:  $3,280
4th:  $2,220
5th:  $1,690
6th:  $1,355
7th:  $1,125
8th:  $955
9th:  $875

10th:  Robert Wirth  –  $815
11th:  Michael Largent  –  $765

With nine players remaining from a field of 82 entries, the average chip stack is around 228,000 (8 Big Bets).

$400 Limit Omaha 8
Structure  |  Payouts
Level 18:  12,000/24,000 Limits
Players Remaining:  11 of 82

After the elimination of Joel Harwood in 13th place, hand-for-hand play began on the Money Bubble.

It didn’t take long. In the first hand, Phil Hui got his stack all in on the turn against Josh Smith on a board of .

Josh Smith:    (king-high straight)
Phil Hui:    (ace-high flush draw)

With no possible lows, Smith had the nuts on the turn, but Hui’s flush draw kept his hopes alive if he could spike a club on the river.

The river card was the , and Smith won the pot with his straight to burst the Money Bubble and eliminate Hui in 12th place.

Josh Smith  –  540,000  (23 BB)
Phil Hui  –  Eliminated

With 11 players remaining from a field of 82 entries, the average chip stack is around 186,000 (8 Big Bets). The remaining players are now in the money, and here are the payouts they’re playing for:

1st:  $8,705 + LHPO Trophy
2nd:  $5,275
3rd:  $3,280
4th:  $2,220
5th:  $1,690
6th:  $1,355
7th:  $1,125
8th:  $955
9th:  $875
10th:  $815
11th:  $765

$400 Limit Omaha 8
Structure  |  Payouts
Level 17:  10,000/20,000 Limits
Players Remaining:  16 of 82

The players return from break to begin Level 17, with increased limits of 10,000-20,000.

Here are the official chip counts from the break after the redraw to the final two tables:

TABLE 1
Seat 1.  Michael Largent  –  149,000  (7 BB)
Seat 2.  Josh Smith  –  268,000  (13 BB)
Seat 3.  Christian Ivens  –  46,000  (2 BB)
Seat 4.  Ricardo Quintero  –  117,000  (6 BB)
Seat 5.  Robert Poolos  –  213,000  (11 BB)
Seat 6.  Michael Dreese  –  222,000  (11 BB)
Seat 7.  Phil Hui  –  125,000  (6 BB)
Seat 8.  Cynthia Yannette  –  111,000  (6 BB)

TABLE 2
Seat 1.  Jonathan Moschel  –  163,000  (8 BB)
Seat 2.  Efthimios Piperakis  –  259,000  (13 BB)
Seat 3.  Joel Harwood  –  106,000  (5 BB)
Seat 4.  Jyri Merivirta  –  28,000  (1 BB)
Seat 5.  David Simpson  –  92,000  (5 BB)
Seat 6.  Robert Wirth  –  52,000  (3 BB)
Seat 7.  Jiayi Yao  –  32,000  (2 BB)
Seat 8.  Pamela McPeak  –  72,000  (4 BB)

With 16 players remaining from a field of 82 entries, the average chip stack is around 128,000 (6 Big Bets). The final 11 players will finish in the money, with a min-cash worth $765.

$400 Limit Omaha 8
Structure  |  Payouts
Level 13:  4,000/8,000 Limits
Players Remaining:  30 of 82

The players return from break to begin Level 13, with increased limits of 4,000-8,000.

A scan of the field during the break turned up only one player with more than twice the average stack (136K+) — Pamela McPeak, who has 153,500 (19 Big Bets).

With 30 players remaining from a field of 82, the average chip stack is around 68,500 (9 Big Bets). The final 11 players will finish in the money, with a min-cash worth $765.