John Riordan Leads Final Table of Event #8: $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha

John Riordan went on a late surge to bag the lead with 2,030,000 in chips, representing one-third of the chips in play, as six players remain in Event #8: $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha of the 2022 Poker Masters at the PokerGO Studio from ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada

Alex Livingston (1,130,000) and Isaac Kempton (1,085,000) are next on the leaderboard with over a million in chips, while Tony Bloom (920,000) and Matthew Wantman (640,000) will also return to the streamed final table. Sam Soverel (195,000) rounds out the contenders and will return as the short stack. Each player has locked up $50,000, but all eyes will be on the title, trophy, and $360,000 first-place prize.

The field of 40 entrants created a prize pool of $1,000,000 which pays the top six finishers. Kazuhiko Yotsushika bagged the chip lead a day earlier at the conclusion of the first day of Event #7, and he looked prime to bag another as held a big stack near the end of the day. When eight players remained and they converged on a single table, Yotsushika had nearly double the amount of chips as Kempton, who was second on the leaderboard.

Shortly after the unofficial final table began, Winter secured a short-stacked double through Yotsushika, although Yotsushika still held plenty of chips. Bloom then faced a tough decision on a flop where he used four time extensions before he moved in his remaining chips and needed to fade a lot of outs against Yotsushika. Bloom held and doubled into the lead, while Yotsushika took a hit but still held over a million in chips.

Riordan was one of the shorter stacks at this time but that all changed in a matter of minutes. Riordan doubled through Yotsushika, and soon after, doubled through Yotsushika again when his remaining chips went in on the river and his boat was good for the pot and the chip lead.

Daniel Negreanu made his exit in eighth place when he got his chips in on the flop as a favorite against Riordan in a battle of the blinds. Negreanu had aces, but Riordan turned a flush to end Negreanu's run short of the money.

Yotsushika was now a shorter stack after several players had doubled through him, and ultimately, he was eliminated on the money bubble in seventh place when he fell to Livingston. The six remaining players played a few more hands to finish out the level before they bagged to return for the final day.

2022 Poker Masters Event #8 Final Table

Seat	Player	Country	Chip Count
1	Tony Bloom	United Kingdom	920,000
2	Isaac Kempton	United States	1,085,000
3	Sam Soverel	United States	195,000
4	Matthew Wantman	United States	640,000
5	Alex Livingston	Canada	1,130,000
6	John Riordan	United States	2,030,000

When play resumes, there is 40:00 remaining in Level 13 with blinds at 15,000/25,000 with a 25,000 big blind ante. The button is on Isaac Kempton.

Play will resume at 12 p.m. PT on Friday, September 30 and the final table will be streamed on delay starting at 1 p.m. PT on PokerGO.com.

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