Johnny Chan has been eliminated from the WSOP Main Event. The player immortalized in the movie “Rounders” is a familiar face to most poker players, and was one of the few pros left in the running for the tournament.
In day 6 of the tournament, Chan was near the top of the leaderboard in chips, and was making a run to win his third Main Event. He has not won the tournament since his back-to-back victories in 1987 and 1989.
Nevertheless, Chan was optimistic about his chances. “The last 20 years, I’ve never had this many chips,” he said. “That’s the No. 1 thing that helps a lot. When you have chips, you can make plays and make moves. I’m very happy with where I’m at.”
Unfortunately, as of Thursday, Johnny Chan has been eliminated from the tournament, crushing his hope of winning a third Main Event. Out of the original 7,319 players, Chan placed 156th place, winning $57,102.
After a promising start, Chan had a rough day on Thursday, losing against pocket aces twice, the last of which knocked him out of the tournament. Chan was holding pocket jacks, and the board completely missed both players.
Still, this was Johnny Chan’s strongest finish since his two victories many years ago. His strongest finish since then was placing 329th in 2008. As more players enter the Main Event, the chance of a professional winning the tournament becomes less likely, but hopefully Chan will have many more chances to claim his third victory and cap off his amazing back-to-back wins.
“I’d like to write another chapter,” Chan said.
