James Obst, Cliff Josephy Remain in Hunt with 27 Left in 2016 WSOP Main Event

Twenty-seven palayers remain, and nine of them will be the toast of the poker world by the end of Monday, the final day of the 2016 World Series of Poker until late October, when the Main Event reconvenes.

In the lead is Czech player Vojtech Ruzicka, who bagged 26.415 million. Ruzicka, a former European Poker Tour high roller champ, eliminated Elliott Peterman in 28th when his ace-king got there against for a pot of almost 7 million. That forced all of the remaining chips into bags with new seats assigned to the surviving players for Monday’s Day 7, which will play down to a final table.

Michael Ruane sits in second with 24.565 million and he’s followed by a pair of online poker legends in Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy (23.86 million) and Aussie James “Andy McLEOD” Obst (19.56 million).

Top 10 Chip Counts

Ruane, who said he plays professionally online and moved back home to New Jersey when online poker was legalized, said it’s been smooth sailing most of the way for him. He came into the day with just 5.6 million but said he went four-for-four on showdowns and is feeling more at ease than he would have expected given his lack of big-time live experience.

“I just opened a bunch, got raises through, and didn’t really see a lot of rivers,” he said. “I’m feeling pretty comfortable actually. I’m kind of surprised at how comfortable I am because I’m kind of out of practice live.”

For evidence of Ruane’s good fortune, look no further than an all-in pot he played against Daniel Retallick with 39 players left right after dinner. Ruane got Retallick at risk with against , and two kings flopped, with another player telling Ruane he folded a queen. Nonetheless, it was a turn and a safe river to send the pot to Ruane.

Obst had a similar …

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