Joe Cada, Michael Dyer, and Alex Lynskey compete for seats at the final table of 9 and a shot at the $8.8 million prize at the 2018 WSOP Main Event, at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino, Wed. July 11, 2018.
Friday, July 13, 2018 | 2 a.m.
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Michael Dyer raises.
That was the most commonly uttered sentence from the announcer Thursday night inside the Amazon Room at the Rio, and perhaps the most accurate three-word summation of the first night of the World Series of Poker Main Event final table. Dyer, a 32-year-old professional player from Houston, pressured his way to a massive chip lead in poker’s $10,000 buy-in world championship, appearing to frustrate at least one of the three players eliminated during the four-and-a-half-hour session.
“It’s relentless aggression, and it’s probably going to stop working,” Australian Alex Lynskey said of Dyer’s style after busting out in seventh place.
It’s worked awfully well for the last two days.
Dyer captured the lead early during Wednesday’s play when he caught a flush on the river after forcing an opponent to go all-in with top pair on the flop, and has only ceded his spot at the top for a few hands since. His advantage had reached one of its highest peaks when play was halted Thursday.
Dyer will resume his quest toward the coveted WSOP gold bracelet and the first-place prize of $8.8 million at 5:30 p.m. tonight with 156.5 million chips — more than double of any of the other six finalists’ stacks.
“I have a dynamic separation on everybody, so it makes it kind of simpler for me to play,” Dyer said. “I’m able to play differently than they are.”
Two other players have shot out to comparable leads on the opening night of the final table in recent years, Scott Blumstein in 2017 and Joe McKeehen in 2015. Each went on to victory.
An American is guaranteed to win the tournament for the third straight year. Three international players made the final table, but they all made their exits on Thursday.
Before Lynskey claimed $1.5 million for seventh place, Ukraine’s Artem Metalidi finished in eighth for $1.25 million and France’s Antoine Labat placed ninth for $1 million. Labat, whose demise came via bad beat when his pocket Kings fell to Aram Zobian’s pocket Queens, was more complimentary than Lynskey when it came to Dyer.
“I really like Dyer’s style,” Labat said. “I’ve seen some hands he’s played yesterday because I was watching the replays. I love the way he plays. I don’t really play the same way he does, but he really exploits people and looks really smart.”
Many, including Metalidi, believe Dyer’s biggest competition comes from the player sitting directly to his left at the table — Joe Cada, who’s searching for a historic second Main Event title.
“I think Joe has a really good chance to win this,” Metalidi said. “Maybe he’s going to play with (Dyer). I think they’re the strongest players left.”
Cada and Dyer didn’t mix it up in any major pots on Thursday. Cada once again found himself in preservation mode, as he didn’t get many playable hands and was content to pick his spots and patiently move up the payout ladder.
The 2009 champion is currently fifth in chips with 29.2 million, but along with the rest of the players, guaranteed a minimum $1.8 million for sixth place.
“I’m just happy to be here,” Cada said. “It’s been a grueling tournament. I’m just lucky to be in the spot I’m at. I’ve had low chips the entire tournament, and just feel like I’m hanging in there.”
Small-stakes professional Nic Manion, a 35-year-old from Muskegon, Mich., entered the final table with a slight lead and came out firing, but his attempts at aggression didn’t go as smoothly as Dyer’s. Manion dropped 30 million chips on Thursday, but still sits in second.
Indianapolis pro John Cynn and Jacksonville, Fla. pro Tony Miles were both able to add to their stacks with 61.5 million and 57.5 million, respectively. But they all have a long way to go to catch Dyer, who looked unfazed by becoming a focus of the ESPN cameras on poker’s biggest stage.
He just kept raising.
“I like playing poker,” Dyer said, “and it’s just more poker.”
Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.
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