James Rann On Top Heading into Day 4

The penultimate day in the WPT Seminole Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open is here with 14 players returning from an original field of 898 to compete for six spots at tomorrow’s final table. James Rann took the chip lead near the bags on Day 3 and is a favorite to make his first career WPT final table.

Rann is among a strong crew of players from varying poker and life backgrounds who have made Day 4. All except Ravi Raghavan are looking to put their name on the Champions Cup for the first time while Raghavan hopes to do so for the second time in his career.

As chip leader, Rann is the headlining player and has a chance to earn his largest career score with a win this week. Rann is in the middle of his fifth career WPT cash and currently has career earnings of effectively $760,000. His diverse background of cashes includes payout receipts from Australia, The Bahamas, Macau, Spain, and his home of the United Kingdom. The best cash for Rann up to this point is a fourth-place finish in the 2015 Aussie Millions Main Event.

Behind Rann on the leaderboard is Season XIV WPT Borgata Poker Open runner-up James Gilbert. The Philadelphian makes appearances on the WPT every so often and finished 47th at WPT Montreal a few weeks ago. Since his final table appearance at Borgata, Gilbert has made two WSOP final tables along with a SHRPO Big 4 final table in 2016.

Alan Schein sits in striking distance in the third spot and is looking for a rare piece of WPT history. The 73-year-old Schein can become the oldest player in WPT history to win an open event, beating the previous mark of Doyle Brunson who won his WPT title at age 71.

In fourth place is a player who is becoming a worldwide force in Pavel Plesuv. The Moldovan player has over $2 million in winnings in 2018 alone with a second-place finish at the partypoker LIVE MILLIONS event at King’s Casino this February for $924,841 his best result of the year. Plesuv also has a win in a $3,500 event at The Venetian this summer which earned him $640,000.

The Champions Cup eluded Plesuv in Season XIV when he finished second at partypoker WPT Prague after losing heads up to Javier Gomez. Plesuv is in a great spot to rectify that silver medal this week.

NASCAR driver Matt DiBenedetto made waves for his entrance into the WPT Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open but the athlete headlines now firmly belong to Brent Kallman. The Major League Soccer player is a defender for Minnesota United FC and sits only eight places from a WPT final table. Kallman started Day 3 second in chips and is in the middle of the pack on Day 4. Poker is a major hobby of Kallman’s during the MLS offseason and he is near achieving the dream of a WPT final table.

Day 4 play starts at 12 p.m. local time and continues with 90-minute levels until the final table is reached. All players have at least $31,550 locked up but the first-place prize of $504,820 and seat into the Baccarat Crystal WPT Tournament of Champions is what everyone has in mind when they sit down today.

Stay tuned right here to WPT.com for continued coverage as the journey to crown the Season XVII WPT Seminole Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open Championship winner fights on. 

Photography by Joe Giron / PokerPhotoArchive.com

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