Two Tables, Two Worlds: The Horseshoe at 10 PM

It's past 10 PM at the Horseshoe and two very different tournaments are still running: a $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo Championship final table where the chip leader has never won a bracelet, and a $585 satellite where most of the field has never cashed for more than a few thousand dollars.

The Championship: Event #75

Nine players remain in the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship. Matthew Grapenthien leads with 1,700,000 chips — nearly $959K in lifetime earnings across nine final tables, but zero bracelets and zero rings. This is the deepest he's gone in a championship event, and the stack gives him room to play.

Notably absent from the final nine: Paul Volpe, the three-time bracelet winner with $6.8M in career cashes, busted before the final table. So did Nicolas Milgrom, a French mixed-game specialist with $518K lifetime. The rail is stacked with eliminated talent.

Matthew Grapenthien has $959K in lifetime earnings across nine final tables — but zero bracelets and zero rings.

The Satellite: Event #381

Two tables over, 16 players remain in the $585 NLH Landmark Mega Satellite. The prize isn't cash — it's a seat. Michael Bahnsen sits with 10,000 chips. Mykhailo Lendel, the most credentialed player left at $738K lifetime, is still alive. Antonio Buonanno, who has $1,201 in tracked cashes — total, career — is somehow still at the table too.

The gap between Lendel's résumé and Buonanno's is $737,665. They're playing for the same thing.

Why You're Watching Both

The championship final table has the stakes. The satellite has the volatility. One room is grinding Stud Hi-Lo at the highest level; the other is a $585 lottery ticket two bustouts from glory. Both are live right now.

Expect the satellite to wrap within the hour. The Stud Hi-Lo championship will grind later — these final tables rarely finish before midnight.