1998 champ Nguyen out at World Series of Poker main event; Chan only former winner left

1998 champ Nguyen out at World Series of Poker

LAS VEGAS — The World Series of Poker main event has just one former champion competing for an $8.94 million top prize after 1998 champion Scotty Nguyen was eliminated from the tournament late Wednesday.

Nguyen gambled his last 310,000 chips on one of the last hands of the night with a suited ace-jack, but Mads Wissing of Copenhagen, Denmark had pocket kings and the community cards didn’t help Nguyen.

The five-time gold bracelet winner at the series finished in 209th place, winning nearly $48,847.

Nguyen’s elimination left Johnny Chan, the 10-time bracelet winner who won back-to-back main events in 1987 and 1988 as the only former winner in the world’s richest no-limit Texas Hold ‘em tournament.

Nguyen, one of poker’s most recognizable celebrities, was knocked out just before players finished an eight-hour card session, excluding breaks.

Both Nguyen and Chan stayed relatively quiet at the start of their fifth session. Chan dropped below 1 million chips but built back to 1.28 million by the dinner break while Nguyen’s stack was down after losing a race with pocket queens.

Nguyen’s wife Julie, who tracked his hands using Twitter, said he built up more than 1 million chips by the tournament’s last break before losing big with pocket jacks against an opponent’s pocket 10s. A 10 came on the flop, she said.

Chan ended the night with nearly 2.6 million in chips, positioning himself among the chip leaders.

Just over 200 players remained in the tournament after their fifth session, representing less than 3 percent of a starting field of 7,319 players.

Each were guaranteed at least $48,847, with the next pay jump coming at 171st place.

None of the players who made the final table last year or in 2008 remained in the tournament, and just one woman — Breeze Zuckerman of Moorpark, Calif. — was left in the field.

Players were expected to return to the felt Thursday for a sixth session to whittle the field to about 81 players, the final nine tables.

The final table will be determined this weekend. The final nine players will take a break until November to allow weekly television coverage of the tournament to catch up with the play.

Last year’s winner, Joe Cada, won $8.55 million.

Each entry cost $10,000. The tournament started July 5 at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.