On the 6th day of the 2014 WSOP Main Event, Maria Ho, the last female player in the tournament and the one with the smallest stack, had a significant morning: 435,000.
Day 6 begins with some thunder from Brazil
Let’s first observe Bruno Politano’s moves with a pair of Eights. While Max Senft is equipped with A-9 suited, Jason Leifer has 3-3. The flop presents 83Q.
Leifer increases his bet with his low three-of-a-kind, Senft decides to fold while Politano calmly makes a call. The turn card is a 5. Politano proceeds to make another average raise. Leifer pauses for theatrical impact, attempting to set a trap, before going all-in with 1.2 million. He doesn’t anticipate Politano’s immediate call or the revelation that Politano’s three-of-a-kind is superior to his. However, there’s still one card left to be revealed.
Sadly for Leifer, it’s a King. On a brighter note, he made it to 79th, becoming the day’s first elimination. However, the payout has increased to approximately $86,000, which should help soothe the disappointment.
The proud Brazilian Politano also becomes the chip leader with 7.385 million, following Mark Newhouse’s loss in a small hand. He and Dan Smith engage in a discussion about ethics and strategy.
Blink and you won’t know the chip leader
Referring to Newhouse, he chooses to bet on a 10-5 hand, pitting him against Scott Mahin, a newcomer with an A-J hand. Newhouse gains a full house with 84558, successfully growing the pot to 600K. This puts him back in the lead over Politano as the chip leader, with 7.625M. This happened rapidly.
Maria Ho has pushed all her chips in with a J-8 of diamonds, aiming to somehow triumph over Zachary Hirst and his pair of Queens.
Ho, identified as 5Q87A, is heading home in 77th position and has left ESPN with one less crowd pleaser. It remains to be seen if they can generate a fresh narrative tonight to make up for this loss.
Gabe Paul has made a bold move by going all-in with A-T, both hearts. Regrettably, his rival Kyle Keranen has J-J and looks utterly resolved. The 67457 result will eliminate Paul from the game and further enhance Keranen’s significant stack. Given his stack of over ten million chips, Keranen’s position as the chip leader may finally stabilize.
Newhouse trades chips with Cole a few times
Moving over to the Feature Table, Newhouse makes a bet with Q-7 suited. Bill Cole responds with A-T, and coincidentally, Clayton Maguire also has A-T.J4K. Maguire opts to drop out, but Cole manages to complete a straight with the turn Q. He goes all-in, prompting Newhouse to feel like he should fold.
A moment later, Newhouse and Cole are set to face off again; Newhouse holds an A-Q and Cole a suited A-K. In this round, Newhouse chooses to make Cole go all-in before the flop, which he does. With a bet of 75K38, Cole manages to double his money to 3M. This isn’t the best decision for Newhouse as he takes a significant hit. However, he was far enough ahead to take a reasonable risk and still maintains a decent position, with just under 5M remaining.
Luis Velador successfully steals some chips from Matt Waxman and Kyle Keranen with a substantial pre-flop bet on an A-K. Likewise, Mark Newhouse intimidates Maguire and Cole into backing down, using merely the suggestion of a flush.
We’re witnessing numerous hands moving chips, yet it’s evident that the tournament’s tempo has altered as the number of players has diminished. Now, what’s left are highly skilled players, all eager to reach the finale.
Large, theatrical errors are being replaced by strategic, calculated risks.
Once again, Newhouse intimidates Cole and Christopher Greaves, his stack gradually returning to its original size.
More of that bland filler
In this week’s Side Action Championship, four players, typically professionals, are fervently stacking chips, allowing Phil Hellmuth to take the lead in that ridiculous episode-stretcher.
Bill Cole is on a roll, winning several small hands in quick succession. He even managed to pressure Vitaly Lunkin into folding a better hand, a move that earned him Gentleman Jack’s “The Right Move” of the night.
Matthew Haugen is set to go all-in against Lunkin, beating two pair with three Jacks and doubling his stake. This victory will motivate him to go all-in again immediately, this time with a pair of Queens against Bill Cole’s suited A-K. The board shows JT235, which doesn’t help Cole, allowing Haugen to continue his winning streak. He takes a substantial amount from Cole’s stack, potentially damaging Cole’s momentum that he has maintained throughout a good part of this episode.
Cole is left in a situation where he needs to recover, so he decides to bet a suited 9-8 against Haugen and Maguire’s suited A-6 and 7-7 respectively. After the K98 flop, Cole ends up with two pairs, but Haugen is just one card away from a flush. Despite not doubling his stack, Cole makes a bold all-in move, forcing the others to fold. This may not drastically improve his situation, but it’s a start towards getting back on track.
Mahin recovers
Mahin is left with only 420K before he manages to double his money against Sean Dempsey. He wins with a full house against two pair, but this victory hardly makes a dent in Dempsey’s stack.
Following a pause, we see Mahin going all-in once more, now with 8-8 and up against Matt Waxman’s 7-7. The board shows KQ6JK, and Mahin’s stack has soared to 1.74 million. This is more than four times what he had two hands ago, shifting him from the edge of defeat to a real possibility of survival.
However, Waxman is set to call another all-in, this time against Jorryt van Hoof whose pocket Tens will outmatch Waxman’s A-K. This leaves Waxman as the short stack at his table, with only 625,000 chips remaining.
Meanwhile, Bill Cole is attempting to make a comeback by going all-in with a pair of nines. Unfortunately, Robert Park has pocket Aces. The turn of JT633 will result in Cole’s departure in the 58th position. His performance in this round will crown him as DraftKings.com’s “King of the Night.”
Another second episode that is less interesting than the first
Mark Newhouse is still thriving, gaining some chips from Andrey Zaichenko due to a river straight.
Zaichenko will be left desiring to recover with his suited A-5 due to this. Clayton Hamm, however, goes all-in for 715K with an offsuit A-T. Newhouse counters by raising to 1.5M with pocket Tens, effectively intimidating Brian Roberts and his Q-Q into backing out. Zaichenko withdraws.
Newhouse dismisses Hamm in 67K69.
Kyle Keranen plays J-J against his friend Chris Johnson, who holds A-A. After the TQK flop, the pot increases to 2.4 million. The turn card, a 4, doesn’t change anything. Consequently, Keranen makes a million chip raise, forcing Johnson to fold.
Waxman’s river flush doubles his amount to 1.4 million.
More awards
Luis Garla attempts to bluff Dong Guo with an Ace high, but fails. Guo wins the 5.76M pot with a three-of-a-kind, which also earns him the Gentleman Jack “The Right Move” of the night award.
Lon torments Norman with some terrible jokes.
Keranen goes all-in against Chris Odle and wins with a full house, beating Odle’s pair of sevens. Odle leaves the game and Keranen’s stack exceeds twelve million.
After making a strategic raise and grabbing a pot from three players, William Tonking will risk it all against Roberts, with pocket Kings going against pocket Jacks. The table provides no advantage, putting Roberts in a precarious situation. Tonking, however, has moved into the top ten, amassing 6.7 million.
Can you believe it? They’re actually hosting another Side Action Championship tonight! Let me emphasize, these participants are usually professional poker players. Currently, they’re estimating the total value of a heap of chips. Hellmuth is still on top, and Lon assures us that only three more of these events are scheduled.
Placey gets some attention
Martin Jacobson successfully makes Vladimir Bozinovic fold a large pot, propelling Jacobson into second place with nearly a stack of eight digits. Keranen remains in the lead, currently at 13 million.
We’re witnessing an increase in folds and medium-sized shifts, with fewer eliminations, making it an opportune time to observe Peter Placey pushing Bozinovic into an all-in situation. Bozinovic holds a J-J hand with an additional Jack on the table from the 59J flop. However, Placey remains optimistic with his 26% chance of finishing his club flush. The turn 6 doesn’t bring any value, so Placey is thrilled when the 8 of clubs lands on the river, leading to Bozinovic’s departure.
Placey also fares well with the following hand, gaining more than a million and a half chips with two pair. This boosts him to 5th place with a total of 8 million chips.
Final hand
The final round of the night is certainly intriguing: Waxman stakes his entire million on wired Tens. Keranen matches his bet with a 9-9, but then Eddy Sabat reveals his pocket Aces and raises the stakes by going all-in for 2.5 million. Despite this, Keranen’s lead is substantial enough to warrant a call.
Sabat increases by more than double in 47JK7, leaving Waxman to settle with a consolation of $186 thousand dollars (how unfortunate for him).
After a lengthy stint at the top, Kyle Keranen has slipped back to third place. Peter Placey has been named DraftKings.com’s “King of the Night” for the episode. When we return for Day 6 next week, Martin Jacobson will lead with 10.8 million chips as we whittle down the players from 44 to 27.
