It’s that time again! The World Series of Poker Main Event returned to TV yesterday with Day 7. Only 27 players remained out of a field of 6,352, the 7th largest field in history, and that number would drop down to 21 by the time the episode ended. Check out the highlights below to see who got lucky, who got scummed, and who survived until next week.
Highlights
The action began with an all-in from short stack Michiel Brummelhuis, who picked up pocket Queens and quickly put his chips into the middle. Although big-stack JC Tran had A10d, he reluctantly folded – a smart decision.
Unfortunately for Canadian Alex Livingston and his pocket Kings, fellow countryman Marc-Etienne McLaughlin caught an ace on the flop and a third ace on the river to crack his hand and take down a 2.6M pot.
On the only outer table remaining, Benjamin Polak made a good, tough decision with 99 preflop, calling Max Coleman and risking all his chips for a 6.2M chip pot. The flop brought Coleman a wheel draw, and although the turn was a blank the river was not so kind to Polak. Polak was the first person eliminated on Day 7, finishing in 27th place and taking home $285,408. After risking half his stack as a 2/1 dog with A4c, Coleman jumped up to nearly 7M in chips. Yet another heartbreaking exit in the 2013 Main Event.
Fireworks erupted shortly after as JC Tran flopped the nut flush, Mark Newhouse an open-ended straight flush draw, and Sylvain Loosli the top straight. After the action went check-check Loosli bet out the flop, with Tran and Newhouse quickly calling. After the turn brought an Ace, Tran decided he couln’t slowplay any longer. His bet of 925k saw a fold from Newhouse and a call from Loosli, but the action stopped dead when the board paired on the river. Tran added 2.55M to his 2nd-place chip total.
Short-stack Jorn Walthaus, still reeling from several big hands on Day 6, shoved all-in with A9os for 13 big blinds. His bad luck continued as fellow short stack Steve Gee picked up AK and also shoved in for 24 big blinds. A king on the flop dealt a crushing blow to the Dutchman, sending him home in 26th place. The hand gave Steve Gee some much-needed chips, bumping his total to nearly 5M.
On the secondary featured table, Italian pro Sergio Castellucio and his AJ clashed hands with Jason Mann’s pocket Queens. Following Mann’s 3-bet Castellucio pulled an astonishing 4-bet, re-raising to 1.5M. After the flop and turn did nothing to improve his hand, Castellucio tried to take down the pot with a 1.36M bet, but Mann made the call. A sickening Ace on the river gave Sergio the checkmark, but he sheepishly checked the hand down and won a 6.3M pot. After losing 42% of his stack in the hand all Mann could do was shake his head in disbelief.
Matthew Reed flopped a 9-high club flush against Israeli-born chess player Amir Lehavot, who also flopped a monster with a set of 2s. The turn was no help to Lehavot, and Reed fired out 1.3M. The board did not pair on the river and Reed bet 3M, roughly half of Lehavot’s stack. Lehavot made a nice fold and saved himself further damage, while Reed added 2.7M to his stack.
On the featured table, short stack survivor Steve Gee opened up the action with pocket 9s. Michiel Brummelhuis, another short stack, must have seen something no one else did and decided to reraise with 104d. Gee checked his hand again and immediately moved all-in, causing Brummelhuis to fold. Brummelhuis was left with only 16 big blinds following the debacle. It was a weird hand to say the least.
On the outer table, Texas bar owner Jason Alexander once again found Lady Luck on his side, turning trip 6s with 76h against Matthew Reed’s QQ. Reed was unable to get away after the river brought a harmless 5, handing Alexander a 6.6M pot.
Jason Mann picked up pockets 10s and found himself up against big stack big blind Chris Lindh, who reraised with Q9os. A flop of 5Q5 gave Lindh the lead, and he bet accordingly. Surprisingly, Mann reraised all-in for 3.65M, putting the pressure back on Lindh, who eventually made the call. The turn and river were no help to Mann, who was eliminated in 25th place for $285,408. With the win Lindh jumped up to 2nd place on the leaderboard with nearly 16M.
Next up, Mark Newhouse butted heads with chip leader Anton Morgenstern. Although his AK was the best hand after hitting an Ace on the flop, a check-raise from Morgenstern on the river made Newhouse fold the winning hand.
Michiel Brummelhuis tried to get cute one more time, this time reraising JC Tran with K4os. Tran however, wasn’t going anywhere, and put in a 4-bet reraise of his own with 82os. Brummelhuis could only shake his head and fold.
Carlos “The Matador” Mortensen bullied over Frenchman Clement Tripodi, firing out consecutive bluffs on the flop and turn in order to make him fold top pair. His hunt for a second Main Event championship was still alive and well.
Steve Gee put his tournament life on the line with 107d, shoving all-in against chip leader Anton Morgenstern. Morgenstern immediately snap-called the bet with pocket 8s. An 8 on the flop killed Gee’s chances, ending his bid for back-to-back final table appearances. He finished in 24th place. Morgenstern upped his chip count to an astonishing 29.3M, more that 20M above average.
Anton opened up the action a short while later with KJ, and JC Tran smooth called with QQ. A flop of 4J4 gave both players two pair, causing Morgenstern to once again bet out and once again get called by JC. Morgensten bet 675K on the turn, and once again JC called. The river paired the board a second time, leading to a 1.25M bet by Morgenstern and (again) a call by JC Tran. Tran showed his pair of Queens and took down the 5.2M pot.
French poker pro Sylvain Loosli and his K10c butted heads with Jay Farber’s AJ. The flop gave Farber top pair and Loosli second pair, eventually earning Farber 1.5M.
Farber wasn’t quite finished, picking up KK against chip leader Anton Morgenstern’s 54s. A series of bets preflop led to a 2M chip pot before the flop, which paired the board and gave Anton a gutshot straight draw. I thought we might see some fireworks, but a bet from Farber ended the hand prematurely. Farber increased his chip total up to nearly 9M.
Farber was in good shape with pocket 9s to knock out Mark Newhouse, who shoved all-in preflop for 3.2M with A2s. A flop of J10K gave Newhouse a broadway draw, but he was only 16% with one card to go. A miracle Queen gave Newhouse the straight and helped him survive for at least another hand, doubling him up to 6.9M. Farber lost 1/3 of his stack in the hand.
The action once again continued with Farber, who picked up AKc and raised preflop. Incidentally, Newhouse was his competitor, reraising with a pair of 4s. Farber 4-bet to 2M and Newhouse folded.
A 4-way hand erupted on the featured table between (surprise) Farber, Loosli, Ortiz, and Tran, who held 55, 109os, K8h, and A3os respectively. A flop of 9KA gave everyone inolved a pair. JC Tran bet out the best hand, Ortiz called with the second best hand, and Loosli reraised with third pair! Tran, Ortiz, and Farber all folded, allowing Loosli to add 2.2M to his stack.
Yevgeniy Timoshenko would be the last person eliminated on the episode, running A8c into Jan Nakladal’s AJ. He finished in 22nd place for $285,408. With the win, Nakladal would bump his chip stack up to 9.5M, good enough for 8th place.
Leaderboard
1. Anton Morgenstern – 24,530,000
2. Chris Lindh – 17,295,000
3. Sylvain Loosli – 14,650,000
4. JC Tran – 14,265,000
5. James Alexander – 13,210,000
6. Marc Etienne McLaughlin – 11,910,000
7. Fabian Ortiz – 10,780,000
8. Jan Nakladal – 9,555,000
9. Bruno Kawauti – 9,330,000
Players Remaining: 21
Average Stack: 9,075,000
Make sure to tune in next week for continuing coverage of Day 7. Episodes will continue to air until the final table begins play in early November.