2008 World Series of Poker

39th Annual World Series of Poker Main Event
Event Info

2008 World Series of Poker

Event Info
Buy-in
$10,000
Entries
6,844
Players Left
9
Next Payout
Place 9
$900,670
Level Info
Level
33
Blinds
120,000 / 240,000
Ante
30,000

39th Annual World Series of Poker Main Event

Day 5 Completed

Official Day 5 Chip Counts Released

Chip leader Mark Ketteringham
Chip leader Mark Ketteringham
Official chip counts have now been released for the 79 players still alive in the 2008 WSOP $10,000 NLHE World Championship. All 79 players have their end-of-day totals listed in the 'Chip Counts' section (link at right). The top ten going into Day 6 play are as follows:

Mark Ketteringham 5,800,000
Nikolay Losev 4,058,000
Albert Kim 3,734,000
Tiffany Michelle 3,438,000
Dennis Phillips 3,436,000
Aaron Gordon 3,369,000
Jamal Kunbuz 3,327,000
Terry Lade 3,225,000
Jeremy Joseph 3,100,000
Alfredo Fernandez 3,053,000

Tags: Mark Ketteringham

Extra! Extra! Hellmuth Starts Day 6 in the Penalty Box

Everyone thought Phil Hellmuth ended the day just with a blow-up and a warning, but that's not the case. He continued to berate Cristian Dragomir for several minutes after the last hand we described and after floorperson Robbie Thompson issued him a warning. That prompted Thompson to summon supervisor Steve Frezer to the feature table. Frezer listened to Thompson's description of the situation and then assessed Hellmuth a one-orbit penalty to start Day 6.

Never a dull moment when Hellmuth's around.

Play Concludes for the Evening

With the completion of Level 23, play has concluded for the evening. We started the day with 189 players, all with their eye on Day 6. After just over four levels of play, only 79 of them remain.

We said goodbye to several notables today. Jeff Madsen, Allen Cunningham, Jon Friedberg, Hoyt Corkins, Gus Hansen, Kara Scott, Mark Vos, and Chip Jett were just a few of the notables whose Main Event dreams were dashed prematurely.

Still very much in the mix are Mike Matusow, PokerNews' own Tiffany Michelle, and Phil Hellmuth Jr., who is seeking his record 12th WSOP bracelet.

Mark Ketteringham ends the day as our probable chip leader with approximately 5,700,000. His lead is far from secure however with plenty of poker left to be played and Tiffany Michelle, Jamal Kunbuz, and Albert Kim all right on his heels.

Tomorrow's action promises to be just as exciting as we are scheduled to play down to just 27 players.

We hope you'll join as at 12:00pm local time for our coverage of Day 6 action. As always, official chip counts and seating assignments will be posted as soon as they become available.

Mark Vos Busts on the Last Hand of the Night

Mark Vos - Eliminated
Mark Vos - Eliminated
Dennis Phillips raised to 65,000 from middle position and Mark Vos reraised to 180,000 on the button. Phillips then made it 400,000 to go and Vos came over the top all in for 1.5 million.

Phillips called and showed {A-Spades} {A-Diamonds} to Vos' {A-Hearts} {K-Spades}. He had Mark covered by around 300,000 so this hand was for Vos' tournament life, and when the board ran out {Q-Diamonds} {9-Hearts} {3-Diamonds} {10-Spades} {2-Spades} Vos was eliminated just as Day 5 came to an end. When Day 6 begins tomorrow, Dennis Phillips will be sitting with a 3.4 million stack.

Hellmuth Ends the Day With a Blow-up

Phil Hellmuth
Phil Hellmuth
Cristian Dragomir opened with a raise to 80,000 before Hellmuth made it 255,000 to go from the small blind.

"I hope he doesn't have aces," said Hellmuth as Dragomir asked for a count. After a few moments, Dragomir made the call.

They saw a flop of {9-Clubs}{10-Clubs}{7-Spades} and Hellmuth checked to Dragomir, who thought for a moment before firing a healthy bet of 300,000. Hellmuth sighed in disgust before folding {A-Spades}{K-Hearts} face-up on the table.

Matusow laughed and said to Dragomir to show the bluff, and Dragomir flipped {10-Diamonds}{4-Diamonds}! Matusow and the crowd roared in hysterics as Hellmuth jumped out of his seat and stormed around the room berating his opponent for calling his reraise with ten high.

"Listen buddy, you're an idiot!" screamed Hellmuth. "This is the Main Event and you are the worst player in history!" he continued as the crowd was loving every moment of the blow-up.

Dragomir's entourage continued to cheer as Hellmuth continued the barrage. The TD stepped in and issued a warning to Hellmuth to settle down before Dragomir stood up out of his chair to put Hellmuth back in his place with a cry of, "Enough is enough!"

Fortunately for both players the clock ticked over to the end of the level, and the end of the day's play to settle both players down. They eventually shook hands and began to bag up their chips as Mike Matusow summed up the situation best as he shouted, "Thank God for Phil Hellmuth! Thank God for Chris Moneymaker!"

What a way to end the day!

Tags: Cristian DragomirPhil Hellmuth

Late Elimination

On the last hand of the night, Davor Lanini open shoved for 185,000. He was called by Kelly Kim. Lanini didn't have much -- {8-Diamonds} {7-Spades} -- but Kim did -- {J-Clubs} {J-Spades}. The board ran out {A-Diamonds} {4-Diamonds} {4-Clubs} {J-Hearts} {10-Spades} to send Lanini packing. He will not have to come back tomorrow.

Kenna KOed

Stephen Kenna
Stephen Kenna
Stephen Kenna pushed all in with his last 238,000 from middle position, and Joe Bishop called him from the button. Kenna showed {A-Spades}{Q-Spades}, and Bishop {J-Spades}{J-Hearts}.

The table had been just been remarking on how frequently A-Q seemed to be coming up in hands. The hand -- which Doyle Brunson has sometimes called his least favorite -- was winning half of the battles and losing half.

Unfortunately for Kenna, this would be one of the times A-Q didn't work out, as the board ran out {K-Clubs}{4-Hearts}{2-Spades}{8-Hearts}{3-Hearts}. Kenna is out, and Bishop is now up to 1.6 million.

Tags: Joe BishopStephen Kenna

Lisa Parsons Takes a Hit

Action folded to Dennis Phillips on the button and he raised to 70,000. Lisa Parson called from the big blind and they went heads up to the flop.

The flop came {K-Diamonds} {J-Diamonds} {5-Diamonds} and Parsons check-called a bet of 125,000 from Phillips. When the {6-Spades} hit the turn, both players checked.

The river fell the {7-Hearts} and Parsons led out for 150,000. Phillips called the bet and showed {K-Clubs} {Q-Spades}. Parsons mucked and was left with just 630,000 chips. Phillips cracked the 2,000,000 mark on the hand.

Andrew Brokos Picks Up a Big Pot from Allen Kennedy

We picked up the action on the turn, with the board reading {4-Hearts} {Q-Spades} {4-Clubs} {A-Clubs}. Kennedy bet 300,000 and Brokos called, and when the {6-Spades} fell on the river Kennedy bet 500,000 and again Brokos called. And good calls they were -- Brokos' {A-Diamonds} {K-Spades} was good against Kennedy's {K-Hearts} {Q-Hearts} and he scooped a pot that brought his stack up to 4.08 million. Kennedy sits with 1.26 million.