button in SafariEvent 57 - $10,000 World Championship No Limit Hold'em
Day 7 Completed
2009 World Series of Poker
Event 57 - $10,000 World Championship No Limit Hold'em
Day: 7
Players Left 9 / 6,494
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Play started out with the elimination of Prahlad Friedman just ten minutes into the day. That would set the tone for the day right up until 28 players remained, with players flying out of their seats. At the start of the second level of play, six players were eliminated in a span of twenty minutes. Among them was one of the fan favorites, 2007 Player of the Year Tom "DonkeyBomber" Schneider. He finished in 52nd place. 2008 November Niner Dennis Phillips joined Schneider on the rail soon after, ending his second Main Event run in 45th place. Friend of PokerNews and PokerRoad CEO Joe Sebok was also among the early casualties, knocked out in 56th place.
The primary story of the day was the play of the big stacks. Day 6 chip leader Darvin Moon, Billy Kopp and Phil Ivey -- yes, that Phil Ivey -- amassed chips early and then were relentless in their attacks on the short stacks. Our bubble to Day 8 of the tournament lasted the better part of two hours, with nobody wanting to be the player who missed out on an extra $99,000 by finishing in 28th place. At the end it was Joe Ward who was bad-beated into 28th place, bringing a halt to the action.
When play stopped, Moon was the player who bagged the most chips (20,160,000 total). He will carry the title of chip leader, and a huge lead on the rest of the field, into Day 8. Ivey is very much in the hunt for his third bracelet of the summer with 11,350,000. Two other well-known names left in the field -- Antonio Esfandiari and Ludovic Lacay -- have their Day 8 work cut out for themselves with 4,470,000 and 5,610,000, respectively.
27 players remain. Each is that much closer to the dream of every poker player that started in this tournament 11 days ago -- a berth at the final table and the "November Nine", a guaranteed seven figure payday, and a chance at true poker immortality by being crowned champion of the Main Event.
Those 27 players will come back tomorrow to play down to the final table. It will be a long day -- a very, very long day. Action starts at noon and will end in the wee hours. Stock up on coffee, cigarettes and foodstuffs and we'll see you at noon tomorrow!
Ward
Robbins
The flop was
, Ward still in the lead. The turn was the 
but the 
cruelly spiked on the river to end his Main Event run in 28th place. After the hand, Robbins was up to 9.7 million.
The flop came down
and everyone checked. The turn brought the 
and Schaffel fired 500,000. Kopp flat-called.The river was the
and Schaffel checked. Kopp fired 700,000 and Schaffel folded.
Showdown
Cada:
Balmigere:
The board would run down
, safe for the all-in player. With his pair of jacks, Francois Balmigere has picked up a crucial double up which is far better than being outta here in 28th place. He's back to 1.7 million now, alive but still in need of some help.
It should be no surprise, given that difference, that play has tightened up massively. Even with four tables in play, there's not a whole lot going on right now. Nobody wants to be the player who busts in 28th place and misses out on an extra six figures -- not to mention the extra TV exposure ensured by coming back tomorrow.
. He was in perfect shape to double up against the 
of Balmigere.Esfandiari disappeared from the stage to go sit in a spectator's chair as he sweated this board. There wasn't much drama as it was a clean slate for him, coming down
. The crowed erupted with the most ambitious celebration so far today as Esfandiari raised his arms in the air and high-fived the crowd. There are even a group of old women who were doing the wavy magicians' voodoo arms thing in the corner of the stage. It's clear everyone in this arena is pulling for Esfandiari, and he now has twice as many chips to work with.Esfandiari - 4,400,000
Balmigere - 730,000
Just now, Phil Ivey raised to 260,000 from the cutoff, and Jordan Smith reraised all in from the small blind. The big blind folded, and Ivey took a moment to consider the situation.
"How much is it?" he asked. Smith was all in for a total of 2.035 million. "I don't know if I can take this anymore," he added.
Ivey thought a moment longer, then made the call.
Smith showed
and Ivey 
. The community cards came 
, and Smith is now up to 4.4 million. Ivey slips to 11 million.
Haabak
Maimone
The board ran out
to double Haabak to 3,220,000.
All three players checked the
flop as well as the 
on the turn. The fell on the river and the action was checked to Lacay, who bet 325,000. Begleiter called and Maimone folded. Begleiter showed
for aces up and Lacay mucked. Begleiter= 12,400,000
Lacay= 6,400,000
