Level: 24
Blinds: 12,000/24,000
Ante: 4,000
Level: 24
Blinds: 12,000/24,000
Ante: 4,000
On the last hand of the level, the action folded around to Antonio Esfandiari on the button. The Magician sized up the dead money in the pot and made a raise of 48,000. Philip Hammerling defended his big blind by calling and the players watched the dealer flop the .
Hammerling was first to act and tapped the table for a check, which prompted Esfandiari to try and take the pot right there with a bet of 57,000. The native of Germany paused for a minute or so before deciding to call and the hit the table on the turn. Both players checked this innocuous card and we were off to the river.
River:
Hammerling had enough of checking and led out for a bet of 82,000. Esfandiari stared him down for a but before releasing his hand and the bracelet winner took a slight hit to begin official final table action.
We just heard a rousing cheer of "Yaaayyyy!" and turned to catch Antonio Esfandiari's father congratulating his son.
The Magician turned and said "Hey Dad!" before coming over to give him a warm hug. With the strength of family support just a few feet away, Esfandiari will no doubt look to make his papa proud by capturing his second WSOP bracelet here today.
Action folded to Ken Griffin in the small blind who raised to 85,000. Jean Luc Marais tossed out the chips to call and they saw the flop come . Both players checked and when the turn brought the they both checked again. The river was the and Griffin led out with a bet of 100,000. Marais quickly called and the hands were revealed.
Griffin:
Marais:
Marais' aces and queens were best and he took down the pot.
Eric Baudry opened with a raise to 55,000 from under the gun, and it folded back around to Philip Hammerling who called from the small blind. Jeremiah Siegmund folded the BB, and the two remaining players saw the flop come .
Hammerling checked, and Baudry didn't waste too much time betting 80,000. Hammerling sat and thought about a minute, then raised to 181,000. Baudry only took a few moments to give it up.
Hammerling is up around 1.2 million at present -- third behind leader Marais and Esfandiari -- while Baudry has just under half a million.
With so much at stake at the final table of a WSOP event, some players choose to wear clothes that can more easily help them hide possible emotion and tells. Here at our final table, Ken Griffin, Jean Luc Marais, Philip Hammerling, and Jeremiah Siegmund are all sporting hooded sweatshirts with the hoods up. Jon Lane, Eric Baudry and Andrew Teng are all wearing baseball caps, and Antonion Esfandiari and Aaron Massey have left their heads uncovered.
Only Lane, Hammerling, and Siegmund have left their eyes exposed while all the other players are sporting sunglasses.
It's interesting to see the different ways in which players attempt to cover themselves. We've spotted Ken Griffin pulling his hooded sweatshirt up and around his face when he is involved in a hand. So much so, that during a hand earlier Jean Luc Marais (who is sitting directly to Griffin's left) had to lean out and over the table to attempt to get a read on his opponent.
Antonio Esfandiari has a lot of chips -- he remains in second behind Jean Luc Marais at the moment -- and not surprisingly is putting them to use. Most hands are being won without flops, and Esfandiari has taken four of the last five uncontested.
Esfandiari has about 1.53 million.
In the last two hands, Aaron Massey has tried and failed to steal Andrew Teng's blinds.
In the first encounter, Massey raised to 62,000 from the cutoff and Teng sized up his stack before shoving all-in. Massey mucked his cards and the steal attempt was thwarted.
On the very next hand, Massey held the button and raised to 50,000 after the action had folded to him. Teng again looked over at Massey's short stack and announced that he was all-in. Massey was visibly frustrated with the bullying but he tossed his cards into the muck, surrendering about one-fifth of his stack with the two failed steals.
Five of our nine final tablists are making their first WSOP cash ever. While Antonio Esfandiari is certainly the most experienced of the other four, Andrew Teng (currently trying to preserve his ninth-place stack) also has an impressive resume of WSOP success.
Antonio Esfandiari -- 1 bracelet, 14th WSOP cash (1st in 2011)
Andrew Teng -- 12th WSOP cash (4th in 2011)
Jonathan Lane -- 4th WSOP cash (all in 2011)
Eric Baudry -- 2nd WSOP cash (both in 2011)
Kenneth Griffin -- 1st WSOP cash
Philip Hammerling -- 1st WSOP cash
Aaron Massey -- 1st WSOP cash
Jean Luc Marais -- 1st WSOP cash
Jeremiah Siegmund -- 1st WSOP cash
The players are currently on their 60-minute dinner break, and here is where they all stand currently. After the break the players will be moving to the ESPN main stage.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Jean Luc Marais
|
1,915,000
35,000
|
35,000 |
Antonio Esfandiari |
1,820,000
285,000
|
285,000 |
|
||
Philip Hammerling
|
1,520,000
300,000
|
300,000 |
Kenneth Griffin |
1,020,000
75,000
|
75,000 |
Andrew Teng |
645,000
220,000
|
220,000 |
Jonathan Lane |
475,000
-110,000
|
-110,000 |
Aaron Massey |
445,000
-235,000
|
-235,000 |
Jeremiah Siegmund
|
380,000
-122,000
|
-122,000 |
Eric Baudry |
372,000
-123,000
|
-123,000 |