It's been a tough day for Jason Mercier. He came in with high hopes on the day, as he was coming back to a 50,000 stack in the $1,500 re-entry, and a 32,000 stack in the $5,000 stud. However, he busted out of both of those within the first few hours of play, so he hopped over here and entered this event. Well we just saw him making his rounds on the floor, before heading for the exits. We managed to grab him just before he left.
He told us that he had about 12,000 when he picked up . He got it in on a flop of with two clubs against a player who had with two clubs in his hand. Mercier was looking to dodge a club to survive, which he did, but an eight on the river completed his opponent's straight. Mercier will have to wait till tomorrow to, as he puts it, hunt for his third bracelet.
We missed the action and ran across the room as we saw Phil Hellmuth standing up and talking to the table. The last thing we caught was Hellmuth saying, "I don't remember you from Adam buddy,"
Chris Tryba couldn't have been happier with the outcome. "I've been waiting eight years to bust him. He put such a bad beat on me in 2004," Tryba announced to the table.
The table recounted that Chris Tryba limped from under the gun and Hellmuth made it 1,800 from the button. Tryba potted (all in) and Hellmuth pulled his patented "can't my chips in fast enough with two hands" move.
Tryba:
Hellmuth:
A king and queen fell on the flop and then the board bricked out for Hellmuth. Tryba took the pot and exacted revenge that took eight years to get.
Chuck Tonne has been on an absolute tear since the dinner break. His stack didn't stand out to us at the break, but after level 7, we noticed that he was pushing 100,000. Now, he has a great wall of 40 stacks of chips in front of him, and by our estimation, he is up to 150,000! He is sharing a table with David Williams, who as of yet hasn't fell victim to the monster chip leader. We will be sure to keep our eye on him as the night winds down.
The WSOP is young so far, as there have only been seven bracelets awarded in open play events(this excludes the $500 Casino Employee's event). Of those seven winners, two of them are still alive in this event, and looking for their second bracelet of the summer.
Nick Jivkov won Event #5 $1,500 Pot-Limit Holdem, besting a final table that included Daniel Negreanu, Tommy Vedes, and Jonathan Aguiar. Jivkov took home just under $190,000 for his efforts, but a win in this event would top that. Jivkov currently has 17,000.
Leif Force is also still alive here in the Brasilia room. Force is fresh off his win in Event #3 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em/Pot-Limit Omaha, where he beat Jason Koon in the finals. Force pocketed just over $200,000 with that result. Force is sitting with 18,000.