After an intense day filled with amazing poker action we are down to just 15 players. The day started with 239 players and it didn't take long before we reached the money bubble. A total of 216 players managed to cash for at least $2,893 and amongst the players to bust out shortly after that was saw Carter Gill, Terrence Chan and Jason Mercier who all picked up a min cash.
Brent Hanks was knocked all the way down to just a few antes when he started an impressive run. Hanks managed to survive the day with a nice stack as did Vanessa Selbst who is looking to grab her second WSOP bracelet. Dan Smith was also amongst the players with massive swings but right before the end he busted when he got unlucky. His ace-queen failed to hold up against king-jack after being well out in front with a flopped pair of aces.
Last years 26th finisher in the WSOP Main Event, JP Kelly, also had an amazing day. Kelly has to be the most experience player left in the field with two WSOP bracelets under his belt from 2009. Kelly managed to win the $1,500 Pot Limit Hold'em in Las Vegas and added a titel in London when he won the £1,000 No Limit Hold'em tournament just three months later.
Play will resume tomorrow at 1pm local time with with Jacob Bazeley as our chip leader. Bazeley is a regular on the WSOP Circuit with four final tables behind his name. His biggest result so far was a 66th place finish in last years Main Event giving him a nice $108,412 pay day. In order to top that result Bazeley has to finish at least fifth tomorrow. The winner tomorrow will walk him with the first bracelet in an open event at the 2012 WSOP and a hefty $517,725 top prize. Make sure to tune in to PokerNews.com as we bring you all the updates as the final day of this tournament will unfold.
[user169505]
No 6th bracelet for Juanda...just quite yet.
Multiple WSOP bracelet winner John Juanda has been eliminated in the last level of the day. We didn't see the hand but have been told that Juanda held against the of Neil Willerson with Juanda hitting on the flop. Somewhere on the turn or the river a queen popped up and Juanda went from a big lead to dust.
[user169505]
Dan Smith on a heater of his short lifetime (this hand apart :))
Poker is a game that combines both skill and luck and it is this wonderful combination of elements that make the game so exciting. This tremendous concoction means that even the very best players cannot win all of the time. When they do win all of the time it is known in the game as a heater, and that is exactly what Dan Smith is going through at the moment.
Smith has already won $1,748,942 in 2012 alone, including three $5,000 side events at the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo earlier this month. So with the first major event of the WSOP underway it is no surprise to see Smith in the final 48 panning for gold.
Heater or no heater, Smith is going to have to focus on his recovery after losing a huge point to Kenneth Strickland. JP Kelly told us that Strickland limped into the pot before calling a Dan Smith raise. The flop was and Strickland moved all-in. Smith called instantly and had Strickland crushed.
Strickland
Smith
Turn:
Dan Smith was just about to become our chip leader.
River:
Ouch! A stunned silence permeates around the table and Smith takes the whole think like the champion he is. Strickland now has 410,000 and Smith is down to 130,000.
"I'm all in!", Phil Hellmuth shouted at some of his friends on the rail. He had moved his chair back and was leaning over the table awaiting his fait. The 11-time WSOP bracelet winner had around 75,000 chips and his under-the-gun shove got called by French native Antoine Nowak. "You got ace-queen?", Hellmuth asked Nowak who didn't respond and turned over his cards.
Hellmuth:
Nowak:
The board ran out , and before Hellmuth could say anthing Nowak starting screaming, "OUI PAPA! OUI PAPA". Nowak blasted through the Amazon Room in a Fillipo Candio like fashion. Nowak was close to high fiving himself and anxiously started looking for his friend who was also still in the tournament to celebrate this great succes.
Across the room people starting mocking the overly exciting Frenchman who had just eliminated a very quiet Phil Hellmuth. "Good game guys", the 1989 Main Event champion said as he made his way to the payout desk.
For his finish, Hellmuth earned $7,204 and his 86th career WSOP cash.
We just got information regarding David 'Doc' Sands's bust out. He was all-in against Kwinsee Khoa Tran who eventually made the call after Sands had called the clock on him. This was the showdown that followed.
David Sands
Kwinsee Khoa Tran
The board ran out making sure Sands could claim his 80th place payout. He receives $5,261 for his efforts.
We caught the action on the turn in a hand between two of the most successful professionals left in the field. John Juanda just cashed for over half a million dollars in the WPT $100,000 High Roller last week and managed to pick up a WSOP bracelet in last years $10,000 2-7 No Limit Single Draw tournament. As of today Juanda's live tournament earnings exceed $12 million and he has a total of five WSOP bracelets to his name.
Vanessa Selbst is widely known as the best female poker player with just under five million in live tournament earnings. Her biggest victory came in the Partouche Poker Tour Main Event when she picked up a cool $1.8 million. She's also the last female to win an open event here at the WSOP, taking down the $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha tournament in 2008.
After this impressive introduction the hand we just saw is almost not even worth mentioning, but it is good to know we still have two superstars left in the field. The board read when Juanda checked from the small blind and Selbst checked her button. The river was the and again Juanda checked. Selbst gave it some thought and with around 22,000 she said, "I'm gonna be really dumb", and checked. Juanda said he had a nine and Selbst replied with, "I win, but I just wanna see", and he turned over his . Selbst tabled and raked in this pot giving her extra information about Juanda's play. With just over 100 players left in the tournament a serious deep run is within reach for these highly experienced players.
Eli Elezra started the day in second place with 155,900. Elezra is a veteran of the game with results dating back as far as 1996. In 2004, he won a WPT Main Event for over $1 million and then in 2007 he won a WSOP bracelet in the $3,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Low Split-8 or Better.
Jesse Martin has been competing in the World Series for several years and has cashes dating back to 2005. Last year Martin cashed for around $35,000 in Limit and No-Limit Hold'em events.
Here are Elezra and Martin locking horns in one of the vital pots of today.
The action folded around to Elezra who was seated on the button undergoing a thorough massage. He made the raise to 4,300, the small blind folded and Martin called in the big blind.
The dealer laid down the flop of and the sunglass wearing Martin check-called a 6,000 Elezra continuation-bet. On the turn the pair shared the and the same action ensued, this time for 22,000. With a little under 70,000 in the pot the dealer finished off the action by laying the on the felt. This time Martin dwelled for a while before making a small bet of 28,300. A frustrated Elezra tanked for a long while before eventually speaking.
"I got to see this. I flopped a set."
He made the call and Martin turned over for the rivered straight and Elezra tossed his hand into the muck.
[user169505]
Phil Hellmuth bobbing and weaving at the top
The small blind limped into the pot and Phil Hellmuth made it 3,000 more from the big blind. The small blind paid his dues and we moved onto the flop.
Flop:
The small blind check-called a 4,200 Hellmuth bet.
Turn:
Hellmuth checked his cards before both players check.
River:
The small blind checked and Hellmuth made a bet of 7,800 and assumed the Hellmuth pose. It's funny watching players play against Hellmuth because they all want to be the hero and the small blind was no different. He made the call and a few seconds later his hand was in the muck; Hellmuth tabling for the winning hand.
Double bracelet and EPT winner Jason Mercier just busted in the first payout level. The top professional with 7.6 million in live tournament earnings got his final 15,200 chips into the pot with against .
The board brought and Mercier told the dealer, "Really slow please", as he was sweating to hit one of his final six outs. Mercier needed a nine or a ten to survive but didn't get there when the hit. "No big deal", Mercier said as he headed over to the payout desk. For all you Mercier fans out there, he will be back later today for the $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Low Split tournament.
Yesterday was a grueling session of poker. Let's call it a warm up for what is to come over the next two months. But despite all the hard work, the Brasilia, Amazon and Pavilion were bursting with fun, frolics and fantastic poker. When you look up at the clock and see 2,101 players you wonder how on earth the day will ever end. But end it did and with 239 players left we were so very close to breaching the money bubble as well.
Today we start all over again as we continue to find a worthy wrist for the bracelet hidden in a box entitled Event #2 $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em. Over the next ten levels of poker we are going to see this tournament really take shape. 216 players are going to proudly tell people they are 1/1 and perversely the 217th player will also be proudly telling everyone how they were oh so nearly 1/1.
Sadan Turker starts the day in pole position, with 158,100 chips, but he starts the day on a grid bursting with pace and power. He shares table space with WSOP bracelet winner John Juanda, and more interestingly WSOP bracelet winner Andrew Badecker who starts the day with positional advantage over our chip leader. Eli Elezra, who is lurking just over the shoulder of Turker, starts the day on a table riddled with 10-20BB stacks.
The team at Pokernews will be bringing you all of the action from the Amazon room starting at 13:00, so please make sure you get ready for a day of bruising poker action.
![[user169505]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
against the 
of Neil Willerson with Juanda hitting 
and Strickland moved all-in. Smith called instantly and had Strickland crushed.
, and before Hellmuth could say anthing Nowak starting screaming, "OUI PAPA! OUI PAPA". Nowak blasted through the Amazon Room in a Fillipo Candio like fashion. Nowak was close to high fiving himself and anxiously started looking for his friend who was also still in the tournament to celebrate this great succes.
making sure Sands could claim his 80th place payout. He receives $5,261 for his efforts.
. Selbst tabled 
and the sunglass wearing Martin check-called a 6,000 Elezra continuation-bet. On the turn the pair shared the 
for the rivered straight and Elezra tossed his hand into the muck.
for the winning hand.
