2012 World Series of Poker

Event 61: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event
Event Info

2012 World Series of Poker

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
k5
Prize
$8,531,853
Event Info
Buy-in
$10,000
Prize Pool
$62,021,200
Entries
6,598
Level Info
Level
42
Blinds
1,000,000 / 2,000,000
Ante
300,000

Event 61: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event

Day 4 Completed

Day 4 Ends With Volpe On Top; Many Notables Still in Contention

Level 19 : 5,000/10,000, 1,000 ante
Paul Volpe
Paul Volpe

After another four levels of hard-fought No-Limit Hold’em, Day 4 of what is arguably poker’s most prestigious tournament — the Main Event — is history. When all was said and done, Paul Volpe would stand tall as the Day 4 chip leader with 2,750,000.

Play was scheduled for five levels today; however, players were sent on an extended break at the end of the 17th level so that payouts could be verified. As a result, it was decided that only four levels be played today.

Day 4 kicked off with 720 hopefuls all trying to survive – and thrive – into the money. However, only 666 spots were guaranteed a minimum $19,227 payday.

As expected, the money bubble came shortly after play began for the day. In the very first deal of hand-for-hand play, we witnessed a four-way bubble, which meant each bubble boy would take home a share of a $19,227 min-cash. It was also decided they would play a four-handed single-table tournament to determine who would get a seat in next year’s Main Event.

Among those who managed to cash, but ultimately fall short of the elusive Day 5 include Jason Mercier, Liv Boeree, Brock Parker, JC Tran, Tuan Le, Huck Seed, Terrence Chan, Mike McDonald, Chris Moorman, One Drop Champion Antonio Esfandiari, Maria Ho, Shaun Deeb and NHL goalie Roberto Luongo, who made his Main Event debut and had to settle for a min-cash after running pocket fours into Bryan Vanrijsbergen’s pocket jacks.

Also unable to last the day was Johnny Chan, our last-standing Main Event champion. Chan met his end late in the day after getting all-in preflop with pocket sevens and running into Isaac Baron’s pocket kings. Barron flopped quads on the flop and that was all she wrote for Chan.

By the day’s end, just 282 remained to duke it out on Day 5. Some notables still in the hunt include Erik Hellman (2,216,000), John Juanda (194,000), Kyle Bowker (2,081,000), Gaelle Baumann (1,438,000), Gavin Smith (831,000) and Vanessa Selbst (1,678,000) who spent all of her day at a restricted-access feature table.

Volpe came into Day 4 among the chip leaders and steadily built his stack throughout the day. Volpe was able to score a couple of eliminations, including the elimination of Sean Rice during the last level of play to propel his stack over three million. Volpe would have ended the day with about four million; however, he lost a big pot against Eric Pratt just before play ended.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, many of today's survivors also boast deep runs in prior Main Events. Here is a look at their names, chip counts going into Day 5 and their best prior Main Event results:

NameChip CountBest Main Event Result
Perry Green304,0001981, 2nd — $150,000
Joseph Cheong1,441,0002010, 3rd — $4,130,049
Eric Buchman2,070,0002009, 4th — $2,502,890
Marcel Luske603,0002004, 10th — $373,000
Jamie Robbins1,538,0002009, 11th — $896,730
Andrew Lichtenberger1,150,0002009, 18th — $500,557
JP Kelly778,0002011, 26th — $302,005

Daniel Negreanu also survived into Day 5 with 302,000 in chips. This marks the second year in a row Negreanu has made a deep run in the Main Event. He will undoubtedly be looking to best his 211th-place finish from last year.

Here is a look at our top ten chip leaders going into Day 5:

Top Ten Chip Counts

PlacePlayerChips
1Paul Volpe2,750,000
2Erik Hellman2,216,000
3Dave D'Alesandro2,093,000
4Kyle Bowker2,081,000
5Eric Buchman2,076,000
6Elisabeth Hille2,014,000
7Andras Koroknai1,971,000
8Amit Zulkowitz1,961,000
9Eric Legoff1,947,000
10Nicco Maag1,899,000

The plan tomorrow is to begin at 12:00 PM PST and play a regular schedule of five additional levels.

Be sure to stick with us here at PokerNews as we provide you with all the action from the felt as the remaining field works its way towards a final table!

Tags: Paul Volpe

Official End-of-Day Chip Counts (full)

Player Chips Progress
Paul Volpe us
Paul Volpe
2,750,000
WSOP 3X Winner
Erik Hellman se
Erik Hellman
2,216,000
Dave D'Alesandro us
Dave D'Alesandro
2,093,000
Kyle Bowker us
Kyle Bowker
2,081,000
WSOP 1X Winner
Eric Buchman us
Eric Buchman
2,076,000 6,000
WSOP 2X Winner
Elisabeth Hille no
Elisabeth Hille
2,014,000
Andras Koroknai hu
Andras Koroknai
1,971,000 1,000
Amit Zulkowitz il
Amit Zulkowitz
1,961,000
Eric Legoff fr
Eric Legoff
1,947,000
Nicco Maag de
Nicco Maag
1,899,000 779,000
Leo Wolpert us
Leo Wolpert
1,835,000
WSOP 1X Winner
Ben Greenberg us
Ben Greenberg
1,822,000
Jake Balsiger us
Jake Balsiger
1,775,000 525,000
Jonathan Seelbach us
Jonathan Seelbach
1,709,000
Vanessa Selbst us
Vanessa Selbst
1,678,000
Erik Cajelais ca
Erik Cajelais
1,600,000
WSOP 1X Winner
Mads Andersen dk
Mads Andersen
1,595,000 605,000
Randy Haddox us
Randy Haddox
1,542,000 142,000
Robert Salaburu us
Robert Salaburu
1,529,000
Jamie Robbins us
Jamie Robbins
1,503,800
Robert Corcione us
Robert Corcione
1,494,000
Timothy Adams ca
Timothy Adams
1,475,000
WSOP 1X Winner
Joseph Cheong us
Joseph Cheong
1,441,000
WSOP 1X Winner
Gaelle Baumann fr
Gaelle Baumann
1,438,000
Winamax Team Pro
AP Phahurat us
AP Phahurat
1,426,000

Read full

Late-Night Eliminations

Player Chips Progress
Ercan Olgun tr
Ercan Olgun
Busted
Joseph Goott us
Joseph Goott
Busted
Claudia Crawford us
Claudia Crawford
Busted
Michael Neuber ca
Michael Neuber
Busted
Joshua Evans us
Joshua Evans
Busted
Alexander Berdichevsky us
Alexander Berdichevsky
Busted
Davide Catalano it
Davide Catalano
Busted
Neil Beckerman us
Neil Beckerman
Busted
Benjamin Alcober us
Benjamin Alcober
Busted
Joshua Weizer us
Joshua Weizer
Busted
Steve Yea kr
Steve Yea
Busted
Anton Wigg se
Anton Wigg
Busted
Stephan Ibs ch
Stephan Ibs
Busted
Jae Pak us
Jae Pak
Busted
Cameron Somsky us
Cameron Somsky
Busted
Fabrice Humbert fr
Fabrice Humbert
Busted
Griffin Benger ca
Griffin Benger
Busted
Ferit Gabriellson se
Ferit Gabriellson
Busted
Michael Pesek us
Michael Pesek
Busted
Jamie Sill gb
Jamie Sill
Busted
Jerry Wong us
Jerry Wong
Busted
WSOP 1X Winner
Heinz Kamutzki de
Heinz Kamutzki
Busted
David Stroj us
David Stroj
Busted
David Inselberg us
David Inselberg
Busted
Alan Wasserberger us
Alan Wasserberger
Busted

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Luck Be a Lady

Matt Woodward opened to 21,000 from middle position, Shahriar Assareh called in the hijack seat, Amnon Filippi called in the cutoff, and Timothy Adams three-bet to 91,000 on the button. Woodward four-bet to 185,000, Assareh and Filippi folded, and Adams moved all in for 672,000. Woodward called.

Woodward{a-Hearts}{k-Spades}
Adams{a-Clubs}{q-Diamonds}

Adams stole the lead from Woodward when the flop fell {q-Spades}{9-Diamonds}{6-Spades}. The turn and river bricked {2-Hearts}, {4-Diamonds} respectively, and Adams shipped a monster double.

Player Chips Progress
Timothy Adams ca
Timothy Adams
1,395,000 745,000
WSOP 1X Winner
Shahriar Assareh us
Shahriar Assareh
1,030,000 -270,000
Amnon Filippi us
Amnon Filippi
820,000 -380,000
WSOP 1X Winner
Matt Woodward us
Matt Woodward
216,000 -434,000

Tags: Shahriar AssarehAmnon FilippiMatt WoodwardTimothy Adams

Marafioti Cracks Aces To Double Up

No more then 30 seconds after the big hand with Paul Volpe, we saw another big hand developing in the mothership. Matt Marafioti was all in preflop for his last 310,000 with {a-Hearts}{k-Hearts}, but he was in a world of hurt, as Nghi Van Tran held {a-Spades}{a-Diamonds}.

Marafioti would need a ton of help to survive, and the flop was about as good as he could have asked for, coming {10-Spades}{3-Hearts}{9-Hearts}. Any heart would do for Marafioti, and the dealer didn't leave him waiting anymore, as the {5-Hearts} hit the turn. Marafioti shot out of his chair, and began to jump around the main stage in celebration. The meaningless river was the {k-Diamonds}, and Marafioti walked away from the table to compose himself after the miracle suckout.

After that hand, Marafioti shoots up to 673,000, while Van Tran drops to 1.2 million.

Player Chips Progress
Nghi Van Tran us
Nghi Van Tran
1,200,000 -67,000
Matt Marafioti ca
Matt Marafioti
673,000 356,000

Tags: Matt MarafiotiNghi Van Tran

Buckenmayer Triples, Abrams Adds Some

Three players were all in preflop, including Scott Abrams, Robert Buckenmayer, and Josh Neufeld. Neufeld had both players covered, and Abrams had Buckenmayer covered by 250,000 or so.

Abrams{a-Hearts}{k-Spades}
Buckenmayer{a-Diamonds}{4-Diamonds}
Neufeld{8-Spades}{8-Diamonds}

The flop fell {3-Clubs}{4-Spades}{4-Clubs}, leading a player at the table to gasp. The turn was the {k-Hearts}, keeping Abrams alive, and the {j-Spades} bricked on the river.

Buckenmayer tripled to 475,000, Abrams increased his stack to 515,000, and Neufeld slipped to 835,000.

Player Chips Progress
Josh Neufeld us
Josh Neufeld
835,000 -65,000
Scott Abrams us
Scott Abrams
515,000 115,000
WSOP 1X Winner
Robert Buckenmayer us
Robert Buckenmayer
475,000 275,000

Tags: Scott AbramsRobert BuckenmayerJosh Neufeld

Volpe Loses Massive Race on River

Paul Volpe- One Card From 4 million
Paul Volpe- One Card From 4 million

There was a mountain of chips in the middle when we got to the table, and based on the positions, here's how we believe it went down. Eric Pratt had put in a four bet to 115,000, but Volpe had already responded by moving all in when we got there. Eventually, Pratt made the call for the rest of his stack, which was 631,000.

Volpe: {j-Clubs}{j-Diamonds}
Pratt: {a-Clubs}{k-Spades}

The flop kept Volpe out in front, coming {8-Spades}{7-Diamonds}{6-Diamonds}. The {4-Hearts} on the turn brought chop outs for Pratt, as a five would split the pot. He was still looking for an ace or a king on the river, and the rail eagerly anticipated that card.

River: {a-Spades}

Pratt binked the ace on the river to double up, and Volpe just took it in stride, and started counting out the chips. After that hit, Volpe drops to 2.8 million, while Pratt shoots up to 1.26 million.

Player Chips Progress
Paul Volpe us
Paul Volpe
2,750,000 -650,000
WSOP 3X Winner
Eric Pratt us
Eric Pratt
1,260,000 555,000

Tags: Eric PrattPaul Volpe

Zhao's Ladies Oust Nealon

We caught up to find Fergal Nealon move all in and Susie Zhao move all in over the top. The remaining player in the hand folded and the hands were turned over to find Zhao in the lead.

Zhao: {Q-Diamonds}{Q-Hearts}
Nealon: {A-Diamonds}{10-Hearts}

The two players watched on as the dealer brought forth a flop of {2-Hearts}{10-Clubs}{6-Diamonds}, pairing Nealon's ten.

"There's the sweat," remarked Zhao.

She didn't need to worry, however, as the turn was the {J-Clubs} and the river the {6-Hearts}, ensuring her victory and Nealon's elimination from the tournament.

Player Chips Progress
Susie Zhao us
Susie Zhao
670,000 45,000
Fergal Nealon ie
Fergal Nealon
Busted

Tags: Susie ZhaoFergal Nealon

Three To Go

Level 19 : 5,000/10,000, 1,000 ante

It's that time of night again. The tourney clock has been stopped and it has been announced that just three more hands are to be played at each table.

The big board is showing 284 players still with us at the moment.