More than a week ago, the 2012 World Series of Poker kicked off the 43rd Annual $10,000 Main Event, which attracted 6,598 players and created a prize pool of $62,021,200. Now, as Day 6 begins, only 97 runners remain, each with their eyes firmly fixed on making the “Octo-Nine” and capturing the $8,527,982 first-place prize.
The man best position to make a deep run is Kyle Keranen, who is sitting on the biggest stack in the room with 6,935,000. Not far behind are Robert Salaburu who finished Day 5 with a stack of 6,195,000, and Taylor Paur, who bagged up 5,820,000.
Joining these men are an eclectic mix of amateurs and pros. David “ODB” Baker (1,360,000) has had a tremendous summer, winning his first gold bracelet and making three other final tables, and now he finds himself in contention for the Main Event title and 2012 Player of the Year honors (he’ll need to finish eighth or better. Another man looking to accomplish an impressive feat is Sam Holden, who is looking to make back-to-back final tables after finishing ninth last year.
Joining these two are Gaelle Baumann (3,980,000), Jan Heitmann (3,410,000), Amnon Filippi (3,400,000), Elisabeth Hille (3,390,000), A.J. Jejelowo (3,340,000), Roland Israelashvili (2,805,000), Marcia Topp (1,700,000), Jason Somerville (1,400,000),Vanessa Selbst (1,350,000), Erik Cajelais (1,180,000), Greg Merson (945,000), and Gavin Smith (675,000).
Here’s a look at the top ten chip counts at the start of Day 6:
Top Ten Chip Counts at the Start of Day 6
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kyle Keranen | 6,935,000 |
| 2 | Robert Salaburu | 6,195,000 |
| 3 | Taylor Paur | 5,820,000 |
| 4 | Erik Hellman | 4,715,000 |
| 5 | Wilfried Haerig | 4,505,000 |
| 6 | Shahriar Assareh | 4,395,000 |
| 7 | Charles Coultas | 4,015,000 |
| 8 | Gaelle Baumann | 3,980,000 |
| 9 | Fabrizio Gonzalez | 3,935,000 |
| 10 | Nicco Maag | 3,895,000 |
Play will resume tomorrow at 12:00 PM PST, which is about 40 minutes from now, so join us then as the final 97 players look to knock off another five levels and hopefully make the top 27!
. Fourth street brought the 
and Smith was one card away from elimination.
struck the river and Smith was forced to settle for an early exit here on Day 6.
, Paur checked, Gee bet 160,000 and Paur called. The turn came 
, Paur led out for 480,000 and Gee called. The river came 
and Paur took a few minutes to bet 1,200,000.
, and both players checked quickly.
hit, and Buchman moved all in for 775,000 chips. Hille double checked her cards, and called rather quickly.
, and both were trailing Hille's 
.
, and both Buchman and Flaherty were eliminated. After finishing fourth in 2009, Buchman made another very impressive run, but his tournament ended on Day 6.
and gave her a pair. While she was currently out in front, Merson's overs and flush draw made him the favorite in the hand.
turn gave Merson an added gut-shot straight draw, but his chances of winning did drop to 40.90% with one card to come. The dealer burned one last time and put out the 
pair the board on the turn. Kluchman checked and Buckenmayer took a minute before checking behind.
and Kluchman moved all in. Buckenmayer snap-called with turned over the 
and gave Balsiger trips. Somerville needed a queen to stay alive, but it was not to be as the 
. Corcione checked, Wong made a continuation bet, and both of his opponents called. By then the pot size was about 1 million.
. Corcione checked, and Wong fired a bet of 700,000. Maag then raised to 2 million even. After some thought, Corcione pushed his hand away, and eventually Wong did as well.
and was crushing Maag's 
.
