From middle position, Jordi Martinezalonso raised to 80,000 and 2012 World Series of Poker gold bracelet winner Dung Nguyen called from the button. In the big blind, Percy Mahatan called and the flop came down .
On the flop, Mahatan led for 110,000 and Martinezalonso raised to 310,000. Nguyen moved all in for around 1.4 million and Mahatan folded. Martinezalonso quickly called.
Martinezalonso tabled the and the at-risk Nguyen held the .
The board finished weith the and , leaving Nguyen second best and sending him to the rail. Martinezalonso moved to just over three million in chips.
Nguyen was the winner of Event 38: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em for $607,200. He added another $73,805 to his pockets after this finish for a very solid 2012 WSOP performance.
John Beauprez opened to 85,000 from middle position, Fabrizio Gonzalez three-bet to 205,000 from the cutoff, and Paul Volpe four-bet to either 520,000 or 620,000 from the small blind (it was difficult to count the lavender T100,000 chips).
Scott Abrams cold five-bet shoved for 2.415 million more than Volpe's raise, and took down the pot.
Roland Israelashvili has had a heck of a year, so it’s no surprise to see he’s in contention for 2012 World Series of Poker Player of the Year honors. He currently sits in 63rd place on the leaderboard with 231.05, which means either a second or first place finish would put him ahead of the current leader, Phil Ivey (568.70).
Another man who could make a run at the 2012 WSOP POY title is Jeremy Ausmus, who currently sits in 145th place on the leaderboard with 159.44 points. That’s quite a few points behind the current leader, which means Ausmus would need to win the Main Event in order to surpass Ivey.
Likewise, Erik Cajelais, who sits in 82nd place with 205.75 points, will need a victory in the Main Event to overtake Ivey, who sits 362.95 points ahead of him. In addition, Yuval Bronshtein (108th—187.38), Andrew Dean (387th—89.00), Kyle Bowker (419th—84.13 points), David Randall (438th—81.75 points), David D’Alesandro (486th—76.88 points) and Leo Wolpert (490th—76.50 points) could all take the top spot if they were to win the Main Event.
Of course the World Series of Poker Europe counts toward the POY race, so these scenarios could change.
Here’s a look at the current WSOP POY standings:
Current 2012 WSOP Player of the Year Standings
Place
Player
Points
1
Phil Ivey
568.70
2
John Monnette
524.25
3
Phil Hellmuth
500.70
4
Antonio Esfandiari
488.10
5
Michael Mizrachi
486.20
6
Gregory Merson
481.13
7
David “ODB” Baker
433.38
8
Andy Frankenberger
406.66
9
Andy Bloch
405.30
10
Vanessa Selbst
388.17
Also, here’s a look at how WSOP POY points will be awarded for the Main Event:
2011 November Niner Sam Holden just scored a big triple up to continue his second straight deep Main Event run.
The hand began with Holden shoving all in for 775,000 from the hijack seat, then Andrew Flaherty called from the button. Jean Malherbe then reraised all in from the big blind, and after thinking for a while Flaherty let his hand go.
Holden turned over and Malherbe , and at the sight of those hands Flaherty buried his head in his hands as though he'd wished he'd stayed in the hand.
The community cards came to give Holden a straight, so perhaps Flaherty was better off not to have called, although he now sits on a short stack.
From middle position, Fabrizio Gonzalez raised to 80,000. Webber Kang reraised to an unknown amount from the big blind and Gonzalez called to see the flop.
The fell and Kang bet 200,000. Gonzalez raised to put Kang all in. Kang called and put himself at risk for 835,000. He held the against the for Gonzalez.
The turn was the and river the . Both of those missed Gonzalez and he sent over the chips to give Kang the double up.
Stephane Bisson raised to 80,000 from middle position only to have Gaelle Bauman three-bet to 210,000 from late position. The button and blinds got out of the way and action was back to Bisson. Bisson moved all in for about 1,000,000 and Baumann quickly called.
Bisson:
Baumann:
Baumann jumped into the lead by pairing her king on the flop of . The fell on the turn to give Bisson a few additional outs to make a straight, but the completed the board and Bisson was sent to the rail.
Baumann is now sitting on about 5,000,000 in chips.
Jamie Robbins raised to 78,000 from middle position, then it folded to Tomas Samol on the button who called the raise. It folded over to [Removed:321] Siddiqui in the big blind who checked his cards, then reraised to 415,000. Robbins considered for a bit, then called Siddiqui's reraise, but then Samol — who had both players covered — announced he was pushing all in from the button.
Siddiqui immediately called with his remaining stack, and after tanking for some time Robbins let his hand go. Siddiqui turned over and Samol , and when the board came , Siddiqui's jacks had held to win him the large pot.
Afterwards, Robbins told Siddiqui he'd folded queens, to which Siddiqui nodded, saying "Tough spot."
David Strelitz raised to 80,000 from the cutoff, and it folded around to Richard Pyne in the big blind. Again sporting his light blue shirt with pictures of his children, Pyne checked his cards and then three-bet to 290,000. Strelitz responded by pushing all in, and Pyne called for 985,000 total.
Pyne:
Strelitz:
The community cards came . There was a little confusion at the end, but that pair of sixes on the board made the river five no use to Strelitz, earning Pyne a double-up and survival.
.
and the at-risk Nguyen held the 
.
and 
, leaving Nguyen second best and sending him to the rail. Martinezalonso moved to just over three million in chips.
, but unfortunately for him had run up against the 
of Jordan Batt.
, and Greenberg is out.
![[user101598]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
and Malherbe 
, and at the sight of those hands Flaherty buried his head in his hands as though he'd wished he'd stayed in the hand.
to give Holden a straight, so perhaps Flaherty was better off not to have called, although he now sits on a short stack.
and river the 
. Both of those missed Gonzalez and he sent over the chips to give Kang the double up.
. The 
fell on the turn to give Bisson a few additional outs to make a straight, but the 
completed the board and Bisson was sent to the rail.
and Samol 
, and when the board came 
, Siddiqui's jacks had held to win him the large pot.
, and Buchman led out for 110,000. Koroknai tank-called.
. There was a little confusion at the end, but that pair of sixes on the board made the river five no use to Strelitz, earning Pyne a double-up and survival.
