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We arrived at the table to see a showdown, with the board reading 
. Marcel Sabag showed 
for a pair eights. Another player held 
and had been ahead preflop, but Alan Losoff held 
and had rivered a straight to knock out both opponents.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
102,000
-6,000
|
-6,000 |
We saw a player quietly adding a few more chips to an already sizable stack, and after a bit of investigation, we found out that longtime tournament player Makram Merhom was the proud owner.
While Merhom's name may not ring a bell for the casual poker fan, a quick search of the Hendon Mob database shows that the California circuit grinder rubs elbows with some pretty elite company when it comes to all-time tournament cashes.
Ranked 43rd on that website's comprehensive list of lifetime cashes in poker tournaments played on American soil, with 164 spread out over multiple decades, Merhom has actually made the money more times in U.S. play than Barry Greenstein (156), Phil Ivey (132), and Johnny Chan (130).
The man known as Mak to his friends can add another cash to his impressive resume, after making the money here in the Seniors Championship, and with more than double the average stack at the moment Merhom has put himself in position to snag the biggest score in his illustrious poker career.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
121,000
66,100
|
66,100 |
Level: 15
Blinds: 1,200/2,400
Ante: 400
Dan Heimiller recently moved to a new table, and he is thriving in his new location.
We arrived at the table on the river of a recent hand, with the board reading 
. Action had checked to Dan Heimiller, who put out a bet of 20,000. His opponent thought for a minute, then pushed forward a stack of chips to call. Heimiller turned over 
for a straight, and his opponent mucked.
Heimiller now has 112,000 in chips.
The Seniors Championship here at the WSOP will never be known for bold bluffs or sneaky plays, but nobody bothered to tell Charles Goldstein.
We recently watched Goldstein, who goes by Chuck at the table, sitting in the big blind while the action folded around to the player seated on his left. Jokingly asking for a walk, Goldstein saw the small blind call, and his reaction was immediate and decisive.
"I'm all in," declared Goldstein, pushing his stack forward with authority.
Squeezing the 
and holding it up for the table to see, the small blind player shook his head and tossed his cards to the dealer.
"That's for not giving me a walk," shot Goldstein, reveling in his boldness while revealing the lowly 
with a flourish. "Next time maybe I'll get a walk."
Bill McAdams started the day with just 3,400 in chips. A few hands before the money hit, he moved all in with 
. When the big blind woke up with 
he thought his day was over. He couldn't believe he spiked a river ace to double up. When the money hit shortly after, he had just 2,000 in chips remaining and thought he would be out the next hand. At that point he was just happy with the cash.
Instead of getting knocked out, McAdams had a nice run to build an average stack of 57,000. When asked how he did it, he said the cards just started to come. "I had aces twice, tens over nines and a few other big hands and I just kept doubling up. I am not going to lie, I got lucky and I am happy that I did."
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
57,000
53,600
|
53,600 |
Randy Spain raised under the gun. One player called before the small blind pushed all in. Then Spain re-raised over the top. The initial caller though for a minute before folding pocket tens face-up. Spain turned over 
, and the all-in player 
.
After seeing Spains aces, the player who'd folded tens knew he'd made the right decision. Then the flop came 
. Spain would've been outdrawn, but with the tens safely in the muck, his aces held up as the turn and river came 
, .
After the hand, Spain had 156,000 in chips.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
156,000
107,800
|
107,800 |
Alex Kunichoff and James Miller started the day 1 and 2 in chips, respectively. It looks like they swapped positions with Miller taking a slight lead. They are now sitting just a table apart and Kunichoff is keenly aware of who he is chasing. With the average stack size currently around 60,000, both these players have plenty of play and have assumed their position as table captain.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
320,000
94,000
|
94,000 |
|
295,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
With a WSOP bracelet already in his trophy case, Robert Cheung is no stranger to poker's grand stage, and here on Day 2 of the Seniors Championship he is moving closer to a shot at his second piece of jewelry.
We just watched Cheung take an opponent who moved all in with , with Cheung's putting him in a coin flip situation for a large pile of chips.
The flop rolled out 
, and Cheung's big slick was left lacking, but an on the turn hit his hand perfectly. When a 
arrived on the river, Cheung notched the knockout, and built his stack to over 130,000 in the process.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
135,000
24,000
|
24,000 |
|
||
On the Friday edition of the PokerNews Podcast, the crew breaks down the latest news from the World Series of Poker, including David Diaz being banned from Caesars properties, Martin Finger winning his first gold bracelet, Matthew Ashton approaching another final table, and an update from the Ivey and the Misfits fantasy team. They then talk with Jay Rosenkrantz about the premiere of Bet Raise Fold: The Story of Online Poker.
