Hand #44 Dan Smith received a walk in the big blind.
Hand #45: Timo Pfutzenreuter raised all in for 241,000 in early position and took down the pot.
Hand #46: Josh Bergman raised to 50,000 in early position and won the pot.
![[user101598]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
Hand #43: Brian Yoon raised to 50,000 in early position, Tony Cousineau moved all in for 293,000 out of the big blind, and Yoon called.
Yoon: 
Cousineau: 
The 
flop gave both players a straight draw, but the 
on the turn ended it, giving Yoon Broadway. A meaningless 
completed the board, and Cousineau was eliminated.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
3,170,000 | 135,000 |
|
Busted |
Hand #38: Timo Pfutzenreuter raised to 48,000 from under the gun, Josh Arieh three-bet to 110,000 from two spots to his left, and the action folded back to Pfutzenreuter who folded as well.
Hand #39: Josh Bergman raised to 50,000 from under the gun, Ardit Kurshumi three-bet to 120,000 in middle position, and Bergman folded.
Hand #40: Bergman received a walk.
Hand #41: Mustapha Kanit raised to 48,000 in the cutoff, Arieh defended his big blind, and both players checked on a flop of 
. The turn was the 
, Arieh led out for 60,000, and Kanit raised to 135,000. Arieh called.
Both players checked on the river (
), and Arieh won with 
.
Hand #42: Bergman raised on the button, winning the blinds and antes.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
1,600,000 | 435,000 |
|
315,000 | -251,000 |
Josh Arieh is no stranger to the spotlight of a final table at the World Series of Poker. He won a bracelet in 1999, finished runner-up in a $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha event a year later, and most notably finished third in the 2004 WSOP Main Event for $2.5 million the year Greg Raymer took down poker's most prestigious title.
A year later, Arieh won his second bracelet and he has since made four other final tables, including a fourth-place finish in the $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout at the end of May.
Currently contending for his third bracelet and near the top of the chip counts in the final eight of this $5,000 Eight-Handed No-Limit Hold'em event, we felt Arieh would be the perfect candidate for the PokerNews Final Table Interview.
PokerNews: You've been at the Main Event final table and a number of others, including your bracelet wins and a fourth place finish already this year in the Shootout. Are these final tables old hat for you, or is this still exciting?
It's always exciting. I love playing when there's a lot of pressure and I don't get to do it too often, so this is a lot of fun.
PokerNews: Speaking of pressure, knowing you have a ton of final table experience here, is it your goal to pick on players who might not have as much?
In a lot of the $1,000s and $1,500s, yeah, but this is a $5,000 event where everybody is a really good player. So they might make a little mistake, but they're not really going to make a big mistake.
PokerNews: So what is your plan against these players right now?
Just to see how the chips fall. It's so dependent on where the stacks are and who has got what. I just try to catch good cards, try to lean on some shorter stacks and hopefully get lucky.
PokerNews: You were certainly one of the stars of the post-Moneymaker poker boom making the final table the very next year, but it seems lately you've moved away from the game a little and have turned this into a part-time vocation. What have you been up to?
I play a lot of golf and I play poker once a week at home in a home game. I try to spend as much time with my kids and my family and enjoy them. I've always said that I want to play poker to live, not live to play poker, so I try my best at that. I love playing, so I still get carried away sometimes, especially this month because I really enjoy competing at the World Series.
PokerNews: It's shaping up to be a really good series for you so far. To what do you attribute all this recent success?
I'm running really good. I'm thinking clearly and I'm not making a lot of little mistakes like I used to.
I feel like I haven't gone into autopilot at all in any tournament. I used to be a big victim of getting into autopilot and playing all the cards. I just feel like this year, I've continued to think through all situations, try to pay a lot of attention to every hand and try to keep track of how I think everybody's different feelings at the table are.
I guess it's working. I've made a lot of deep runs. I'm a few coin flips from a bunch of different cashes, but I'm happy, I'm playing well and I'm enjoying myself.
Hand #34: Josh Arieh raised to 65,000 in the small blind and Ardit Kurshumi folded his big blind.
Hand #35: Josh Bergman raised to 50,000 from the cutoff and received no action.
Hand #36: Josh Bergman raised to 50,000 from the hijack, Dan Smith called from the big blind and the flop fell 
.
Smith check-called 50,000, the turn fell and the 
river completed the board. Smith check-folded to bet of 125,000 from Yoon.
Hand #37: Timo Pfutzenreuter raised all in for about 290,000 from early position and took down the pot.
Level: 25
Blinds: 12,000/24,000
Ante: 4,000
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The players are in the midst of a 20-minute break.
| Seat | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Timo Pfutzenreuter | 305,000 |
| 2 | Josh Bergman | 1,541,000 |
| 3 | Josh Arieh | 1,165,000 |
| 4 | Ardit Kurshumi | 540,000 |
| 5 | Tony Cousineau | 369,000 |
| 6 | Dan Smith | 735,000 |
| 7 | Brian Yoon | 3,035,000 |
| 8 | Mustapha Kanit | 566,000 |
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
3,035,000 | -15,000 |
|
1,541,000 | -132,000 |
|
|
1,165,000 | 345,000 |
|
735,000 | -65,000 |
|
|
566,000 | -111,000 |
|
540,000 | 20,000 |
|
|
369,000 | -73,000 |
|
305,000 | -135,000 |
Hand #30: Josh Arieh raised to 45,000, Mustapha Kanit defended his big blind, and the flop fell 
. Kanit checked, Arieh continued for 45,000, Kanit check-raised to 110,000, and Arieh called. Both players checked as the turn and river came 
, respectively, and Kanit showed 
for queen-high.
Arieh revealed 
for a pair of aces, and dragged the pot.
Hand #31: Kanit moved all in from the small blind, and Timo Pfutzenreuter folded in the big blind.
Hand #32: Arieh raised to 45,000 from under the gun, Kanit three-bet to 105,000 on the button, and Arieh four-bet to 215,000. Kanit moved all in, and Arieh snap-called.
Arieh: 
Kanit: 
The two chopped the pot as the board came 
.
Hand #33: Pfutzenreuter raised to 40,000 on the button, Arieh moved all in out of the big blind, and Pfutzenreuter snap-folded.
Hand #25: Tony Cousineau raised to 49,000 in early position and received no action.
Hand #26: Brian Yoon raised to 45,000 in middle position, Josh Arieh called from the big blind and the flop came down 
. Arieh check-called 55,000 from Yoon, the 
hit the turn and Arieh led for 85,000. Yoon called and the river completed the board. Arieh bet 160,000 and Yoon called immiediately.
Arieh tabled for two pair, but was bested on the river by Yoon's .
Hand #27: Josh Arieh raised to 45,000 on the button and took the blinds and antes.
Hand #28: Josh Bergman raised to 41,000 in the hijack and Dan Smith called from the big blind.
The flop fell 
and Smith check-folded to a bet of 41,000 from Bergman.
Hand #29: Dan Smith limped from the small blind, Brian Yoon checked his option and the flop came down 
. Smith bet 20,000, Yoon called and both checked the turn. The river completed the board and Smith check-folded to a bet of 50,000 from Yoon.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
3,050,000 | 475,000 |
|
|
820,000 | -280,000 |
