WSOPE – Hellmuth heads Main Event final table
Thursday, 4 October 2012
Just nine players are left in both the WSOPE Main Event and the €50k Majestic High Roller with Phil Hellmuth leading the former and John Juanda the latter.
WSOPE €10k Main Event – Hellmuth heads final table
The 420 starters at the 2012 WSOPE Main Event are down to a final table of nine with the familiar figure of Phil Hellmuth leading the way. The Poker Brat will face some stiff competition on his quest for bracelet number 13 and the WSOP Player of the Year award though with the likes of 2010 WSOP Main Event third place finisher Joseph Cheong and the tournament machine that is Jason Mercier still in contention.
Hopes of a UK victory rest with Chris Brammer who returns in fifth place. The leading British player on the Global Poker Index rankings got a timely boost just before the close, winning a flip with pocket 3s against AJ to send Tim Adams to the rail as the final table bubble boy. Joseph Cheong was earlier the destroyer-in-chief of the bracelet dreams of both Liv Boeree and Max Silver in 18th and 16th respectively. Toby Lewis joined them on the rail soon after in 14th.
All eyes will now be on Hellmuth heading into the final day. Can the Brat (a potential star on Celebrity Apprentice) add to his 12 bracelets? We'll find out at 12.45pm UK time when the field will play down to four. The final quartet will resume play 8.45pm UK to battle it out for the bracelet and the million euro plus score.
The chip counts are as follows:
1. Phil Hellmuth – 3,434,000
2. Sergii Baranov – 3,339,000
3. Joseph Cheong – 1,966,000
4. Stephane Albertini – 1,162,000
5. Christopher Brammer – 851,000
6. Stephane Girault – 664,000
7. Jason Mercier – 652,000
8. Paul Tedeschi – 543,000
€50k Majestic High Roller – Juanda maintains advantage on the bubble
Just nine players are left in the €50k Majestic High with John Juanda the man to beat. 49 players bought in over the opening two days. Add 11 rebuys and you've got a prize pool of €2,880,000. One of the final nine will walk away empty handed though as play stopped last night on the stone bubble.
Juanda, who bought in three times, returns with 2,596,000, almost double that of nearest rival Richard Yong. Also at the final table are Philipp Gruissem, Steve O'Dwyer, Tobias Reinkemeier, David Benefield, Jani Sointula, Winfred Yu. The man most in danger of missing out on a score of at least €115,000 is Mike Watson who returns with just 12 big blinds.
Play resumes at 3pm local time with the blinds at 12,000/24,000 with a 4,000 ante. The eventual winner will walk away with €1m.
1. John Juanda – 2,596,000
2. Richard Yong – 1,309,000
3. Philipp Gruissem – 1,308,000
4. Steve O’Dwyer – 1,146,000
5. Tobias Reinkemeier – 904,000
6. David Benefield – 551,000
7. Jani Sointula – 489,000
8. Winfred Yu – 368,000
9. Mike Watson – 299,000
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