Sunday, July 16, 2017 1:37 AM Local Time
Ruane, Hallaert on the Verge of Main Event History; Only 85 Return for Day 6
There's something about a back-to-back run to the World Series of Poker Main Event final table that is truly amazing. Maybe it's the big fields. Maybe it's the multi-day, grueling stretch to get there. Maybe it's the immense amount of skill along with the extreme amount of luck it takes to make it there. The last to do it was Mark Newhouse, who finished 9th in both 2013 and 2014.
As Day 6 of the Main Event approaches, we have a chance to see something truly amazing that hasn't been done in the modern day era of the Main Event. Michael Ruane (3,450,000) and Kenny Hallaert (4,370,000) could both return to the final table, just one year after their last appearance. With only 85 players remaining, both Ruane who finished 4th last year for $2,576,003 and Hallaert who finished 6th for $1,464,258 have a chance to do it again.
Ruane said that apart from making a few mistakes at the end of the night, it was an indescribable feeling to be running deep again. "It feels great. I'm just mad right now because I just messed up a few hands at the end of the night. But to be here again is super surreal. The energy you get in the Main Event is like no other tournament you could play. It's super exciting."
As the day began it seemed as if it might be the Red Wedding for former November Niners. Chino Rheem and Matt Giannetti dropped in the first level of the day, and they were quickly followed out the door by Tom Cannuli who fell before the dinner break. Hallaert also fell to a short stack early in the day, dropping from 4 million down to just 600,000, but he resurged and was able to finish with 4,370,000 chips, pulling in an average stack for Day 6. Along with Ruane and Hallaert, former November Niners Ben Lamb (2011) and Antoine Saout (2009) are returning for Day 6 as well. Saout, who bagged 8,260,000, also made a deep run last year, coming in 25th place.
"The field is different every year," Saout said about his competition this year. "But it's the Main Event and there's a lot of amateurs and some pros. I drew some good tables yesterday. But the deeper you go, the tougher it gets."
Cannuli and Rheem were only a small part of the cast of characters who did not make it through the day. Fan favorite Charlie Carrel made work of the feature table, chipping up to over 5 million chips, but at the end of the night, he ran kings into Alexander Gleenblatt's aces to be eliminated. Carrel, along with the likes of Max Pescatori, Vitaly Lunkin, Randy Lew, Sam Stein, Dominik Nitsche, Aaron Massey, and Davidi Kitai, did not make it through the day.
Another fan favorite to hit the rail today was Mickey Craft. Craft made quite the impression on the tournament over the last five days, and his last day was no exception. He had a rollercoaster of a day, running up his stack to over 4 million, then dropping down to 900,000, only to double back up. It was on his final hand that Craft called a raise from Ruane with seven-deuce offsuit, and flopped top pair against Ruane's overpair. Craft did not improve and he was eliminated from the tournament, but that wasn't the last that he was heard from. Less than an hour later Craft returned bearing shots of tequila for his former tablemates.
"I just want to say thank you to everyone for everything," Craft said. "I just wanted to make a little fun of poker. Whether you go out with king-queen or seven-deuce, it's all for fun. I just wanted to make a little light of these guys day and to say thank you."
"I was just thinking that this would just be like some twisted Divine Comedy situation where this guy's destined to hit a two on me," Ruane said about Craft's bust out. "I mean you just play the game, but this guy is obviously the most crazy fun dude in the tournament and he's getting a lot of attention and he's just all in with seven-two off. And I'm like all in essentially and it's like, 'Oh my God, this is like written in the stars that this guy is going to hit a two. I'm sure ESPN would love it … And I'm standing there like, this moment just can't be real, like this is not happening."
Also falling today were the last of the ladies in the Main Event. The day started with Kathy Liebert falling at the feature table. She was followed by Juicy Li, Tracy Nguyen, and Jessica Ngu until Yuan-Yuan Li was the last woman standing. Ironically, Li ran into the queens of Wesley Pantling while holding two tens, and she did not improve. Li's 105th place finish earned her $53,247.
Coming back Sunday as the king of the hill is Robin Hegele. He finished the night with 9,990,000 chips, just under the 10-million-chip mark. Hegele had a beast of a day, starting off quick holding pocket aces against ace-king. From there he moved up and down the chip counts, eventually finishing the night as the chip leader. Trailing close on Hegel's heels is Max Silver (8,665,000), who earned his first World Series of Poker bracelet earlier this year and ran deep in the Main Event last year as well, finishing 33rd.
"I'm surprised that I'm the chip leader," Hegel said. "I did not expect that. Right now I'm super happy playing poker. It's like 'What is the chip lead?' It's just a number. It's just a ranking on the leaderboard."
"The confidence is high in both my limit and no limit games," Silver said when asked about winning a bracelet earlier this year. "But no, I don't think it changes much. I'd like to finally win a bracelet in no-limit hold'em, so maybe this is the one. It was actually a really smooth day. The start was a bit rough when I was kind of short, but from there it was no pots over two million and a lot of medium pots and I chipped up, which was lucky, no stress."
Hegele, Ruane, Silver and Hallaert will join the rest of the remaining players at 11 a.m. PDT for Day 6 of Event #73: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event. PokerNews will be here to cover it all, so make sure not to miss a thing as we continue to unfold the story of this year's Main Event.
Room | Table | Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
Brasilia | 703 | 1 | Joseph Michael | United States | 3,400,000 | 43 |
Brasilia | 703 | 2 | Neil Patel | United States | 1,905,000 | 24 |
Brasilia | 703 | 3 | Sean Gibson | United States | 5,595,000 | 70 |
Brasilia | 703 | 4 | Andrew Ostapchenko | United States | 2,225,000 | 28 |
Brasilia | 703 | 5 | Kevin Song | United States | 1,965,000 | 25 |
Brasilia | 703 | 6 | Yin Liu | China | 2,415,000 | 30 |
Brasilia | 703 | 7 | Michael Ruane | United States | 3,450,000 | 43 |
Brasilia | 703 | 8 | Antoine Saout | France | 8,260,000 | 103 |
| | | | | | |
Brasilia | 704 | 1 | Marcel Luske | Netherlands | 2,290,000 | 29 |
Brasilia | 704 | 2 | Karen Sarkisyan | Russia | 8,270,000 | 103 |
Brasilia | 704 | 3 | Randy Pisane | United States | 8,105,000 | 101 |
Brasilia | 704 | 4 | Alexander Greenblatt | United States | 3,865,000 | 48 |
Brasilia | 704 | 5 | Ihar Soika | Belarus | 2,630,000 | 33 |
Brasilia | 704 | 6 | Bryan Piccioli | United States | 5,400,000 | 68 |
Brasilia | 704 | 7 | Martin Finger | Germany | 890,000 | 11 |
Brasilia | 704 | 8 | David Guay | Canada | 3,300,000 | 41 |
Brasilia | 704 | 9 | Matthias De Meulder | Belgium | 3,825,000 | 48 |
| | | | | | |
Brasilia | 706 | 1 | Brandon Meyers | United States | 3,905,000 | 49 |
Brasilia | 706 | 2 | Frank Crivello | United States | 8,500,000 | 106 |
Brasilia | 706 | 3 | Christian Pham | United States | 2,800,000 | 35 |
Brasilia | 706 | 4 | Matt Bond | United States | 4,365,000 | 55 |
Brasilia | 706 | 5 | Jingwei Zhang | China | 2,575,000 | 32 |
Brasilia | 706 | 6 | Jae Hwang | United States | 2,380,000 | 30 |
Brasilia | 706 | 7 | Shawn Daniels | United States | 4,325,000 | 54 |
Brasilia | 706 | 9 | Mario Vojvoda | Croatia | 655,000 | 8 |
| | | | | | |
Brasilia | 709 | 1 | Paul Vas Nunes | United Kingdom | 6,780,000 | 85 |
Brasilia | 709 | 2 | Florian Lohnert | Germany | 6,300,000 | 79 |
Brasilia | 709 | 3 | Max Silver | United Kingdom | 8,665,000 | 108 |
Brasilia | 709 | 4 | Michael Zelman | United States | 1,785,000 | 22 |
Brasilia | 709 | 5 | Ben Lamb | United States | 4,725,000 | 59 |
Brasilia | 709 | 6 | Benjamin Pollak | France | 5,690,000 | 71 |
Brasilia | 709 | 7 | Gregory Goldberg | United States | 1,355,000 | 17 |
Brasilia | 709 | 8 | Ryan Leng | United States | 2,970,000 | 37 |
Brasilia | 709 | 9 | Hyon Kim | South Korea | 3,035,000 | 38 |
| | | | | | |
Brasilia | 710 | 1 | Justas Vaiciulionis | United States | 3,550,000 | 44 |
Brasilia | 710 | 2 | Richard Robinson | United States | 1,900,000 | 24 |
Brasilia | 710 | 3 | Jonas Mackoff | Canada | 1,590,000 | 20 |
Brasilia | 710 | 4 | Sebastien Comel | France | 3,740,000 | 47 |
Brasilia | 710 | 5 | Kenny Hallaert | Belgium | 4,370,000 | 55 |
Brasilia | 710 | 7 | Jonathan Dwek | Canada | 1,910,000 | 24 |
Brasilia | 710 | 8 | Joshua Marvin | United States | 4,635,000 | 58 |
Brasilia | 710 | 9 | Chris Wallace | United States | 2,675,000 | 33 |
| | | | | | |
Brasilia | 719 | 2 | Valentin Messina | France | 4,995,000 | 62 |
Brasilia | 719 | 3 | Nick Guagenti | United States | 3,045,000 | 38 |
Brasilia | 719 | 4 | Dario Sammartino | Italy | 2,585,000 | 32 |
Brasilia | 719 | 5 | Robin Hegele | Germany | 9,990,000 | 125 |
Brasilia | 719 | 6 | Arash Ghaneian | United States | 2,680,000 | 34 |
Brasilia | 719 | 7 | Alexandre Reard | France | 6,100,000 | 76 |
Brasilia | 719 | 8 | Connor Drinan | United States | 3,360,000 | 42 |
Brasilia | 719 | 9 | Pedro Oliveira | Portugal | 3,135,000 | 39 |
| | | | | | |
Brasilia | 720 | 1 | Reed Hensel | United States | 6,355,000 | 79 |
Brasilia | 720 | 2 | Paul Dhaliwal | Canada | 2,165,000 | 27 |
Brasilia | 720 | 3 | Cosmin Joldis | Romania | 6,965,000 | 87 |
Brasilia | 720 | 4 | John Hesp | United Kingdom | 4,060,000 | 51 |
Brasilia | 720 | 5 | Zu Zhou | United States | 7,345,000 | 92 |
Brasilia | 720 | 6 | Richard Dubini | Argentina | 5,190,000 | 65 |
Brasilia | 720 | 7 | Ian Johns | United States | 1,085,000 | 14 |
Brasilia | 720 | 8 | Nicolas Cardyn | France | 2,545,000 | 32 |
Brasilia | 720 | 9 | Kfir Nahum | United States | 5,385,000 | 67 |
| | | | | | |
Brasilia | 723 | 1 | Jake Bazeley | United States | 2,805,000 | 35 |
Brasilia | 723 | 2 | Richard Tuhrim | United States | 3,830,000 | 48 |
Brasilia | 723 | 3 | Mike Linster | United States | 2,075,000 | 26 |
Brasilia | 723 | 4 | Jesus Blanco | Spain | 6,835,000 | 85 |
Brasilia | 723 | 5 | Paul Senat | United States | 2,260,000 | 28 |
Brasilia | 723 | 6 | Eric Berman | United States | 1,130,000 | 14 |
Brasilia | 723 | 7 | Daniel Ott | United States | 8,320,000 | 104 |
Brasilia | 723 | 8 | Colin Moffatt | Canada | 5,195,000 | 65 |
Brasilia | 723 | 9 | Thissa Desilva | United Kingdom | 2,395,000 | 30 |
| | | | | | |
Brasilia | 724 | 1 | Scott Stewart | United States | 7,270,000 | 91 |
Brasilia | 724 | 3 | Robert Schulz | Germany | 6,075,000 | 76 |
Brasilia | 724 | 4 | Kevin Calenzo | United States | 1,080,000 | 14 |
Brasilia | 724 | 5 | Travis Lutes | United States | 4,575,000 | 57 |
Brasilia | 724 | 6 | Damian Salas | Argentina | 8,400,000 | 105 |
Brasilia | 724 | 7 | Scott Blumstein | United States | 6,845,000 | 86 |
Brasilia | 724 | 8 | Daniel Turner | United States | 1,440,000 | 18 |
Brasilia | 724 | 9 | Michael Sklenicka | Czech Republic | 5,360,000 | 67 |
| | | | | | |
Brasilia | 725 | 1 | Artan Dedusha | United Kingdom | 4,330,000 | 54 |
Brasilia | 725 | 2 | Joshua Horton | United States | 9,360,000 | 117 |
Brasilia | 725 | 3 | Renato Prado Valentim | Brazil | 2,270,000 | 28 |
Brasilia | 725 | 4 | Wesley Pantling | United States | 4,745,000 | 59 |
Brasilia | 725 | 5 | Richard Gryko | United Kingdom | 5,835,000 | 73 |
Brasilia | 725 | 6 | Michael Krasienko | United States | 5,710,000 | 71 |
Brasilia | 725 | 7 | Jack Sinclair | United Kingdom | 2,225,000 | 28 |
Brasilia | 725 | 8 | Wen Zhou | United States | 4,090,000 | 51 |
Brasilia | 725 | 9 | Joseph Dipascale | United States | 7,450,000 | 93 |
Sunday, July 16, 2017 1:13 AM Local Time
End-of-Day Chip Counts
Robin Hegele | 9,990,000 | 190,000 |
Joshua Horton | 9,360,000 | 0 |
Max Silver | 8,665,000 | 465,000 |
Frank Crivello | 8,500,000 | 200,000 |
Damian Salas | 8,400,000 | 700,000 |
Dan Ott [Daniel Ott] | 8,320,000 | 320,000 |
Karen Sarkisyan | 8,270,000 | 1,020,000 |
Antoine Saout | 8,260,000 | 300,000 |
Randy Pisane | 8,105,000 | 1,405,000 |
Joseph Dipascale | 7,450,000 | 450,000 |
Zu Zhou | 7,345,000 | 3,645,000 |
Scott Stewart | 7,270,000 | 220,000 |
Cosmin Joldis | 6,965,000 | 1,065,000 |
Scott Blumstein | 6,845,000 | -555,000 |
Jesus Blanco | 6,835,000 | 1,610,000 |
Paul Vas Nunes | 6,780,000 | -220,000 |
Reed Hensel | 6,355,000 | 1,355,000 |
Florian Lohnert | 6,300,000 | 0 |
Alexandre Reard | 6,100,000 | 900,000 |
Robert Schulz | 6,075,000 | -425,000 |
Richard Gryko | 5,835,000 | -565,000 |
Michael Krasienko | 5,710,000 | 260,000 |
Benjamin Pollak | 5,690,000 | 1,190,000 |
Sean Gibson | 5,595,000 | 2,685,000 |
Bryan Piccioli | 5,400,000 | -520,000 |
Kfir Nahum | 5,385,000 | -365,000 |
Michael Sklenicka | 5,360,000 | 60,000 |
Colin Moffatt | 5,195,000 | 0 |
Richard Dubini | 5,190,000 | -310,000 |
Valentin Messina | 4,995,000 | 0 |
Wesley Pantling | 4,745,000 | -1,055,000 |
Ben Lamb | 4,725,000 | 1,775,000 |
Joshua Marvin | 4,635,000 | 1,175,000 |
Travis Lutes | 4,575,000 | 875,000 |
Kenny Hallaert | 4,370,000 | 70,000 |
Matt Bond | 4,365,000 | -135,000 |
Artan Dedusha | 4,330,000 | -270,000 |
Shawn Daniels | 4,325,000 | 0 |
Wen Zhou | 4,090,000 | 1,240,000 |
John Hesp | 4,060,000 | 10,000 |
Brandon Meyers | 3,905,000 | 155,000 |
Alexander Greenblatt | 3,865,000 | 15,000 |
Matthias De Meulder | 3,825,000 | 525,000 |
Sebastien Comel | 3,740,000 | 0 |
Justas Vaiciulionis | 3,550,000 | -3,550,000 |
Joseph Michael | 3,400,000 | -500,000 |
Connor Drinan | 3,360,000 | 60,000 |
David Guay | 3,300,000 | 900,000 |
Pedro Oliveira | 3,135,000 | -365,000 |
Michael Ruane | 3,045,000 | -895,000 |
Nick Guagenti | 3,045,000 | -555,000 |
Richard Tuhrim | 3,038,000 | -2,062,000 |
Hyon Kim | 3,035,000 | 215,000 |
Ryan Leng | 2,970,000 | -1,980,000 |
Jake Bazeley | 2,805,000 | -1,195,000 |
Christian Pham | 2,800,000 | -1,500,000 |
Arash Ghaneian | 2,680,000 | 70,000 |
Chris Wallace | 2,675,000 | 550,000 |
Ihar Soika | 2,630,000 | -570,000 |
Dario Sammartino | 2,585,000 | 570,000 |
Jingwei Zhang | 2,575,000 | 1,325,000 |
Nicolas Cardyn | 2,545,000 | -355,000 |
Yin Liu | 2,415,000 | 210,000 |
Thissa Desilva | 2,395,000 | -505,000 |
Jae Hwang | 2,380,000 | -670,000 |
Marcel Luske | 2,290,000 | 590,000 |
Renato Prado Valentim | 2,270,000 | -1,210,000 |
Paul Senat | 2,260,000 | -190,000 |
Jack Sinclair | 2,225,000 | -475,000 |
Andrew Ostapchenko | 2,225,000 | -75,000 |
Paul Dhaliwal | 2,165,000 | -235,000 |
Mike Linster | 2,075,000 | -135,000 |
Kevin Song | 1,965,000 | 0 |
Jonathan Dwek | 1,910,000 | -1,090,000 |
Neil Patel | 1,905,000 | -1,295,000 |
Richard Robinson | 1,900,000 | 700,000 |
Michael Zelman | 1,785,000 | -915,000 |
Jonas Mackoff | 1,590,000 | -310,000 |
Daniel Turner | 1,440,000 | 690,000 |
Gregory Goldberg | 1,355,000 | 340,000 |
Eric Berman | 1,130,000 | 370,000 |
Ian Johns | 1,085,000 | -515,000 |
Kevin Calenzo | 1,080,000 | 0 |
Martin Finger | 890,000 | 0 |
Mario Vojvoda | 655,000 | -985,000 |
Sunday, July 16, 2017 12:48 AM Local Time
Last Three Hands Announced
The tournament clock has been stopped, and three more hands will be dealt at each table before all remaining players get to bag and tag their chips for tonight. Action resumes on Sunday, July 16th, at 11 a.m. local time.
Sunday, July 16, 2017 12:46 AM Local Time
Ott Crosses Eight Million Chips
Daniel Ott raised to 135,000, and Ihar Soika called in the big blind.
After the flop, Soika checked and called Ott's continuation bet for 300,000. The fell on the turn, and Soika quickly checked again. Ott's second bet was for 700,000, and that forced a quick fold from Soika.
Dan Ott [Daniel Ott] | 8,000,000 | 2,220,000 |
Ihar Soika | 3,200,000 | -1,100,000 |
Sunday, July 16, 2017 12:45 AM Local Time
Greenblatt Avoids Disaster with Queens
Frank Crivello raised to 150,000 from early position, and Alexander Greenblatt called from the button.
The flop came , and Crivello bet 350,000. Greenblatt called. The turn was the , and Crivello bet 600,000. Greenblatt called again. The river brought the , and both players checked.
Crivello showed , and Greenblatt quickly flashed before they hit the muck.
Frank Crivello | 9,200,000 | 0 |
Alexander Greenblatt | 3,850,000 | -1,350,000 |
Sunday, July 16, 2017 12:40 AM Local Time
Comel Takes from Finger
Martin Finger limped in from the small blind, and Sebastien Comel checked his option in the big blind. Finger bet the flop, and Comel called before doing so again on the turn. After the river, Finger slowed down and checked. Comel bet 450,000, and Finger called.
Comel tabled for a straight to scoop the pot.
Sebastien Comel | 2,875,000 | 625,000 |
Martin Finger | 1,025,000 | -1,275,000 |
Sunday, July 16, 2017 12:34 AM Local Time
Eyal Maaravi Eliminated by Christian Pham
Eyal Maaravi raised all in for for 590,000, and Christin Pham called from the small blind.
Maaravi:
Pham:
The board came down , no help to Maaravi, securing the knockout for Pham.
Christian Pham | 4,300,000 | 1,200,000 |
Eyal Maaravi | 0 | -2,100,000 |
Sunday, July 16, 2017 12:33 AM Local Time
A Confident Bet with Second Pair
From middle position, Michael Ruane opened to 150,000. Big blind Richard Dubini called, then check-called another 180,000 on as well. Both players checked the on the turn, and the completed the board. Dubini bet 350,000, sending Ruane into the tank. After some time, Ruane called.
Dubini confidently showed , and Ruane mucked.
Richard Dubini | 5,500,000 | 700,000 |
Michael Ruane | 3,940,000 | -960,000 |
Sunday, July 16, 2017 12:30 AM Local Time
Vas Nunes Bets Three Streets
Jae Hwang raised, and Paul Vas Nunes called in the big blind. Vas Nunes led the flop for 150,000, and Hwang called. Vas Nunes also bet the turn for another 300,000. Again, Hwang called, and Vas Nunes made it 900,000 to go after the river.
That proved to be too much for Hwang, and he sent his cards into the muck.
Paul Vas Nunes | 6,050,000 | -280,000 |
Jae Hwang | 3,050,000 | -150,000 |
Sunday, July 16, 2017 12:30 AM Local Time
Arash Ghaneian Takes from Antoine Saout
Arash Ghaneian was in the small blind, heads-up against Antoine Saout in the big blind.
The flop came , and Ghaneian bet 130,000. Saout called, and the turn was the . Ghaneian bet 200,000 by slamming two purple chips onto the felt. Saout raised to 510,000, and Ghaneian called. The river was the , pairing the board, and Ghaneian checked. Saout checked back, and Ghaneian tabled for two pair, tens and deuces.
Saout sent his cards to the muck, and Ghaneian let out some celebration. After the hand, Saout asked Ghaneian if he was going to call a shove on the river, and Ghaneian said yes.
"I have diapers to change at home. If you got it, you got it."
Antoine Saout | 7,960,000 | -40,000 |
Arash Ghaneian | 2,610,000 | 690,000 |
Sunday, July 16, 2017 12:29 AM Local Time
"I'm All In For My Tournament Life For the First Time!"
Sean Gibson raised to 150,000 from middle position, and Paul Senat called from the cutoff. Michael Sklenicka was in the small blind and moved all in for 2,475,000. Gibson folded, and Senat asked for a count. The dealer counted Sklenicka's stack down, and Senat eventually called.
"I'm all in for my tournament life for the first time!" exclaimed Sklenicka as he tabled . It turned out that he was in a coin-flip situation against Senat's .
The flop came with the king right in the window, giving Sklenicka the lead. The turn was the , and Senat asked for a jack. Unfortunately for him, the river was the , and Sklenicka breathed a sigh of relief after realizing he was safe.
Michael Sklenicka | 5,300,000 | 1,200,000 |
Paul Senat | 2,450,000 | -350,000 |
Sunday, July 16, 2017 12:28 AM Local Time
Sarkisyan Snatches Some of Salas' Stack
Damian Salas opened to 130,000 from late position, and Karen Sarkisyan three-bet to 425,000 from the small blind. Salas called.
The flop came . Sarkisyan continued with a bet of 375,000, and Salas called. The turn was the , and Sarkisyan fired another barrel — this one for 980,000. Once again, Salas called. The fell on the river, and both players checked.
Sarkisyan tabled , and it was enough to get Salas to muck.
Karen Sarkisyan | 7,250,000 | 1,850,000 |
Damian Salas | 7,250,000 | -2,050,000 |
Sunday, July 16, 2017 12:27 AM Local Time
Vitaly Lunkin Eliminated by Scott Stewart
From under the gun, Vitaly Lunkin moved all in for 905,000. Action folded around to Scott Stewart, who called the shove.
Lunkin:
Stewart:
The board rolled out , and that kept Stewart in the lead the whole way. With that, Lunkin hit the rail, and Stewart was able to build his stack to over seven million chips.
Scott Stewart | 7,050,000 | 950,000 |
Vitaly Lunkin | 0 | -1,825,000 |
Sunday, July 16, 2017 12:23 AM Local Time
Player Interview: Robin Hegele
Robin Hegele climbed quickly to the top of the chip counts early on Day 5 and then fell back to the middle of the pack almost as quickly. It was a pleasant surprise to see his name re-enter the top ten after the dinner break.
Hegele, also listed as Robin William at the WSOP and in Hendon Mob, has a few tournament results to boast about, including a deep run in last year's Main Event and a cash in this year's $ 888 No Limit Hold'em - Crazy Eights.
We don't know much about this German player, but "German" should tell you enough to watch your chips when he sits down at your table. We caught up with Hegele as players went on break to see what he could tell us about his day and the prospect of making Day 6.
Hegele: I was super lucky to hold the aces against ace-king in the first level today for a huge pot. Since then, nothing really super extraordinary happened. I've won some small pots and lost some.
PokerNews: You won a large pot just after dinner when your pocket sixes held up against ace-king that put you back up on top. How is your table treating you now that you have a huge stack again?
Hegele: I think my table has to respect my stack because I'm the only one who covers everyone. That doesn't mean they make my life easy by letting me roll over the table. They are fighting hard!
PN: What's your strategy going into Day 6?
Hegele: Regarding my strategy, I just want to play good poker. If I make Day 6, it won't be completely in my hands. When the cards and the pots are coming my way, and if I get a little bit lucky, we're going see each other on Day 6 for sure.
PN: How much poker do you play?
Hegele: I played my first WSOP last year and made Day 5 in the Main Event. Since then, I played a couple of live tournaments all around the globe. I recently moved to Vienna to play online poker more regularly. I love playing the game.
Sunday, July 16, 2017 12:21 AM Local Time
Carrel's Kings Run Into Greenblatt's Aces
Frank Crivello opened to 175,000 from middle position, and Charlie Carrel three-bet to 425,000 from the cutoff. Alexander Greenblatt was in the big blind and four-bet to 900,000. Crivello got out of the way, and Carrel moved all in for his remaining 1,770,000. Greenblatt instantly called, and the cards were tabled.
Greenblatt:
Carrel:
Carrel found himself in a poker player's nightmare and needing to hit one of two outs in the deck. The flop came , and Greenblatt was still out in front with the best two pair. The turn was the , and the river was the , providing no help to Carrel.
Carrel wished everyone at the table good luck and stepped aside for an interview before exiting the Brasilia Room for the last time this summer.
Alexander Greenblatt | 5,200,000 | 2,600,000 |
Charlie Carrel | 0 | -3,950,000 |
Sunday, July 16, 2017 12:20 AM Local Time
Kim Gets Some Without Showdown
Ihar Soika raised to 135,000 and picked no fewer than three callers, including Wen Zhou in the hijack, the cutoff, and Hyon Kim in the small blind. All four players checked the flop and the turn. Kim bet the river for 550,000, and all opponents folded.
Hyon Kim | 2,820,000 | 1,620,000 |
Sunday, July 16, 2017 12:12 AM Local Time
Jack Sinclair Wins a Late Flip Against Benjamin Pollak
Jack Sinclair raised to 120,000 from under the gun, and Benjamin Pollak three-bet to 305,000 from late position. Sinclair thought for a moment and moved all in for 1,310,000. Pollak looked at his cards one last time and then called.
Sinclair was at risk with , flipping with Pollak's .
The flop came , and Sinclair took the lead with trip aces. The turn was the , and the river was the , giving Sinclair the double-up for which he was looking.
Benjamin Pollak | 4,500,000 | -1,310,000 |
Jack Sinclair | 2,700,000 | 1,390,000 |
Sunday, July 16, 2017 12:12 AM Local Time
Todd Grovijohn Eliminated by Max Silver
Max Silver raised to 135,000, and Todd Grovijohn three-bet all in for 1,850,000. Silver called.
Silver:
Grovijohn:
Grovijohn let out a groan as the flop came . The turn was the and the river the , and Grovijohn was eliminated.
Max Silver | 8,200,000 | 2,200,000 |
Todd Grovijohn | 0 | -1,850,000 |
Sunday, July 16, 2017 12:11 AM Local Time
Sammartino Doubles Again, This Time Through Oliveira
Pedro Oliveira opened with a raise to 150,000 from early position. Action folded around to Dario Sammartino, who was in late position, and he moved all in for 935,000. Oliveira thought for about a minute and a half before calling.
Sammartino:
Oliveira:
The board ran out , giving no sign of a sweat to Sammartino, and that allowed him to double up for the second time this level, putting him just over two million chips.
Pedro Oliveira | 3,500,000 | -1,100,000 |
Dario Sammartino | 2,015,000 | 1,265,000 |