Sunday, July 15, 2012 12:18 AM Local Time
When the sun rose over Las Vegas today, 282 players awoke with dreams of becoming the next world champion of poker. After five grueling levels of play on Day 5, only 97 remain. This means that at the most basic level, each player returning for Day 6 has at least a one in ninety-seven shot at winning the first place prize of $8,527,982 and the shiny gold championship bracelet that accompanies it. The one closest to achieving this goal is Kyle Keranen who is sitting on the biggest stack in the room with 6,935,000.
On Keranen's heels is Robert Salaburu who finished Day 5 with a stack of 6,195,000. Rounding out the top three is Taylor Paur with 5,820,000.
When the day began there were several notable names still in the hunt for the championship. However, as both the blinds and the pressure rose, many of those players were sent to the rail with their summer coming to an end a bit earlier than they would have enjoyed. Eric Cloutier, Jesse Martin, John Juanda, Andrew Lichtenberger, Freddy Deeb, JP Kelly, Randy Haddox, AP Phahurat, Andrew Moreno, Will Souther, Dan Shak, Chance Kornuth, John Phan, and Sorel Mizzi are just a handful of the players who saw their stacks vanish today.
Daniel Negreanu was one of the other faces to hit the rail today. This makes Negreanu's second Day 5 bust from the Main Event in back to back years. While seated at the featured table, Negreanu moved all in for his last 240,000 in chips from early position. It folded around to actor Kevin Pollak in the cutoff who tanked before moving all in for his last 500,000. It folded around and Pollak showed which was crushing Negreanu's . Negreanu failed to improve and was forced to end his summer with a 160th-place finish.
Soon after, Pollak would meet his untimely demise in a most sickening fashion. Pollak moved all in before the flop holding and was called by Omar Saeed with the other two queens. Saeed would flop two hearts and then hit two more on the streets to follow to end Pollak's impressive run in the Main Event. After the initial shock wore off of Pollak's face, all he could do was laugh at the crazy scenario that unfolded. The renowned actor made a remarkable run with his 134th-place finish and left everyone within the vicinity of his table with a smile on their face.
The day also saw the elimination of the oldest player in the field, the 76-year-old Perry Green. Green has three WSOP bracelets to his name and finished runner-up to Stu Ungar in the 1981 WSOP Main Event. Green announced "Shuffle Up and Deal" to the runners today and left an impression of humility on the room through his words. Green hit the rail when he ran into the two pair of an opponent.
Jospeh Cheong was also returning to play today to take on his third consecutive Day 5 in a row. Cheong was able to battle through and move on to the final table in 2010 and finished in 114th in 2001. Cheong was forced to settle for a 115th place finish this year when he was eliminated by Paul Volpe. Volpe ended up finishing the day with a stack of 3,250,000.
While many big names fell, others were able to thrive and move on to Day 6 of the biggest poker tournament in the world. Keranen finished the day as the chip leader and was able to start his upward trend when he six-bet all in with . Keranen was able to crack his opponent's pocket jacks to scoop the pot of almost three million chips.
Other notable names that will be returning for Day 6 include Gaelle Baumann (3,980,000), Jan Heitmann (3,410,000), Amnon Filippi (3,400,000), Elisabeth Hille (3,390,000), A.J. Jejelowo (3,340,000), Roland Israelashvili (2,805,000), Marcia Topp (1,700,000), Jason Somerville (1,400,000), David ODB Baker (1,360,000), Vanessa Selbst (1,350,000), Erik Cajelais (1,180,000), Greg Merson (945,000), Sam Holden (765,000), and Gavin Smith (675,000).
Play will resume tomorrow at 12:00 PM PST where the final 97 players will return for five more levels. Join us here on PokerNews as we track these players' quests for WSOP glory!
Sunday, July 15, 2012 12:16 AM Local Time
| Kyle Keranen | 6,935,000 | 0  |
| Robert Salaburu | 6,195,000 | 0 |
| Taylor Paur | 5,820,000 | 0 |
| Erik Hellman | 4,715,000 | 0 |
| Wilfried Haerig | 4,505,000 | 0 |
| Shahriar Assareh | 4,395,000 | 0 |
| Charles Coultas | 4,015,000 | 0 |
| Gaelle Baumann | 3,980,000 | 0 |
| Fabrizio Gonzalez | 3,935,000 | 0 |
| Nicco Maag | 3,895,000 | 0 |
| Jeremy Ausmus | 3,810,000 | 0 |
| Robert Corcione | 3,750,000 | 650,000  |
| Jacob Balsiger | 3,675,000 | 0 |
| Jean Malherbe | 3,620,000 | 0 |
| Eric Pratt | 3,460,000 | 0 |
| Jan Heitmann | 3,410,000 | 0 |
| Amnon Filippi | 3,400,000 | 0 |
| Elisabeth Hille | 3,390,000 | 0 |
| A.J. Jejelowo | 3,340,000 | 0 |
| Paul Volpe | 3,250,000 | 0 |
| Manos Foudoulakis | 3,020,000 | 0 |
| Michael Esposito | 3,005,000 | 0 |
| Jesse Sylvia | 2,990,000 | 0 |
| Roland Israelashvili | 2,850,000 | 45,000 |
| Yuval Bronshtein | 2,775,000 | 0 |
| Jordi Martinezalonso | 2,700,000 | 520,000 |
| Cylus Watson | 2,700,000 | 0 |
| Nicholas Cushman | 2,540,000 | 1,427,000 |
| John Beauprez | 2,495,000 | 0 |
| David Kluchman | 2,425,000 | 0 |
| Percy Mahatan | 2,400,000 | 640,000 |
| Alban Juen | 2,376,000 | 0 |
| Eric Legoff | 2,230,000 | 1,070,000 |
| Lawrie Gibson | 2,210,000 | 0 |
| Russell Thomas | 2,095,000 | 0 |
| Omar Saeed | 2,040,000 | 0 |
| Tomas Samol | 1,995,000 | 475,000 |
| Daniel Strelitz | 1,980,000 | 0 |
| Eric Buchman | 1,930,000 | 380,000 |
| David ODB Baker | 1,910,000 | 0 |
| Casey Yontz | 1,890,000 | 0 |
| Mazin Khoury | 1,885,000 | -565,000 |
| Dung Nguyen | 1,880,000 | 0 |
| Steven Gee | 1,815,000 | 0 |
| Roman Valerstein | 1,770,000 | 0 |
| Helge Stjernvang | 1,760,000 | 0 |
| Lasell King | 1,740,000 | 480,000 |
| Andras Koroknai | 1,720,000 | 0 |
| Marcia Topp | 1,700,000 | 0 |
| Sam Soverel | 1,680,000 | 730,000 |
| Jamie Robbins | 1,649,000 | 0 |
| Andrew Flaherty | 1,550,000 | 339,000 |
| Amit Zulkowitz | 1,520,000 | -80,000 |
| Felipe Quijano | 1,500,000 | 20,000 |
| Scott Anderson | 1,485,000 | -835,000 |
| Marc Ladouceur | 1,480,000 | 350,000 |
| Stephane Bisson | 1,445,000 | 0 |
| Richard Pyne | 1,400,000 | 0 |
| Amit Makhija | 1,400,000 | 0 |
| Jason Somerville | 1,400,000 | 0 |
| Andrew Dean | 1,390,000 | 0 |
| Jordan Batt | 1,300,000 | 0 |
| David Balkin | 1,295,000 | 485,000 |
| Nicolau Villa Lobos | 1,285,000 | 185,000 |
| Scott Abrams | 1,255,000 | 0 |
| Nick DiVella | 1,250,000 | 0 |
| Erik Cajelais | 1,205,000 | 25,000 |
| Marty Zabib | 1,185,000 | -115,000 |
| Vanessa Selbst | 1,165,000 | -185,000 |
| Isaac Baron | 1,165,000 | 0 |
| Mohammad Siddiqui | 1,160,000 | -1,475,000 |
| Webber Kang | 1,095,000 | -365,000 |
| Paul Siem | 1,055,000 | 0 |
| Gwennael Grandmougin | 1,055,000 | 0 |
| Josh Neufeld | 1,015,000 | 0 |
| Alfred Firova | 995,000 | 0 |
| Greg Merson | 945,000 | 0 |
| Leo Wolpert | 940,000 | 0 |
| Bobby Law | 900,000 | 0 |
| Robert Buckenmayer | 875,000 | -96,000 |
| Kyle Bowker | 855,000 | 0 |
| Takashi Ogura | 830,000 | 38,000 |
| Fabio Sousa | 805,000 | -735,000 |
| Ben Greenberg | 780,000 | -154,000 |
| Danny Wong | 775,000 | -450,000 |
| Sam Holden | 765,000 | 0 |
| Max Ovseyevitz | 755,000 | -128,000 |
| Susie Zhao | 740,000 | 0 |
| Tristan Clemencon | 725,000 | 0 |
| David Randall | 710,000 | 0 |
| Gavin Smith | 675,000 | 0 |
| David Warady | 650,000 | 0 |
| William Hefflefinger | 636,000 | 0 |
| Niels van Alphen | 565,000 | 0 |
| Jonathan Schoder | 470,000 | 0 |
| Dave D'Alesandro | 415,000 | 0 |
| Frederick Vogt | 55,000 | 0 |
Sunday, July 15, 2012 12:04 AM Local Time
Most of the remaining players were bagging and tagging when we heard a dealer shout, "All in and call!"
When we reached the table, Kirill Rabtsov was standing with laying in front of him. Jeremy Ausmus had , and the board was . Rabstov was eliminated, while Ausmus' stack crossed the 3 million-chip mark.
According to Ausmus, Rabstov led out on the flop, Ausmus called, and Rabstov led again on the turn. Ausmus moved all in, and Rabstov snapped it off. The completed the board, removing Rabstov from the 2012 Main Event.
| Jeremy Ausmus | 3,375,000 | 797,000 |
| Kirill Rabtsov | 0 | -1,447,000 |
Saturday, July 14, 2012 11:54 PM Local Time
It happens every year. A kind of camaraderie tends to develop between those who make it through the long, arduous journey into the money of the WSOP Main Event, especially for those getting all of the way to the end of a Day 5.
Just now came an illustration of that phenomenon after the announcement came that the field had shrunk to just 99 players. That meant a pay jump had been crossed, with all of those remaining guaranteed at least $62,021.
Over at Table 411, Fred Vogt had been folding hands for quite some time, his stack having fallen under 200,000. When the announcement came, the entire table recognized that Vogt had made it through with his short stack, and all congratulated him with fist bumps.
Helge Stjernvang, sitting to Vogt's right, was ecstatic for Vogt. "You made it!" he said, patting him on the back. "Patience paid off," said Erik Hellman from across the table. Vogt thanked them all, his grin as wide as his stack is small.
Vogt continued smiling through the last hands of the night, folding his way to Day 6, happy to have have made it this far. And probably happy to sleep one more night knowing that when he wakes up tomorrow, he's still playing in the greatest poker tournament in the world.
| Frederick Vogt | 55,000 | -653,000 |
Saturday, July 14, 2012 11:48 PM Local Time
The players will play five more hands then bag and tag for the evening.
Saturday, July 14, 2012 11:46 PM Local Time
2012 WSOP bracelet winner Timothy Adams raised on the button, Roland Israelashvili three-bet from the big blind, and Adams four-bet jammed. Israelashvili, who final tabled the $50,000 Poker Players Championship, went into the tank, then called.
The flop changed little, but the spiked on the turn, giving Adams a leading pair of aces.
There was still one card to come however, and the slammed on the river, giving Israelashvili a set of tens, and eliminating Adams from the tournament.
| Roland Israelashvili | 2,730,000 | 1,050,000 |
| Timothy Adams | 0 | 0 |
Saturday, July 14, 2012 11:43 PM Local Time
Kyle Keranen raised to 60,000 from under the gun, and Marcia Topp called from the big blind. The flop came down all spades , and Topp fired 100,000. Keranen called, and the turn was the . Topp check called a bet of 175,000 from Keranen, and the river was the . This time, Topp bet 175,000, and it was on Keranen. He elected to raise it to 475,000, and after about 30 seconds of thinking, Topp made the call.
Keranen
Topp:
Keranen's ace kicker was good enough to take the pot, upping him to a chip leading 6.816 million. That hit drops Topp to 1.682 million.
| Kyle Keranen | 6,632,000 | 638,000 |
| Marcia Topp | 1,682,000 | -1,178,000 |
Saturday, July 14, 2012 11:40 PM Local Time
Action folded to Casey Yontz in the cutoff and he raised to 65,000, which Dung Nguyen called from the small blind. The latter proceeded to check-call a bet of 90,000 on the flop, before check-calling a bet of 134,000 on the turn.
When the appeared on the river, Nguyen checked for a third time and Yontz reluctantly checked behind. "Five," Nguyen said and rolled over . It was good as Yontz mucked, but not before informing Nguyen that he didn't want to see another club.
| Casey Yontz | 2,050,000 | -450,000 |
| Dung Nguyen | 1,700,000 | 300,000 |
Saturday, July 14, 2012 11:36 PM Local Time
Gaelle Baumann opened for a min-raise to 60,000 from under the gun, and the action folded to Andras Koroknai, who moved all in for what looked like 2 million from the small blind. Gavin Smith folded from the big blind, and thinking that the action was completed, Koroknai mucked his hand.
When he realized his mistake, he pulled back one of his cards, but the other was irretrievable. A floorperson was called to the table, and the dealer explained what had happened. Tournament Director Dennis Jones was called over to make the ruling, and upon hearing the story, he stood silently for half a minute.
Smith, who was standing next to him, began laughing at the difficulty of the decision.
After a moment for thought, Jones informed the table that Koroknai would have to forfeit 60,000 chips to Baumann, but that he wouldn't be eliminated completely.
"Really?" Smith blurted.
Baumann was also confused with the ruling, so Jones pulled out his iPhone and called Vice President of the World Series of Poker Jack Effel. After a two-minute conversation, Jones hung up, and announced to the table that the original ruling would stand.
"You're not losing your tournament life," Jones told Koroknai.
In Jones' explanation to the table, he cited the "integrity of the tournament" as the major factor in the decision.
According to Smith, Baumann showed two kings.
Saturday, July 14, 2012 11:35 PM Local Time
Robert Salaburu raised to 65,000 from under the gun, and it folded around to Sam Holden on the button. He moved all in for 344,000, and it folded back to Salaburu. He made the call, and Holden was at risk.
Holden:
Salaburu:
The flop came down , and the outs reversed, as Salaburu was now looking for a jack to win the hand. The turn brought the , bringing chop outs as well, but the river came the .
Holden doubles up to 838,000, while Salaburu takes a small hit to 6.154 million.
| Robert Salaburu | 6,154,000 | -349,000 |
| Sam Holden | 838,000 | 416,000 |
Saturday, July 14, 2012 11:34 PM Local Time
We caught up with the action on a flop, where David Kluchman was heads-up with Jacob Balsiger.
Kluchman bet 125,000 from the cutoff seat and Balsiger called after some thought.
The fell on the turn and Kluchman fired again - this time for 165,000. Balsiger responded by raising to 405,000 and Kluchman almost beat him into the pot with a call.
The completed the board and Kluchman checked - promting a 600,000 bet from Balsiger. Kluchman announced, "fold," and went to throw his hand into the muck.
...Then the drama started.
Kluchman was informed by the surrounding ESPN camera crew that he had to show his hand to their small portable camera so that it could be used as footage. Kluchman said he didn't want to show his hand and asked for a floorman.
Unbeknownst to Kluchman, a floorman was standing behind him.
"Sir, if you don't show your cards to the camera - you're going to get a one-round penalty," the floorman said.
"Alright, alright - show them," Kluchman said. He was then instructed to show the portable camera his hole cards, which he did. He then hastily mucked.
Kluchman was knocked down to 2.4 million, while Balsiger chipped up to 3.9 million.
| Jacob Balsiger | 3,900,000 | 1,300,000 |
| David Kluchman | 2,400,000 | -780,000 |
Saturday, July 14, 2012 11:29 PM Local Time
Tristan Clemencon opened to 65,000 from under the gun and it folded around to Amnon Filippi on the button. Filippi flung out a call and the blinds got out of the way. The flop came down and Clemencon continued out for 99,000. Filippi called and the camera crews swooped down to capture the hand.
After about a minute, the dealer produced the on the turn. They both checked and did so once again on the river. Filippi showed and Clemencon threw his hand into the muck.
| Amnon Filippi | 3,200,000 | 529,000 |
Saturday, July 14, 2012 11:24 PM Local Time
With less than a half-hour left to play in Day 5, we are down to 100 players. The average chip stack at the moment is a little under 2 million.
Saturday, July 14, 2012 11:21 PM Local Time
Kyle Keranen raised it up to 60,000 in early position, and Amit Makhija made the call from the small blind. They went heads up to an all spade flop of . Makhija checked to Keranen who fired out 80,000. Makhija made the call, and the turn brought the . Both players checked, and the river came the . Makhija checked again, and Keranen fired out 285,000. Makhija made the call, and Keranen rolled over for the nut flush.
Makhija mucked, and Keranen jumps up to just under six million, while Makhija drops to 1.154 million.
| Kyle Keranen | 5,994,000 | 521,000 |
| Amit Makhija | 1,154,000 | -395,000 |
Saturday, July 14, 2012 11:18 PM Local Time
We just had a somewhat humorous moment surrounding an all-in situation between Bobby Law and David "ODB" Baker, although it was certainly much more enjoyable for Law than for Baker.
The pair had gotten all of Law's stack in the middle following a flop with Law holding and Baker a straight flush draw with . Law has a number of friends on the rail tonight, and they've made their support known frequently with cheers for Law whenever he's won a hand.
The dealer delivered the turn — the — and Law's aces were still best. Then came the river... the .
"Yeaaah!!!" came the cry. "Wait!" then said one of the group as they collectively calculated whether or not the river was good or bad for their man. Then, "Yeaaah!!!" Law had survived, and his fans learned a little more about Texas hold'em in the process.
Meanwhile, Baker has taken a couple of swift hits here in the last hour of play to fall below the average stack.
| David ODB Baker | 1,360,000 | -715,000 |
| Bobby Law | 1,140,000 | 517,000 |
Saturday, July 14, 2012 11:10 PM Local Time
Right after Marcel Luske was eliminated, we lost another player on the ESPN main stage, and that was Jonathan Seelbach. Action started with Robert Salaburu raising to 61,000 in early position. Action folded around to Seelbach, and he moved all in his last 448,000. It folded back around to Salaburu, and he tossed in the call.
Salaburu:
Seelbach:
Seelbach didn't catch a pair on the flop, which came . He did however pick up a straight draw, and any paint card would do for him. The turn brought the , giving Seelbach more outs, as another ten would counterfeit Salaburu. However, the came on the river, and Seebach was sent to the rail.
After that hand, Salaburu strengthens his chip lead, as he now has over 6.5 million.
| Robert Salaburu | 6,503,000 | 433,000 |
| Jonathan Seelbach | 0 | -567,000 |
Saturday, July 14, 2012 11:05 PM Local Time
Eric Pratt made it 62,000 to go from under the gun, and it folded to Marcel Luske in middle position. He three bet it to 215,000, and it folded back around to Pratt. He announced all in, and Luske made the call. The cards were tabled, and Luske was in a world of hurt.
Luske:
Pratt:
Luske would need a ton of help going to the flop, and it was about as dry as it could have been for Luske, coming . Luske would need runner runner now to win, but the turn brought the . The meaningless river was the , and Luske headed to the rail.
Meanwhile, Pratt rockets up to 3.742 million after that hand.
| Eric Pratt | 3,742,000 | 1,094,000 |
| Marcel Luske | 0 | -937,000 |
Saturday, July 14, 2012 11:04 PM Local Time
With the board showing , Amit Zulkowitz checked, Taylor Paur bet 215,000, Zulkowitz check-raised to 575,000, and Paur called. The pot by then exceeded 1.5 million.
The river then brought the and a check from Zulkowitz. Paur announced he was all in, and Zulkowitz let his hand go.
Paur has added even more to his stack since then and is up to about 5.5 million.
| Taylor Paur | 5,500,000 | 2,180,000 |
| Amit Zulkowitz | 1,600,000 | -600,000 |
Saturday, July 14, 2012 10:59 PM Local Time
From what we could piece together, Isaac Baron had raised preflop and gotten two callers. Baron then continuation-bet the flop, David "ODB" Baker raised from the cutoff, Jesse Sylvia called from the button, and Baron got out of the way.
Both Baker and Sylvia checked the turn as well as the river, prompting the former to roll over . Sylvia then revealed for a rivered straight and the win.
| Jesse Sylvia | 3,800,000 | 750,000 |
| David ODB Baker | 2,075,000 | -345,000 |