2012 WSOP MAIN EVENT CHAMPIONSHIP: DAY SIX – DINNER BREAK UPDATE
Photo Caption: It's "moving day" in the WSOP Main Event Championship. Day Six to the Main Event is what the third round is to The Masters in golf. It's the day during which surviving players who have made the cut jockey for critical positions on the leaderboard, in what they hope will be a final push going into the final stage of the tournament. The chip lead has changed no less than five times today, with at least four more hours of poker still to be played. No doubt, major moves are ahead. -- Photo by Jay WhoJedi Neunem
DAY SIX – 6:30 PM UPDATE
2012 WSOP Main Event Championship – 58 Players Remaining!
All Surviving Players Guaranteed $128,384 Payout
New Chip Leader! Again! – LA's Daniel Strelitz Steps into the Spotlight
“Year of the Woman at the 2012 WSOP?” -- Norway’s Elizabeth Hille and France's Gaelle Baumann Both in Top 25
From a starting field of 6,598 entrants more than a week ago, there are only 58 players still remaining in the 2012 WSOP Main Event Championship. UNOFFICIAL CHIP COUNTS are available on WSOP.com. The current chip leader is Daniel Strelitz, from Los Angeles, CA. He is the only player currently with more than 9 million in chips. Only two players have more than 7 million -- including Strelitz and Danny Wong, from Las Vegas.
However, there is a stacked field atop the leaderboard, with no less than 11 players with 5 million chips, or more. Here is a glance at the top ten:
1. Daniel Strelitz -- USA -- 9,120,000
2. Danny Wong -- USA -- 7,600,000
3. Taylor Paur -- USA -- 6,750,000
4. Jeremy Ausmus -- USA -- 6,350,000
5. Alban Juen -- FRANCE -- 5,950,000
6. Cylus Watson -- USA -- 5,800,000
7. Jan Heitmann -- GERMANY -- 5,750,000
8. Jacob Balsiger -- USA -- 5,795,000
9. Erik Hellman -- SWEDEN -- 5,695,000
10. Robert Corcione -- USA -- 5,780,000
MAIN EVENT FIELD TRIMMED FROM 97 DOWN TO 58 SURVIVORS
Another 39 players are now gone. The first six hours of Day Six reduced the field size from 97 players down to just 58 survivors. Tournament officials expect Sunday’s session to play from 97 down to 27. However, the plan is to play five full levels of action. Should more than 27 players remain at the end of five levels, play will continue until the final three tables are set.
NOTABLE DEVELOPMENTS:
Robert Salaburu (San Antonio, TX) started the day in second place. He took the chip lead for the first time in the tournament about a half hour into Day Six. Then, he took a few beats and fell to 19th place by the dinner break.
Nicco Maag (Karlsruhe, Germany) took the chip lead for a short time, becoming the first player to cross the 8 million chip mark. Then, he took a beat just before the dinner break and heads to the break in 16th place.
Daniel Strelitz, from Torrance, CA seized the chip lead moment before the last hand before dinner. He rocketed to 9 million in chips, becoming the first player to hit that mark. We expect the chip lead to shift several times over the next few hours.
Gaelle Baumann (France), who was chip leader after Day Two, currently ranks in 14th place. She is the top-ranked female player at the moment.
Just two female players remain alive – Elizabeth Hille (Norway) and Gaelle Baumann (France). Within the last two hours, both Marcia Topp (USA) and Vanessa Selbst (USA) were eliminated.
Only one November Nine finalist remains alive – Sam Holden (UK). Another finalist Eric Buchman (USA) ended up in 74th place.
Four WSOP gold bracelet winners remain alive – Steven Gee, Greg Merson, Leo Wolpert and David “ODB” Baker.
Roman Valerstein, winner of a WSOP Circuit gold ring last season -- busted in 82nd place
Gold bracelet winner from Canada Erik Cajelais -- busted in 86th place
Ben Greenberg, former chip leader -- busted in 88th place
Gold bracelet winner Gavin Smith -- busted in 96th place.
NEXT UPDATE: MONDAY – 1:00 AM (END OF DAY REPORT)
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-- by Nolan Dalla