Event #61: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em MAIN EVENT - World Championship

Day 6 of the 2012 World Series of Poker Main Event is in the books, and after another five-plus levels of play, Marc Ladouceur leads the remaining 27 players with 15.875 million chips.

The day began with 97 players and the chip leader was Kyle Keranen. Gavin Smith was the first notable player to bow out when his ace-queen was unable to best Eric Legoff's pocket jacks. There were then a flurry of eliminations, including William Hefflefinger, Stephane Bisson, Erik Cajelais, and Isaac Baron.

There were five women who returned to play on Day 5, including Vanessa Selbst, Elisabeth Hille, Gaelle Baumann, Marcia Topp, and Susie Zhao. Selbst had an incredibly rocky day, and it all began when she was crippled by David Balkin, who won a nearly two million-chip race with two red fours against Selbst's   . The board ran out      , and Selbst was left with just 380,000 chips. She then doubled with    against the    of Scott Anderson, turning a jack-high straight on a board of     . A meaningless   completed the board, and Selbst was back up to 700,000.

Selbst could never stay above the million-chip mark however, and on her final hand, she open-jammed 750,000 on the button with   . Greg Merson called out of the big blind with   , and the board ran out      , eliminating Selbst in 73rd place.

Topp and Zhao were also eliminated today. Topp ran pocket sixes into Robert Corcione's pocket queens, and Zhao ran king-queen into Baron's ace-queen.

Today was not a good day to be a former end-of-day chip leader of the 2012 Main Event — Keranen (Day 5), and Dave D'Alesandro (Day 3) were both eliminated. Keranen doubled Scott Abrams, Corcione, and lost a big pot to Jeremy Ausmus before three-bet jamming over a raise and a call with   . Percy Mahatan snapped it off with   , and the board ran out      , eliminating Keranen.

D'Alesandro was eliminated when he ran    into the    of Charles Coultras.

The chip lead changed hands several times today, and at one point, Amit Makhija, who entered the day with 1.4 million chips, vaulted into the lead with over 6 million. In a three-bet pot, he and A.J. Jejelowo took a flop of    . Jejelowo led out for 600,000, and Makhija called. The turn as another nine – the   – and Jejelowo checked to Makhija, who slid out 500,000. Jejelowo quickly moved all in for 2.045 million, and Makhija called. Makhija was ahead with   , and Jejelowo was drawing slim with   . The   bricked on the river, and Makhija was suddenly the chip leader.

Makhija began sliding however, and after being bluffed by Marc Ladouceur in a massive pot, he three-bet jammed over an open from Abrams. Tristan Clemencon cold-called the all in from the big blind, and Abrams re-jammed. Clemencon tank called, and the hands were opened.

The board ran out      , and both Makhija and Clemencon were eliminated.

Taylor Paur also ascended to the top of the counts today, but he too was unable to survive the day. Paur crossed the seven million-chip mark after winning big pots off of Steven Gee and Jamie Robbins, but Gee won a massive pot off of Paur holding two aces. Paur had queens on the board of     , and the   completed the board, doubling Gee to over five million chips.

Paur slipped down to around a million, and was eliminated in 33rd palce when he ran    into Robbins'   . The       board did not help Paur, and he was eliminated.

At the end of the day when Erik Hellman busted in 28th place, Ladouceur was our leader followed by Daniel Strelitz and Corcione. Strelitz strung together three big pots during the middle of the day, Corcione chipped up steadily, and Ladouceur pounced late…

Join us tomorrow at 1 p.m. local time, where we will play the remaining hour and thirty-seven minutes of Level 30. We will then march forward until there is a 2012 "Novemeber" Nine. Can Gaelle Baumann or Elisabeth Hille become the second woman to make a Main Event final table? Can Greg Merson take another step towards becoming the only double-bracelet winner of 2012? Can Jamie Robbins best his eleventh-place finish in the 2009 Main Event?

All of these questions and more will be answered tomorrow, but for now, good night from Las Vegas!

From under the gun, Jeremy Ausmus raised to 250,000. Michael Esposito called from the button and Jesse Sylvia reraised out of the small blind to 735,000. Ausmus folded and Esposito called.

The flop came down     and Sylvia bet 655,000. Esposito folded and Sylvia showed the   .

On the      board, Marc Ladouceur bet an unknown amount and Robert Corcione called to see the   land on the river. Ladouceur fired 1.445 million and Corcione called.

Ladouceur showed the    for trip sixes with an ace kicker. Corcione mucked and Ladouceur moved to over 15 million in chips.

Marc Ladouceur	15,875,000	2,775,000
Robert Corcione	8,745,000	-2,855,000

Daniel Strelitz raised to 240,000 from under the gun and Roland Israelashvili called from middle position. Israelashvili proceeded to call bets on every street, first calling 330,000 on the     flop, 575,000 on the   turn, and 840,000 on the   river.

Strelitz sheepishly turned over   , which was no good against the    of Israelashvili.

Daniel Strelitz	12,610,000	-1,895,000
Roland Israelashvili	5,540,000	2,490,000

Action folded to Andras Koroknai in the cutoff and he raised to 250,000, which Elisabeth Hille called from the small blind. The     flop saw Hille check, Koroknai bet 310,000, Hille check-raise to 785,000 and Koroknai made the call.

When the dealer burned and turned the  , Hille led out for 825,000, Koroknai called, and the   peeled off on the river. Hille pushed out a bet of 2 million, which she could barely get out before Koroknai snap-folded.

Elisabeth Hille	9,945,000	2,470,000
Andras Koroknai	3,775,000	-2,090,000

Steven Gee raised to 200,000 on the button and Daniel Strelitz defended from the big blind. The     flop saw Gee call a bet of 325,000, before he called off for 1.965 million on the   turn.

Showdown

Gee was ahead with aces, but he needed to dodge a heart on the river to survive. That's exactly what he did as the harmless   peeled off.

Daniel Strelitz	14,505,000	-1,885,000
Steven Gee	6,100,000	3,100,000

Yuval Bronshtein raised to 230,000 from under the gun and got a call from Jeremy Ausmus on the button. The flop came     and both players checked. The turn brought the   and another check from Bronshtein. Ausmus bet 325,000 and Bronshtein called.

The river was the  . Bronshtein checked again, and when Ausmus bet 625,000 Bronshtein was there with the call. Ausmus showed   , but Bronshtein had him with   .

Jeremy Ausmus	8,580,000	-1,280,000
Yuval Bronshtein	5,720,000	-180,000

From early position, Cylus Watson raised to 215,000. Yuval Bronshtein called from the hijack seat and the flop came down    . Watson checked and Bronshtein bet 300,000. Watson called.

The turn was the   and Watson checked. Bronshtein bet 450,000 and Watson folded.

Cylus Watson	9,750,000	-1,850,000
Yuval Bronshtein	5,500,000	1,000,000