|
Written by Stefan | Wednesday, July 15th, 2009
The 2009 WSOP Main Event Day 3 began with a field of 2,044 players remaining of the 6,494 that started out the Main Event, making this the 3rd largest field in the history of WSOP Main Events. Later in the day, the field dwindled down to 1,134 players, moving all of the tables into the Amazon Room for the first time this year. Included in the remaining players were seven former Main Event champions including Phil Hellmuth, Bobby Baldwin, Chris Ferguson, Dan Harrington, Joe Hachem, and reigning world poker champion Peter Eastgate, who managed to regain some chips and make a comeback after his pit fall on Day 2.
Non-Main Event champions still in the running were Tony Hachem (Joe’s brother) and Pamela Brunson (Doyle Brunson’s daughter). Also still seated were celebrity poker players Jason Alexander, Lou Diamond Philips, and Scott Ian.
As tables were condensed and players moved, Hellmuth eventually ended up seated with Josh Arieh, Alexander Kostritsyn, and Chris Bjorin. Phil Ivey, John Monnette, and Thor Hansen found themselves at the same table, joined by Bertrand Grospellier, who ended up being the Day 3 chip leader with 1.25 million chips to start out with on Day 4.
Also during the Day 3 festivities, Nolan Dalla, WSOP Media Director, announced that Jeff Lisandro had been declared the official 2009 WSOP Player of the Year.
Those eliminated on Day 3 were Jean-Robert Bellande, Carlos Mortensen, Greg Raymer, Bryan Micon, Eric “Rizen” Lynch, and Roland De Wolfe.
Day 4 turned out to be one of the shortest days in the recent history of the WSOP Main Event. Through three levels of play, which consisted of an excruciatingly slow hand-for-hand segment, ultimately, Matt Affleck was the final chip leader when it was all said and done with. Affleck, with a 1.8 million chip bankroll, was barely ahead of French player Ludovic Lacay, who ended up with 1.6 million chips.
The top 10 of Day 4 also included the only other American in the top 10, Blair Hinkle, 2008 bracelet winner, who spent the day seated with Lacay. Sometime before all of this though, the bubble burst and 648 players were left in the money. After one level, 659 players remained. Almost two hours later, 11 players were sent to the rail. The last non-cashing place was Kia Hamadani, who was deemed bubble boy and presented with a 2010 WSOP Main Event free buy-in for next year, courtesy of Jack Link’s Beef Jerky, WSOP sponsor. Not long after, Hellmuth would see the end of his game in 436th place and a $25,027 payout.
On the bright side, Phil Ivey seemed to be working his way up the leader board, taking 15th place for the day with 1.25 million in chips, just one place ahead of Bertrand Grospellier, Day 3 chip leader.
Day 4 finally ended with 407 players, which meant 241 players were knocked out in only the last 150 minutes of play. Those sent to the rail included Mike Sexton, Erik Seidel, Greg Mueller, and Kelly Kim, which leaves only two 2008 Main Event Final Table players still in the running, Dennis Phillips and Peter Eastgate. Both are below the 473,000 chip average.
 More Related Articles
Written by Stefan · Filed Under news · |
