We caught up with chip leader Harvey Bundy to see if his incredible rush from earlier in the day had continued. According to Bundy, the streak of made hands and victims willing to ship their stacks dissipated after the dinner break, but he has managed to continue accumulating chips anyway.
When asked to explain his run through this record setting field of 3,752 players, Bundy told us that he gained valuable experience playing in Event # 4 of this years WSOP, the $5,000 No Limit Hold'em tournament. Bundy said that for a good part of Day 1, he had eventual champion Allen Bari sitting on his left, as well as Justin Young and Eric Baldwin.
Bundy went on to explain that the $5,000 event provided "an entirely different style of tournament than the seniors event." When asked to elaborate, Bundy told us that in the open events, dominated as they are by young internet players, "the emphasis is mostly on post-flop play" and that "he learned some valuable lessons playing with the internet kids."
Harvey Bundy has successfully applied those lessons here in the Senior's Championship. Given his ability to utilize advanced strategies against his more traditional opponents, it is safe to assume this chip leader will remain a force to be reckoned with as we head to the final day.
In middle postion, Tim Peters opened to 14,000. The player in the small blind re-raised all in for 30,500 total and Peters called with . He was dominated by his opponent's and found little help from the board.
Peters, though, is still in good spirits.
"Still alive," Peters told us. "The folks at the Oaks Club need to know."
WSOP bracelet winner Mike "Little Man" Sica saw a flop of and bet. His opponent put in a raise and Sica called, landing the on the turn.
Sica's opponent then shoved all-in for 180,000 or so chips and "Little Man" began thinking aloud as he mulled his options. He walked back through the previous betting action, asking the other player "you think I don't have a hand here?"
Eventually Sica threw his face up into the muck and shook his head. The opponent appeared to be a bit bemused by this fold, but tried to comfort Sica with the oldest of poker adages, saying simply "Sir, I had you beat."
As we have seen before in this Seniors Championship, the arrival of a new payout level has influenced play during the last half hour or so. With exactly 100 players remaining at the moment, many seniors are playing tighter to avoid busting in 100th place. The reason for this is the jump from $3,106 to $3,613 in prize money which comes with advancing to the double-digit places.
With more payout jumps scheduled for every eight eliminations, we expect the prospect of earning a little more cash to continue affecting tournament strategy.
A scream of agony drew our attention and we reached the table in time to see the aftermath of tough beat. The fallen player had his tabled on a ten-high board and looked to be the likely winner.
Then we noticed the held by Dave Moyses and saw that his club had hit the final board of , giving him a flush. All of the chips had been put in the pot before the flop and Moyses had sucked out after starting the hand in bad shape, but he'll gladly take the chips.