You know Robert Iler as the face of prime time television's A.J. Soprano, but the actor is trying to make a name for himself here on Day 5, as well. He began the day with under 100,000 chips, but he's found his early double to get himself back into contention. It came with pocket kings, , and the board was better than his opponent's already-mucked cards, whatever they were.
Freddy Deeb got all in preflop for his last 240,000 and was at risk against Andrew Webking.
Showdown
Deeb:
Webking:
Deeb was in a bit of a bind and needed some help. His best bet was an ace, but the flop was no help. The turn meant Deeb's life depended on the river . . . which came the . Deeb's deep run in the 2011 WSOP Main Event came to an end early on Day 5.
Hoai Pham moved all in for 74,000 from under the gun. It was folded around to Stephen Bokor in the small blind who had nearly the same amount as Pham and took some time before he folded. Table leader Philipp Gruissem then looked at his cards from the big blind and immediately called.
Gruissem:
Pham:
It’s no wonder that Gruissem snap-called since he woke up with a monster and had a good chance to knockout Pham. That was until the flop came down and Pham who was already out of his chair began yelling, “Yes! Yes!” as he turned away. The on the turn left Gruissem needing one of the two remaining kings only to eliminate Pham but the river was the and Pham doubled. He will need quite a few more doubles to catch up to Gruissem though who could afford the hit at this point.
Evan McNiff just found himself a lucky double, getting all in for 301,000 with . It was a bad thing when Jonathan Seelbach found , but things would improve for McNiff in a hurry. The dropped right on the flop, and the board vaults McNiff up above the chip average with about 620,000 now, knocking Seelbach down around the same count.
Carter King opened from middle position with a raise to 23,000, then Jean-Robert Bellande reraised to 74,000 behind him. It folded back around and King shoved over the top all in for 216,000 total, and Bellande made the call.
King turned over and Bellande . The flop came and King's kings were still good. The on the turn brought Bellande a flush draw, but the river was the and King doubled up.
King has 456,000 now, while Bellande is still the big stack at the main feature table with 914,000.
With about 200,000 in the pot and a flop of , Matthew Wantman was in the small blind and led out for 82,000, which prompted Stuart Tuvey to fold from middle position. Action was then on Alexandros Karnaos on the button, and he announced a raise before sliding in an additional 100,000.
Wantman, who was the bigger stack, responded by moving all in. Karnaos has about 450,000 behind and hit the tank. He stared down his opponent for quite some time, but Wantman gave away nothing. Eventually Karnaos folded, only to shake his head in disgust when Wantman flipped over .
First into the pot from the cutoff, Christian Harder raised it up, and Josh Kay three-bet shoved from the big blind. He had , and Charder's snap-call was not good news. "Charder" turned up , and the starts his day off well. It's a knockout, and it moves the pro up to 340,000.
We caught up with the action on a flop, where Joseph Cheong (in the big blind) checked-called a 26,000 bet from Conrad Coetzer in early position.
The turn brought the and Cheong again check-called a bet from Coetzer - this time for 42,000.
Cheong checked a third and final time on the river and Coetzer deliberated a bit before announcing, "Check."
"Ten-high," Cheong said. Coetzer looked reluctant to show and Cheong flipped over for jacks and fives with a ten kicker. Coetzer looked at Cheong's cards and....mucked.
Cheong is up to 920,000 while Coetzer has slid down to 600,000.
Daniel Negreanu's Day 4 ended especially well, but his Day 5 has begun less swimmingly. He has dropped a few chips here during the first three hands of play.
In the first, Ralph Robinson picked up a few from Kid Poker after betting Negreanu off a hand on the turn.
Then came a hand in which it folded around to Negreanu in the small blind and he raised to 29,000, and Rupert Elder called from the big blind. The flop came and Negreanu bet 36,000. Elder called. The turn brought the and another bet from Negreanu, this time for 57,000. Elder again was there with the call.
The river brought the and a third barrel from Negreanu for 97,000. Elder took some time before acting, then raised to 240,000 and Negreanu quickly folded.
We went over to the table where Garry "Beast Mode" Gates is sitting, and we saw a giant pot building up in the first hand. Gates started the action with a raise to 22,000, and Tri Huynh called in late position. Action folded to John Hines in the small blind, who made it 68,000 to go. Jonathan Pinx then went all in over the top for 143,000 total! Gates got a count, and then announced call. Huynh reluctantly folded, and Hines put in the chips to call the all in.
Going to the flop, Pinx was all in, while Gates and Hines were left to fight it out in the side pot. The flop came out , and Hines moved all in. Gates shrugged then quickly made the call. Everyone seemed to have a big pair, and when the cards were flipped, that was exactly the case.
Pinx:
Gates:
Hines:
Pinx had both players crushed, and was in great shape to triple up, while Gates was far in the lead for the side pot, which would be a profit for him on the hand. Huynh announced that he also folded a pair, pocket nines, making at least four pocket pairs in one hand! The turn brought the , eliminating any backdoor outs, and the river brought the . Pinx tripled up on the hand, while Hines was eliminated.