World Series of Poker Report

by Gambling Correspondent Andrew W Scott

Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Saturday 14 July 2007, 5:00am (Las Vegas time)

Day 4: Friday 13 July

Of the 6,358 starters, only 337 remained at the start of day 4.  They included the following:

Roy Vandersluis is a long time resident of Sydney, but was playing under his British passport.  Roy, Kit and Gary were the three remaining Australians left in the field.

Play began at 12:07pm.  On the very first hand two players busted out picking up US$39,445 for their finishing positions.  At 12:30pm Simpsons writer and co-creator Sam Simon was eliminated.  At 12:40pm one of the few remaining women, Mimi Tran, was eliminated when her pocket 9s ran into pocket Queens.  A minute later we lost another woman when Veronica Dabul's pocket Queens couldn't improve against Greg Huffman's two black Aces.  At 12:58pm, the actor most famous for playing Spiderman, Tobey Maguire, called an all-in bet with his pocket Kings.  Unfortunately for him he was up against pocket Aces.  The board provided him with no improvement and Tobey was crippled, down to approximately 15,000 in chips.  He busted out five minutes later.

After the first hour, during which about 40 players were eliminated, the players took a twenty minute break.  Overnight chip leader Dario Minieri from Rome dumped off about 400,000 chips with 5-4 against Ace-Queen, slipped back to about 1,800,000 in chips.

Once the number of players reduced to 288, the prize money increased to US$45,422.  Overnight Australian chip leader Gary Benson had an unlucky hand in which he lost a substantial portion of his stack.  The next hand he went all-in with Ace-King but unfortunately ran into pocket Aces.  Gary finished at 1:40pm in 283^rd place with $45,422 in prize money.  By 2:15pm, the field was thinned to 261 players.  At 2:55pm, Godsmack writer and singer Sully Erna was eliminated when his King-Queen of spades lost to Ace-King.  The flop had come with two spades but the flush didn't hit.  When we lost our 226^th player, the prize money increased to US$51,398.  Carlos Mortensen, the 2001 winner, was eliminated in 217^th place winning US$51,398.  At 3:25pm, Mario Minieri slipped back to 1,300,000 in chips.  Stacks over 1,000,000 had become commonplace by now.

At 3:50pm, players returned from a break and began the seventeenth level, with blinds of 5,000/10,000 and a 1,000 ante.  The 500 denomination chips had been removed after the fourteenth level.  The yellow 1,000 chips and bright orange 5,000 chips have been in play since the beginning of the tournament, but 25,000 chips had now been introduced.  The 25,000 chips are actually quite similar to the 5,000 chips, also orange, but a lighter "salmon" shade.  Initially a little confusing, players soon acclimatized to the difference.

At 4:42pm Hal Lubarksy was eliminated, in 197^th place picking up his US$51,398.  His accomplishment was all the more remarkable given that he is legally blind and plays with an assistant who whispers his cards in his ear.  At 5:30pm, Donna Blevins busted out when her Ace-10 lost to Adam White's pocket 5s, with the board helping neither player.  White's win took him to nearly 3,000,000 in chips.

The nine players on the bubble (finishing just outside of the money in 622^nd to 630^th places inclusive) played a one table freeroll funded by Tournament sponsor Milwaukee Best Light.  The winner was Lee Dryer who picked up a $10,000 entry into the 2008 main event, and a year's supply of beer!

At 5:40pm, 2002 winner Robert Varkonyi was eliminated, when his Ace-5 of clubs was dominated by Ace-Queen.  The flop came K-J-10, and Varkonyi was out in 177^th place picking up his US$51,398.  At 5:50pm, Mario Minieri won an enormous pot, eliminating Deb Blair and increasing his stack to 2,625,000 at the same time.  At 5:55pm, 1998 winner Scotty Nguyen doubled up, his stack now at 820,000.  At 6:10pm, Kenny Rundh was eliminated in 169^th place when his pocket Kings ran into pocket Aces.  He picked up US$51,398.  From the 162^nd placed player, the prize money increased to US$58,570, as it will stay all the way down to the 100^th placed player.

At 6:20pm, the eighteenth level began, with blinds at 6,000/12,000 with a 2,000 ante.  Early in the level Kelly Jo McGlothlin won a hand, becoming the first woman to crack the 1,000,000 in chips milestone.

At 6:50pm, Maria Ho, the only other woman in the field, found herself in an awkward situation.  Jason Welch open-raised for 36,000, Maria re-raised, and then Welch moved all-in and immediately flipped his cards over showing pocket tens, before Ho had a chance to act.  Ho had a tough decision to make with her Ace-Jack, but after a few minutes called for her tournament life.  The first card on the flop was an Ace and she won the hand, doubling up to 175,000.  This was to be the start of a big comeback for Ho.  She has a good temperament and I liked her play.  Stayed tuned, I think she may go very deep.

Just before the dinner break, 1996 winner Huck Seed doubled up to 584,000.  At 7:10pm, the players took the dinner break.  Play resumed at 8:45pm, with 153 players surviving.  It was announced that play for the day would continue to 12:45am, or until the field reduced to 99 players, whichever came first.

By 9:35pm, the field was down to 145 players.  At 9:45pm, Mario Ho doubled up again to increase her stack to 860,000.  At 10:08pm, the nineteenth level began, with blinds of 8,000/16,000 and an ante of 2,000.  Shortly into the level there were 140 players remaining and the average stack was 908,000.  Poker legend Bill Baxter was eliminated in 136^th place.  At 11:30pm, Gus Hansen put a bad beat on chip leader Tuan Lam.  Lam put Hansen all-in, and Hansen called with pocket tens, which were in serious trouble to Lam pocket Queens.  Hansen's ten came obligingly on the flop.  Hansen doubled up to 1,406,000 and left Lam with 1,880,000.

By this stage the atmosphere was electric.  With less than 15 tables left remaining in the tournament, everyone can see everyone else except for the feature TV tables.  The cry of "all-in and call" brings excitement throughout the room, with TV crews coming rushing and fans cheering from the rails.  Hundreds of fans are crammed five deep around the rails, and sandwiched into the Milwaukee Best Light Lounge from which there is a great view of the tournament area.  Hitting a board card to outdraw an opponent brings cheers and hoots of delight and high fives all around the entourage of the player in question.

By 11:40pm, only 118 players remained, with an average chip stack of 1,078,000.  At 12:05am, Mario Minieri, the sole Italian players remaining, took a big hit and was down to 1,400,000.  That is exactly one million in chips less than he started the day with.

On the last hand of the night, at 12:40am, we lost Berry Johnston, the 1986 winner, whose 6-5 of diamonds lost out to Ace-Jack.  Berry's elimination means there are now only two previous winners remaining in the field, Scotty Nguyen (1998) and Huck Seed (1996).

The 112 players remaining alive bagged their chips up for the evening and will return at 12 noon Saturday 14 July for day 5, where they will play down to just 27 players.  Those 112 players include only two women, Maria Ho and Kelly Jo McGlothlin.  The countries of origin of the remaining players are as follows:

The remaining players include:

Live minute-by-minute updates of the tournament are available