WPT Legends of Poker, Day 4 Recap

Level 30: 50,000-100,000, 10,000 ante

By BJ Nemeth


With everyone already in the money and a slowly increasing payout structure, the key goal for Day 4 was to make the final table. There were 21 players battling for just six seats at Tuesday's televised final table.

Here's a look at some highlights from Day 4:



During one of the breaks, Will "The Thrill" Failla (left) chats with Dwyte Pilgrim (center) and Keith Kozar -- both of whom finished in the money the day before.



James Carroll (right) faces a big bet of 500,000 from Jeff Vertes on a board of J945. Carroll would eventually fold, asking Vertes if he was bluffing. Vertes showed AA.



Christina Lindley was the last woman standing, but couldn't hold on to her short stack long enough to reach the final table. Lindley was eliminated in 15th place when she got it all in preflop with AK against the JJ of Joshua Pollock.



Shawn Buchanan was the last remaining WPT winner in the field, until he found himself all in preflop with A10 against the QQ of Joshua Pollock (far left). The board came Q84710, and Pollock won with a set of queens to eliminate Buchanan in 13th place. (Buchanan can be seen walking off to the right.)



Andy Whetstone is one of the most successful ClubWPT.com qualifiers in WPT history, reaching the televised final table at the 2011 WPT Hollywood Poker Open and earning $62,041 for his fifth-place finish. Whetstone was in Los Angeles on Monday, and couldn't resist checking out a WPT tournament in progress.



Tyler Cornell made a deep run in last year's WPT Legends of Poker, finishing 11th to barely miss the final table. This year, Cornell had deja vu -- once again, he was eliminated in 11th place. Cornell got it all in preflop with AQ, but ran into the KK of Joshua Pollock.

Joshua Pollock has already been mentioned several times for eliminating key players. As you'll soon see, he put their chips to good use.



After Tyler Cornell's elimination in 11th place, the final 10 players combined to a single table. In seat order, they are (1) David Daneshgar, (2) Joshua Pollock, (3) Owais Ahmed, (4) Will Failla, (5) Adam Aronson, (6) Matt Kay, (7) Ray Henson, (8) Ken Aldridge, (9) James Carroll, (10) Jeff Vertes.



Everyone at the table watches Matt Kay (far right) as he is all in preflop with AQ and facing elimination against the KK of Joshua Pollock. (There's that name again; Pollock is on the far left.) The board would come J105210, teasing Kay with a flush draw, but the pocket kings held up. Matt Kay was eliminated in 10th place.



David Daneshgar (standing, left) found himself as the short stack in a three-way all-in situation with 77 against the 88 of Joshua Pollock (standing, center) and the QQ of Owais Ahmed (standing, right).

This time, Pollock didn't get the kill. Ahmed's pocket queens held up on the board of J103K4 to win the entire pot and eliminate David Daneshgar in ninth place.



James Carroll (right) five-bets all in against Ray Henson (left). But Henson had the best of it, with KK to Carroll's JJ. The pocket kings would hold up, doubling Henson's chip stack.



Will Failla (left) folds to the all-in bet from Adam Aronson on a board of 6325.



Ken "Teach" Aldridge (left) faces an all-in bet from James Carroll with eight players remaining. Aldridge tanked for several minutes on his decision, talking and joking along the way, though he eventually folded.



Joshua Pollock (left) looks fearless as he stares down Adam Aronson after Pollock bet half the pot on a flop of K64. Aronson thought for a while before he folded, and Pollock showed AA.



James Carroll (center) carefully studies Jeff Vertes (right) after a big preflop reraise. Ken Aldridge (left) considered his options for a while in the big blind, but Carroll seemed primarily concerned with Vertes. When Aldridge eventually folded, Carroll forfeited his cards as well.

James Carroll was eliminated a short while later when he moved all in for 12 big blinds with A3, but ran into the AJ of Jeff Vertes.



Aces vs. kings has been a recurring theme on Days 3 and 4, and the victim this time was Ray Henson, who watched as Ken Aldridge doubled through his kings with pocket aces.



Ray Henson moved all in after a flop of J32 with J10 (pair of jacks), but was dominated by Joshua Pollock's KJ (pair of jacks, higher kicker). Henson received a reprieve when the last two cards came 22 to give them both identical full houses to chop the pot.



In Hand #190 at the final 10-handed table, shortly after 3:30 am, Ray Henson (seated, center left) moved all in with A6, but ran into the dominating AK of Jeff Vertes (seated, right). The board came A728Q, and Vertes won the final pot of the night with his king kicker.

Ray Henson was eliminated on the TV bubble, earning $64,250 for his seventh-place finish. The final six players verified their chip counts, filled out WPT bio sheets, and made their arrangements for Tuesday's televised final table.



Will Failla is a well-known player on the tournament circuit, with a larger-than-life personality. This will be Failla's first televised WPT final table, and he'll be starting play as the big chipleader.


Here are the official chip counts for the televised WPT final table:

Seat 1. Joshua Pollock - 5,315,000 (53 BBs)
Seat 2. Owais Ahmed - 1,720,000 (17 BBs)
Seat 3. Will Failla - 6,770,000 (67 BBs)
Seat 4. Adam Aronson - 2,190,000 (21 BBs)
Seat 5. Ken Aldridge - 3,640,000 (36 BBs)
Seat 6. Jeff Vertes - 4,085,000 (40 BBs)

The televised WPT final table begins Tuesday at 4:00 pm PT, and live-streaming will be available over the internet (with hole cards) on a 30-minute delay.

As always, we will be providing our complete hand-for-hand coverage, with every check, bet, call, raise, and fold, along with updated chip counts after every hand. Only at WPT.com.