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Six Poker Professionals Left After A Fast And Furious Day Five
Level 34: 500,000-1,000,000, 100,000 ante
Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic Day Five By Tom Bostic Ask any poker player – final tables are hard to come by. First you have to come up with the scratch, fight your way though huge fields, play your best game every day, hopefully get a few good hands, and avoiding any one of the hundreds of opportunities to go broke. Toss in a little bit of luck, and for any given major tournament the odds are still stacked against you. Even more unlikely are chances to make two of the most prestigious final tables of the year, but that’s exactly what one of tomorrow’s participants has accomplished. Chino Rheem is fresh of a seventh place finish at this year’s World Series of Poker Main Event. One horrific bad beat away from making an even deeper run, Chino has a shot of redemption tomorrow at the final table of the Five Diamond World Poker Classic. However, Rheem has no easy task in front of him as he will be joined by a talented group of professional players in Hoyt Corkins, Amnon Philippi, Steve Sung, Evan McNiff, and Justin Young. Day Five started just after noon with two full tables of 18 players. Action started off fast when William Klein was the first casualty of the day, hitting the rail within just a few minutes of the first level. He would be joined in a parade of eliminations over the next few hours, twelve in total, over a period of just over two and a half levels; a pace that has not been seen on a Day Five in quite a few events. Some big hands helped speed up the action including Hoyt Corkins pushing all in for a $1.8 million dollar pot before the flop with Q
8 (and winning), the double elimination of Martin de Knijff and Jack Wu by the hand of Clonie Gowen, and Brett Richey running into the pocket aces of Chino Rheem. But the biggest hand of the tournament came not on an elimination, but on a hand that rarely gets paid off in poker. While eight-handed, Steve Sung raised from under the gun to 150,000, and Evan McNiff made the call in middle position. The flop came Q
33
and Sung made what looked to be a standard continuation bet for 225,000. McNiff matched the wager and the turn brought the 9, putting three clubs onto the already paired board. Sung showed no fear and lead out again, this time for 525,000. McNiff called and the table grew intrigued as the huge pot brewed in the center of the felt before the river brought an innocuous 8. Sung started staging a large amount of chips and then slide out a huge pot sized bet of 1.5 million chips. McNiff called for the third street in a row. After Sung turned over 3
3 for quads, he wished that he never even called the first bet. Flopped quads don’t usually get paid off, but after dragging in the 4.4 million chip pot, Sung was the new chip leader with 5,600,000. He will be taking that lead into tomorrow’s final table. Here’s a full rundown of the seating order and chip counts for the final six: Seat 1. Chino Rheem - 4,240,000 Seat 2. Amnon Filippi - 2,750,000 Seat 3. Hoyt Corkins - 2,295,000 Seat 4. Steve Sung - 5,885,000 Seat 5. Justin Young - 2,410,000 Seat 6. Evan McNiff - 4,805,000 Join us tomorrow as these six players compete for what will be one of the nicest early holiday presents they will ever receive - $1,538,730
09:51 PM, 12/18/08
Amnon Filippi, Steve Sung, and Chino Rheem
Level 34: 500,000-1,000,000, 100,000 ante
Video description: Amnon Filippi enters his third WPT Final Table fourth in chips with 2,750,000. Steve Sung enters his third WPT Final Table as the chipleader with 5,885,000. David 'Chino' Rheem enters his first WPT Final Table third in chips with 4,240,000.
Sorted In: Bellagio, Tournaments, Season VII, Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic
07:28 PM, 12/18/08
Evan McNiff - 4,805,000
Level 34: 500,000-1,000,000, 100,000 ante
Video description: Evan McNiff enters his first WPT Final Table second in chips with 4,805,000.
Sorted In: Bellagio, Tournaments, Season VII, Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic
07:22 PM, 12/18/08
Justin Young - 2,410,000
Level 34: 500,000-1,000,000, 100,000 ante
Video description: Justin Young enters his first WPT Final Table fifth in chips with 2,410,000.
Sorted In: Bellagio, Tournaments, Season VII, Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic
07:21 PM, 12/18/08
Hoyt Corkins - 2,295,000
Level 34: 500,000-1,000,000, 100,000 ante
Video description: Hoyt Corkins enters his fifth WPT Final Table as the shortstack with 2,295,000.
Sorted In: Bellagio, Tournaments, Season VII, Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic
07:10 PM, 12/18/08
Official Chip Counts
Level 34: 500,000-1,000,000, 100,000 ante
Here are the official chip counts for tomorrow's WPT Final Table: Seat 1. Chino Rheem - 4,240,000 Seat 2. Amnon Filippi - 2,750,000 Seat 3. Hoyt Corkins - 2,295,000 Seat 4. Steve Sung - 5,885,000 Seat 5. Justin Young - 2,410,000 Seat 6. Evan McNiff - 4,805,000 The final table is scheduled to start tomorrow (Friday) at 4:00 pm PT. Return to WorldPokerTour.com for complete live coverage of every single hand, including constantly-updated chip counts.
Sorted In: Bellagio, Tournaments, Season VII, Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic05:40 PM, 12/18/08
Official Chip Counts Coming Soon
Level 34: 500,000-1,000,000, 100,000 ante
With the final six players set for tomorrow's WPT Final Table, we'll have official chip counts ready in a moment.
Sorted In: Bellagio, Tournaments, Season VII, Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic05:35 PM, 12/18/08
Hand #30: Joe McGowan Eliminated in 7th Place ($165,735)
Level 34: 500,000-1,000,000, 100,000 ante
Level 23: Blinds at 30,000-60,000 (5,000 ante). Action will continue today until there are six players left.
Hand #30: Chino Rheem raises from middle position to 175,000, Joe McGowan moves all in from the big blind, and Chino calls with 99. McGowan shows 44, and he'll need to improve to stay alive.
The board comes AA568, and Chino Rheem wins the pot with his pocket nines.
Joe McGowan is eliminated in seventh place, earning $165,735.
05:34 PM, 12/18/08
Hand #29: Ben Straate Eliminated in 8th Place ($115,295)
Level 34: 500,000-1,000,000, 100,000 ante
Level 23: Blinds at 30,000-60,000 (5,000 ante). Action will continue today until there are six players left.
Hand #29: Ben Straate moves all in from the cutoff, and Steve Sung calls from the small blind with 66. Straate shows A10, and he'll need to improve to stay alive.
The board comes 77539, and Steve Sung wins the pot with his pocket sixes.
Ben Straate is eliminated in eighth place, earning $115,295.
05:31 PM, 12/18/08
Hands #25-28: Eight Players Left
Level 34: 500,000-1,000,000, 100,000 ante
Level 23: Blinds at 30,000-60,000 (5,000 ante). Action will continue today until there are six players left.
Hand #25: Everyone folds to Amnon Filippi, giving him a walk in the big blind.
Hand #26: Steve Sung raises from middle position to 160,000, Chino Rheem calls from the button, and Amnon Filippi reraises from the small blind to 450,000. Sung and Rheem both fold, and Amnon Filippi takes the pot.
Hand #27: Chino Rheem raises from the cutoff to 175,000, winning the blinds and antes.
Hand #28: Joe McGowan raises from early position to 150,000, and Steve Sung calls from the big blind. The flop comes J109, Sung checks, McGowan bets 200,000, and Sung folds. Joe McGowan takes the pot.
05:28 PM, 12/18/08
