Photo Recap, Day 4: Shawn Cunix Was Unstoppable

There was no point on Day 4 of the WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open when Shawn Cunix wasn’t the chipleader. He came into the day with about 4.2 million, built his stack up to nearly 10 million, and finished the day with 8.88 million.

Before looking back at the highlights from Day 4, here’s a look at the official seating and chip counts for Friday’s televised WPT Final Table, scheduled to start at 3:00 pm ET:

Seat 1.  Esther Taylor-Brady  –  4,020,000  (40 bb)
Seat 2.  Aaron Mermelstein  –  7,140,000  (72 bb)
Seat 3.  Randy Pfeifer  –  1,985,000  (20 bb)
Seat 4.  Shawn Cunix  –  8,880,000  (89 bb)
Seat 5.  Eugene Todd  –  5,150,000  (52 bb)
Seat 6.  Justin Liberto  –  2,500,000  (25 bb)

And the prizepool they’re playing for:

1st:   $712,305 (includes a $15,400 seat into the WPT World Championship)
2nd:  $419,467
3rd:  $253,263
4th:  $212,108
5th:  $174,118
6th:  $140,878

While the WPT Arena is being set up in the Borgata Ballroom, the final 27 players meet in the back of the Borgata Poker Room to battle it out for the six seats at Friday’s televised WPT Final Table.

Loni Harwood (Season XII Ones to Watch) wasn’t able to build any momentum on Day 4, and she was one of the many victims of Shawn Cunix, losing a preflop race with AQ against Cunix’s 88. Harwood finished 25th, earning $14,879.

James Calderaro entered the day fourth in chips, but the cards weren’t kind to him, giving him second-best hands. Calderaro was down to fewer than 20 big blinds when he shoved with A10, but he ran into Eugene Todd’s JJ. Todd flopped a set, and that was the end of Calderaro’s run for a second WPT title in 22nd place ($14,879).

Aaron Massey (Season XII Ones to Watch) made it to the final two tables, but couldn’t advance any further when his AQ lost a preflop race to the 99 of Barry Leventhal. Massey earned $18,045 for his 18th-place finish.

With the elimination of Kevin Calenzo (not pictured) in 11th place, the final 10 players redrew for random seats at the final table. These were the chip counts at that point:

Seat 1.  Esther Taylor-Brady  –  1,950,000  (39 bb)
Seat 2.  Aaron Mermelstein  –  3,065,000  (61 bb)
Seat 3.  Randy Pfeifer  –  2,060,000  (41 bb)
Seat 4.  Shawn Cunix  –  7,530,000  (150 bb)
Seat 5.  Casey Yontz  –  1,600,000  (32 bb)
Seat 6.  Philippe Belley  –  2,570,000  (51 bb)
Seat 7.  Michael Wang  –  1,510,000  (30 bb)
Seat 8.  Barry Leventhal  –  3,080,000  (61 bb)
Seat 9.  Eugene Todd  –  2,320,000  (46 bb)
Seat 10.  Justin Liberto  –  3,370,000  (67 bb)

WPT sponsor Skrill, a digital wallet payment processor, hosted a free last-longer contest for the players in this event who registered and wore a Skrill patch throughout the tournament. There were 119 players who registered, and the last one in the tournament would win the value of their buy-in back — $3,500.

With 10 players left, there were still two contenders — Aaron Mermelstein and Barry Leventhal.

Barry Leventhal (pictured) lost a big pot to fellow Skrill contender Aaron Mermelstein (not pictured), and then they tangled once more on a board of A8785. Mermelstein shoved the river, and Leventhal tanked for a while before he called.

Mermelstein showed Q8 for trip eights, and Leventhal mucked his cards as he was eliminated in 10th place, earning $37,989. That left Mermelstein as the final Skrill contender, effectively clinching the $3,500 bonus prize.

As mentioned before, Shawn Cunix never left the top of the leaderboard on Day 4, and when Casey Yontz was eliminated in seventh place on the TV bubble, Cunix had nearly nine million in chips to take to Friday’s televised WPT Final Table.

Shawn Cunix  –  8,880,000  (89 bb)

In addition to winning the Skrill Last-Longer Contest, Aaron Mermelstein is second in chips heading to his first WPT Final Table.

Aaron Mermelstein  –  7,160,000  (72 bb)

Eugene Todd heads to his third WPT Final Table ranked third in chips with about 5.1 million. Todd, who may be better known by his nickname “EugeneToddBro,” finished fifth at his previous two WPT Final Tables.

Eugene Todd  –  5,150,000  (52 bb)

Esther Taylor-Brady is one of the more popular East Coast players, though this is her first cash on the World Poker Tour. Her husband Matt Brady has seven WPT cashes, but she’s already improved on his best finish (seventh place in the 2012 WPT Borgata Poker Open).

Taylor-Brady is fourth in chips with about 4 million, but it wasn’t an easy road today as she went up and down the leaderboard. Her low point was below 10 big blinds, but she fought her way back and now she has plenty to work with as she hopes to become the first woman to win an open WPT title.

Esther Taylor-Brady  –  4,020,000  (40 bb)

Justin Liberto started the day fifth in chips, and he finished the day fifth in chips. With six players left, he’s hoping to finish higher than fifth at tomorrow’s televised WPT Final Table.

Justin Liberto  –  2,500,000  (25 bb)

Randy Pfeifer actually finished Day 4 with fewer chips (1,985,000) than he started the day with (2,493,000). He went from second in chips to last in chips — but at least he still has chips. There are 21 players who busted on Day 4 who would happily swap stacks with him.

Randy Pfeifer  –  1,985,000  (20 bb)

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The televised WPT Final Table is scheduled to start at 3:00 pm ET, and the WPT Live Stream will be available with hole cards on a 30-minute delay. Expert commentary will be provided by WPT Raw Deal Analyst Tony Dunst and Team PartyPoker Pros Jamie Kerstetter and Scott Baumstein.

As always, there will be complete hand-for-hand coverage right here in the WPT Live Updates, along with photos and updated chip counts after every hand.

All photos by Joe Giron.