Home / Poker News July 2009 / WSOP 2009 Main Event – Money bubble bursts
WSOP 2009 Main Event – Money bubble bursts
Posted by: James Carter. - Sun, 2009-07-12 12:09
As the 789 players returned to the Rio to do battle at the green felt, the money bubble set to 648th place was looking tantalizingly close. Well aware of what it took to make it there, short-stacks began the day by putting their tournament lives onto the line time and time again, in pursuit of a large enough chip-up to secure a trip to the top 648.
As a result of that, the action sped up significantly in the wee hours of the day. 4-5 players would commit to the do or die maneuver every minute as TV crews and poker journalists had a tough time keeping up with the unfolding events.
One of the short-stacked success stories of the day was that of Dan Bilzerian of Tampa, FL. Himself a short-stack at he beginning of Day 4 action, Bilzerian wasted little time in putting his remaining chips to work. He had but 68,000 chips left when he shoved all-in on his A,Q to earn a double-up from one of the large stacks, who called him on 8,9. From that point on, Bilzerian took off: soon, he was up top, disputing one of the leading positions with the large stacks like Bertrand Grospellier and ElkY’s fellow countryman, Ludovic Lacay.
Not all of the short-stacks involved in the opening frenzy of day 4 would fare that well though. The starting field of 789 soon withered to below 700, as large stacks Lacay, Grospellier and Ivey swung their chips and hammered their advantage home at the expense of those desperate to chip up, time and time again.
Maria Mayrinck was among those who busted out around this stage of the action and so was Greg Mueller and John Racener.
As the field ebbed to below 700, the pace of the action began to slow down, thanks to the typical “closing in on the bubble” syndrome. Grosspellier kept the pressure up though, and thanks to his aggressive ways at a time when everyone else was looking to preserve their existing stacks, he soon reached the 1.6 million chip mark, towering over his nearest rival, Ludovic Lacay who had half that amount.
JC Alvarado and Hevad Khan busted out before the first break of the day, which – when it arrived – saw the field reduced to 660 players, a mere 12 eliminations away from the money bubble.
The break was followed by a couple of fast eliminations, and Isaac Baron was dropped from contention as well before Kia Hamadani emerged as the 2009 WSOP Main Event bubble boy. To sweeten his sorrow, the organizers offered him an entry to next year’s Main Event.
Hamadani was reduced to a few stray chips before being pushed out in 649th. He saw several all-ins go down, none of which yielded an elimination though. A short-stack survived with K,K against an opponent’s pocket rockets and another all-in player managed to hang on with A,A against a caller’s A,J.
His fate inevitable, Hamadani finally pushed his last 500 chips into the middle on 4,3 and was bounced instantly.
The entry for next year’s Main Event was offered to Hamadani by Jack Link’s and the WSOP.
