Home / Poker News July 2009 / WSOP Day 5 – Past the bubble
WSOP Day 5 – Past the bubble
Posted by: James Carter. - Tue, 2009-07-14 05:42
With the money bubble reached on Day 4, Day 5 featured a cool-down following the action frenzy which ensued right after the bubble had burst. It virtually set the stage for the second part of the poker “circus” that the WSOP is.
For the first time in this year’s event, tables could be arranged in a way that allowed reporting crews to move comfortably to and fro. Rushing to the table where an all in was about to decide someone’s tournament fate became much less of a hassle. The alternating tables had all been removed as the 407 field which bellied up to the tables at the beginning of the day no longer required them.
The early stages of Day 5 were marked by the frantic pace which carried over from the previous day. Thus, around a quarter of the Day 5 starting field hit the rail within the first level, which lasted about 2 hours. Word was that the field would shrink down to around 175 before the day would be called, or at least so the organizers hoped.
Jeff Kimber, Sorel Mizzi, Chan Hua, Remy Biechel and Thor Hansen were a few of those who headed for the payout booth much earlier than they would’ve preferred. Burt Bouting would follow them to the rail soon after taking a nasty bad beat. He shoved all-in on pocket rockets and got a caller with pocket Ks – the best case scenario for Bouting who looked well underway to double up. The flop brought another K though which sealed his fate and sent him packing.
Matt Affleck, the chip leader at the beginning of the day, managed to hold on to his top position by chipping up nicely. Ludovic Lacay, who’d started the day second in chips also had a nice run and knocked out no fewer than three players but still didn’t manage to catch up with Affleck.
Tom Schneider was another player making spectacular progress. Former Champions Peter Eastgate, Dan Harrington and Joe Hachem were picking their spots though.
Dan Harrington hadn’t even intended to play in the Main Event as his neck problems had gone from bad to worse a week before the start of the event. He was there though, wearing a neck-brace and sailing deep into the money, holding on as Day 5 moved along.
Joe Sebok, another notorious Day 4 survivor had a much tougher time though. He found it almost impossible to pocket a single pot, and by the time he managed to win one – despite the loud celebration – he had already been confined to a short-stack.
Deep into the Day, the pace of eliminations began to slow noticeably. The excitement of making it into the money was slowly replaced by final table and higher cash ambitions. Though one of the most interesting stages of the tournament, the second part of Day 5 had turned into a grind, as players dropped one by one and the remaining ones nurtured bigger and bigger November 9 ambitions with each pot won.
