Home / Poker News July 2009 / WSOP Main Event – Day 7: Moon, Ivey still on top
WSOP Main Event – Day 7: Moon, Ivey still on top
Posted by: James Carter. - Thu, 2009-07-16 04:59
Day 7 of the 2009 WSOP Main Event ended almost the same way it had started: with Darvin Moon on top of the provisional leader board and Billy Kopp in second place. Phil Ivey finished 4th, still looking very capable of catching a final table seat.
The Day 7 starting field featured 64 players, amateurs and professionals and although they had already managed to survive one of the biggest fields in live poker history, they all had one thing in mind: becoming one of the November Nine.
Prahlad Friedman felt the pressure of his short-stack early on and he wasted no time in attempting to double up. He picked up a K,Q and shoved all-in right away, on one of the opening hands of the session. He got called by Bradley Craig with A,K though who was well aware of his opponent’s predicament and of the fact that he was probably going up against a weaker hand.
Sure enough, the board bricked out and Friedman was done in 64th place, for which he picked up $90,344.
George Saca finished 63rd, followed to the rail by Michael Jansen in 62nd and Mark Ader in 61st.
Joe Sebok had been giving lessons in short stack survival almost all through day 6. On Day 7, he continued where he’d left off, but his luck ran out eventually. He shoved all-in on A,9o and got called by Ben Lamb’s A,Qo. Thoroughly dominated from the get-go, Sebok never managed to catch up and he hit the rail in 56th place, taking down a $108,047 prize.
Steve Sanders’ demise came at the end of a particularly nasty bad beat. He went all-in on the flop of 2c,Ac,6c, holding pocket rockets, against Denis Phillips’ Qs, Qc. He looked just fine past the turn, but the river landed a Jc and Phillips completed his flush, crippling him for good. His remaining chips went in a few hands later on an A,3 he picked up, but Ben Lamb’s pocket rockets quickly put an end to his final table dreams.
Dennis Phillips came really close to becoming a repeat Main Event final table participant, but it just wasn’t meant to be. His final hand saw his Ad,Kd go up against Francois Balmigere’s As, Ks. The flop gave Balmigere a 4-card flush, and the river promptly filled up his hand to send Phillips packing in 45th place.
Ian Tavelli hit a Broadway straight to crack Adam York’s pocket Ks and to send him packing in 41st.
Blair Rodman’s J,8o went up against Luis Nargetino’s pocket 4s and lost the race. Rodman picked up $253,941 for his efforts.
Nargentino himself was eliminated in 29th place. His elimination triggered a stepping stone in the tournament as the prize-difference between 27th and 28th place was large enough to prompt the survivors to tighten up. The short-stacks had no choice but to risk it all nonetheless, however they all ended up avoiding elimination. Joe Ward took a bad beat eventually to fall 28th, his A,K outdrawn by Jamie Robbins’ A,Q.
When the dust settled, Phil Ivey had 11,350,000 chips despite some losses he’d incurred on the last level. Moon led with 20,160,000 and he was followed by Kopp who had 15,970,000.
