Day 5 of the 2011 World Series of Poker was the first day that all of the players are guaranteed a cash finish, and the action on Day 46 of the WSOP was vicious, with only 142 players still standing at the end of the day. 378 players had started out the day, and the chips switched hands over and over again until the leaders list saw some rearranging. There are now five players above the four million mark, with another seven right behind with over three million. Many familiar names top the list of those still standing, but on Day 5, we’ve had to say goodbye to yet more of our favourite players.
Max Heinzelmann, who started the day in tenth place after taking Shaun Deeb’s chips on a bad beat in Day 3, made yet another noteworthy hand on Saturday, although this time, he was on the wrong end of it. Heinzelmann held pocket aces (AsAh) against David Bach’s pocket kings (KsKd). Heinzelmann went all in pre-flop, but the flop didn’t help him with the Q, 7, 4 all in diamonds. The turn showed a 6h, not helping either player, but the river’s 3d gave Bach an unlikely flush and knocked Heinzelmann out of the game in 151st place, helping to vault Bach into the lead position, where he would sit at the end of the day with 4,706,000 chips.
Other well-known players who hit the rail today (and their final positions in this year’s main event) include Freddy Deeb (358), John Cernuto (345), Jon “Pearljammer Turner (344), Carter King (247), Peter Jetten (244), Kevin Saul (216), Daniel Negreanu (211), Matt Stout (186), Joe Tehan (185), Mark Newhouse (182), and Garry Gates (173). Robert Iler of The Sopranos fame was the last celebrity playing in the event after The Simpsons creator Sam Simon left the field yesterday. Iler walked away with $40,654 and finished in position 275.
Behind Bach in the fight for first place are Pius Heinz (4,699,000), Kyle Johnson (4,654,000), Phil Collins (not the drummer/vocalist from Genesis) at 4,109,000, and Ben Lamb (4,032,000), who is only about 30 spots away from taking Phil Hellmuth’s position in the lead of the Player of the Year race. It looks like this year’s PoY will come down to the seven events in WSOP Europe later this year. Also in the running for this year’s bracelet (in truth, everyone is still in the running, regardless of the size of their stacks) are Aleksandr Mozhnyakov, who held the chip lead earlier in the tournament and has managed to stay pretty high in the list throughout; Sebastian Ruthenberg, everyone’s favourite unflappable German who is keeping his healthy position with 3,354,000 chips; Lars Bonding (3,352,000); and Bryan Devonshire (3,292,000).
One familiar name from the list of chip leaders that you won’t be seeing anymore this year is Manoj Viswanathan, who held an impressive amount of chips going into Day 5 and lost them all, mostly to David Barter, who ended up busting Viswanathan after whittling down his stacks. Viswanathan’s dethroning reminds players and spectators alike that having a lead doesn’t always mean having a win– the chips can change hands in a second, and only one person can walk away with the bracelet and $8.7 million prize.