Day 6 of the World Series of Poker started with 185 players. Warren Zackey started the day as chip leader with 4.3 Million in chips but many strong players were still in contention including Phil Ivey, Antonio Esfandiari, Dennis Phillips, and Joe Hachem. By the end of the day, only 64 players were left with Phil Ivey in 3rd chip position and looking for his first Main Event title.
Peter Eastgate and Dennis Phillips shared some time together at the same table. In one of the early pots between the two, Phillips bet out 85,000 on a flop of 9d-6c-3h. Eastgate laid it down to slip to 820,000. Phillips had 1.1 Million at this point. Eastgate gave up more chips to another big name at his table, 2008 Main Event Champion Joe Hachem. At the turn, Hachem bet 40,000 into a board of 2c-5h-8c-2 and Eastgate called. The river fell the Kc and Hachem bet 120,000. Eastgate called and Hachem flipped over pocket fives for fives full. Eastgate was down to just 555,000.
Fabrice Soulier moved up to 3.1 Million in chips after knocking out Don Tran. Tran was all-in pre-flop with A-J and called by the pocket queens of Soulier. The flop gave Tran a gutshot draw, but the turn and river failed to produce the straight. Tran hit the rail and Soulier moved up to a nice stack.
Blair Hinkle was one of several pros eliminated on Day 6. He lost most of his chips after running A-J into the A-K of Ryan Fair. He then moved all-in with Q-J and Hac Dang called with A-8. Dang flopped a pair of eights and Hinkle a gutshot straight draw. The turn and river fell blanks and Hinkle had an early end to his Main Event. Bertrand Grospellier was the chip leader earlier in the Main Event but today saw his exit from the Main Event. He slid most of the day and then was finally all-in with As-Kh pre-flop. Unfortunately, Scott Sitron picked up pocket kings and made the call. The board came jack high and Grospellier was gone.
Tom Schneider caught a fortunate double-up to put himself in contention. Schneider three-bet to 310,000 pre-flop and both Ludovic Lacay and John Martin called. On a flop of Kc-9c-5h, Schneider bet out 650,000. Lacay folded and Martin shoved. Schneider made the call with his last 1.25 Million. Schneider turned over pocket aces and was ahead of Martin who held Ah-Ks. The turn and river both fell tens and Schneider moved up to 3.48 Million.
J.C. Tran was eliminated by Dennis Phillips. On a flop of 10s-9s-2c, Tran moved in for around 87,000 and was called by Phillips. Phillips held Kd-10c for top pair and Tran held Ac-6c for air. The turn and river both fell blanks for Tran and he headed out of the Main Event.
David Benyamine was eliminated around the midway point of Day 6. On turn, the board read 9s-3h-7d-4h and Benyamine called all-in for his last 800,000 chips after Darvin Moon put him all-in. Moon held pocket threes for a set of threes and Benyamine held pocket aces. The river failed to produce an ace and Moon took over as chip leader with 5.7 Million.
Joe Hachem was down to his last 117,000 chips and put them all-in pre-flop with Jc-9c. Billy Kopp called with pocket fours and they were off to the races. Hachem flopped a flush draw when the flop fell Kc-7c-7s. A club, king, jack or nine would win the hand. The turn fell the Ah, and now Hachem could catch any ace to win. The river fell the 3h and Joe Hachem was eliminated from the Main Event.
Did we mention Phil Ivey was still in the Main Event? Bob Whalen was all-in for his tournament life after calling a shove from Ivey pre-flop. Ivey held pocket kings and Whalen held A-K. The flop failed to produce an ace and Ivey moved up to 2.68 Million, much to the dismay of those still in the field. Eugene Katchalov called an all-in bet from Bernhard Perner for 295,000. Katchalov was behind with A-J against A-K. The flop fell A-9-9 to give both two pair, but Perner the lead. The river was a harmless 5h, but the river fell a crushing Js to give Katchalov the win and move him up to 5.2 Million in chips.
Phil Ivey continued to build his stack at the expense of Hac Dang. Hac Dang moved all-in for 620,000 after Ivey three-bet pre-flop. Ivey made the call and found his pocket jacks behind the pocket queens of Dang. Of course, since this was Phil Ivey that was behind, the flop naturally fell with a jack to put him in the lead. The turn and river failed to produce a queen and Ivey moved up to 3.26 Million.
Matt Affleck was another chip leader to fall during Day 6. He moved all-in pre-flop from the button for 870,000 with Ac-7d and was called by Nick Maimone with As-Qh. The board failed to improve Affleck and he headed out in 81st place. Peter Eastgate made a remarkable run in this Main Event, but fell short of repeating as champion. Billy Kopp raised to 105,000 pre-flop and Dennis Phillips made the call. Eastgate then moved all-in for 445,000 total and was called by Phillip and Kopp. Both live players checked down the board of 6d-Ah-4h-Jh-3h. Phillips did not connect with the board and Eastgate turned over Ad-Js for top two pair. Unfortunately for Eastgate, Kopp held 8s-8h for a rivered flush and Eastgate hit the rail in 78th place. With Eastgate?s elimination, there will be a new Main Event Champion. Johnny Chan is still the last Main Event Champion to repeat, winning the 1987 and 1988 Main Events.
Phil Ivey plus chips equals a long day for other players. Kent Goulding found this out the hard way. On a flop of Qs-4h-2h, Ivey just three a bunch of chips at the pot to put Goulding all-in. Goulding called with Qc-7h and was in the lead, but Ivey held Jh-5h. Ivey permitted Goulding to stay in the lead on the turn when it fell the 9s, but he then flipped the ?I?m Phil Ivey? switch and the river fell the Kh to give Ivey the flush and move him near 5 Million. A while later, Ivey took a nice pre-flop pot off James Akenhead. Ivey raised to 110,000 and Ryan Fair called. Akenhead then re-raised to 390,000. Ivey then made it 990,000 to go and Fair ran away. Akenhead tanked a bit and finally decided that he didn?t want to give Ivey the rest of his chips. Ivey was up to nearly 6 Million in chips after the hand.
Day 6 ended with just 64 players left in contention to make the final table. Darvin Moon finished the day as chip leader with 9.74 Million in chips. Billy Koop finished 2nd with 8.24 Million and Phil Ivey finished the day with 6.34 Million, good for third. Others still in contention were Jeff Shulman, Antonio Esfandiari, Eugene Katchalov, Fabrice Soulier, and Tom Schneider. Day 7 will resume at Noon PDT on Tuesday. We will be back to bring you recaps from Day 7 action as Phil Ivey goes for his 3rd bracelet of this WSOP.