July 14 2012, Samuel Cosby

Day 4 of the 2012 World Series of Poker Main Event began with 720 hopefuls sitting just a few dozen spots away from the money bubble. Many saw their series come to an end throughout the day, but several big names were among the 282 that advanced to Day 5.

Daniel Negreanu, Joseph Cheong, Vanessa Selbst, Gaelle Baumann, Eric Buchman, Marcel Luske, JP Kelly, Matt Marafioti, Andrew Lichtenberger all survived Friday’s play in the Amazon Room. Leading the way after Day 4 was Paul Volpe, who bagged up an astounding 2,750,000 chips, and at one point was just one card away from 4 million chips.

In one of the final hands of the day, Volpe and Eric Pratt got involved in a preflop raising war which saw Volpe five-bet shove and Pratt call off his entire 631,000-chip stack. Volpe was holding the while Pratt held the . The flop fell keeping Volpe in the lead. The on the turn changed nothing, but the on the river Pratt a pair of aces and the double up. Volpe took it in stride and still finished the day as the leader.

While Volpe and several others thrived on Day 4, there many who hit the rail after the money bubble burst at 666 players. Among them were Big One for One Drop champion Antonio Esfandiari, Chris Moorman, Roberto Luongo, Liv Boeree, Jason Mercier, Maria Ho, JC Tran, Huck Seed, and Johnny Chan.

There were also some delays in play, including an incident involving pepper spray, as well as a payout issue. Players were only able to get four levels in, there was still lots of action.

The day got off to a quick start with the money bubble quickly approaching, and before you could think twice, hand-for-hand play was already in effect. During the first hand of hand-for-hand play, five players found themselves all-in, and four were eliminated. On one of the bubble hands, Roberto Riva made it 11,000 from under the gun, only to have Desmond Portano three-bet to 32,000 from middle position. Riva moved all-in with a covering stack, and the pressure was on Portano, who went into the tank. Finally, after Riva called the clock, Portano put his chips in with . Riva was holding and was behind, but not for long. The flop fell to give Riva the commanding lead. The turn was the to give Portano a flush draw, but the on the river was a brick and Portano became one of the four bubble boys.

The other three bubble players were Steve Rosen, who ran into ; Dane Lomas, whose couldn’t hold up against ; and David Kelly, who shoved into . The four bubble boys split 666th-place money ($19,227) and each took home $4,806.75. In addition, there were all invited to take part in a four handed sit-and-go for a $10,000 seat in the 2013 World Series of Poker Main Event.

Eliminated not long after the money bubble was burst was Antonio Esfandiari, who was short stacked after he ran his into Brian Meinders’ . On Esfandiari’s final hand, he found himself all in holding against Michael Shelton‘s . The board ran out and Esfandiari could not catch up to stay alive. He was sent home in 501st place collecting $24,808, just a small payday compared to his recent $18 million score.

Also hitting the rail Friday was NHL goalie Roberto Luongo, who got his chips in with against Bryan Vanrijsbergen‘s . He was unable to catch up and was eliminated, collecting a small payday. Another player to hit the rail Friday was Johnny Chan, who also shoved a small pair into his opponent’s bigger pair. Chan got all his money in with but found himself up against Isaac Baron‘s . Baron flopped quads on the board, and that was it for Chan. Huck Seed was also eliminated earlier in the day, so Chan’s bustout marked the elimination of the last Main Event Champion still in the field.

Matt Marafioti was at the feature table for most of the day and had a memorable roller coaster ride. At one point, Marafioti was down under 75,000 chips, but he was able to finish the day with 673,000 after cracking aces to double up on one of the last hands of the night. In the hand, Marafioti found himself all in with against Nghi Van Tran‘s . He was in huge trouble, but the flop fell giving him a shot at survival. The turn gave him the flush he needed and secured his double up. He shot out of his chair and jumped around the main stage in celebration as the dealer put out the to complete the board.

Another player who surged after the money bubble was Andrew Lichtenberger, who was on the winning end of a massive three way pot late in the day. In the hand, Jeremy Ausmus opened to 17,000 from middle position. Action folded to Filip Verboven who moved all in for 120,000. Lichtenberger cold-called on the button, and Ausmus moved all-in. Lichtenberger quickly called with the , but found himself crushed against Ausmus’ . Verboven was in the worst shape though holding the . The board was kind to Lichtenberger though when it ran out giving him a set of kings and the pot which moved him up to 930,000 chips. Lichtenberger was able to finish the day with 1,150,000 and a chance to surpass his best finish of 18th in the 2009 Main Event.

Here’s a look at the top chip stacks moving into Day 5:

On Tap

On Day 5 of the 2012 Main Event, the remaining 282 will continue playing their way down to the final nine. Action will resume at 12:00 PST (20:00 BST) in the Amazon Room and will end after five levels.

Make sure you don’t miss any of Saturday’s action by following PokerNews’ live reporting blog where we will bring you all the updates you need throughout the day.

Video of the Day

In the Video of the Day, Kristy Arnett caught up with Grant “Mister Fish” Hinkle. Hinkle offered some poker tips to players including how to play on the bubble, being patient, and playing with gloves on. To see the whole interview, make sure you check out the video below.

Follow PokerNews on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.

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June 02 2012, Samuel Cosby

Day 6 of the World Series of Poker is over and one more bracelet has been awarded. Nick Jivkov, from Des Plaines, Illinois, took home the bracelet for Event #5: $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold’em. Event #6: $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em Mix-Maxed played its way down to heads-up play with Warwick Mirzikinian leading the way and Aaron ‘aejones’ Jones not far behind. David Williams, Andy Bloch, and Barry Greenstein found their way to a final table in Event #7: $1,500 Seven Card Stud. Finally, Event #8: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Low Split 8-or-Better kicked off with 967 players and notables like Todd Brunson, Daniel Negreanu, and Dan Shak crawled their way onto the leaderboard.

Event #5: $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold’em

Nick Jivkov found himself seated at a stacked final table that included Daniel Negreanu, Tommy Vedes, and Jonathan Aguiar on Friday. At the beginning of the day, Jivkov was fourth in chips with 281,000. All eyes were on Daniel Negreanu though, not Jivkov, who attempted to win his fifth World Series of Poker gold bracelet.

Negreanu had a good start to the day and found a couple of crucial double-ups, but in the end, Negreanu’s luck ran out when he needed it most. Negreanu was all-in with against Nick Jivkov’s . Negreanu had got it in good and was in even better shape with the flop fell . The turn was a blank . But Jivkov spiked the river hard with the , which gave him the winning straight to eliminate Negreanu who earned $41,638 for fifth place.

Vedes was next to go when he moved all-in on a flop with against Jivkov’s . Jivkov was unstoppable though and binked the on the river to eliminate Vedes in fourth place for $55,960.

Going into heads-up play, Jivkov already had a 3-1 chip advantage after eliminating five of the seven other players. In the final hand of the match, Bryan Pellegrino shoved all-in preflop after Jivkov had reraised from the button. Pellegrino showed and Jivkov held . The board ran out and it was good enough to give Jivkov the win and the bracelet. Pellegrino earned $117,199 for his runner up finish. Jivkov earned $189,818 for first.

To see who else Jivkov eliminated along with action from the first two days be sure to check out our live tournament blog.

Event #6: $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em Mix-Maxed

Day 2 of Event #6 brought players into the money as well as into heads-up play for Day 3. The field is still riddled with young blood as several pros were able to chip up during the six-handed play on Thursday. Among them are Joseph “subiime” Cheong, Marvin Rettenmaier, Eric Froehlich, Victor Ramdin, John Hennigan, Joe Tehan and Brian Rast. Also still alive is Aaron “aejones” Jones who is among the chip leaders with 409,000 in chips.

Among those to hit the rail Friday as the field was reduce from 112 players to 31 were Olivier Busquet, Phil Collins, Will Failla, Daniel Negreanu, Eli Elezra, and Eugene Katchalov.

The play of the day goes to Jones through, for this hand he played with Michael Ferrell. Marvin Rettenmaier opened under the gun for 6,200. Jones called directly behind, as did Tom McCormick on the button. Ferrell decided to pump it up to 19,500 from the small blind, and all but Jones folded, bringing a flop of .

Ferrell fired again – this time 18,000. Jones called and the turn brought the . Ferrell led at the pot again, this time for 34,000 and Jones called once more. The fell on the river fell and Ferrell slowed down and checked. Jones thought momentarily before making it 52,000, and Ferrell didn’t think long before letting it go. After he folded, Jones showed for a bluff. “I had blockers he said after the hand.”

On Saturday, the final 31 players will return for heads-up matches that will begin at 1300 PDT (2100 BST) in the Amazon room. Players will play down to the final eight on Saturday and return on Sunday to crown a winner.

To see all the exciting action and the epic conclusion, be sure to stay tuned to our live updates blog.

Event #7: $1,500 Seven Card Stud

It was in this very same event in 2006 that David Williams won his first bracelet. Now, six years later, he’s leading the final table for a chance to do it again. But close behind Williams are pros Barry Greenstein and Andy Bloch.

Players played all the way down from 111, to the final nine on Friday, bursting the money bubble on the way. Players who cashed, but did not make the final table included Artie Cobb, David Singer, Brett Richey, Sam Grizzle, Marco Traniello, Chau Giang, and Fabrice Soulier.

David Tighe was the last player not to receive any money. Greenstein managed to eliminated Tighe on the bubble with two pair. Tighe’s elimination secured a spot in the pay charts for the other 40 players.

Shortly after this, players began to drop like flies and Williams began to pick up chips. One notable hand occurred when Williams won a very substantial pot against four other players. At the end of the hand, William’s board read (x)(x)//(x). Greenstein bet on fourth street and Williams raised. Scott Abrams called, then William Thompson called. Stephen Su raised, Greenstein folded, Williams called as well as both Abrams and Thompson. On fifth street, Thompson bet out with a pair of fives, Su folded, Williams called, and Abrams folded. On sixth street, Williams picked up his second pair on board and bet, Thompson called. On seventh street, Williams bet again, but this time Thompson folded. This pot pushed Williams to nearly 180,000 in chips, and from there he was on cruise control to the final table.

On Saturday, the final nine will battle it out for the $126,363 first prize and the gold bracelet. Play will reconvene at 1400 PDT (2200 BST).

To make sure you don’t miss any action from Saturday’s final table, make sure you’re keeping a close eye on our live reporting blog.

Event #8: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Low Split Eight-or-Better

On Friday, 967 players walked into the Amazon Room hoping to become the next bracelet holder. All but 220 players’ dreams were crushed. Among those who didn’t make it to Day 2 were Andrey Zaichenko, Owais Ahmed, Mike Leah, Allen Kessler, David Benyamine, Eric Baldwin, Phil Ivey and Xuan Liu.

Ivey had started to pick up some momentum when he flopped the nuts in a three-way all-in pot. With the board reading , Ivey and two other opponents capped the action. The fell on the turn, and the rest of the money went in. Ivey held the and was a lock to win the high pot unless the board paired, which it didn’t when the fell. Sadly for Ivey though, he was eliminated later in the day by Mike Matusow.

Some of the players returning on Saturday to play out past the money bubble and to the final table include Daniel Negreanu fresh off his Event #5 final table, Mike Matusow, Betrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Dan Shak, Todd Brunson, Amnon Filippi, Men Nguyen, and Jeff Madsen.

On Saturday, the final 220 players will try to grind it down to a final table. With just over 100 spots to the money, the action will be fast an furious when it picks up at 1300 PDT (2100 BST).

To make sure you don’t miss any of the crazy action from Saturday, make sure you’re checking in on the live reporting blog.

On Tap

Saturday, Event #6: $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em Mix-Maxed will play down to the final eight players. Event #7: $1,500 Seven Card Stud will award a gold bracelet and Event #8: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Low Split Eight-or-Better , will play past the money bubble on the way to a final table. Event #9: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Re-Entry kicks off at 1200 PDT (2000 BST).

To make sure you don’t miss any action from the World Series of Poker, make sure to check in to the live reporting blog.

Video of the Day

If you missed Kristy Arnett’s interview with Mike “The Mouth” Matusow, you can catch up now. In the video, Mike gives everyone his opinion on the status of online poker and shows why people still call him “The Mouth.”

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