October 03 2012, Josh Cahlik, Donnie Peters

The 2012 World Series of Poker Europe continued on Wednesday with Day 4 of the “10,450 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event where Phil Hellmuth distanced himself and now headlines the final table as chip leader. In addition, the “50,000 Majestic High Roller continued with Day 2 action as some of poker’s most notable players competed for a “1,000,000 first-place prize. Find out about these stories and more in our recap thanks to PokerNews’ coverage sponsored by PartyPoker.

Phil Hellmuth Leads WSOP Europe Main Event Final Table That Includes Jason Mercier and Joseph Cheong

It was a quick day at the WSOP Europe Main Event on Wednesday as the final 24 players returned to battle for a coveted spot at the final table. After a flurry of big pots and dramatic eliminations, the official final table was set with none other than 12-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth leading the way.

After the final 24 players took their seats, play began fast and furious and never relented as the day wore on. The players to bust before the final two-table redraw at 16 were able to earn a payday of “26,611. Those to see the exit included Joe Kuether, Vladislav Varlashin, two-time WSOP bracelet winner Andy Frankenberger, Vadzim Markushevski, Sebastien Guinand, Joe McGown, Liv Boeree and Curt Kohlberg.

Joseph Cheong

Boeree came in to play focused and poised to make a deep run. However, the deck seemed to have it out for Boeree, and during the second hand of play she ran into Stephane Albertini’s for a solid chunk of her stack. She was able to recover from that hit, but she eventually saw her tournament life end at the hands of Joseph Cheong.

Cheong opened with a raise and Boeree three-bet all in for 272,000. Cheong called with only to find that he was behind Boeree’s . The flop and turn were safe for Boeree, as they fell to the felt. The river, however, spelled disaster – the – pairing Cheong’s ten and sealed the deal on Boeree’s tournament.

Kohlberg was eliminated immediately after Boeree, and his elimination sent a shock wave throughout the room that prompted players from every table to stand up and watch the action. Kohlberg opened with a raise to 30,000 from under the gun and Hellmuth three-bet to 180,000. Action folded back to Kohlberg and he wasted no time announcing that he was all in for roughly 900,000. “What did he say? All in?” said Hellmuth. “I call!” Hellmuth shot out of his chair and tabled .

Kohlberg showed and was in dire need of some help. The flop brought Kohlberg hope, however, as it fell , giving him an open-ended straight draw. Hellmuth took one look at the flop and stormed away from the table. The rolled off on the turn, giving Hellmuth a set but Kohlberg was still drawing live going to the river. Fifth street was paint, but unfortunately for Kohlberg it was the , pairing him up and securing his elimination in 17th place.

The next two players to go took home a prize of “32,356 for their efforts. Max Silver, who finished eighth in this very event last year, fell at the hands of Cheong when he called all in with two pair against Cheong’s made straight. David Benyamine was the next player to see elimination when he ran into the full house of Sergii Baranov.

Kyle Julius and Toby Lewis were the next two to go and finished in 14th and 13th place respectively. Julius and Lewis took home “40,320. The 2005 WSOP Main Event runner up Steve Dannenman was the next to see his tournament come to an end. Dannemann rode the short stack for most of this tournament and finally moved all in from the button holding two nines. Cheong woke up with pocket jacks in the big blind and the jacks held, sending the always smiling Dannenmann home in 12th place.

Nicolas Cardyn and Scott Seiver were the next two to be eliminated, and the exit of Seiver prompted a full redraw for the unofficial final table of nine. Play for the day almost came to a close when Timothy Adams moved all in and was dominated by Hellmuth. Fortunately for Adams, he was able to spike a ten on the river to double up.

The table then engaged in two rough hours of poker where many chips exchanged hands and and short stacks doubled up. Finally, Adams became the final table bubble boy by getting his entire stack in the middle with against Christopher Brammer’s . Adams was unable to improve, and he was forced to settle for a ninth place finish.

2012 WSOP Europe Final Table

Play will resume on Thursday at 1345 CEST (0745 EDT). Due to live television scheduling, the players will play until four players remain and then take a break until 2145 CEST (1545 EDT) when they will resume and play until a winner emerges. Be sure to stay tuned to PokerNews as we provide updates from the exciting conclusion to one of the most prestigious events of the year!

“50,000 Majestic High Roller

On Wednesday, Day 2 of the “50,000 Majestic High Roller finished up and just nine players remain. It was a long day on the felt resulting in another early-morning finish, but one that was very exciting. When things were all wrapped up, John Juanda led the pack with 2.596 million in chips.

Plenty of notable players began the day still in contention for the title, and there were even a few late entrants. Both Phil Ivey and Jonathan Duhamel were two of the players to enter at the beginning of the day, and overall the field size grew to 60 total entries (49 players and 11 rebuys). Daniel Negreanu, Sam Trickett and Tony G were some of the others returning to action on Day 2.

All five of those aforementioned players failed to make to through to Day 3, which also meant they didn’t make the money. After tallying up all the buy-ins, a prize pool of “2.88 million was announced with “1 million going to the winner. The top eight spots were set to be paid.

As play closed in on the final table, Marvin Rettenmaier was eliminated in 12th place, Fabian Quoss in 11th place, then Scott Seiver in 10th place. The final nine players redrew to one table and were going to play it out until the bubble burst and just eight remained. There was a change of plans, though, and the players opted to stop at the end of Level 17. The schedule is to return Thursday at 1500 CET (0900 ET) and play down to a winner.

End-of-Day Chip Counts

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September 14 2012, Rich Ryan

On Friday, the World Poker Tour Season XI Grand Prix de Paris continued with Day 4 of the six-day reentry event. After nearly nine hours of play, the chip leader at the official final table is the executive producer of Showtime’s Weeds Matt Salsberg with 1.757 million chips. Joining him at the final table are Mohsin Charania, Timothy Adams, Theo Jorgensen, Philipp Gruissem, and Fabian Quoss.

At the beginning of the day, 24 players had their sights set on the official final table, but only six could survive the day. There was a flurry of eliminations during the first level of play. The first player to bow out was Nicolas Cardyn, who ran into Kyle Cheong’s . Cheong held, and Cardyn was out in 24th place.

Following Cardyn out the door were Andrew Lichtenberger, Dan Djorno, and Bruno Lopes. Djorno open-jammed with from under the gun, Jérome Douieb re-shoved on his direct left with , and Bruno Lopes also shoved with . Douieb won, eliminating Djorno and crippling Lopes, who was eliminated shortly thereafter.

The next two players eliminated were Juha Helppi and Jean-Philippe Rohr. Both players were busted by Salsberg, who held aces against Helppi and kings against Rohr.

After the two-table redraw, Kyle Julius was the first to bust. Julius open-jammed his last 70,000 or so with , and Jorgensen called on the button with . The board ran out , and Julius hit the rail.

Florian Leconte, Michael Kwierk, and Bryan Colin were eliminated in 17th, 16th, and 15th place respectively, and then things started to slow down. In fact, the next elimination didn’t come for a full hour.

In one of the final hands of Level 19, Jacques Enjoubault opened in early position, and the action folded to Salsberg, who moved all in from the big blind. Enjoubault called with , which dominated Salsberg’s , but the board ran out and Enjoubault was eliminated in 14th place.

Daniel Amara and Raphaël Abitbol were the next two players eliminated. Amara was all in preflop with against Charania, who held two tens and flopped quads. Charania then won a race to bust Abitbol, who was all in and at risk with . Charania had , and the board ran out .

Grégoire Boissenot was eliminated in 11th place when he made a pot-sized shove on a board of . Adams called the jam with , which dominated Boissenot’s , and the turn and river came , respectively.

Hand-for-hand play stretched out for nearly an hour, until Joe Serock busted in 10th place. Serock four-bet most of his stack preflop, and was called be Jorgensen. The flop was , and Serock checked to Jorgensen who put him all in. Serock tanked for a bit, then called with . Jorgensen was ahead with , and the turn and river came , .

At the beginning of Level 21, the unofficial final table was set:

On one of the first hands at the final table Cheong three-bet jammed with deuces, and Salsberg iso-jammed with jacks. The jacks held and Cheong was out in ninth.

A few hands later, Idris Ambraisse was eliminated in eighth place. Ambraisse opened from under the gun, and was called by Charania, Gruissem, and Douieb. The flop fell , and when checked to, Ambraisse moved all in. Charania re-shoved, the action folded around and the hands were opened:

Charania faded an ace and diamonds as the turn and river came , , and Ambraisse was out.

Play slowed considerably on the official final table bubble, and for the next two hours the seven remaining players battled long and hard. One of the players who benefited the most from the bubble was Charania. In one particular hand, Charania opened to 24,000 from under the gun, and Gruissem and Adams called. The flop fell , and the action checked to Charania who continued for 33,000. Gruissem raised to 90,000, Adams cold-called, and Charania reraised to 233,000.

Gruissem and Adams folded, and Charania picked up the pot.

Quoss nearly busted on the final table bubble. Quoss found himself all in and at risk holding against Salsberg’s , but the board ran out , doubling Quoss.

Unsurprisingly it was Salsberg who busted the eventual bubble boy; Douieb. In the final hand of the evening, Quoss opened to 35,000 from under the gun, Douieb moved all in for 281,000 on his direct left, and the action folded to Salsberg, who reshoved having both players covered. Quoss quickly folded, and the hands were tabled:

Salsberg held as the board ran out , and Douieb was eliminated in seventh place.

Here’s how the final table looks:

To date, Salsberg’s biggest live score was for $108,412 when he finished 70th in the 2011 WSOP Main Event. All the other players have multiple six-figure scores, including Jorgensen who won this event in Season IX. If Jorgensen, the only WPT Champions Club member remaining, were able to win on Saturday, he would become the first player to ever win a WPT event at the same stop twice.

The final table will begin at 1600 CEST (0700 PDT) on Saturday. Be sure to follow the PokerNews Live Reporting Team as they provide up-to-the-minute updates straight from the Aviation Club de France.

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