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 28 2012, Chad Holloway, Josh Cahlik

The 2012 World Series of Poker Europe continued on Friday with Day 3 of Event #5: “10,450 Mixed Max – No-Limit Hold’em, and the second day of Event #6: “1,650 Six-Handed Pot-Limit Omaha. Here are recaps from all of those events thanks to PokerNews’ coverage sponsored by PartyPoker.

The Final Four is Set; Cantu vs. Hairabedian and Jaka vs. Aguiar

The final 16 players in Event #5: “10,450 Mixed Max – No-Limit Hold’em took their seats on Friday to engage in the final stage of the mixed max format – heads up. At the end of two rounds of play the final four emerged. Leading the way is Brandon Cantu who will be matched up with second largest stack Roger Hairabedian, the winner of Event #3: “5,300 Pot-Limit Omaha just a few days ago. In the second match, Jonathan Aguiar will face off against Faraz Jaka.

Each player moved into the heads-up portion of this tournament with the same chip stack that they earned throughout the rest of the levels. This led to many interesting draws that put small stacks up against large stacks with the hope of a major upset. Jason Mercier and Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier were the two shortest stacks going into play and they were unable to run their stacks up to find a win in the round of 16.

Mercier came close to accomplishing this task with an early double up. Unfortunately for Mercier, he was forced to the rail when his pocket kings were cracked by Aguiar.

The other players who exited in the round of 16 include: Joe Keuther, Phil Hellmuth, Mike Watson, Jennifer Tilly, Vladimir Troyanovskiy, and Paul Tedeschi. Each of these players received “20,443 for their efforts.

The round of eight saw the following matches:

Martin Jacobson was able to give Brandon Cantu a run for his money and was actually able to overtake the chip lead. However, the two got all of the chips in the middle in a race situation where Cantu held against Jacobson’s . Jacobson failed to improve and the two were back to square one in chips. After roughly one more hour of play, Cantu finally sealed the deal and eliminated Jacobson.

Jonathan Aguiar was able to defeat PartyPoker Pro Marvin Rettenmaier in his second match of the day to secure the third spot among the final four. The match came to a head when Aguiar min-raised from the button and Rettenmaier three-bet all in. Aguiar snapped with and was out in front of Rettenmaier’s . The board fell , allowing Aguiar to scoop up the chips and take the third largest stack into the final four.

Jonathan Aguiar

Finally, rounding out the final four is Faraz Jaka, who was able to defeat Konstantin Puchkov. Jaka was able to double up three times against Puchkov before finally putting him to rest.

The bracket for the final four is as follows:

The final four will take their seats at 1300 CET (0700 EDT) on Saturday to play to a winner. Follow the live updates on the PokerNews Live Blog.

Lichtenberger and Marquez Headline Event #6: “1,650 Six-Handed Pot-Limit Omaha Final Table

The 2012 WSOP Europe continued on Friday with Day-2 action from Event #6: “1,650 Six-Handed Pot-Limit Omaha. After seven levels of play, the final table was set with five players including pros Ana Marquez and Andrew Lichtenberger.

The event began with 206 players, but was down to 26 at the start of the day, all but five of which would earn a payday. Narendra Banwari, Brandon Crawford and Dries Goyens were all among the early eliminations, as was October Niner and WSOP Player of the Year contender Greg Merson. However, no one went further and left empty handed than David Benyamine, who finished as the bubble boy.

It happened when Benyamine, who was the second-shortest stack behind Daniel Negreanu, raised under the gun to 3,500. Action folded all the way around to Antoine Pacaud, and he called from the the big blind. The flop saw Pacaud check, Benyamine move all in for 6,500 and Pacaud call immediately.

The turn and river completed the board, and Benyamine was eliminated after starting the day second in chips.

From there the eliminations came fast. Jamie Pickering was the first to go in 21st place, and both John Eames and Negreanu followed him out the door a short time later.

Over the next few hours, Dan Smith, John Monnette, Dan Shak, Raul Paez and Mike “Timex” McDonald all hit the rail.

Andy Frankenberger

Late in the evening, with a board reading , Aku Joentausta fired out 22,500 only to have Andy Frankenberger move all in for 33,500 more. Joentausta didn’t seem too excited, but he opted to make the call nonetheless.

The two-time bracelet winner held a wheel and had Joentausta in dire straits, but that all changed when the spiked on the river to give Joentausta a six-high straight and the improbable win, sending Frankenberger to the rail as the final-table bubble boy. Amazingly, the players played one final hand in order to get to the end of Level 15, and Nikolay Volper ended up busting to bring the field down to the final five players.

Players will return to the Majestic Barrière on Saturday at 1400 CET (0800 EDT) to play down to a winner, so join us then as we bring you all the action and eliminations from the last preliminary event of the 2012 WSOP Europe.

Be sure to check out our Live Reporting Section to follow our updates sponsored by PartyPoker. Get all the latest PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook today!

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