With the stakes raised and the 8,773 starting field a distant memory, 135 players returned for day 5 of the 2006
World Series of Poker main event.
Level 21 action kicked off at noon PDT with $6,000-$12,000 blinds and $2,000 antes. Tournament directors expected fewer than 50 players to survive the day, and judging by the string of early knockouts, the estimate appeared to be right on the money.
Speaking of cash, the first eight eliminations walked away $47,006 richer. The payouts jumped exponentially from that point, with the final busts of the day (53rd to 46th) slated to take home $164,932.
With so few big names left in the field, the chances of a pro knocking out another pro seemed unlikely, but that's exactly what happened when Jeffrey Lisandro squared off against Annie Duke.
After losing over $400,000 to Cheng Yu, Duke survived on a short stack for nearly two hours before pushing all in preflop. Lisandro, who had Duke covered, called and took the lead when he flipped up pocket eights and Duke showed A
3
. The 9
9
4
3
2
board failed to improve Duke's hand, and one of the biggest names in poker hit the rails as the 88th-place finisher ($51,129).
Four days ago, not many people in the Amazon Room knew who Dmitri Nobles was, but by day 5 his elimination received the same level of attention associated with poker celebrities.
The online player from Houston, who qualified on Pokerstars.com, gained notoriety by finishing as day 2B's chip boss (with a $200,000 lead), and by spending the better parts of 3 and 4 near the top of the leader board.
Nobles was also famously quoted as saying, "My playing style is very, very, very, very, very, very aggressive."
On day 5, Nobles entered action in the top 20, but soon became the short stack at his table. He eventually moved all in with K
10
and Marcello Del Grosso, holding pocket sixes, called. The 9
9
7
6
3
board gave Del Grosso a full house and Nobles exited the tournament in 76th place ($65,973).
The $100,000 payout mark was cracked 13 hands later when William Thorsson spiked a queen on the river to beat Bryan Micon's pocket queens. The 63rd-place finish made Micon the first entrant to receive over $100,000 in prize money ($123,699).
At 9:24 p.m. PDT, Sabyl Cohen, a FullTilt.com online qualifier, fell to Erik Friberg's paired jacks. Cohen, who earned $123,699 for her 56th-place finish, became the last female player eliminated from the 2006
WSOP main event.
Jamie Gold, the chip leader coming into action, dropped out of the top spot on a few occasions, but battled back each time. A television producer from California, and former talent agent for
The Sopranos' James Gandolfini and
Desperate Housewives' Felicity Huffman, Gold learned the basics of poker from one of the best, namely, back-to-back
WSOP champion Johnny Chan.
"I got into poker seriously when I started working with Johnny Chan. We were working on a TV show together." Gold revealed to
Card Player's Rich Belsky. "In exchange for me helping him in the entertainment field, he helped me with my poker game."
Gold followed up by telling
Card Player that if he were to win the main event, he planned to use the money to help his ailing father.
At 11:26 p.m. PDT, Sean Johnson became the day's 46th ($164,932) and final elimination, when he moved all in with A
Q
and received a call from Cuong Do. Do's J
J
held, and Johnson's departure marked the end of day 5.
The top five chip counts were as follows:
1. Jamie Gold - $7,330,000
2. Erik Friberg - $5,905,000
3. William Thorsson - $3,545,000
4. Rhett Butler - $3,210,000
5. Kevin Aaronson - $3,190,000
Only three big-name pros remained at the day's conclusion: Jeffrey Lisandro ($2,995,000), Cunningham ($1,290,000), and Humberto Brenes ($565,000).
Other notables eliminated during play included Casey Kastle (119th - $51,129) and Thomas Wahlroos (91st - $51,129).
Complete final day 5 chip counts, and payouts, can be found via the "Featured Chip Count" link on the
CardPlayer.com home page.
The road to the final table continues at noon PDT when the 45 remaining players return to the Amazon Room for day 6.
Stay tuned to
CardPlayer.com for live updates, chip counts, photos, videos, and for a new episode of "The Circuit."
For more information on bracelet winners and other
WSOP news stories please visit
http://www.cardplayer.com/tournaments/wsop/2006s.
Quote of the Day: "The charge is coming! The charge is coming, coming, coming!" - Humberto Brenes on his changing luck during day 5 play.
