Six spots, 33 players, one
WPT televised final table, and, oh yeah, the race for
Card Player's Player of the Year award - welcome to day 4 of the 2006
Doyle Brunson North American Poker Championship.
The battle for the six most lucrative seats in
DBNAPC history began at noon PST with $6,000-$12,000 blinds and $2,000 antes.
While many came to see Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi, a veritable lock to win his first POY award, Daniel Negreanu commanded most of the attention in early play. Coming into the day in 31st place out of 33 positions, Negreanu (A
J
) doubled up through Marco Johnson (A
10
), then provided the first elimination when his pocket kings held against the pocket deuces of David Oppenheim ($42,285).
Twenty-five minutes later, the focus of the
DBNAPC, at least for those following the Player of the Year race, switched back to Mizrachi. All in on an 8
4
2
flop, John Hoang (J
9
), fifth in the POY standings and Mizrachi's closest competition still in the tournament, exited in 32nd place ($42,285) after Jesse Jones (A
A
) called and made a wheel with the 3
turn and 5
river.
The bustout of Hoang, coupled with Nam Le's elimination from the
WSOP Circuit Harrah's Atlantic City event, guaranteed Mizrachi his first
Card Player Player of the Year award. Both fans and players applauded as tournament director Jack McClelland stopped play and announced Mizrachi as the 2006 POY winner.
The short stack among the remaining players, Mizrachi took home 29th place ($50,745) when an all-in reraise with A-Q failed to improve against Jim Hanna's A-K.
At 6:30 p.m., Mads Anderson flopped a set of tens to crack Mats Rahmn's pocket aces (19th place - $67,655), and the final 18 players redrew to two tables.
Lee Markholt, the chip leader coming into day 4, became the tournament's 18th-place finisher ($67,655) on the first hand of two-table play after the Q
Q
5
4
3
board offered his 10
7
no help against Michael Binger's 9
9
.
While Markholt entered play with the most chips, Doyle'sRoom.com rep Cyndy Violette came into action as one of the last two female participants in the field (Laura Fink finished in 22nd place, for $50,745). Violette's run, and the female presence at the 2006
DBNAPC, ended when she moved all in preflop with pocket queens and Justin Bonomo called with pocket aces. Violette exited the tournament area in 14th place ($84,570).
At 10:45 p.m., after a one-hour dinner break, a pair of consecutive eliminations sent the
Doyle Brunson North American Poker Championship to a final table. First, Haralabos Voulgaris (A
K
) called an all-in reraise by Scott Fischman (8
8
), and paired his king on the flop to make Fischman the 12th-place finisher ($84,570). Moments later, a Q
10
4
A
6
board gave Joe Hachem (9
9
) a higher flush against Fred Goldberg (10
8
), ending Goldberg's tournament with an 11th-place finish ($84,570).
The chip counts and seating for the final table were as follows:
1. Daniel Negreanu - $3,785,000 (seat 1)
2. Joe Hachem - $3,440,000 (seat 5)
3. Haralabos Voulgaris - $2,525,000 (seat 7)
4. David Redlin - $1,860,000 (seat 6)
5. Ed Jordan - $1,650,000 (seat 8)
6. Jim Hanna - $1,535,000 (seat 4)
7. Justin Bonomo - $1,325,000 (seat 3)
8. Mack Lee - $800,000 (seat 2)
9. Steve Sung - $705,000 (seat 10)
10. Mads Anderson - $370,000 (seat 9)
Negreanu capped off a daylong climb up the leader board by providing the first elimination of the
DBNAPC final table. After a $120,000 raise by Anderson, "Kid Poker" called an all in reraise by Lee. Negreanu's 4
4
made him a huge underdog to Lee's Q
Q
, but an A
K
2
flop, followed by a 3
turn and 5
river, gave Negreanu a straight, eliminating Lee in 10th place ($101,485).
Sung followed Lee to the rails as the ninth-place finisher ($118,400) after his trip queens with a jack kicker (Q
J
) fell to Hanna's trip queens with an ace kicker (A
Q
).
Like Negreanu, Anderson rose up the chip counts, only he made his biggest moves at the final table. After starting as the short stack, Anderson not only built up chips (doubling up through Hachem and Bonomo), he eliminated the day's last two players.
Following a lost race to Hanna, when his pocket fives fell to Hanna's A
8
, Voulgaris moved all in preflop, and his Q
4
put him in a hole against Anderson's pocket tens. Voulgaris, the 11th-place finisher at the 2006
Mirage Poker Showdown, paired his four on the flop (7
7
4
), but finished in eighth ($135,315) when he missed the turn (5
) and river (3
).
On the next hand, Bonomo reraised all in, Anderson called, and, after 15-plus hours of play, the fourth day of the
Doyle Brunson North American Poker Championship ended as Anderson's pocket sevens held against Bonomo's A
Q
(seventh place, $152,230).
The chip counts for the
WPT televised final table are as follows:
1. Daniel Negreanu - $4,670,000
2. Mads Anderson - $4,310,000
3. Joe Hachem - $2,345,000
4. Edward Jordan - $2,320,000
5. David Redlin - $2,040,000
6. Jim Hanna - $1,820,000
For a complete list of payouts and chip counts please click
here.
The six players return for final table action at 5 p.m. PST and will play down to the $2.1 million winner.
Stay tuned to
CardPlayer.com for live updates, chip counts, photos, videos, and for a news episode of "The Circuit."
Quote of the Day: "Its bad enough he's got more chips than me. I don't need him to demean me. [He's] better looking, [he's a] better player." - Haralabos Voulgaris on an opponent who kept calling him "kid."
