On day four of the 2007
World Poker Tour Championship, 54 participants returned to the Fontana Bar. At the end of play, only 27 of them would remain in contention for the tournament's record-setting $3.9 million first-place cash prize.
In a tightly packed roped-off area, surrounded by fans and media, day four action kicked off at noon at the Bellagio in Las Vegas with $5,000-$10,000 blinds and $1,000 antes.
Despite being a severe short stack coming into play with $38,000, Patrik Antonius managed to outlast both Joseph Grebanier (54th place - $46,410) and Daniel Alaei (53rd place - $46,410), who fell when his pocket sevens ran into Paul Lee's pocket kings.
While Antonius eventually busted in 52nd place ($46,410), fellow Finnish pro Thomas Wahlroos downed the lone remaining
WPT season five event champ with his elimination of Eric Hershler (48th place - $61,880). Wahlroos called Hershler's all in preflop reraise, and sent the 2007
L.A. Poker Classic champ to the rail when his pocket eights held against Hershler's A
K
.
Minutes after the table redraw for the 45 remaining players, Paul Lee made a dramatic move up the leader board courtesy of a double-up through Loi Phan. With the board showing J
6
4
, the Los Angeles native raised to $200,000 on a Roland De Wolfe $80,000 bet. Following a fold by De Wolfe and a call by Phan, Lee pushed in the dark for his last $594,000. When the 5
landed on the turn, Phan called. Lee's J
J
gave him the winning hand against Phan's A
J
, and Lee doubled up to over $1.3 million.
Unlike Lee, Jared Hamby saw his tournament run end as the result of a showdown with Phan. A two-time bracelet winner in the prelims, Hamby finished the championship event in 44th place ($61,880) after his all-in call with top pair fell to Phan's flopped nut straight.
The 11th-place finisher at this month's
EPT Grand Final, Carlos Mortensen positioned himself to make a second consecutive deep cash with his play on day four. While Mortensen crossed the $1 million mark following a pocket kings versus pocket jacks double-up through Can Kim Hua, his biggest win of the day came in a hand against Raymond Davis.
On a 10
7
6
flop, and with $300,000 already in the pot, Mortensen reraised all in for $876,000 over the top of a Davis $200,000 bet. After the call, Mortensen showed 7
7
and Davis turned over A
8
. The set held, and Mortensen scored a win that bumped his stack up to $2.5 million.
Internet whiz Sorel Mizzi also battled into the top five chip stacks during the second half of play. First, Mizzi used a flopped set of nines to double up through Phil Hellmuth, then the online player better known as "Imperium" busted
WPT chairman Lyle Berman when his pocket aces bested Berman's K
J
on a A
J
3
J
9
board.
Half an hour after Berman's departure (29th place - $92,820), day four of the 2007
WPT Championship closed on a miracle river card when Richard Anthony spiked a set of nines to top Thomas Schreiber's A
K
paired ace (28th place - $92,820).
With 27 players remaining, the top five chip counts are as follows:
1. Paul Lee - $3,601,000
2. Kirk Morrison - $2,980,000
3. Carlos Mortensen - $2,429,000
4. Sorel Mizzi - $2,256,000
5. Thomas Wahlroos - $1,847,000
Other notables advancing to the tournament's penultimate day include Tim Phan ($1,273,000), Scott Fischman ($1,268,000), David Levi ($1,258,000), Phil Hellmuth ($738,000), Paul Wasicka ($581,000), James Worth ($556,000), and Roland De Wolfe ($460,000).
For a complete list of chip counts and eliminations please click
here.
The
WPT Championship resumes at noon and will break for the day when the remaining field plays down to the final six.
Stay tuned to
CardPlayer.com for live updates, chip counts, videos, photos, and daily recaps.
Quote of the Day: "How's this story go, Jason?" - Phil Hellmuth to Joe "Jason" Sebok
