WSOP -- Day 6 of the Main Event

-Usually, when the World Series of Poker $10,000 no-limit hold’em main event is down to just 185 players, the top professional players left in contention are far and few between. Monday, July 13, was an unusual day at the 2009 main event, because four of the top players left in the event found themselves seated at the same table. Defending champion Peter Eastgate, former world champion Joe Hachem, two-time gold bracelet winner J.C. Tran, and 2008 November Nine finalist Dennis Phillips were all seated together. They were quickly ushered over to the ESPN featured table stage, and the crowds packed the stands to watch. By the end of the night Tran, Hachem, and Eastgate had fallen, but Phillips kept alive his hopes of making back-to-back final table appearances in two of the largest main-event fields ever.

Here is a look at some of the other notable players who are still alive in the event heading into day 7: Phil Ivey, Antonio Esfandiari, Jeff Shulman, Ludovic Lacay, Eugene Katchalov, Fabrice Soulier, Andrew Lichtenberger, Tom Schneider, James Akenhead, Prahlad Friedman, and Joe Sebok.

Here is a look at the other notable players who have hit the rail on day 7: Owen Crowe, Kenny Tran, Noah Boeken, David Benyamine, Anh Van Nguyen, Bertrand Grospellier, Theo Tran, Blair Hinkle, Thierry van den Berg, Steven Levy, Chris Bjorin, John Monnette, Michael Greco, and Jordan Morgan.

Here are the top 10 chip counts:

1. Darvin Moon — 9,745,000
2. Billy Kopp — 8,245,000
3. Phil Ivey — 6,345,000
4. Steve Begleiter — 6,315,000
5. Ludovic Lacay — 5,965,000
6. Antonio Esfandiari — 5,610,000
7. Tommy Vedes — 5,430,000
8. Antoine Saout — 5,195,000
9. Ben Lamb — 4,975,000
10. Nick Maimone — 4,900,000

Day 7 will begin at noon PDT tomorrow, be sure to follow all of the action from the Rio in Las Vegas as the final 64 play down to the final 27. Here is a look at the highlights from day 6, as featured in CardPlayer.com’s live updates:

Happy Picking Off Bluffs

The player in seat 3 raised to 42,000 preflop, and Jonathan Tamayo made the call. Jeff Shulman also came in, and they all saw a flop of 8 5 2, and seat 3 led out with 83,000. Tamayo mucked but, Shulman made the call. The turn was the 3, and seat 3 kept the foot down on the gas pedal, firing 235,000. Shulman stuck around, and the river was the 2.

Seat 3 fired a bet over 300,000, and Shulman snap called. Seat 3 tapped the table and showed 10 9 for a flush draw that never got there. Shulmnan tabled J J and took the pot. He was at 1.95 million in chips.

Fabrice Soulier on a Rush

Fabrice Soulier raised to 49,000 preflop, and Steven Levy came over the top, going all in for 601,000. Soulier made the call and tabled A K, while Levy showed down 10 10.

The flop came down K 7 6, with the king in the window. Soulier jumped out in front, and the turn was the J. The river was the Q, and Levy was eliminated.

Bertrand Grospellier Eliminated in 122nd Place ($40,288)

Bertrand Grospellier bet 47,000 from middle position, and an opponent reraised to 150,000. ElkY moved all in for about 375,000 total, slightly less than what his opponent had in his stack. Grospellier’s all in was snap-called, and he turned over the A K. His opponent tabled the K K. The board ran out 3 2 2 6 J, and ElkY was eliminated in heartbreaking fashion.

J.C. Tran Eliminated in 108th Place ($40,288)

Dennis Phillips raised preflop, and J.C. Tran called from the big blind. Both players saw a flop of 10 9 2. Tran had just under 90,000 chips left and moved all in right away. Phillips called and exposed the K 10. Tran turned over the A 6 and was in bad shape. The turn brought the Q, and the 3 on the river ended his 2009 main event. Phillips is at 1,410,000.

Joe Hachem Eliminated in 103rd Place ($40,288)

Joe Hachem open-shoved for 117,000 and was called by Billy Kopp. Hachem exposed the J 9 and was flipping against the 4 4 of Kopp. The flop came K 7 7, giving Hachem a ton of outs to stay alive. He needed any king, jack, 9 or club to stay alive and was the favorite in the hand after the flop. None of them came on the turn as the A hit. An ace was an added out for the former main-event champion, but the river bricked with the 3, and Hachem was gone.

David Benyamine Eliminated in 102nd Place ($40,288)

In a blind-versus-blind battle, David Benyamine was in the big blind with the pocket aces. Darvin Moon was in the small blind with the 3 3 and limped in. Benyamine threw out a small raise preflop, and Moon made the call. The flop came 9 7 3, giving Moon bottom set and leaving Benyamine in deep trouble. Moon led out into Benyamine, who raised. Moon threw out a reraise of 200,000, and Benyamine reraised another 300,000. Moon made the call, and the 4 hit the turn. Moon put Benyamine all in for 800,000. Benyamine made the call and saw the bad news. The Q fell on the river, and Benyamine was gone. Moon is the chip leader with 5,700,000.

Peter Eastgate Eliminated in 78th Place ($68,979)

The defending champion of the main event from last year has been knocked out.

Billy Kopp raised to 105,000 preflop, and Dennis Phillips made the call to his immediate left. Action was folded to Peter Eastgate in the small blind, who moved all in for 340,000 more. Action was back on Kopp, who made the call, and Dennis Phillips made the call. The board ran out A 6 4 J 3, as Kopp and Phillips checked it down. Kopp exposed the 8 8 for an 8-high flush, and Phillips mucked. Eastgate tabled the A J for top two pair. Kopp eliminated Eastgate from the tournament.

Phil Ivey Running Hot

Phil Ivey bet 110,000 from the button, and Kent Goulding reraised to 325,000 from the big blind. Ivey made the call, and both players saw a flop of Q 4 2. Goulding checked, and Ivey enough to put his opponent all in for 910,000. Goulding made the call and exposed the Q 7, while Ivey tabled the J 5 for a flush draw. The turn bricked for Ivey, but the K on the river eliminated Goulding and handed Ivey the pot. Ivey is over 5,000,000 now.

Jeff Shulman Building Big Stack

Jeff Shulman raised to 120,000 from under the gun. Ian Tavelli called to his left, and Hamid Nourafchan called from the button. The flop came K 9 7, and Shulman bet 200,000. Tavelli mucked, and Nourafchan made the call. The 7 fell on the river, and both players checked to a 2 on the river. Shulman bet 300,000, and Nourafchan made the call. Shulman exposed the 2 2 for deuces full, while Nourafchan mucked. Shulman is steadily building a big stack, currently sitting with 4,445,000.

Antonio Esfandiari Eliminates Another Opponent

Antonio Esfandiari and Andreas Flakstad got all of the chips in preflop with Flakstad holding the 10 10 and Esfandiari tabling the A K. The A-K won the flip, as the board ran out K J 3 8 Q. Esfandiari has been running well lately and is now at 5,610,000.

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