With 71 players returning on Thursday in Event #5, the $1500 Pot Limit Hold’em tournament, everyone was comfortable in the fact that they would at least make the minimum cash ($2432). The real goal of all the players, though, was to reach the end of the evening to have a shot at the latest bracelet awarded in the Rio. It would be a tale of mixed days for some of the top pros, with some zooming to the top of the leaderboard while others made the long walk away from the event.
Antonio Esfandiari came into the day second in chips, slightly behind Philipp Salewski, but what went right on Day One went terribly wrong on Day Two for “The Magician.” At the same table as fellow pros John Juanda and Steve Brecher, Esfandiari’s chip stack slipped away from him from the get-go. He would double up Brecher in an early hand and then give Brecher more chips when he missed out on a flush draw. After starting in the penthouse on Thursday, Esfandiari would be knocked out just after the first level of the day.
On the other side of the table was the story of Daniel Negreanu’s efforts throughout the day. Starting the day in eighth place, Negreanu would use a double up – when his 9-6 flopped two pair held up against an opponent’s pocket Queens – to push his way into the Top Five. Although he would yo-yo his stack from that point, “Kid Poker” was able to make his way through the Day Two minefield and finished the evening’s action by making the final table.
Tommy Vedes, who has been on a run of late after scoring the championship at the World Poker Tour’s Seminole Hard Rock Showdown in April, was another top name to make some inroads towards potentially adding a WSOP bracelet to his trophy collection. In a pivotal hand for his tournament life, Vedes’ A-10 was up against his opponent’s K-Q. An Ace and a King on the flop kept Vedes in the lead, but a Queen on the turn switched the fates. Cruelly (for Vedes’ opponent), a ten came on the river to give Vedes a bigger two pair and push him towards the final table.
It was around this time that the leader for today’s final table action pushed his name to the helm of the leaderboard. Bryan Pellegrino, who started Thursday’s action in third place, was able to knock down the recently-crowned chip leader, Justin Gardenhire, to become the first player to eclipse the 200K chip mark. Pellegrino would ride that big win throughout the remainder of the day to enter into the final table today as the strong chip leader, although there are many hurdles yet to overcome.
1. Bryan Pellegrino, 790,000
2. Jonathan Aguiar, 552,000
3. Keanu Tabali, 309,000
4. Nick Jivkov, 281,000
5. Tommy Vedes, 247,000
6. Daniel Negreanu, 212,000
7. Brant Hale, 211,000
8. John Eames, 181,000
9. Mike Allis, 86,000
Some of the notable names taking home some cash from this event include James Mackey (eleventh, $11,361), Brecher (twelfth, $11,361), Nam Le (sixteenth, $7254), Juanda (eighteenth, $7254) and Salewski (27th, $5883).
Pellegrino will have to watch out for Aguiar at the final table, who can seriously put a hurt on his chip stack should the two tangle. Vedes and Negreanu (who hasn’t won a bracelet since 2008 and is looking to come off potentially his worst WSOP performance ever in 2011) are a threat whenever they step to the felt, but also keep an eye on Eames, the Brit who has earned $1.46 million in his tournament poker career but is seeking his first major title.
