In what turned out to be arguably one of the longer – and most entertaining – days of play in a tournament at the 2014 World Series of Poker, 2014 WSOP bracelet winner Brandon Shack-Harris is in the hunt for a second bracelet as he leads the history-making $50,000 Poker Players’ Championship.
22 players came back on Wednesday for Day Four of the tournament and eight of those players wouldn’t be happy with the return trip. With only 14 players from the 102 runner field earning a payday from the event (a min-cash earned slightly less than $100,000), that meant that eight players would have to be dispatched before money could be handed out. As the proceedings began, Abe Mosseri sat atop the field with his 1.727 million in chips, joined by Shack-Harris (1.185 million), Matt Glantz (1.083 million), Robert Mizrachi (1.02 million) and Frank Kassela (1.004 million) as the only players with a million-plus chip stack.
On the very first hand of the day, 22 would become 21 and set up a three table redraw. In Pot Limit Omaha, Shack-Harris reraised an pre-flop opening bet from Vladimir Shchemelev and, after Shchemelev put the last of his chips in the center, called to show a leading A-A-J-10 over Shchemelev’s K-K-9-7. The flop brought some hope for Shchemelev, coming down 3-8-6 to give him an open ended straight draw, but an eight on the turn and a four on the river failed to complete it, sending the Russian out and redrawing the tables after only one hand of play.
Once down to three tables, the smaller stacks began to drop away from the fight. Ola Amundsgard, David Oppenheim, David Steicke and Gary Benson were all eliminated before the first break of the day, with Benson’s eliminations coming from one of the surprises of the 2014 PPC. Melissa Burr, who entered the event along with Vanessa Selbst to become the first female competitors in the history of the PPC, was able to knock down Benson’s pocket nines with her pocket Queens in No Limit Hold’em to push her stack over the million chip mark. With 17 players remaining, it was looking likely that Burr would make history as the first female player to ever cash in the PPC.
Mosseri and Shack-Harris had their own show going on at this time as the duo jousted with each other for the chip lead. In Razz, Shack-Harris was able to make a ten-low that was surprisingly good against both Jason Mercier and Chun Lei Zhou to get to 1.84 million in chips, but Mosseri maintained the lead at 1.92 million chips even though he doubled Zhou in a later Razz hand. Shack-Harris would eventually surpass Mosseri, though, in PLO after his three bet forced Elior Sion to drop his hand into the muck and his chips sent Shack-Harris over the two million mark.
Undaunted, Mosseri kept firing his chips at his opponents and regained the lead in eliminating Mercier in 17th place ($0) during a hand of Seven Card Stud. As the second break loomed, Brock Parker was crippled in Razz by doubling Jonathan Duhamel (his ten-low besting Parker’s Queen low) and would depart on the next hand when Scott Seiver hit a seven-low against Parker’s nine-low. As the combatants headed off into a new level, only one more elimination needed to be done to bring the players to the money.
The money bubble took almost an hour and a half to pop and, during that time, Mosseri saw new contenders emerge against him. Jesse Martin, James Obst and Kassela popped to the upper reaches of the ladder and Shack-Harris, although losing a few chips along the way, was able to get his chip stack healthier (and his wallet a little fuller) in eliminating Sion on the money bubble. On that hand, Shack-Harris was able to make a full house in Stud against Sion’s unknown holdings to send the players to the money and to dinner at the same time.
With everyone now assured of at least $99,388, the shorter stacks started hitting the rail following the resumption after the consumption. Mizrachi (in PLO against John Hennigan), Duhamel (in Stud Hi/Low against Kassela) and Glantz (in NLHE against Zhou) were the recipients of the minimum cash as the field cut itself to 11 in only one hour of play. Another two hours of mixed-game action saw Todd Brunson eliminated in 11th place during Razz against Seiver and, following Obst’s departure in NLHE against Allen Kessler and Seiver’s elimination at the hands of Shack-Harris, the unofficial final table of eight gathered together with Kassela, Mosseri and Shack-Harris the top three.
Only one more elimination was needed to set the official final table, but it seems that no one wanted to leave this party. The eight survivors would shift chips around for over two hours before the WSOP curfew kicked in to shut the Day Four play down. On one of the last hands of the night, Shack-Harris was battling against Zhou in LHE on a J♠ 6♠ 4♣ 8♠ 7♥ board that saw Shack-Harris firing on every street. He finally got Zhou to shut down on the river and, in scooping up the chips from that tete a tete, also took over the chip lead heading to today’s play.
1. Brandon Shack-Harris, 4.101 million
2. Abe Mosseri, 3.485 million
3. Frank Kassela, 2.507 million
4. John Hennigan, 1.878 million
5. Chun Lei Zhou, 1.389 million
6. Jesse Martin, 840,000
7. Melissa Burr, 661,000
8. Allen Kessler, 439,000
Shack-Harris, who has already scored a WSOP bracelet this year along with a place and a show (second and third) in other preliminary events, could put some pressure on George Danzer (should he win the PPC) in taking over the WSOP Player of the Year lead. Mosseri is playing some outstanding poker, however, and Kassela and Hennigan are veterans who know their way through the mixed-game minefield. Although they are on the short stacks, Burr (who is looking to add to her history in this tournament in becoming the first woman to final table it) and Kessler bear watching also.
Action resumes at 2PM (Las Vegas time), at which time the victor of the Poker Players’ Championship will be crowned. That eventual winner will walk away with the WSOP bracelet, their name emblazoned on the Chip Reese Memorial Trophy and the $1,517,767 in cash that befits the winner of the Poker Players’ Championship.
