Day 5 of the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Foxwoods World Poker Finals just goes to show that there are no givens in poker. One hand, one card, and everyone’s predictions can go flying out the window. Going into Monday’s abbreviated day of play, two players were clearly on the ropes, the prohibitive short stacks, but they are two of the final six still alive heading into the televised final table.
We knew Day Five would be a short one. Day Four ended with just eight players still sitting behind chips and with the six-handed televised final table scheduled for Tuesday, only two players needed to be eliminated Monday in order to call it quits. As such, it took just 48 hands to allow the players to be dismissed, giving them a nice, long rest until they have to gear up again today.
Going into Monday, Bob Carbone and Eli Berg were by far the shortest stacks at the table, with just 21 and 18 big blinds, respectively (263,000 and 227,000 chips). So obviously those two would be knocked out right away and that would be that, right? Wrong. While neither is threatening the chip leaders, both are still alive and are just a double-up from being right in the thick of things (though with just six players left, everyone could be considered “in the thick of things.”). Berg made his move on hand 16, moving all-in pre-flop with A-J. Jonathan Little called him with pocket Kings, but an Ace was dealt on the turn, allowing Berg to double-up to 760,000, while Little, the WPT Season VI Player of the Year, fell to 205,000.
On hand 24, Carbone got his double-up. All-in, pre-flop, he had the lone caller, Daniel Santoro, dominated with Q-Q versus J-J. Nothing on the board improved either hand and Carbone’s stack grew to 670,000. Santoro was still in good shape with 1,250,000 chips.
The very next hand, Little was eliminated in 7th place. Short stacked at just 169,000 chips, Little moved all-in pre-flop and was called by Steven Brackesy in the big blind. Little, making his move after the action folded to him on the button, picked a good spot, as there were just two players left to act, and even if he was called, his 5-9 suited would still likely give him a decent shot at winning the hand. Unfortunately, Brackesy had him dominated with A-5. Nothing helped all the way through the river and Little hit the rail. Brackesy was now up to 1,200,000 chips.
Less than two hours from the start of play, the televised final table was determined. Brackesy raised to 25,000 from the button and Chris Klodnicki made the call from the small blind. After the flop of 5d-4d-3s, Klodnicki bet 54,000. Brackesy then moved all-in and Klodnicki called, putting himself all-in since he was covered. Brackesy had a great draw with Ad-6d, giving him the nut flush draw and an open-ended straight draw, while Klodnicki’s A-5 gave him top pair. The Kd fell on the turn, making Brackesy’s flush and giving Klodnicki no chance on the river.
That hand took Brackesy up to 1,807,000, making him the chip leader going into the televised final table. This is already the biggest cash of his live tournament career, as he is guaranteed at least $83,580. Prior to now, his largest cash was $48,996 in a $200 buy-in tournament in 2005. Play will resume on Tuesday at 4:00pm as they play down to a champion.
WPT Foxwoods World Poker Finals – End of Day Five Chip Counts
1. Steven Brackesy – 1,807,000
2. Christian Harder – 1,293,000
3. Daniel Santoro – 1,163,000
4. Bob Carbone – 588,000
5. Eli Berg – 496,000
6. Andy Frankenberger – 374,000
