Snow blanketed much of Las Vegas on Thursday morning. One of the most severe snowstorms in the city’s history swept through the gambling Mecca in the hours leading up to Day 5 of the World Poker Tour’s Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic. Dominating the action inside the warm Bellagio is Benjamin Straate, who owns 50% more chips than his next closest competitor.
Straate sent both Allen Cunningham and Tom Franklin to the rails during play on Wednesday. The elimination of Cunningham pushed Straate over the one million chip mark and he ended play with well over three million. The leader board at the Bellagio has been in flux throughout the duration of the Five Diamond, which kicked off last Saturday. The tournament will play down to its final six today, who will return on Friday to square off under the hot lights of the WPT television set. The event airs in 2009 as part of the seventh season of the WPT on Fox Sports Net.
Brett Richey, who finished 592nd in the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event, sits second in chips with 2.1 million entering Day 5 at the Bellagio. Richey finished eighth in a $3,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event during the 2007 WSOP for $42,000 and placed 761st in the 2006 Main Event, which was ultimately won in controversy by Jamie Gold. Richey and the rest of the survivors from Day 4 have a considerable amount of ground to make up in order to cut into Straate’s chip lead.
Justin Young owns the third largest chip stack with 1.8 million. He has just two WPT cashes lifetime; both have come in tournaments held at the Bellagio. Young finished 51st in the $25,000 buy-in WPT Championship during Season V for $46,000 and recorded an 11th place showing in the Bellagio Cup III for $51,000. The latter event was won by online poker pro Kevin BeL0WaB0Ve Saul. Young has logged two cashes in WSOP tournaments for a grand total of $10,000.
Behind the three chip leaders sits an army of established poker pros. Hoyt Corkins, also known as “The Alabama Cowboy,” has been perched near the top of the leader board for the majority of the Five Diamond and will seek his fifth WPT final table on Thursday. In fact, half of Corkins’ eight WPT in the money finishes have been final table appearances. He took down the Foxwoods World Poker Finals during Season II for $1 million and recently finished second in the World Poker Open during Season VI for $458,000. Corkins has the 10th largest chip stack entering Thursday’s play, 1.25 million.
David “Chino” Rheem also remains in the Five Diamond and sits with the 11th place stack of 1.2 million. Rheem has become a household name as a member of the WSOP November Nine and ultimately finished seventh in the Main Event for $1.7 million. He hails from South Florida and nearly captured his first WSOP bracelet two years ago, finishing as the runner up in a $1,000 rebuy tournament for $327,000.
Here are the remaining 18 players in the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic. There are a multitude of familiar faces, which sets the stage for a challenging Day 5 for those in contention:
1st: Benjamin Straate (Milwaukee, Wisconsin), 3,197,000
2nd: Brett Richey (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 2,164,000
3rd: Justin Young (Morehead City, North Carolina), 1,807,000
4th: Evan McNiff (San Diego, California), 1,532,000
5th: Mike Matusow (Las Vegas, Nevada), 1,435,000
6th: Jack Wu (Palo Alto, California), 1,412,000
7th: Amnon Filippi (New York, New York), 1,374,000
8th: Steve Sung (Torrance, California), 1,359,000
9th: Robert Mizrachi (Las Vegas, Nevada), 1,266,000
10th: Hoyt Corkins (Glenwood, Alabama), 1,251,000
11th: Chino Rheem (Las Vegas, Nevada), 1,200,000
12th: Clonie Gowen (Dallas, Texas), 1,049,000
13th: Tom Pniak (Las Vegas, Nevada), 1,041,000
14th: Bill Klein (Laguna Hills, California), 999,000
15th: Ben Tollerene (Lubbock, Texas), 492,000
16th: Nick Schulman (Las Vegas, Nevada), 480,000
17th: Joe McGowan (Las Vegas, Nevada), 420,000
18th: Martin Deknijff (Las Vegas, Nevada), 298,000
Play resumes at 12:00 Noon local time on Thursday. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for all of the latest from snowy Sin City.
