As of 8:30pm ET on Sunday night, just five players remain in the $2,500 buy-in Limit Hold’em Six-Handed event being held as part of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP). Headlining the field is a familiar face in the poker world: Daniel Negreanu.
“Kid Poker” was one of 11 players to hit the felts on Sunday in the six-handed event. The first elimination of the day was Jimmy Tran, who pushed all-in on a board of 9-6-4-3 with three hearts holding A-J for ace-high and the nut flush draw. CardPlayer Magazine’s Barry Shulman called him with K-Q and spiked a king on the river to take down the pot. Tran won just over $12,000 for his efforts. About 10 minutes later, Negreanu sent Robert Como packing from the event with A-9 against Como’s K-10. Negreanu hit an ace on the flop and Como could never catch up.
Next to go was Nikolay Losev, who earned $16,814 for his ninth place finish. Losev picked a timely spot to push all-in with kings and had to dodge an ace from Kyle Ray, who held A-7. However, Ray hit an ace on the river to send Losev home. Shawn Buchanan hit the skids shortly thereafter with J-10 against Tommi Horkko‘s pocket queens. Buchanan watched in dismay as a queen came on the flop and could never recover. Buchanan earned $23,179 for his eighth place showing.
One more elimination was needed in order to determine the six-handed final table. The title of “Bubble Boy” went to Jim Buckley, who was bumped from the $2,500 buy-in Limit Hold’em Six-Handed event in seventh place for $23,179. After raised action pre-flop, Buckley pushed over the top of a raise by Brock “t_soprano” Parker, who called on a flop of A-K-8 with pocket aces. Buckley had kings and found himself on the short end of a set over set situation. The turn and river came the five of diamonds and jack of hearts, respectively, sending Buckley home.
Negreanu held 786,000 chips when the final table began, the only player to cross the 700,000 chip threshold. The next closest competitor, Parker, had just 606,000, giving the Team PokerStars Pro member nearly 30% of the chips in play. Horkko came armed to the final table with a stack of 460,000, Ray held a stack of 429,000, Shulman owned 385,000, and Kevin Hong was the short stack at the table with just 89,000.
However, Hong survived to make it to the final five, as Ray was ousted in sixth place and cashed for $31,966. After doubling up Hong, Ray called all-in for his tournament life with 10-9 of hearts, but was up against Hong’s K-9. The flop came J-8-2, giving Ray an open-ended straight draw and a heart on the turn added a flush draw. Needing a Q, 10, 7, or heart on the river, Ray watched as the five of spades fell, sending him to the rails to join his cheering section, which included several CardRunners members.
The payouts in the event are as follows:
1st Place: $223,697
2nd Place: $138,280
3rd Place: $89,660
4th Place: $60,884
5th Place: $43,201
6th Place: $31,966
Negreanu’s status in the poker world borders on legendary. He is one of ten players to hold four bracelets and has 36 WSOP in the money finishes under his belt for a combined $2.3 million. He is the career money leader on the World Poker Tour (WPT) with $5.5 million in earnings. Negreanu took home two titles during the WPT’s third season, emerging victorious from the pack at the Borgata Poker Open and Bellagio Five Diamond World Poker Classic for a combined $2.9 million. He has five cashes of over $500,000.
Will Negreanu score his fifth WSOP bracelet? We’ll have full results for you on Monday on Poker News Daily.
