Shawn Buchanan was the chip leader of the World Poker Tour (WPT) Championship after Day 1. Following Day 2, he was virtually tied for the lead with Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka. Entering Day 4 action on Wednesday, he has a stranglehold over the competition.
Buchanan owns a stack of 1.84 million chips entering Day 4, which is 500,000 more than his next closest competitor, Heather Sue Mercer. Buchanan sent two-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Brandon Cantu to the rails on Tuesday. Cantu was all-in with pocket aces on a flop of Q-J-8. However, Buchanan held the nuts with 10-9 for a straight and a running 7-10 didn’t change the situation. The hand boosted the Day 3 chip leader to 1.65 million and he continued to build until the closing gun.
Mercer, meanwhile, forged a path of her own, knocking out Justin Young after coming out on the better end of a race. She also ousted poker veteran and bracelet winner Ralph Perry with A-K against Perry’s A-J. Perry picked up a gutshot straight draw when the flop came A-Q-10, but no king hit on the turn or river and Perry was eliminated. Heading into Day 4 on Wednesday, Mercer owns a stack of 1.36 million and is the only other player besides Buchanan to cross the one-million chip plateau.
Mercer sat alongside Buchanan and Jaka for much of the day on Tuesday. On her key hands, Mercer told the WPT Live Updates team, “I had a couple against Faraz and I also got fortunate in a couple of spots, including one where someone with 150,000 left moved all-in after my re-raise with A-K and I had pocket tens. I ended up with a full house, so I definitely got lucky.” According to the HendonMob database, Mercer’s largest live cash is a $6,800 haul for taking tenth in a $3,000 buy-in event held during the 2008 Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic.
One of the final eliminations of the day went to Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo, who committed his chips with pocket threes on a flop of 9-7-4. Seven-time WSOP bracelet winner Billy Baxter made the call with A-7 for middle pair and the board bricked out for the young internet whiz. Baxter finished fifth in chips with 887,500 and is among the top 50 vote-getters for the 2010 WSOP Tournament of Champions. Between 1975 and 1982, Baxter won four bracelets in No Limit Deuce to Seven Lowball.
Also surviving to Day 4 is UB.com front man Phil Hellmuth. His ride through the day nearly ended after calling the all-in of Andrew “luckychewy” Lichtenberger with pocket queens on a board of 6-5-4-J. Lichtenberger flipped up pocket kings and Hellmuth was suddenly drawing to two outs. Sure enough, a lady hit on the river to send Lichtenberger out in dramatic fashion. The two had nearly identical stacks when the hand began and Hellmuth catapulted to eighth on the leaderboard by the time all was said and done at the Bellagio. He will come armed to Wednesday’s action with a stack of 807,000.
A total of 35 players remain, with the money bubble bursting when 18 are left standing. Here are the top 10 chip stacks entering Day 4 of the 2010 WPT Championship:
1. Shawn Buchanan – 1,841,000
2. Heather Sue Mercer – 1,364,000
3. Robert Cooper – 937,000
4. Matt “All In At 420” Stout – 919,500
5. Billy Baxter – 887,500
6. Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka – 856,000
7. Todd Terry – 817,500
8. Phil Hellmuth – 806,500
9. David Williams – 757,000
10. David Benyamine – 731,000
The stacked field also features several notable names:
14. Carlos Mortensen – 586,000
15. Scotty Nguyen – 569,500
18. Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy – 489,500
22. Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin – 387,000
24. Yevgeniy “Jovial Gent” Timoshenko – 350,000
26. David “Devilfish” Ulliott – 310,000
34. Josh Arieh – 115,500
Other players eliminated on Tuesday included Erik Seidel, Mike Watson, Kathy Liebert, Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little, Tommy Vedes, Hasan Habib, Hoyt Corkins, Dwyte Pilgrim, Steve “MrTimCaum” O’Dwyer, Eric “EFro” Froehlich, and Brock “t soprano” Parker. When play wrapped up on Tuesday, the blinds were 3,000-6,000 with an ante of 500. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest from the WPT Championship.