The money bubble has officially burst in the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. After a flurry of eliminations on Tuesday, 574 players are left standing in poker’s most prestigious tournament. Online poker whiz Tony “Bond18” Dunst, who regularly dresses in a suit and tie at the table, leads the field with a stack of 1.55 million, out in front of the second place tally of Duy Le (1.46 million) by a healthy margin.
Tim McDonald picked up an entry into the 2011 WSOP Main Event after being this year’s Bubble Boy. He shoved his final chips into the middle on a flop of A-A-2 and Ismail Erkenov insta-called, flipping up A-2 for a boat. McDonald showed pocket queens and, despite hitting a queen on the river, still came up short and was eliminated in 748th place, much to the delight of the remaining players. Tournament Director Jack Effel told the Amazon Room, “Because of you Tim, 747 players are now all in the money. You, my friend, have an automatic $10,000 entry into the 2011 WSOP Main Event on behalf of the World Series of Poker.”
We won’t be hearing “It’s Allen Cunningham!” coming from ESPN announcer Norman Chad this year. The five-time bracelet winner and Full Tilt pro was all-in at the end of the night with A-10 in a race against pocket sevens. Cunningham flopped an ace, but his opponent flopped a set to send the esteemed pro out of the Main Event. His 581st place finish was his lone cash at the 2010 WSOP.
Also departing late in the day was Durrrr Challenge participant Patrik Antonius. After being shut out of the Main Event last year on Day 1D, Antonius made his $10,000 buy-in count, ultimately falling short with pocket jacks against A-K. Antonius picked up $24,000 for his troubles, his first in the money finish in a WSOP event in two years. Now, he may return to the Durrrr Challenge tables, which have been silent for three months.
All four Mizrachi brothers made the money in an impressive showing, with Eric busting after the bubble burst. His three siblings – Michael, Robert, and Danny – are still in contention. Danny holds the largest stack of the group at 437,000, good for the 194th place. Michael took down the $50,000 Player’s Championship, busting Robert in fifth place at the final table. Maybe 2010 should be dubbed the Year of the Mizrachis.
The World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Bellagio Cup is set to come to a conclusion on Thursday, but host Vince Van Patten is still alive and well in the Main Event. Van Patten sent an opponent to the rails yesterday holding pocket eights against K-Q. He flopped a set and then dodged a straight draw on the turn and river to move to over 500,000 in chips. Van Patten ended the day with 455,000 and can be found at 174th on the leaderboard.
Two online poker pros went at it late in the day in the Amazon Room as the field jockeyed to make Day 5. Tristan “Cre8ive” Wade doubled up with A-Q of spades through former CardRunners instructor Cole “cts” South’s K-3 of diamonds. Wade bagged up 767,000 on Tuesday night, good for 51st in the Main Event.
Here are the top 10 chip stacks remaining after Day 4:
1. Tony “Bond18” Dunst – 1,546,000
2. Duy Le – 1,460,000
3. Garrett Adelstein – 1,440,000
4. Matt Affleck – 1,395,000
5. Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond – 1,392,000
6. Matthew Jarvis – 1,373,000
7. Theo Jorgensen – 1,343,000
8. Benjamin Statz – 1,283,000
9. Bryan Pellegrino – 1,240,000
10. Matthew Brown – 1,203,000
Other pros who appear in the top 100 on the leaderboard include:
20. Adam “Roothlus” Levy – 1,054,000
22. J.P. Kelly – 1,000,000
35. Hasan Habib – 875,000
37. Jesper Hougaard – 871,000
41. Scott “BigRiskky” Clements – 828,000
51. Tristan “Cre8ive” Wade – 767,000
52. Johnny Lodden – 766,000
66. Christan “charder” Harder – 730,000
72. Simon Watt – 703,000
76. Juha Helppi – 693,000
85. Praz Bansi – 660,000
93. Scotty Nguyen – 632,000
Every player remaining is assured a payout of $24,000. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest news and notes from the 2010 WSOP Main Event.
