We’re at the point in the 2011 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event where everyone left in the field can smell the finish line. The coveted championship bracelet is now a realistic possibility, even for those at the bottom of the leader board. With just 57 of the original 6,865 players still holding on to chips, the tension will be ratcheted up a notch as Day 7 begins on Monday.
Leading the way is professional poker player Ryan Lenaghan, with a stack of 12,865,000 chips, almost 3,000,000 more than his nearest competitor. The Mobile, Alabama native now living in New Orleans made his biggest move late in the day. He opened the betting pre-flop with a raise to 110,000 and was then re-raised to 355,000 by Bryan Follain. Undeterred, Lenaghan took it up to 865,000 only to see Follain five-bet all the way up to 1,200,000. Lenaghan quickly moved all-in, covering his opponent, who, after some thought decided to put all his chips at risk. Interestingly, the hands weren’t all that strong considering the action: Lenaghan had J-J, while Follain held A-Q. None of the five community cards helped Follain and with the 4,200,000 chip pot, Lenaghan soared into the lead.
Despite his chip advantage, Lenaghan will start at a tough table today. Joining him is John Esposito, who has now cashed in seven Main Events, David Bach, who was the chip leader going into Day 6, top online (and now live) poker pro David “Doc” Sands, and one of the other top stacks, Hilton Laborda, who has 7,160,000 chips.
Currently sitting in second place is this summer’s star, Ben Lamb, who has been at or near the top of the field for most of the Main Event. With his deep run in this tournament, Lamb will take over the lead in the 2011 WSOP Player of the Year (POY) standings from Phil Hellmuth. Not counting the Main Event, he has four cashes at this year’s WSOP, including a bracelet, a runner-up finish and a third final table. His worst finish of the four cashes is 12th. Hellmuth will still have a chance to re-take the lead at the WSOP Europe later this year.
Other notables remaining the in the competition include Bryan Devonshire (10th), J.P. Kelly (21st), Lars Bonding (26th), Sam Barnhart (27th), Tony Hachem (36th), Erick Lindgren (38th), Steve Brecher (45th), and Sebastian Ruthenberg (57th).
Everyone remaining is guaranteed at least $130,997. Here is what the remaining payout structure looks like:
1. $8,711,956
2. $5,430,928
3. $4,019,635
4. $3,011,665
5. $2,268,909
6. $1,720,396
7. $1,313,851
8. $1,009,910
9. $782,115
10 – 12. $607,882
13 – 15. $478,174
16 – 18. $378,796
19 – 27. $302,005
28 – 36. $242,636
37 – 45. $196,174
46 – 54. $160,036
55 – 63. $130,997
And the current top ten chip counts:
1. Ryan Lenaghan – 12,865,000
2. Ben Lamb – 9,980,000
3. Matt Giannetti – 7,940,000
4. Andrey Pateychuk – 7,255,000
5. Phil Collins – 7,240,000
6. Hilton Laborda – 7,160,000
7. Nelson Robinson – 6,420,000
8. Tri Huynh – 6,295,000
9. Aleksandr Mozhnyakov – 6,070,000
10. Bryan Devonshire – 5,970,000
Play will resume at noon Pacific time on Monday. The original schedule indicated that Day 7 would end when just 27 players are remaining, but a tournament update released by WSOP officials has stated that, like in previous days, there will be four blind levels played, at which point the tournament will be paused until Tuesday.
