WSOP Event #36: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed (Live Updates)

Day 4

Nadar Kakhmazov Takes Down $580,338 And Bracelet in $5k 6-max

17:39 PST, 21st June 2017

Heads up play began with hand #90 and continued for just another 24 hands. Though Hunichen started the at a decided 2.5-1 disadvantage in chips he had soon managed to run his stack up a bit. Hit in a key hand which doubled him up and nearly even the score. But Kakhmazov still had a large chip lead going into hand #114.

The blinds were 50,000-100,000 with a 15,000 ante. Hunichen raised to 225,000 from the button with Qc-2c and Kakhmazov called.

The flop was Q-T-6 with two hearts and Kakhmazov checked. Hunichen put 225,000 into the middle and waited to see what Nadar would do. Nadar raised him to 650,000.

With a turn coming down Tc, Nadar check-raised Hunichen again coming over his 975,000 bet with an all in. Hunichen asked for a count.

“Why you want count? I have more than you,” was the response.

Hunichen counted up his own stack: 2,690,000, and went into the tank before calling. No help against Kakhmazov’s Qh-7h.

A split pot was announced by the floor, then, on a double check: “Seven kicker plays,” sending Hunichen to the rail with $358,677 and giving Kakhmazov the title.

It is Nadar’s first bracelet and his second cash of this year’s series.

"I am very happy," he said to reporters. "I have wanted to do this for three years, but every time I lose two big pots, deep in the tournament [...] but now it’s good this year."

Meanwhile in the limit-hold’em event everyone was talking about Phil Hellmuth poker-bratting in extremis at Terrence Chan. More on that in the PokerNews video below:

Down to Heads Up Play As Kenny Hallaert Busts

16:33 PST, 21st June 2017

Hand #89: Nadar Kakhmazov looks down at what might be pocket aces but turns out to be just fours. He puts in a raise to 160,000, and finds himself popped back up to 500,000 by Kenny Hallaert. Nadar just calls and the flop comes out 2-5-4.

A good flop for his hand, but unlikely to have connected hard with Kenny’s range. Still, Kenny bets out 700,000 and Nadar just flats him.

A 6 comes on the turn, Kenny checks to Nadar who puts in enough to cover Kenny’s 2,950,000 stack. Hallaert calls and turns over pocket sevens. 

The turn comes another and Nadar kills Kenny with a full house.

Hallaert takes $238,855 for third. While he did his interviews – including one on the November Nine below – Kakhmazov and Hunichen were already back to passing chips to one another. 

Fighting it out for the bracelet that for Hallaert could have been his first despite his impressive record at the series and $3.1million dollars in lifetime tourny cashes.

Blinds up, Soverel Out

15:44 PST, 21st June 2017

With the blinds up again to 40,000-80,000 and a 10,000 ante on hand #66 of the final table, Kenny Hallaert raised to 170,000 and was re-raised by Soverel with pocket 7s for ~2.5million.

Hallaert called with pocket tens and watched with glee as the board ran out: 4-9-8-3-2 giving Soverel not even the hope of a draw along the way.

Soverel took fourth for $162,257 and went to the rail to bemoan his luck as the serious business of three handed play took off.

Elsewhere in the room, PokerNews were talking tweets and cryptocurrencies with Sam Grafton:

Faraz Jaka takes $112,585 for Fifth

14:55 PST, 21st June 2017

Despite having been chip leader several times throughout the tournament, Faraz Jaka was way behind when with the blinds still at 30,000-60,000 he moved all in for 915,000 and was isolated by Kenny Hallaert whose A-K paired the flop (9-K-6) harder than Faraz’s A-9.

The turn and river were no help for Faraz and then there were four. 

Chip Counts

Christian Rudolph out in 6th Place

14:37 PST, 21st June 2017

With the blinds up to 30,000-60,000 and a 10,000 ante, Christian Rudolph looked down to find the Kc-Qc in his hand in the blinds.

Chris Hunichen raised to 130,000 on the button and Rudolph pushed his 1,375,000 stack in over the top. Hunichen called off the 23 big blind bet with Ah-Qd, putting him well ahead.

The board brought no help for Rudolph who took sixth place and $79,611 and moving Hunichen into a significant lead and leaving Faraz Jaka as the short stack with 805,000 in chips.

Elsewhere at the Series

14:08 PST, 21st June 2017

While the tournament takes a fifteen minute break, there are still all six players in and action has been relatively cautious with just a few all ins.

But while the tournament rests, the internet does not, apart from Andrew Neeme who has quit the series for a few days while he gets something so grotesque he cannot show us on camera removed from one of his eyeholes:

While elsewhere poker vlogger Jeff Gross is playing a $1k turbo, and keeping up his tour of the series.

The $10,000 6-max starts today as well, and we will be covering that as well as bringing you retrospective coverage of the $10,000 Limit Hold’em event which will be playing out today.

Play Starts on the Final Table of The $5,000 Six-handed Event

12:06 PST, 21st June 2017

From 574 entrants 568 have fallen. All that remains are the final table six: Kenny Hallaert, Christian Rudolph, Nadar Kakhmazov, Sam Soverel, Faraz Jaka and and Chris Hunichen.

They all have decent stacks and impressive track records either at the Series or out in the wider world of tournament poker, but only one of them can walk away with the first place prize of $580,338 and – far more important in every one of their minds – the WSOP bracelet.

Whoever leaves the game first in 6th is still guaranteed $79,611. A lot of money for so disappointing a finish.

The game is kicking off with blinds of 20,000-40,000 and a 5,000 ante with one hour blinds. Let’s shuffle up and deal!

Day 3

James Obst out in 7th Ending Day Three

20:05 PST, 20th June 2017

James Obst looked like he couldn’t lose for a while. He’s crushing the POY leaderboard and has already grabbed on bracelet this year to go with his final tables. It is his year, and his victory this close to the FT seemed inevitable.

Until, that is, he ran into a series of troublesome hands. For most of day two he has been hovering around and 500k and, nearing the end of the 15,000-30,000 blind level he made a move to turn it around.

Picking up A-J under the gun Obst raised to 60,000 and was three-bet to 180,000 by Hallaert in the small blind. Obst put the rest of his stack in for a total of about 565,000 and was called.

Hallaert showed sixes and the dealer flipped the coin: T-8-7-4-4.

Obst went to the rail, leaving the remaining six to bag up for tomorrow’s final table. Which will start at 14:00 PST.

Hallaert is still in which is good news for the charity he’s pledged 2% of all his final table winnings to. He is second at the final table with 2,960,000 behind Faraz Jaka who leads again with 3,150,000.

Behind them is Nadar Kakhmazov (2,925,000), Sam Soverel (2,200,000), Chris Hunichen (1,860,000) and in the rear – though not by much – Christian Rudolph (1,305,000).

With blinds starting at 20,000-40,000 with a 5,000 ante tomorrow the stacks are between 32 and 79 big blinds making for a deep, and hopefully exciting stream from the WSOP tomorrow.

Elsewhere in the Rio Daniel Negreanu is playing the $10,000 Limit Hold’em event with Phil Hellmuth.

FT Chip Counts

FT Bubble Reached

19:11 PST, 20th June 2017

In the struggle to make the final table Dan Abaouf (11th - $32,105), Robert Kuhn (10th - $42,512) and Jacob Haller (9th - 42,512) were the next to feel the sting of elimination.

But they also brought us almost to the final table bubble.

It was almost quarter past seven in the evening, and the blinds were up to 15,000-30,000 with a 5,000 ante when the unofficial final table was reached and the official final table bubble began.

The field was down to eight when Faraz Jaka picked up Ah-Jh on the button. Garrett Greer raised all in to 520,00 from under the gun and Jaka called, finding himself well ahead of Greer’s A-T.

But the flop came 9-8-7 giving Greer a few ways to double up with an open ended straight draw, which never came in – the turn was an A and the river another 9.

Greer took $57,550 for his 8th place finish. And must be kicking himself for not holding on a little longer to see those cameras roll on the FT.

Meanwhile Kristy Arnett was talking the meaning of life and podcasting on ‘shrooms while your dog looks disapprovingly on:

Down to Two Tables

17:26 PST, 20th June 2017

Mike Leah was next out on the journey down to two tables. 

With the blinds up to 8,000-16,000 with a 2,000 ante, he got it in pre-flop against Faraz Jaka with A-K. Jaka turned over tens and ran a little faster in the race giving Leah $24,799 for 17th and sending him off to bust out of the other two tournaments he was in elsewhere in the Rio.

He grasped the opportunity with both hands ,and was gone from the other tourneys in a matter of minutes.

Jonathan Jaffe followed him out for the same amount just few hands later in 16th, and he in turn was followed out by Giuseppe Pantaleo all three going out within about half an hour. Almost fast enough to form a conga line of sad faces at the cashier.

With the blinds up to 10,000-20,000 and 3,000 antes the game didn’t let up and Mohsin Virani, Louis Linard, and Tim Cramer out in that order. Tim Cramer, getting the small pay bump from $24,799 to $32,105.

Cramer’s elimination in twelfth also brought the number down to eleven and the three tables were broken up and redrawn as two.

As we work our way towards the final table bubble you can see some of Doug Polk’s thoughts on getting to yesterday’s money bubble on this vlog here:

Chris Staats First Out on Day 2

15:16 PST, 20th June 2017

Chris Staats may have started day three on a mission but it proved to be mission impossible when he overbet 100,000 into an 80,000 pot on the river with pocket Q-9.

The board read Q-Q-T-K-6 and Staats must have been anxious of the straight when James Obst shoved over the top of him. But with just 100,000 more behind Staats was priced in and called.

Obst didn’t show the straight. Instead he turned over 6-6 for a rivered full-house and Staats was sent on a new mission to collect his $24,799 from the cashier for his 18th place finish.

Day Three, Eighteen Players Back On The Felt

14:13 PST, 20th June 2017

For streaming reasons, the field may have a shorter day than usual since the schedule currently has the final table playing tomorrow.

For the players that make it, that might mean an early night and some extra time to prep psychologically to play for the bracelet on the WSOP sound stage with audience on the rails and cameras broadcasting their every move to the wider world on a half hour delay. Not to mention the pressure of competing for $580,338 for first and the right to put WSOP bracelet winner on your CV.

Still in the running are players like James Obst (585,000), Faraz Jaka (1,213,000), Garett Greer (626,000), Mike Leah (246,000), Jonathan Jaffe (442,000) and Sam Soverel (865,000) but leading the field is Kenny Hallaert with 1,767,000 in chips.

Play begins at 6,000-12,000 with a 2,000 ante, and with several shorts stacks around is likely to be fast and furious – speaking of which – elsewhere in the Rio Mike Matusow was seen speeding away from security:

Day 2

Chip Counts In Kenny Hallaert Leads Final Eighteen Into Day 3

02:23 PST, 20th June 2017

So here we are, down to the final 18. From the huge poker stars that thronged at the start, just the cream have been skimmed off for day three.

Kenny Halleart is the big stack going into day three with 1,767,000 in chips but no one has a decisive position – Second biggest is Chris Hunichen with 1,622,000 and in third is Faraz Jaka. But there are no huge jumps from one place to the next down the field to the small stack Mike Leah who is playing 246,000 (a respectable ~20 big blinds).

Players who came close included Kitty Kuo (52nd - $8,734), Dario Sammartino (49th - $8,734), Chris Moorman who hung on right to the end of the day before throwing away his chips.

They are survived by several notables like Jonathan Jaffe (442,000), James Obst (585,000) and Garetth Greer (626,000).

Jeff Gross, despite busting today has also managed to get his vlog out for day one of this event, out today which is worth a watch, especially for the touching Father’s day tribute.

See that below.

Bubble Popped, Min Cashes Begin

22:22 PST, 19th June 2017

The bubble broke around 19:00 Vegas time when with the blinds still at 1,500-3,000Jacob Haller three-bet Joseph Alban and then was called by Christian Rudolph.

Alban four-bet shoved for 73,400 with kings and was called by both of the other players who checked the jack-high flop.

Rudolph bet the ace which fell on the flop and Haller folded, leaving Rudolph to show Ac-Jx.

The river was a blank, and Joseph Alban became the $5k 6-max bubble boy in 88th place.

The after another two hours play and a dinner break the field had lost another 30 players or so. 

The min-cashes (79th-87th - $7,382) were done like lightning with Matthew Parry being the first out after the bubble.

Other’s gone but not forgotten so far are: Jonathan Little (59th - $8,031), Deitrich Fast (63rd - $8,031), and Jason Les (64th - $8,031) who has recently been battling heads up against the upcoming robot rebellion and was able to talk to CardPlayer magazine about that after he bust.

Hand-For-Hand On The Bubble

18:19 PST, 19th June 2017

There are just 88 players left in the field and so play has gone to hand-for hand.

The first few blind levels have already resulted in a substantial thinning of the field. Already, with the blinds double what they were at the start of the day (1,500-3,000 with a 500 ante) and the hundred chips raced off Daniel Negreanu has gone to the rail, to find commiseration in the kind words of Phil Kessel.

Jeff Gross, Jason Mercier, Eric Wasserman and Pablo Mariz have all busted with nothing – Pablo in particular coming painfully close to cashing...

...even Doug Polk, instead did his celebrity glad handing the day before, running into James Woods while vlogging. There was no sport star waiting for him when he was hauled out of the player pool. Still, he always looks pretty happy in his videos and he did win the One Drop. So don’t feel too bad for him.

Besides, him and James will always have the Rio corridors.

Action Back in the Rio for the $5k 6-Max

14:05 PST, 19th June 2017

The six-max event is back, playing in the Miranda room of the Rio. 191 players returned from the day one field of 574.

Yesterday was all fun, all the time but today it is serious poker. The money bubble will pop and we will get down to single digit tables.

Play kicked off at 14:00 Vegas Time, with the first hour will be played at 600-1,200 with a 200 ante leaving some of the shorter stacks in dire need of a few cosmic favors in the fall of the cards. Jim Collopy in particular is playing just 12,100 enough to fold for about four rounds before blinding out.

At the other extreme, Faraz Jaka is leading the field with 255,400 and has been seated with the second biggest stack Dejan Boskovic. That is going to be an exciting table to watch.

Daniel Negreanu’s vlog for day one is out, so you can play catch up by watching that below.

Elsewhere bracelet winners Doug Polk, Antonio Esfandiari and Chris Moorman are all in the running still along with Kenny Hallaert last year’s November Nine 6th place finisher. 

His erstwhile tablemate from day one, Kitty Kuo, is also back is back having sobered up from yesterday, and once again Daniel Negreanu is in the hunt for another bracelet.

Play will continue for 10 levels today with a 15 minute break every two levels. And will come to an end with the blinds at 5,000-10,000 with a 1,000 ante. Along the way we’re expecting the field to be cut down to around 1/10 of its size.

There is still some way to go until 87th place when the money bubble will break. So, knowing that it will only come true for some of the players: good luck to them all.

Day One Ends In the $5,000 6-Handed Event

02:05 PST, 19th June 2017

Play kicked off on the $5,000 6-Handed event at 14:00 PST on the 18th June 2017. After ten hour long levels the starting field of 574 players had been eroded down to 191 players.

That represents a rare uptick in attendance this year. Where most events have been attracting fewer players than the year before, this event got 541 runners in 2016, when Michael Gathy bested the lot of them for $560,843. So this year the prize is much bigger, a whopping $617,248 of the $2,669,100 prize pool is going to first. Payouts begin for 82nd where the min-cash is $7,382. 

Play started today nice and slowly with two levels of 50-100 blinds and starting stacks of 25,000, with players registering right up until the final moments of late reg in level 8.

By two in the morning, when day one came to an end today’s chip leader Faraz Jaka had run those 25,000 chips up to 255,400. 

He is closely followed by Dean Boskovic in second with 237,400 and Steve Warburton in third with 209,590.

The rest of the field is looking pretty tough with one railbird spotting Antonio Esfandiari (89,800) and Charlie Carrel (40,000) sharing a table. Both of them have made it to day 2.

They will be up against other big name survivors like: Kitty Kuo who is fifth in chips with 188,200, Mike Leah in eighth with 161,000 and smaller stacks: Michael Mizrachi (152,600), Olivier Busquet(142,400), Jeff Gross (88,400), James Obst (88,400), Chris Moorman (51,200) and Daniel Negreanu (37,000) who wasn’t even sure he was going to play on his vlog yesterday.

Some of the players who went to the rail today included Main Event Champions Phil Hellmuth – who lamented the quality of play on Twitter, Jonathan Duhamel and Ryan Reiss. They were joined by mere bracelet winners Frank Kassela and Brian Yoon.

Tomorrow play will begin again at 14:00 PST, when the blinds will be at level 11: 600-1,200 with a 200 ante. They will be playing another ten levels. 

The tournament is being live streamed by the WSOP and should make for a fun final table on day four. But you can follow the action til then right here on PokerTube.

00:00 PST, 17th June 2017

With Chris Moorman having just won his first bracelet in the $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em event. The $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em 6-handed event will be kicking off tomorrow. The higher buy-in will probably make for a slightly smaller field than the 959 who showed for the $3k version but that field will most likely be one of the more impressive hold’em fields.

Michael Gathy won this event last year, for $560,843 and it will be interesting to compare the trend in the prize pool this time around.

The tournament will be starting at 3 PM PST. Day one will consist of ten blind levels, starting at 50-100 and running up to 500-1000 and a 100 ante at level ten. The players all start with 25,000 in chips and blinds will be 60 minutes through to the end of the four day event.

There’s gonna be some great poker played, stay up to day by following the action here.