WSOP Day 47 - Main Event Day 6: When I'm 64

By Pauly
Las Vegas, NV

When I get older losing my head many years from now... will anyone remember about 63 of the final 64 players? Probably not. Only one person out of the remaining players has a chance at immortality. Even if they never do anything of significance for the rest of their life, no one can take away the prestige and honor and glory that accompanies a World Series of Poker Main Event World Championship.

There are a handful of former champions that I know nothing about or had never seen play before. But you know what? They're still gods among mere poker mortals. Not only are their ominous portraits enshrined above the playing field in the Amazon Ballroom,but their names will forever be known and a part of an elite group of men who lay claim to a significant feat that not too many other people have done. It's sort of like climbing Mt. Everest or walking on the moon.

And in this day and age with the massive-sized fields, winning the Main Event a second time (let alone twice in a row) seems virtually impossible. Greg Raymer took his shot in 2005 and missed when he took a sick beat in Benny's Bullpen. Joe Hachem made a deep run in 2006 but fizzled out in 238th place out of 8,773 runners. Scotty Nguyen nearly bubbled off the final table in 2007 when he finished in 11th place. Hellmuth went pretty deep last year yet finished in 45th place.

And in 2009? Both Hachem and defending champion Peter Eastgate were trying to make it through Day 7, yet both failed in that quest. Eastgate's reign is officially over with his elimination late on Day 6. One of the final 64 will gladly take his place as the next poker superstar.

Day 6 was the bitter end for Elky. The one time chipleader could not hold onto his lead and eventually headed to the rail. Two of Elky's fellow Frenchmen, David Benyamine and Julian Brecard, also busted out on Day 6.

Meanwhile, a couple of other Frenchies continued their magnificent run. The rugged Fabrice Soulier and aloof Ludovic Lacay are the most known French pros left in the field. Fabrice is about average while Lacay had one of those lucky days. He held the top spot for a bit after he snapped off Aces with pocket Kings. Le ouch!

The DonkeyBomber had a rough day with a couple of table changes and nursed a volatile stack. He started the day on the featured table, then moved back out to the floor, and then he returned to the bright lights. Luckily, DonkeyBomber had support on the rail such as his lovely wife, AngryJulie (aka Mrs. Bomber) and Robert Goldfarb.

Joe Sebok was the most popular guy in the room and seemed like he was fighting for his tournament life. He had friends and his army of Poker Road interns constantly sweating him and checking up on his progress. Sebok advanced to Day 7 with 1M in chips despite another crazy day as the shortest of shortstack. Survival. He was in survival mode for the last few days. Sebok has been clinging on for dear life... and somehow, he advanced to Day 7. He just made it happen. He's determined and focused. And you know what? Just like Ponce de Leon's desperate pursuit for the Fountain of Youth, Sebok is trudging through the killing fields and trying to be the last man standing. He's on the cusp of immorality. He just needs to last two more days...

Main Event Stats:
Players Remaining: 64
Avg. Stack: 3,044,063
Chip Leader: Darvin Moon
Number of Entries: 6,494
Prize Pool: $61,043,600
Places Paid: 648
1st Place Prize: $8,546,435

Top 10 Chip Counts:
1 Darvin Moon (Oakland, MD) - 9,745,000
2 Billy Kopp (Erlanger, KY) - 8,245,000
3 Phil Ivey (Las Vegas, NV) - 6,345,000
4 Steven Begleiter (Chappaqua, NY) - 6,315,000
5 Ludovic Lacay (Paris, France) - 5,965,000
6 Antonio Esfandiari (Las Vegas, NV) - 5,610,000
7 Tommy Vedes (Queens, NY)- 5,430,000
8 Antoine Saout (Saimr Martin des Champs, France) - 5,195,000
9 Ben Lamb (Las Vegas, NV) - 4,975,000
10 Nick Maimone (Charlotte, NC) - 4,900,000

The Rest:
11 Luu, Hieu - 4,755,000
12 Happy Shulman - 4,745,000
13 Elias, Charlie - 4,190,000
14 Duvall, Jeff - 3,935,000
15 Cada, Joseph - 3,880,000
16 Nargentino, Luis - 3,825,000
17 Schaffel, Kevin - 3,685,000
18 Leo Margets - 3,650,000
19 York, Adam - 3,515,000
20 Mattes, Marco - 3,470,000
21 Sanders, Steve - 3,360,000
22 Haabak, Jesse - 3,345,000
23 Bilzerian, Adam - 3,305,000
24 Katchalov, Eugene - 3,300,000
25 Puumalainen, Miika - 3,200,000
26 Lichtenberger, Andrew - 3,190,000
27 Cook, Scott - 3,095,000
28 Martin, John - 3,080,000
29 Fabrice Soulier - 3,025,000
30 Saca, George - 3,020,000
31 Fair, Ryan - 2,940,000
32 McLaughlin, Marc Etienne - 2,895,000
33 Robbins, Jamie - 2,895,000
34 Tom 'DonkeyBomber' Schneider - 2,895,000
35 Brice, Jason - 2,825,000
36 Bach, Christopher - 2,765,000
37 Tamayo, Jonathan - 2,680,000
38 Caragiorgas, George - 2,670,000
39 Ward, Joseph - 2,575,000
40 Buchman, Eric - 2,495,000
41 Tran, Thai - 2,495,000
42 Craig, Bradley - 2,445,000
43 Dennis Phillips - 2,305,000
44 Blair Rodman - 2,130,000
45 Balmigere, Francois - 2,025,000
46 Tavelli, Ian - 1,985,000
47 Calderaro, James - 1,810,000
48 James Akenhead - 1,655,000
49 Ader, Mark - 1,610,000
50 Jensen, Benjamin - 1,553,000
51 Zackey, Waren - 1,400,000
52 Sitron, Scott - 1,330,000
53 Vezina, Gabriel Gatineau - 1,250,000
54 Ramage, Grayson - 1,215,000
55 Pham, Hung - 1,006,000
56 Joe Sebok - 1,000,000
57 Martin, Lapostolle - 940,000
58 Bohlman, Scott - 865,000
59 Corrado, Montagna - 860,000
60 Friedman, Prahlad - 840,000
61 Smith, Jordan - 830,000
62 Jansen, Michael - 820,000
63 Labandeira, Manuel - 765,000
64 Boyd, Craig - 650,000

Day 7 starts on Tuesday at noon. It will not end until 27 players remain. Can Phil Ivey continue his run? Will the final three tables have a few more named pros? Can Joe Sebok and DonkeyBomber live to fight another day? Which Frenchie will make the November Nine?

Stay tuned to find out...

Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker at www.taopoker.com. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.