Posted by Andrew Feldman
4:50 a.m. ET: Only 64 players remain in the WSOP main event, and amazingly, some familiar names are among the leaders heading into Day 7. Phil Ivey and Antonio Esfandiari, two of the most recognizable players in the industry, are sitting third and sixth in chips, respectively. They have made their way through the tremendous field of 6,494 players to reach this stage and hopefully prove that a big name can make the WSOP main event final table. Not that Ivey didn't get lucky … during the second-to-last level of the night, he hit a set of jacks to overcome his opponent's pocket queens and get him back in the tournament. Later, Ivey hit a river heart to make a flush with J-5 and defeat his opponent's top pair. Ivey was running great and ended the night at $6.3 million.
WSOP
Peter Eastgate had quite the title defense but fell short and finished in 78th place in the 2009 WSOP main event.
Esfandiari loved his table all day but made the most of his chips on a key hand on which his opponent put a million in the pot on a bluff. Esfandiari, with top pair and top kicker, called and sent his opponent to the rail, and started his ascension.
"He either had two aces or he had a bluff," Esfandiari said on The Poker Edge podcast for Tuesday. "There's no other hand he could've had. When I decided he either had aces or a bluff, I had to call because nobody ever has aces -- well, once in every 220 times or something."
Esfandiari ended at $5.6 million. Although he is one of the brighter stars in the game, he doesn't have a sponsorship deal. Expect pressure for that to change rather quickly, but if he doesn't get the contract he wants, I doubt he'll settle for a simple one-time endorsement to put on a logo during Day 7 or beyond.
Beyond Ivey and Esfandiari, all eyes should be on one player: Dennis Phillips. Phillips so far has outlasted more players in two consecutive main events than anyone else (13,271) and is the only remaining member of the 2008 November Nine after Peter Eastgate was eliminated during the last level of the night. Eastgate's elimination wasn't so pretty. After getting it all-in with A-J, flopping an ace and turning a jack, he was eliminated when Ben Kopp hit a flush on the river holding 8-8. The champ put on a great show and received a standing ovation as he exited the feature table.
I spoke with Phillips on The Poker Edge podcast, and he said he just wants to keep having fun. He never takes the smile off his face, and despite playing a full five levels on Day 6, he stayed around for all the media to question last year's third-place finisher. He has only 55 more players to beat if he wants to make the 2009 November Nine, but as he said, "It's still a long way to go."
Putting up a great fight was Joe Sebok, who started the day short of $1 million and ended the day with exactly $1 million. Down to $120 at one point, Sebok won a race with pocket fives and then had his pocket nines hold up as he continued to outlast the hyperaggressive field. Scott Bohlman had an up-and-down day and ended up with $865,000, or as he called it, "a re-shove stack". Bohlman was up to more than $2 million after his pocket jacks held against his opponent's 9-5 attempted steal, but he lost a few big pots before moving to the final table, where he couldn't get anything going against Phillips and Tom Schneider.
The "DonkeyBomber" (Schneider) had some massive swings and ended up at $2.9 million. He was moved about five times on Day 6, including twice to the feature table. Blair Rodman spent most of the day to Ivey's right and managed to chip up to more than $2 million.
Darvin Moon, a logger from Oakland, Md., is the chip leader with $9.7 million. Moon's lead over Billy Kopp, from Erlanger, Ky., is $1.5 million, and with the blinds at $25,000/$50,000, that lead is quite significant.
Here's a look at our top 10:
Darvin Moon ($9,745,000)
Billy Kopp ($8,245,000)
Phil Ivey ($6,345,000)
Steven Begleiter ($6,315,000)
Ludovic Lacay ($5,965,000)
Antonio Esfandiari ($5,610,000)
Tommy Vedes ($5,430,000)
Antoine Saout ($5,195,000)
Ben Lamb ($4,975,000)
Nick Maimone ($4,900,000)
Small blinds: Barry Greenstein showed up after his Day 1 at the Bellagio $15,000 to support Joe Sebok. … Leo Margets won the title of "Last Woman Standing" and was given a trophy by Wicked Chops to honor the occasion. … Esfandiari said his contract with the WPT finally has been settled, and as he said, "Great timing." … Phillips had about 10 lookalikes on Day 6. … Margets wasn't even planning on being in the event, but her sponsor, 888.com, put her in. That decision by 888 will most definitely pay off. … The minimum cash for Day 7 is $90,344. After one player is eliminated, the payouts will be at least $108,047. … Play will continue on Day 7 until there are 27 players remaining. … Great video with Vanessa Rousso is available on the ESPN Poker index. … Prahlad Friedman ate by himself tonight. … The logos are starting to come out, and all it takes is a walk to the feature table. One table was told it was moving, and by the time the players walked over to the feature table, some of them already had logos.
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