ESPN

Updated: July 12, 2009, 7:45 PM ET

Big names still remain

Comment Email Print Share

By Gary Wise
ESPN.com
Archive

Players To Watch For Day 5

Heather Ankeny and Gary Wise preview the players to watch at Day 5 of the World Series of PokerTags: Poker

Learn More » Report a bug » Feedback »

Players To Watch For Day 5

Editor's note: This story was posted before the start of Day 5. For complete updates on the field that remains, head to the blog.

It hardly feels like we're past the halfway point in the main event of the 2009 World Series of Poker. The pre-November Nine segment of the tournament started back on July 3 and ends Wednesday, but with four official "days" passed and four still to come heading into Day 5, that's where we're at. Of course, the numbers tell a different story.

What was once a field of 6,494 was reduced to just 407 by the end of play Saturday. If you're not too good with numbers, that means that 6,087 players have made the walk of shame out of the Amazon Room at the Rio. That leaves just 6.27 percent of the field alive. Just one in 16 original participants.

[+] Enlarge

Bryan Bedder/Getty ImagesPhil Ivey is currently 15th heading into Day 5.

While many luminaries have passed from this mortal poker coil, each of the remaining players is noteworthy in their own way, though some more than others. Whether it's because of celebrity or past success, these few stand out among the throngs in the standings. Today, we're taking a look at the folks we'll be paying a little more attention to as long as they're alive. Take a look at some of the names you know, love and/or hate who still have a shot at the November Nine:

Phil Ivey ($1.27 million): Ivey with a stack is serious stuff. Ivey with a stack when he's motivated is bad news for the rest of the field. No player in poker has more star quality than Phil, but the only problem is that he has no use for it. Ivey is notorious for avoiding interviews and the spotlight, so much so that he begged his way out of feature-table duty on Day 1. On Day 4, he accepted the burden that everyone else wants, so we'll at least be seeing part of the journey that decides his November Nine fate on the broadcasts.

Bertrand "Elky" Grospellier ($1.25 million): Coming into the WSOP, Elky was being called the hottest tournament player in the world, which made the fact he hasn't scored a final table all the more disappointing. Now, the French former "Starcraft" king is finally putting together a run worthy of his record. "I have to get it done here," Elky said. "It would make up for the rest of my Series."

Kevin O'Donnell ($912,000): O'Donnell decided not to talk about how he got into this tournament until it's all said and done. Quoted here after being shut out of Day 1D, the Arizona businessman with friends in high places was one of the few players who found their way into the tournament that afternoon. Now that the two-time WPT final-table finisher is in the money, there are 750-some players who are asking how he got here in the first place.

Dan Harrington ($659,000): While Harrington has cut back on his year-round tournament play, he still makes an effort to get it done in the tournament that made him famous … twice. He won the main event in 1995, and then made the final table in 2003 and 2004, the formative years of the poker boom.

Lou Diamond Phillips ($607,000): The last celebrity standing, Phillips isn't your garden-variety Hollywood home game hero. A regular player for years in the casinos of Los Angeles, the actor has chops and is excited to finally be showing it here. "I think I've proven I can play," Phillips said. "I've been friends with a lot of the pros before. I've played with them, taken a hand or two over the years. To be able to hang in there for four days, make the money and still have a solid stack … not to be cocky, but it shows I have a respectable game. I'm making them think twice."

[+] Enlarge

Joe Giron/IMPDILou Diamond Phillips isn't just another celebrity in the main event and has proved it with impressive play.

Antonio Esfandiari ($496,000): One of the poker world's most recognizable personalities, Esfandiari hasn't notched a major win in the five years since he won his lone bracelet at the 2004 WSOP. For all of the charm and charisma he possesses, nothing speaks louder in poker than victories. A November Nine appearance would put to bed all questions of whether he's deserving of those seemingly automatic invites he gets to major invitational events the world over.

Joe Hachem ($490,000): Our second returning world champion, the chiropractor-turned-poker-ambassador would love nothing more than to become the fifth player to win this tournament multiple times.

Kenny Tran ($415,000): Ever since Tran burst onto the televised tournament scene in 2007, he's been a dominant force. Deep runs in the 2007 main event and $50,000 HORSE, along with his win in last year's WSOP heads-up championship mark, him as one of the most dangerous players left in the field. "To win, buddy," Tran answered when asked to name his goals for the Big One. "Nothing but the win."

Dennis Phillips ($414,000): The third-place finisher in last year's main event, Phillips put a $100 bounty on my head in this year's WSOP media event. That's why I've jokingly put $100 on his for the main event, though I admit that not having to pay that off wouldn't be the worst thing for the poker world. Phillips has proven to be among the most popular figures in the Rio hallways and is justifying the love with his performance here. "I'm proving I fit in," Phillips beamed from tableside. "I think I play a pretty solid game. It's improved a lot over the last 12 months by playing against a lot of these other guys."

"My first goal was to make the money," Phillips said. "I've done that. Now, I'm going to try to make the top 100. That's my next goal. Little by little."

David Benyamine ($405,000): Along with Ivey, the last regular member of the Big Game in Bobby's Room at the Bellagio who is still standing, Benyamine finally won his first bracelet a year ago. Like Phil, David is disinclined to pander to the camera, but his stature in the game demands a place on this list.

Peter Eastgate ($397,000): The last time a defending world champion made a run into the money was Hachem in 2006, and he ended up proving to be among the premiere players in the world. While Hachem was quieting the critics, Eastgate has no such concerns. "I don't feel like I have to prove anything," Eastgate insisted. "I just want to go as far as possible."

Vitaly Lunkin ($268,000): While Lunkin's stack is short, for him to score a November Nine berth would cap an unbelievable WSOP. To reach the final table in the main event, $50,000 HORSE and $40,000 no-limit hold 'em would give the amiable Russian berths in this year's three most prestigious events. Regardless of his recent elimination from Player of the Year contention (Jeff Lisandro has won), that would be an achievement for the ages.
Bobby Baldwin ($219,000): The last of our four surviving world champions, Baldwin's may be the greatest name of them all. In addition to being the game's first under-30 (as well as under-40) world champion, the Mirage president was the builder of Bobby's Room and the subject of some of poker's greatest stories. One has to wonder how the two largest entities in live poker (Harrah's and MGM) would react if one's marquee event were to become a showcase for one of the other's shining-light executives.

[+] Enlarge

AP Photo/Laura RauchJoe Hachem started Day 5 with a below-average chip stack.

JC Tran ($163,000): Survey players regarding the top no-limit hold 'em tournament players in the world and Tran's bound to be named as often as anyone. The WPT's Season 5 Player of the Year, Tran won a WSOP bracelet for the second year running and with 27 cashes at the age of 32 is putting together one of the strongest résumés in the game. He'll need help to turn things around on Day 5.

A few other names that you'll want to keep an eye on:

• Jordan Morgan, who has eight top-25 finishes in the WSOP ($1.48 million).
• 2008 bracelet winner Blair Hinkle ($1.39 million).
• Online cash game monster Hac "trex313" Dang ($906,000).
• 2007 WSOP Player of the Year Tom Schneider ($797,000).
• 2009 bracelet winner Nick Schulman ($746,000).
• Two-time bracelet winner Chris Bjorin ($546,000).
• Poker Road owner Joe Sebok ($502,000).
• Early EPT winner Noah Boeken ($499,000).
• Former online sensation Prahlad "SpiritRock" Friedman ($484,000).
• Online tournament specialist Kevin Saul ($396,000).
• 2005 final table chip leader Andy Black ($374,000).
• CardPlayer Magazine owner Jeff Shulman ($314,000).
• Online tournament specialist Sorel Mizzi ($305,000).
• Live circuit regular Nick Binger ($162,000), who is seeking to join brother Michael (2006) as the only brothers in WSOP history to both reach the final table of the main event.

Gary Wise is covering the WSOP for ESPN.com.