- Highlights of the weekend’s action from the 2014 WSOP Main Event.
The WSOP Main Event is now down to 27 players on three tables after a weekend of action that saw exultation and heartbreak.
Martin Jacobson went home on Sunday night as the only player with more than 20 million chips—a stack size that is large enough to see him through to the November Nine barring mishap.
Mishap, however, is never far away during the Main Event, and as the field dwindled to come within sight of the final nine, there were more than a few disgruntled players heading for the rail.
Heartbreak for some
Isaac Baron and Brian Hastings both made six figure scores, but still went to the rail disappointed. Maria Ho was the last female player to go out, her second time to be the last woman to bust—an unlikely consolation.
On Friday, the bubble burst after the first few hands played while around a hundred players were still queuing to get into the poker room—enhanced security precautions closed doors that had been previously open.
Hedge fund manager David Einhorn was one of the last players to go out before the money—an experience he can compare to his 2014 bust out in the $1 million buy in Big One for One Drop, where he was the first to be eliminated after just 45 minutes. It may be that the Main Event elimination hurt the most.
Exultation for others
Jacobsen is joined at the top of the leaderboard by five players who have stacks over 10 million. Ivey Poker pro Dan “KingDan” Smith is the last of these, in seventh place with 10.6 million.
In a field of 6,683, it is remarkable to see the large number of players with experience at making a deep run in the Main Event that have survived down to the last 27 players.
Mark Newhouse, who made last year’s final table to finish ninth, has a respectable stack close to seven million. Bryan “Devo” Devonshire who finished 12th in 2012, has 5.7 million, and Leif Force, 11th in the 2006 Main Event has four million chips.
Other experienced players remaining in the field include Craig McCorkell who won a bracelet in 2012 in a $3k Shootout event, and Russian Andrey Zaichenko who has come close to winning his first bracelet several times, including a fifth place finish in this year’s Event #63: $1.5k 10-Game Mix.
At the very bottom of the pack, high stakes internet cash game player Scot “URnotINdanger2” Palmer has a measly 760k chips to work with. One slot above him sits another Ivey Poker pro, Brian “Flawless_Victory” Roberts, who doubled up during the penultimate level of play to end the day with 1.3 milion chips.
The last nine to fall on Sunday all earned $230k for their fourth table finishes. The first nine to go when play resumes Monday will earn nearly $287k, but then the pay jumps quickly increase.
Play on Monday will go on until the November Nine for the 2014 WSOP Main Event has been decided—mishap and miracle river cards are guaranteed.
