The Main Event marches on. Yesterday’s Day 5 began with 464 hopeful players celebrating a deep run and at least $37,500 in prize money. It ended with just 160 left, led by Stephen Song (pictured) and a minimum of $70,000 for each of them.
Now, 70 grand ain’t small potatoes, but compared to the $10,000,000 that awaits the winner it’s a drop in the ocean. And who in that 160-strong field isn’t dreaming of having that vast ocean all to themselves?
Mateos enters beast mode and is slain all the same
When the best poker players in the world get together for almost two months of daily play, the question of who is the best is one that always crops up. Of course, it’s always going to be a matter of opinion to some degree, so we’re always going to give a lot of weight to the opinions of those most qualified to comment.
Take Scott Seiver, for example. With three bracelet wins this summer, he’s front and center in the race for WSOP Player of the Year. Does that make him the best player, or the best qualified to judge who the best player is? Either way, when he comes out with a statement like this, it’s hard to ignore.
He’s talking about Adrian Mateos, the Spanish pro with over $48M in lifetime earnings, who’s won over $1.3M since the start of the Series including deep runs in the $50K High Roller AND the $250K Super High Roller.
Mateos began Day 5 of the Main Event second in chips and on a tear. What happened next made everyone sit up and take note, both at the sheer ability of the man and the inescapable blows of fate that we must all suffer from time to time - no matter how skilled we are.
Seated at a feature table being streamed on PokerGO, Mateos found himself tangling in a 4-bet pot with William Berry - owner of one of the few stacks bigger than his. Mateos had 
, Berry had 
, the board was queen-high and unpaired, with only draws to flushes or straights showing. This usually only ends one way, and that’s with the kings losing to the aces - just as they did to burst the bubble on Day 4.
Only this time, to the shock and delight of the viewing audience, Mateos found the fold.
His almost immediate reward for such a bravura display of control and deduction? Pocket aces.
Min-raising to 60K from the hijack with 
, Mateos hoped someone would have a hand with which to play back at him. And that’s just what happened when Adrian Garcia raised to 325K from the big blind with . Mateos 4-bet, Garcia shoved and the two tabled their hands, with Mateos an 87% favorite.
The 
flop increased Mateos’ chances to 91%; the 
brought Garcia flush outs and dropped Mateos’ probability of taking the pot down to a still considerable 80%; but finally the 
of the river brought Garcia the runner-runner flush and left Mateos with a suddenly short stack.
Such was the overall sense of injustice, with Mateos fresh from making a world-class laydown only to be punished with a brutal bad beat for almost his entire stack, even Garcia appeared to feel sorry for him.
“I feel like I probably played my best tournament ever,” Mateos told PokerGO after his eventual exit, “But that's poker. Two hands: kings against aces and aces against ace-king, and the dream is over. The only thing is to stay focused on the next tournament and try to play my best. That's the only thing I can control, and that's my plan."
If you can play poker as beautifully as Mateos did, then take an ugly bad beat with equal grace, maybe Scott Seiver will start calling you the best around.
Chip lead still on Song
Day 5 chip leader Stephen Song is still top of the counts as players prepare for Day 6, with 12,310,000 chips. Together with Carlos Caldas in 2nd (12,110,0000, the two have a lead of over 2 million chips over Portugal’s Diogo Coelho in 3rd (9,950,000).
Joining Mateos on the sidelines after five days of play were hundreds of players, including Anson Tsang (406, $40,000), Tom Wheaton (402, $40,000), Bin Weng (390, $40,000), Phil Ivey (341, $45,000), Parker Talbot (301, $45,000), Nacho Barbero (279, $50,000), David Prociak (229, $50,000) and Jesse Lonis (201, $60,000).
Those still in with a shot at the really big money include Niklas Astedt (9th, 7,900,000), Alex Keating (13th, 6,950,000), Brian Rast (21st, 6,325,000) and Kristen Foxen (37th, 5,400,000).
Day 6 begins, as usual, at noon on Friday. Play will continue over both days of the weekend, before those still in the mix get a much-needed day’s rest on Monday.
Photo of the day
Fan favorite Ren Lin is still in the Main Event with a stack of around 5.6M, and he’s not wasting any time in line at the hot dog cart - he brings his own poached eggs.
Hand of the day
The poker gods may have thrown Adrian Mateos around like a plaything, but he wasn’t the only one. Here Nacho Barbero describes “the worst beat I ever took in my life”.
Tweet of the day
With so many players watching their Main Event dreams bite the dust, the air is tasting a little salty lately. Eric Baldwin has the answer, and we are extremely here for it.
Video of the day
2005 Main Event winner Joe Hachem is a proud dad. Son Daniel ended up cashing for $60,000.
The day in numbers
160
Players remain in the Main Event
3
Days’ play until we reach the Main Event final table
27
Bracelets held by the final 22 in the $10K Eight-Game Mix
Coming up on Day #46
What else is happening? Lots. Two tournaments are scheduled to end today, including the $1K Mystery Bounty PLO which is down to 10 players led by Germany’s Sascha Wilhelm. Bryce Yockey is sitting in 2nd as players return for the final day, and with one PLO bracelet already on his wrist this summer, is aiming for a second.
The $10K Eight-Game Mix Championship is also scheduled to play to a winner, as 22 return for a third day of mixed game action. Adam Friedman leads a stacked field which includes the likes of Gus Hansen, Maxx Coleman and Yuri Dzivielevski. There are more WSOP bracelets around these tables than players, so expect quality as they play for the $413,446 top prize.
The $3K Mid-Stakes Championship played its first Day 1 yesterday and will be returning for a second. Day 1a saw a number of big names take part and progress, including Faraz Jaka, Scott Blumstein, Kathy Libert, Ryan Laplante and Samuel Laskowitz, all of whom will be back tomorrow for Day 2. Today’s Day 1b starts at 10am, though with late registration open until a level into Day 2, we won’t have full numbers or prize info for a while.
The $1,500 Six-Max PLO event played from 1,306 right down to 89 yesterday, and will play 10 x hour-long levels today from noon. All remaining players are in the money, and there’s $269,530 up top.
The $3K HORSE event also got started and will return today for Day 2 of 3. David ‘ODB’ Baker holds the overnight lead ahead of a talented pack featuring the likes of Phil Ivey, Barry Greenstein, Phil Laak and Scott Seiver, the latter of whom we expect to see everywhere over the next week as he chases down that Player of the Year accolade.
Starting fresh today is also the $50,000 High Roller, which should attract any number of big names looking to end the Series on a high.
Day #45 gallery
Ongoing events
Event #86: $1,000 Mystery Bounty Pot-Limit Omaha
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sascha Wilhelm | 36,125,000 |
| 2 | Bryce Yockey | 33,950,000 |
| 3 | Adam Adams | 25,625,000 |
| 4 | Brandon Caputo | 16,625,000 |
| 5 | Amit Benyacov | 15,850,000 |
| 6 | James Cavanaugh | 15,700,000 |
| 7 | Oshri Lahmani | 12,250,000 |
| 8 | Daisuke Ogita | 10,675,000 |
| 9 | Robert Cowen | 2,975,000 |
| 10 | Juan Lapido | 1,575,000 |
Event #88: $10,000 Eight Game Mixed Championship (6-Handed)
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Adam Friedman | 1,098,000 |
| 2 | Tom Koral | 1,055,000 |
| 3 | Gus Hansen | 948,000 |
| 4 | Ali Eslami | 834,000 |
| 5 | Maxx Coleman | 741,000 |
| 6 | Yuri Dzivielevski | 626,000 |
| 7 | Fu 'Grasshopper' Wong | 612,000 |
| 8 | Danny Wong | 608,000 |
| Notables | ||
| 9 | Maksim Pisarenko | 539,000 |
| 10 | Calvin Anderson | 489,000 |
| 11 | Chris Brewer | 486,000 |
| 20 | Cary Katz | 159,000 |
| 22 | Connor Drinan | 129,000 |
Full chip counts at WSOP
Event #89: $3,000 Mid-Stakes Championship (Day 1a)
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jonathan Newman | 573,500 |
| 2 | Herve Gouzil | 505,000 |
| 3 | Mantas Ungulaitis | 451,500 |
| 4 | Maher Achour | 433,000 |
| 5 | Florian Dimitrie Duta | 389,000 |
| 6 | Bahar Musa | 381,500 |
| 7 | Rytis Pranarauskas | 360,000 |
| 8 | Edgaras Kausinis | 360,000 |
| Notables | ||
| 9 | Michael Moncek | 357,000 |
| 21 | Frank Funaro | 283,000 |
| 71 | Eshaan Bhalla | 179,500 |
| 84 | Adam Hendrix | 166,500 |
| 145 | Olga Iermolcheva | 121,000 |
| 149 | Kathy Liebert | 117,500 |
| 159 | Faraz Jaka | 112,000 |
| 164 | Monika Zukowicz | 108,000 |
Full chip counts at WSOP
Event #90: $1,500 6-Handed Pot-Limit Omaha
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | David Shaw | 1,028,000 |
| 2 | Billy Tarango | 983,000 |
| 3 | Zachary Reinbold | 964,000 |
| 4 | Long Tran | 962,000 |
| 5 | Thomas Paul | 937,000 |
| 6 | Alfred Karlsson | 880,000 |
| 7 | Tsugunari Toma | 816,000 |
| 8 | J Ward | 799,000 |
| Notables | ||
| 26 | Mike Leah | 410,000 |
| 67 | Jessica Teusl | 171,000 |
| 68 | Chris Hunichen | 168,000 |
| 77 | John Racener | 126,000 |
| 83 | Ludovic Geilich | 116,000 |
Full chip counts at WSOP
Event #91: $3,000 H.O.R.S.E. (8-Handed)
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | David 'ODB' Baker | 353,500 |
| 2 | Paul Campbell | 251,000 |
| 3 | Jared Hyman | 220,000 |
| 4 | Ariel Mantel | 215,500 |
| 5 | Sean Yu | 213,500 |
| 6 | Dario Alioto | 212,500 |
| 7 | Jonathan Williams | 205,500 |
| 8 | Curtis Phelps | 204,500 |
| Notables | ||
| 14 | Dzmitry Urbanovich | 189,500 |
| 17 | David Williams | 179,500 |
| 29 | Scotty Nguyen | 155,500 |
| 37 | Brian Hastings | 142,500 |
| 45 | Phil Ivey | 129,500 |
| 62 | Patrick Leonard | 101,000 |
| 83 | Scott Seiver | 78,000 |
| 108 | Todd Brunson | 54,000 |
Full chip counts at WSOP
Event #81: $10,000 WSOP Main Event World Championship
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stephen Song | 12,310,000 |
| 2 | Carlos Caldas | 12,110,000 |
| 3 | Diogo Coelho | 9,950,000 |
| 4 | Yegor Moroz | 9,470,000 |
| 5 | Manuel Machado | 8,830,000 |
| 6 | Kevin Davis | 8,675,000 |
| 7 | Charles Russell | 8,055,000 |
| 8 | Tomas Szwarcberg | 7,950,000 |
| Notables | ||
| 9 | Niklas Astedt | 7,900,000 |
| 13 | Alex Keating | 6,950,000 |
| 21 | Brian Rast | 6,325,000 |
| 31 | Ren Lin | 5,660,000 |
| 37 | Kristen Foxen | 5,400,000 |
| 89 | Tony Dunst | 3,190,000 |
Full chip counts at WSOP
Bracelet winners
- Event #1: $5,000 Champions Reunion – Asher Conniff (USA)
- Event #2: $500 Casino Employees No-Limit Hold’em – Jose Garcia (USA)
- Event #3: $500 Kickoff No-Limit Hold'em Freezeout – Daniel Willis (UK)
- Event #4: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better (8-Handed) – James Chen (USA)
- Event #5: $1,000 Mystery Millions - Malcolm Trayner (Australia)
- Event #6: $25,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship – Darius Samual (UK)
- Event #7: $1,500 Dealer's Choice – John Hennigan (USA)
- Event #8: $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha (8-Handed) - Bryce Yockey (USA)
- Event #9: $1,500 Limit Hold'em (8-Handed) - Nick Guagenti (USA)
- Event #10: $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship - Scott Seiver (USA)
- Event #11: $1,500 Badugi - David Prociak (USA)
- Event #12: $1,500 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em - Simeon Spasov (Bulgaria)
- Event #13: $10,000 Dealers Choice Championship - Robert Mizrachi (USA)
- Event #14: $1,000 Super Turbo Bounty No Limit Hold'em - Thibault Perissat (France)
- Event #15: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better - Caleb Furth (USA)
- Event #16: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em - Brent Hart (USA)
- Event #17: $800 No-Limit Hold'em Deepstack - TJ Murphy (USA)
- Event #18: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha - Dylan Weisman (USA)
- Event #19: $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship - John Racener (USA)
- Event #20: $300 Gladiators of Poker No-Limit Hold'em - Stephen Winters (USA)
- Event #21: $25,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em (6-Handed) - Brek Schutten (USA)
- Event #22: $1,500 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw (6-Handed) - Aaron Cummings (USA)
- Event #23: Event #23: $1,500 SHOOTOUT No-Limit Hold'em - Dan Sepiol (USA)
- Event #24: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship - Sean Troha (USA)
- Event #25: $3,000 Limit Hold'em 6-Handed - Daniel Vampan (USA)
- Event #26: $25,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em (8-Handed) - Nick Schulman (USA)
- Event #27: $1,500 Big O - Michael Christ (USA)
- Event #28: $1,500 Freezeout No-Limit Hold'em - Evan Benton (USA)
- Event #29: $10,000 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Championship (6-Handed) - Phil Ivey (USA)
- Event #30: $600 Mixed No-Limit Hold'em/Pot-Limit Omaha Deepstack - Alen Bakovic (Canada)
- Event #31: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed - Nicholas Seward (USA)
- Event #32: $1,500 Seven Card Stud - Richard Ashby (UK)
- Event #33: $600 Pot-Limit Omaha Deepstack (8-Handed) - Alex Manzano (Chile)
- Event #34: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em Freezeout - Antonio Galiana (Spain)
- Event #35: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. - Phillip Hui (USA)
- Event #36: $800 No-Limit Hold'em Deepstack (8-Handed) – Timur Margolin (Israel)
- Event #37: $10,000 Big O Championship – John Fauver (USA)
- Event #38: $1,500 MONSTER STACK No-Limit Hold'em - Pedro Neves (Portugal)
- Event #39: $50,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em (8-Handed) - Sergio Aido (Spain)
- Event #40: $1,500 Razz – Scott Seiver (USA)
- Event #41: $1,500 Mixed No-Limit Hold'em/Pot Limit Omaha Double Board Bomb Pot - Xixiang Luo (China)
- Event #42: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship - James Obst (Australia)
- Event #43: $1,500 Mixed: PLO Hi-Lo 8; Omaha Hi-Lo 8; Big O - Magnus Edengren (Sweden)
- Event #44: $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em - Jared Kingery (USA)
- Event #45: $10,000 HORSE Championship - Maksim Pisarenko (Russia)
- Event #46: $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold'em Championship - Khang Pham (USA)
- Event #47: $100,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em - Chris Hunichen (USA)
- Event #48: $1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha (8-Handed) - Chris Vitch (USA)
- Event #49: $3,000 Freezeout No-Limit Hold'em - Erlend Melsom (Norway)
- Event #50: $10,000 Razz Championship - George Alexander (USA)
- Event #51: $1,500 Super Turbo Bounty No-Limit Hold'em Freezeout - Peter Park (USA)
- Event #52: $5,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em – Mostafa Haidary (Australia)
- Event #53: $3,000 Nine Game Mixed - Yuri Dzivielevski (Brazil)
- Event #54: $1,500 Millionaire Maker No-Limit Hold'em - Franco Spitale (Argentina)
- Event #55: $250,000 Super High Roller – Santhosh Suvarna (India)
- Event #56: $2,500 Mixed Triple Draw Lowball (2-7, A-5, Badugi) – Patrick Moulder (USA)
- Event #57: $10,000 Super Turbo Bounty No-Limit Hold’em – Frank Funaro (USA)
- Event #58: $50,000 Poker Players Championship - Daniel Negreanu (Canada)
- Event #59: $1,000 Super Seniors No-Limit Hold'em - Sean Jazayeri (USA)
- Event #60: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em - Paolo Boi (Italy)
- Event #61: $2,500 Mixed: Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better; Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better - Dario Sammartino (Italy)
- Event #62: $600 PokerNews Deepstack Championship - Hector Berry (UK)
- Event #63: $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw - David Funkhouser (USA)
- Event #64: $600 No-Limit Hold'em Deepstack - Chris Moen (USA)
- Event #65: $5,000 Seniors High Roller No-Limit Hold'em - Mark Checkwicz (USA)
- Event #66: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship - Elie Nakache (France)
- Event #67: $500 Salute to Warriors - No-Limit Hold'em - Ben Collins (UK)
- Event #68: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em - Colin Robinson (USA)
- Event #69: $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better - Nikolay Fal (Russia)
- Event #70: $400 Colossus - Martin Alcaide (Bulgaria)
- Event #71: $1,000 Ladies No-Limit Hold'em Championship - Shiina Okamoto (Japan)
- Event #72: $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship - Scott Seiver (USA)
- Event #73: $25,000 Hit Roller Pot-Limit Omaha - David Eldridge (USA)
- Event #74: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship - Arash Ghaneian (USA)
- Event #75: $1,000 TAG TEAM No-Limit Hold'em - Jimmy Setna & Jason James (Canada)
- Event #76: $10,000 Mystery Bounty No-Limit Hold'em (8-Handed) - Matthew Lambrecht (USA)
- Event #77: $2,500 Mixed Big Bet (6-Handed) - Wing Liu (Hong Kong/UK)
- Event #78: $1,000 Mini Main Event - Georgios Skarparis (Cyprus)
- Event #79: $50,000 High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha - Daniel Perkusic (Germany)
- Event #80: $800 Independence Day Celebration - No-Limit Hold'em - Francis Anderson (USA)
- Event #82: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em - Aditya Agarwal (India)
- Event #83: $1,500 Eight Game Mix (6-Handed) - Garth Yettick (USA)
- Event #84: $600 Ultra Stack No-Limit Hold'em - Carsten Heidemann (Germany)
- Event #85: $1,000 FLIP & GO No-Limit Hold'em Presented by GGPoker - Chance Kornuth (USA)
- Event #87: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em (8-Handed) - Matthew Alsante (USA)
