World Series 2005 - Day 5

*WSOP and World Series of Poker (referred to from now on as the Main Event and/or World Series)

World Series Main Event, Report by Mad Harper and Brad Willis

Main Event Tournament Day 5 Wrap Up

I saw it in my mind's eye before I saw it through a lens at the World Series. I saw it as a vision after the 2004 Main Event. I thought--no, hoped with every ounce of my being--that a reunion of Greg Raymer and Mike Matusow would happen someday. Some fine day, I thought, there would again be a meeting, where talk of cojones and their size would not rule the day. It should happen on a big poker stage, I thought. Today, I caught the first glimpse through a lens.

There they stood in the middle of the poker room in what appeared to be a civil conversation. The poker room looked on as the men chatted genially. A person without knowledge of recent poker tournament history might have overlooked the tête-à-tête as a couple of old chums talking about the weather. For me, and hundred of other people in the room, it was a preview of a potential World Series of Poker match-up that no screenwriter could honestly pitch to a movie producer.

Anyone who remembers the 2004 World Series Main Event remembers the much ballyhooed confrontation between Matusow that ultimately resulted Matusow weeping on the rail and Raymer going on to win the tournament. This year, at least as midnight draw near at the end of Main Event Day 5, the tables are turned a bit. Matusow enters Day 6 with the chip lead. Raymer, after a monster day of chip collection, is fifth in chips. The difference in chip position right now is less relevant than that for which what we're all really hoping. We want to see these two men staring across the felt at each other when the World Series seats its final nine poker players.

Raymer began the day slightly below average in chips. At first it seemed as though his engine might have stalled. Then, as the crowd began to again grow weary of the checking and folding, Raymer lit up the room. Facing a raise and two people in the pot ahead of him, Raymer pushed in the rest of his stack, a full $1.3 million, into the midddle. One foe folded, but the lone woman in the pack, Tiffany Williamson, fell deeply into the tank before making a decision. She stood and twice acted as if she would call. The media on the rail, myself included, said aloud, "She is going to fold. If she called and lost, it would cost her more than half her stack. Just as I was getting ready to call the clock on her myself, she grabbed a million dollars in chips and called. Raymer quickly flipped over KK to Williamson's AJ. The dealer laid out the flop, turn, and river so slowly, the tension in the room dripped from the ceiling (so did a leaky air duct). At the river, Williamson was still drawing dead to an ace and the bullet did not come. By the end of the day Raymer had $3.8 million in chips, a full $3.1 million more than he had just nine hours before.

Brad Kondracki

If it weren't for friends, where would we all be, right? Well, ask Brad Kondracki's chums and they'll let you know. After finding last-minute flights, the Kondracki crew, now a mother, father, brother, and two buddies full, has assembled here to watch Kondracki climb through the pack.

Mike Leggieri and Yale Klat are both fellow law students at Penn and both taking credit for getting Brad where he is right now. "It was my computer he learned to play poker on," said Mike. "Yeah, but it was my room that had the internet access," said Yale.

As much credit as they might take, the hand that vaulted Kondracki to sixth in chips was all his own. With AQ, Kondracki got all his chips in the middle on an ace-high flop. His opponent came in, too, but only with AJ. Kondracki's hand held up and he found himself with more than $3 million with which to play. The young man who likes to use his adventurous spirit t give his mother heart attacks is now giving his family and friends nothing but smiles.

Rounding out PokerStars Final Four are Daniel Bergsdorf and Bernard Lee. Bergsdorf hit big earlier in the day when his AK held up against AQ. He has more than two million in chips. Lee, who has each of the last few days with 40% of the average chip stack, is still alive. His big hand of the day was KK vs. 44. He made a set to double up early on and stayed afloat all day long. With just $770,000, he will again enter with les than half the average. But the family man who is ecstatic to have made Day 6 of the Main Event says, "Bring it on." He has survived this long, so there's little reason he can't survive another day.

Seven other players started this day as well. A mixture of bad luck, bad timing, and a misplaced horseshoe sent them all home, but sent them home much, much richer from World Series winnings.

30th place at the Main Event --Radu Butan $274,090
35th place at the Main Event --Steve "The Miracle Kid" Marx $274,090
42nd place at the Main Event --Raymi Thorn $235,390
47th place finisher at the Main Event --Kevin Kaikko $173,880
51st place finish at the Main Event --Derek Dix $173,880
56th place at the Main Event --Larry Prugh $145,875
58th place--Jarl Lindholt $145,875

PokerStars want to wish a big congratulations to these poker players and the dozens of others who have cashed so far.

Thursday, we're moving this whole show down to Binion's Horseshoe for one last time. The final 27 players will play down to the final table of poker's biggest event: The *World Series of Poker! Action begins at 3pm Las Vegas time.

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