Friday, 29th March 2024 05:07
Home / Uncategorized / WSOP Main Event Day 5: Lamprea leads as losers leave
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It’s one of the ironies of the World Series of Poker. Just as things get tense and interesting fewer people are here to experience it. Sure, there remain the long lines of spectators railing tables, but in terms of players the experience of busting is a good enough excuse to turn your back on the Amazon Room, the Rio and Las Vegas, and beat a retreat, hopefully, with more money in your pocket than you arrived with.

That’s the sense left along the corridors of the Rio today. Where once we judged the size of the field on the crowds, now we’re down to individual faces, each becoming more familiar. The long stream of eliminated players marching back up towards the taxi rank or casino floor has been stemmed, becoming a slow trickle and every few minutes a lone player, happy to have cashed but disappointed to be out, makes the walk back to real life.

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Spectators in the Amazon Room

The Amazon Room itself now looks different. As tables break and players are dispersed elsewhere the table they once sat around is folded up, stacked and motored away out of sight within a few minutes, leaving large swathes of the room now empty but for the echo of chips.

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Tournament official Steve Frezer chipped up

That’s the nature of the Main Event which marks the end of the World Series. 574 players returned today, taking their seat at 12 noon. Four levels later a little more than 200 of them remained – spectators now outnumber the players.

But left among the survivors are Team PokerStars Pros and PokerStars players alike, many in positions of power as we head into day six.

Ahead of everyone is PokerStars player Evan Lamprea. Tonight he’s the leader of the World Series, bagging up, or should that be sacking up 3.9 million. He’s joined towards the top of the chip list by Michael Skender (2,800,000), Bryn Kenney (3.1 million), Jonathan Driscoll (1,887,000) and the brilliantly named Fokke Beukers (2,100,000).

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Chip leader – PokerStars player Evan Lamprea

Johnny Lodden and William Thorson are used to cashing in major events, just not at the same time. But that’s what will happen for the first time now as both plough on towards a final table – Lodden, with 1,080,000 chips, as deep as he’s ever been in the Main Event and doubling up late in the day, Thorson, with 1,650,000 chips, hoping to slay the 13th place demons of 2006.

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Doubling up late – Johnny Lodden

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William Thorson

Whatever Gualter Salles does tomorrow it will be a far sight more than he might have expected earlier today. Shortly into day five the Team PokerStars Pro was down to a single ante, but somehow managed to continually double up until he was safely past the 500k mark, bagging up a well earned 870,000 tonight. English Team Pro JP Kelly had less of a roller-coaster to contend with. He returns tomorrow with 1.4 million.

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Chipped up and still in his chair – Gualter Salles

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JP Kelly

For the rest it’s home time. Today we lost Jason Mercier, Greg DeBora, Andre Coimbra and Team PokerStars Pro new girl Vanessa Selbst to that affliction known as lack of chips. We also saw notable PokerStars players Kristoffer Thorson, Eric Buchman and Yevgeniy Timoshenko each head to the rail, although not before picking up a cheque. The full list of those now departed can be found on the winner’s page.

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Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Selbst – out on day 5

While that might be all for today there’s still time to catch up on today’s posts, all of which are below for your disposal.

Down to business
The World Series of Understatement
Poker with Doctor Love
Ups, downs, ins, and outs
Michael Skender, from court start to PokerStar
Secondary action
Last woman sitting
JP Kelly, to the big stack born

Similar stuff, with the words all a jumble, is available here in a variety of languages including German, Dutch, Swedish and Spanish.

While you’re untangling yourself form all that you might want to consider getting in touch if you or somebody you love is still in the WSOP. Shoot us an email to blog@pokerstars.eu and tell us all about it. We might use it for a story here on the PokerStars Blog.

Tomorrow then, noon sharp.

All photography from Las Vegas on PokerStars Blog is (c) Joe Giron/Joe Giron Photography.

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