Danny Wong opened to 125,000 from under the gun, Shahriar Assareh called in middle position, and Jordan Batt called out of the big blind.
The flop fell , and Batt checked. Wong tossed out 190,000, Assareh mucked, and Batt check-raised to 400,000. Wong called.
The turn was the , and Wong led for 350,000. Batt called.
The completed the board, and Wong slowed down, checking to Batt who bet 400,000. Wong called, and Batt tabled for trip aces. Wong's was best however, and Batt's stack dipped below a million chips.
Percy Mahatan raised to 130,000 from middle position, then Alban Juen reraised all in for 1.125 million from a seat over. It folded back to Mahatan who after a short spell determining the amount of the raise made the call.
Juen:
Mahatan:
The flop came and Mahatan was still in front. The turn then brought the and some "ooohs" noting the flush draw possibility for Juen. But the river was the , and after shaking hands with all and wishing them good luck, Juen was out in 59th place.
We got the table in time to see the players turn their hands over after an all in and a call so we do not know the amounts of the raises. We do know that Danny Wong raised from the button and Nicco Maag three-bet from the small blind.
Wong four-bet and Maag announced a five-bet all in. Wong snap called with and was crushing Maag's .
The board fell and Wong never lifted his head from the table for the entire deal. Once the river struck, Maag tapped the table and Wong lifted his head, a gleeful expression on his face. Wong is now among the chip leaders with 7,700,000 in chips while Maag has suffered a huge hit, his stack at 4,530,000.
In the modern-day poker era (2002-present), only three players have finished in the top 50 the year after they reached the World Series of Poker Main Event final table. Those three players are Dan Harrington, Greg Raymer and Dennis Phillips.
Player
Year
Result
Dan Harrington
2003
3rd - $650,000
2004
4th - $1,500,000
Greg Raymer
2004
1st - $5,000,000
2005
25th - $304,680
Dennis Phillips
2008
3rd - $4,517,778
2009
45th - $178,857
The reason PokerNews brings this up is because last year, Sam Holden made the WSOP Main Event final table. He went on to finish in ninth place for $782,115 and is on the brink of getting into the top 50 this year in his back-to-back run.
Holden is one of the 58 players returning to play after the dinner break and has 1.995 million in chips. That's below the 3.4-million average, but a Holden's very much still in the race. One thing is for sure, he knows what it's like to get this deep and has experience on his side.
Only a few more eliminations to go and Holden will be in the top 50, so be sure to stay tuned to PokerNews for all of the updates. Earlier in the day, our very own Sarah Grant caught up with Holden to talk about his second deep run in as many years and you can check that interview out below.
John Beauprez returned from the dinner break to one of the shortest stacks in the room of 800,000, and before long he was pushing it all in the middle from late position and getting a single caller in Lasell King in the small blind.
Beauprez had and King , and after the board ran out , King's hand was best, sending Beauprez to the rail in 58th place.
Action folded around to Greg Merson on the button and he raised to 125,000, which Russell Thomas three-bet to 310,000 from the small blind. The big blind got out of the way, Merson four-bet 555,000, Thomas moved all in for 2.1 million, and Merson made the call.
Showdown
Merson
Thomas
Merson was ahead with big slick, but the hit Thomas by pairing his eight. What's more, the gave Thomas a flush draw and took away some of Merson's outs. The ended up blanking on the river, and Thomas scored the come-from-behind double.
![[user101598]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
, and Batt checked. Wong tossed out 190,000, Assareh mucked, and Batt check-raised to 400,000. Wong called.
, and Wong led for 350,000. Batt called.
completed the board, and Wong slowed down, checking to Batt who bet 400,000. Wong called, and Batt tabled 
for trip aces. Wong's 
was best however, and Batt's stack dipped below a million chips.
and Mahatan was still in front. The turn then brought the 
and some "ooohs" noting the flush draw possibility for Juen. But the river was the 
and Wong never lifted his head from the table for the entire deal. Once the river struck, Maag tapped the table and Wong lifted his head, a gleeful expression on his face. Wong is now among the chip leaders with 7,700,000 in chips while Maag has suffered a huge hit, his stack at 4,530,000.
and King 
hit Thomas by pairing his eight. What's more, the 
gave Thomas a flush draw and took away some of Merson's outs. The 
ended up blanking on the river, and Thomas scored the come-from-behind double.