Danny Le Has Held the Chip Lead After Both Days of Play Here at Event #48 ($2,500 Limit Hold'em Six-Handed)
While the game of Limit Hold'em has been surpassed by No-Limit in terms of global popularity, two days of exciting action on the felt here at Event #48 ($2,500 Limit Hold'em Six-Handed) have shown that the traditional variant is still a game for highly skilled players. The "all-in and pray" maneuver so common to No-Limit games has been abandoned in favor of a methodical, systematic approach to poker's many nuances, including betting patterns, value extraction, and hand reading ability. As if to prove that Limit Hold'em is a game for the pro's pro, four longtime grinders have reached the final two tables of this event: Marco Johnson (340,000), Maria Ho (291,000), Juha Helppi (200,000), and David "Bakes" Baker (178,000).
The tournament began with 343 runners taking their shot two days ago, and after 18 grueling levels of limit action, 12 players have emerged from the fray. Along with the decorated poker stars mentioned above, Danny Le (421,000) has stamped his name on the event, taking the chip lead by the end of both Day 1 and Day 2, while circuit grinder Paul Mattioda is hoping to make the transition from the minor leagues to The Show.
Along the way, several notable names came and went, including Phil Hellmuth, Kenna James, David Chiu, Barry Greenstein, defending champion Ronnie Bardah, the "Italian Pirate" Max Pescatori, Jon "PearlJammer" Turner (32nd), former WSOP Player of the Year Jeffrey Lisandro (30th), and inspirational story Hal Lubarsky (23rd place), who is legally blind and played alongside his assistant Arnie Williams. With the Big One for One Drop high-roller event being played concurrently to this event, many of the game's sharpest pros saw Event #48 as a chance to extract some added value from the summer, and the roster was packed full of familiar faces.
Play begins at 2 p.m. local time, so take a minute to check out the PokerNews Daily Update video, presented by the lovely Sarah Grant, and then stick right here throughout the day for continuous coverage live from the floor of the Rio!
With his stack shortened after a few unsuccessful hands to start the day, David "Bakes" Baker raised his button and watched as Juha Helppi made it three bets to play. Danny Le came along for the ride, and Baker saw an opportunity to triple up, so he moved his last bet into the middle. Both Helppi and Le called, and the flop fell .
Helppi led out for a bet and Le flatted, bringing the on the turn. The action repeated on fourth street, and when the completed the board on the river, Helppi fired a third barrel. Le folded his hand, and Baker stood to see that bad news. Helppi tabled the for top pair on the flop and a flush by the river, and Baker flashed the before making his exit from the tournament floor.
With his 10th place finish here today, Baker notched his seventh cash at the 2013 World Series of Poker, and he just missed out on his fourth final table appearance of the summer.
Paul Mattioda raised it up preflop for most of his chips, and Mike Watson called. The flop came down , and Mattioda check called for the rest of his chips.
Watson:
Mattioda:
Mattioda was looking for an ace, but it never came, as the board completed and , and Mattioda was knocked out in 9th place.
Mitch Garber addresses the audience prior to the start of day three of the One Drop High Roller Tournament.
In this, another abridged version of the PokerNews Podcast, Rich and Mark take a look at the bubble of the $111,111 One Drop High Roller and discuss Jack Effel's decision to halt play for the evening before the bubble could burst. The two then look at some of the recent bracelet winners and discuss the 2013 Ladies Event.
Maria Ho Has Here Ladies Backing Her Up Here Today
With Maria Ho attempting to win her first gold bracelet in an open event, while the Ladies Championship is being held on the same day, the last woman to achieve the feat has taken to the rail to support her friend.
Vanessa Selbst has just arrived to sweat Ho, along with fellow female pro Tiffany Michelle, and Selbst has already made her presence felt.
"You trying to bluff my girl?," she jokingly asked Juha Helppi. "We gonna have a problem here?"
Holding the chip lead with just eight players remaining, Ho is definitely in position to join Selbst as one of the few women to win an open event at the WSOP.
With the second shortest stack heading back from break, Juha Helppi made his stand with , getting four bets in before the flop against Jeff Thompson.
Thompson tabled the , and Helppi's ace-high was in the lead. The final board of kept Helppi in front, and he earned a desperately needed double to remain in contention.
Mike Watson lost a big hand to Mike Schiffman, when he could not produce a pair and Schiffman's was good on the board, and he was eliminated soon afterward.
Marco Johnson did the deed, after Watson got his last four bets in before the flop. Johnson held the , while Watson tabled the .
Flop:
Turn:
River:
Johnson flopped an open-ender, and the turn gave him the nut straight. Watson stood to make his exit, and he earned $19,430 for his 8th place finish here today.
Mike Schiffman raised it up, and Danny Le called out of the small blind. The flop came down , and Le fired out a bet. Schiffman called, and Le bet out again on the turn. This time, Schiffman raised, which was enough to put Le all in. He thought for about 20 seconds before committing the rest of his stack.
Schiffman:
Le:
Le was looking for a four and a four only, but the river was the . Le busted short of the official final table, while Schiffman is up to 440,000.
Maria Ho came into the final table as our chip leader, but nothing went her way when she came to the secondary feature table, as she lost every pot that she entered. In the final hand, Ho tried to commit all her chips preflop, but she had to leave 4,000 behind because of the betting limits. Marco Johnson and Juha Helppi called from the blind, and the flop came . It was checked to Ho, who bet her final 4,000, and the two players called. They then checked the on the turn, and the on the river.
Johnson announced "queen high", and Helppi showed for a pair. Ho let out a big sigh, and mucked her cards, though they had to be tabled: for king high. Ho exited the area in 6th place, while Helppi jumped up to 390,000.
, Jeff Thompson bet out and David "Bakes" Baker called. On the 
turn, the action repeated, as it did on the 
river.
, but Naker revealed the 
for a higher pair, and the pot was pushed his way.
on the turn. The action repeated on fourth street, and when the 
completed the board on the river, Helppi fired a third barrel. Le folded his hand, and Baker stood to see that bad news. Helppi tabled the 
for top pair on the flop and a flush by the river, and Baker flashed the 
, and Mattioda check called for the rest of his chips.
and 
, and Mattioda was knocked out in 9th place.
![[user101598]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
, getting four bets in before the flop against Jeff Thompson.
kept Helppi in front, and he earned a desperately needed double to remain in contention.
was good on the 
. Le busted short of the official final table, while Schiffman is up to 440,000.
on the river.
