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.
Not long after Juha Helppi doubled through Thompson, he got right back into the action in a pot against Maria Ho. We caught up with the action on the turn, with the board showing . Ho check called a bet from Helppi, and when the came on the river, Ho fired out. Helppi thought for just a few moments before he announced raise, and committed almost all of his chips into the middle. Ho tanked for a bit before folding, and Helppi collected the pot.
On the very next hand, Helppi raised it up, and Danny Le three bet it. The flop came , and Helppi check called a bet from Le. The turn was the , and both players checked. The hit the river, and Helppi bet out. Le called, and Helppi confidently showed for top pair on the river. It was no good though, ans Le had for a better kicker.
After absorbing a few tough beats on the river, but rebounding to recover his chip stack, Danny Le just got beat on fifth street yet again.
This time it was Jeff Thompson doing the damage, when his connected on the board. Le winced when he saw the bad news, and he was left with just a few bets left to his name.
Those bets got in soon afterward, against Maria Ho and Thompson in a threeway pot, and Le's was good enough on the board. Both Ho and Thompson held , and Le tripled through to continue his see-saw day.
Mike Watson and Danny Warchol have been battling in pots all day, and most of them have resulted in Watson securing double ups. Well that just happened again, as Watson got the last of his 55,000 in the middle holding . He was up against the of Warchol, and the hand was almost over when the flop came down . Warchol would need runner runner to win, but the on the turn ended things. The meaningless river was the , and Watson got another double up to 110,000.
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.
On the first hand of the final table to see a flop, Danny Warchol raised and then called Maria Ho's three-bet to bring the to the board.
Ho bet when it was checked to her, and Warchol raised it up. After Ho flatted, the turn came , and Ho called Warchol's bet. Unfortunately, we missed the river card with the quick betting, but Warchol revealed the for a turned two pair, and that was enough to earn the pot.