WPT World Championship, Day 5 Recap

By BJ Nemeth

Day 5 began with 19 players, but only 18 would finish in the money. It took about 20 minutes for the bubble to burst, and the unfortunate player was Josh Arieh (standing, center), who got it all in preflop with [AdJs] against the [KcKh] of Marvin Rettenmaier (left).

The final 18 players redrew for seats at the final two tables. The chipleader at this point was Hafiz Khan with 2.1 million, while POY contender Joe Serock was one of the short stacks with only 12 big blinds. Serock would need to outlast three more players to catch Will Failla in the WPT Player of the Year race.

Guillaume Darcourt (standing, right) smiles even as he is eliminated in 18th place by Wil Wilkinson (standing, left). With the board showing [Ac10d7h8c] on the turn, Darcourt raised all in with [9c7d] (pair and a straight draw) against Wilkinson’s [8d8s] (set of eights). Darcourt missed his straight draw and was out of the tournament.

With 17 players remaining, Joe Serock needed to outlast two more to pass Will Failla in the WPT Player of the Year race. But with only 15 big blinds in his chip stack, he couldn’t afford to wait, and he moved all in preflop with [Ac10s]. Trevor Pope (foreground, right) called from the button with [9h9s].

The board came [As5h3d4dKh], and Serock (standing, background center) pumped his fist as he won the hand to double up in chips. Serock was still in the hunt for the WPT Player of the Year title.

WPT Venice Grand Prix champion Rinat Bogdanov (center right) threw up his hands as he was eliminated in 16th place in a three-way all-in situation against Matt Juttelstad and Ron Coury.

Coury was the short stack with [6h6s], Juttelstad was the big stack with [AdAh], and Bogdanov was stuck in the middle with [10c10s]. There was a 6 on the turn to give Coury the triple up, while Juttelstad won the side pot to eliminate Bogdanov.

With Rinat Bogdanov’s elimination in 16th place, Joe Serock was guaranteed 15th or higher place, and passed Will Failla for the points lead in the WPT Player of the Year race. But it wasn’t over yet, because both Moon Kim and Matt Juttelstad could catch Serock if they went deep enough.

Barry Shulman (pictured) was eliminated in 15th place when he moved all in with [9d9h] and ran into Trevor Pope’s [10c10d].

Short stack Ron Coury (left) moves all in after a flop against big stack Trevor Pope (right). Pope would fold, giving Coury another small pot to stay alive.

After eliminating John Esposito in 12th place, Hafiz Khan (pictured) was the massive chipleader with more than 4 million.

Trevor Pope didn’t have as many chips as Hafiz Khan, but he was still among the big stacks with more than 2 million.

Ron Coury (standing, center) was eliminated in 11th place when he got it all in with [Qs8s] against the [10c10h] of Moon Kim (right) and never improved.

With Ron Coury’s elimination in 11th place, the final 10 players combined to a single table. In seat order: (1) Wil Wilkinson, (2) Michael Mizrachi, (3) Hafiz Khan, (4) Marvin Rettenmaier, (5) Steve O’Dwyer, (6) Nick Schulman, (7) Moon Kim, (8) Trevor Pope, (9) Joe Serock, and (10) Philippe Ktorza.

In the first hand at the 10-handed table, Nick Schulman (left) check-raised all in on the turn with the board showing [Ac9s7d8d]. Trevor Pope (right) tanked for more than a minute before he folded.

Hand #11: After a flop of [Qc6h4d], Michael Mizrachi (center) check-raised all in with [AdQd] (pair of queens), and Hafiz Khan (standing, right) called with [JdJs]. It was a battle of big stacks, and whoever won this pot would be the chipleader.

Mizrachi turned another queen to win the pot with trip queens, taking the chip lead from Hafiz Khan.

In Hand #23, Nick Schulman (center) and Moon Kim (right) were in a battle of the blinds and saw a flop of [Ad10s4s]. Schulman checked, Kim bet 120,000, Schulman check-raised to 260,000, and Kim moved all in. Schulman folded, and Kim showed one card — the [Ah] (top pair) — as he collected the pot.

In Hand #44, Michael Mizrachi (foreground, right) moved all in after a flop of [Jd3c3h], and Nick Schulman (center) quickly called with [KcKs]. Mizrachi was caught bluffing with [AcQc], and didn’t improve. Schulman doubled up, and stacked his chips while Mizrachi discussed the hand with Hafiz Khan (left).

In Hand #47, Joe Serock (standing, background center) could only scratch his head after being eliminated in 10th place by chipleader Marvin Rettenmaier (right). Serock moved all in for 18 big blinds with [9h9s], and Rettenmaier called with [AdKc]. Serock put on his backpack and began to walk away, fully expecting to lose the race.

The flop came [Qs7s7c], and Serock slowed, perhaps showing some optimism. But the turn card was the [Kh], putting Rettenmaier way out in front, and the [Qc] on the river was enough to eliminate Serock.

Serock leads the WPT Player of the Year race, but it isn’ t locked up yet. Moon Kim can tie Serock with a fourth-place finish, and clinch the POY title with a third-or-higher finish.

In the last hand of the night (Hand #52), Nick Schulman (standing, left) and Hafiz Khan (foreground, right) battled over a board of [Js8c5c7s4c]. Schulman check-called the flop, bet the turn, and then checked the river. Khan moved all in at that point, and Schulman tanked for a few minutes before he folded.

Khan showed [Qh9h] for queen high (a missed double-gutshot straight draw) as he collected the pot, getting away with a big bluff in the last hand of the day.

There are nine players remaining, but only the top 18 will finish in the money, guaranteed at least $40,266. First prize is worth $1,196,858.

Here are the official seating and chip counts for Day 6:

Seat 1.  Wil Wilkinson  –  705,000  (14 BBs)
Seat 2.  Michael Mizrachi  –  3,124,000  (62 BBs)
Seat 3.  Hafiz Khan  –  1,641,000  (32 BBs)
Seat 4.  Marvin Rettenmaier  –  3,757,000  (75 BBs)
Seat 5.  Steve O’Dwyer  –  1,643,000  (32 BBs)
Seat 6.  Nick Schulman  –  1,350,000  (27 BBs)
Seat 7.  Moon Kim  –  1,139,000  (22 BBs)
Seat 8.  Trevor Pope  –  800,000  (16 BBs)
Seat 9.  Philippe Ktorza  –  977,000  (19 BBs)

Day 6 begins Thursday at 12:00 noon PT, when these players will battle for the six seats at Saturday’s televised WPT Final Table. Return to WPT.com for complete hand-for-hand coverage the entire way.