Nine Alive on Day 5
Welcome to the fifth and final day of Event #55: $50,000 Poker Player's Championship. The World Series of Poker Thunderdome is bright with lights and the production crew is working on getting all of the last-minute things in order for the start of this final table, which is set to be an exciting one. First of all, we've got one of the biggest names in poker, Phil Hellmuth, making it down to the final nine. The eleven-time bracelet winner will be joined by some of the best in the game including bracelet winners Owais Ahmed, Ben Lamb, Jason Lester and Scott Seiver.
Leading the way into the final table is Minh Ly, a familiar face in the poker world and a staple in some of the largest cash games in the world. He'll enter the day with 5.215 million in chips, which is over 27% of the chips in play. Here's a look at the entire final table of nine, complete in seat order with chip counts.
| Seat | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brian Rast | 2,660,000 |
| 2 | George Lind | 2,315,000 |
| 3 | Phil Hellmuth | 2,245,000 |
| 4 | Owais Ahmed | 1,425,000 |
| 5 | Scott Seiver | 725,000 |
| 6 | Minh Ly | 5,215,000 |
| 7 | Ben Lamb | 1,180,000 |
| 8 | Jason Lester | 920,000 |
| 9 | Matt Glantz | 2,535,000 |
With nine players still remaining, we aren't quite at the official final table. One more still needs to be bounced from the tournament. That said, this final table isn't going to be all No-Limit Hold'em from the get go. We'll start with seven hands left of Pot-Limit Omaha and then continue through the eight-game rotation until one play is eliminated. After that, the players will start playing straight No-Limit Hold'em -- the Cadillac of poker.
Play is scheduled to commence at 3:00 PM PT, but as always with televised poker events, that could be pushed by a little bit in order for things to get set up. After that, the players will be making their entrances and surely Jack Effel will be hopping on the mic. Stay tuned for the start of this final table live from the Rio in Las Vegas.
Over $1.7 million goes to the winner, the coveted WSOP gold bracelet and the David "Chip" Reese memorial trophy, so be sure to stay tuned to PokerNews for all the live coverage of this event!