WPT Legends of Poker, Day 4 Recap

By BJ Nemeth

With everyone already in the money and a slowly increasing payout structure, the key goal for Day 4 was to make the final table. There were 21 players battling for just six seats at Tuesday’s televised final table.

Here’s a look at some highlights from Day 4:

During one of the breaks, Will "The Thrill" Failla (left) chats with Dwyte Pilgrim (center) and Keith Kozar — both of whom finished in the money the day before.

James Carroll (right) faces a big bet of 500,000 from Jeff Vertes on a board of [Jh9s4c5d]. Carroll would eventually fold, asking Vertes if he was bluffing. Vertes showed [AdAs].

Christina Lindley was the last woman standing, but couldn’t hold on to her short stack long enough to reach the final table. Lindley was eliminated in 15th place when she got it all in preflop with [AcKh] against the [JdJh] of Joshua Pollock.

Shawn Buchanan was the last remaining WPT winner in the field, until he found himself all in preflop with [Ah10d] against the [QdQh] of Joshua Pollock (far left). The board came [Qc8d4d7d10h], and Pollock won with a set of queens to eliminate Buchanan in 13th place. (Buchanan can be seen walking off to the right.)

Andy Whetstone is one of the most successful ClubWPT.com qualifiers in WPT history, reaching the televised final table at the 2011 WPT Hollywood Poker Open and earning $62,041 for his fifth-place finish. Whetstone was in Los Angeles on Monday, and couldn’t resist checking out a WPT tournament in progress.

Tyler Cornell made a deep run in last year’s WPT Legends of Poker, finishing 11th to barely miss the final table. This year, Cornell had deja vu — once again, he was eliminated in 11th place. Cornell got it all in preflop with [AcQd], but ran into the [KcKd] of Joshua Pollock.

Joshua Pollock has already been mentioned several times for eliminating key players. As you’ll soon see, he put their chips to good use.

After Tyler Cornell’s elimination in 11th place, the final 10 players combined to a single table. In seat order, they are (1) David Daneshgar, (2) Joshua Pollock, (3) Owais Ahmed, (4) Will Failla, (5) Adam Aronson, (6) Matt Kay, (7) Ray Henson, (8) Ken Aldridge, (9) James Carroll, (10) Jeff Vertes.

Everyone at the table watches Matt Kay (far right) as he is all in preflop with [AcQd] and facing elimination against the [KdKh] of Joshua Pollock. (There’s that name again; Pollock is on the far left.) The board would come [Jc10c5c2s10s], teasing Kay with a flush draw, but the pocket kings held up. Matt Kay was eliminated in 10th place.

David Daneshgar (standing, left) found himself as the short stack in a three-way all-in situation with [7d7s] against the [8c8h] of Joshua Pollock (standing, center) and the [QdQs] of Owais Ahmed (standing, right).

This time, Pollock didn’t get the kill. Ahmed’s pocket queens held up on the board of [Jc10s3sKd4c] to win the entire pot and eliminate David Daneshgar in ninth place.

James Carroll (right) five-bets all in against Ray Henson (left). But Henson had the best of it, with [KcKs] to Carroll’s [JcJs]. The pocket kings would hold up, doubling Henson’s chip stack.

Will Failla (left) folds to the all-in bet from Adam Aronson on a board of [6s3s2c5h].

Ken "Teach" Aldridge (left) faces an all-in bet from James Carroll with eight players remaining. Aldridge tanked for several minutes on his decision, talking and joking along the way, though he eventually folded.

Joshua Pollock (left) looks fearless as he stares down Adam Aronson after Pollock bet half the pot on a flop of [Kc6c4c]. Aronson thought for a while before he folded, and Pollock showed [AdAh].

James Carroll (center) carefully studies Jeff Vertes (right) after a big preflop reraise. Ken Aldridge (left) considered his options for a while in the big blind, but Carroll seemed primarily concerned with Vertes. When Aldridge eventually folded, Carroll forfeited his cards as well.

James Carroll was eliminated a short while later when he moved all in for 12 big blinds with [Ah3d], but ran into the [AsJd] of Jeff Vertes.

Aces vs. kings has been a recurring theme on Days 3 and 4, and the victim this time was Ray Henson, who watched as Ken Aldridge doubled through his kings with pocket aces.

Ray Henson moved all in after a flop of [Js3s2h] with [Jh10h] (pair of jacks), but was dominated by Joshua Pollock’s [KsJc] (pair of jacks, higher kicker). Henson received a reprieve when the last two cards came [2s2d] to give them both identical full houses to chop the pot.

In Hand #190 at the final 10-handed table, shortly after 3:30 am, Ray Henson (seated, center left) moved all in with [Ad6c], but ran into the dominating [AsKc] of Jeff Vertes (seated, right). The board came [Ac7s2c8hQs], and Vertes won the final pot of the night with his king kicker.

Ray Henson was eliminated on the TV bubble, earning $64,250 for his seventh-place finish. The final six players verified their chip counts, filled out WPT bio sheets, and made their arrangements for Tuesday’s televised final table.

Will Failla is a well-known player on the tournament circuit, with a larger-than-life personality. This will be Failla’s first televised WPT final table, and he’ll be starting play as the big chipleader.

Here are the official chip counts for the televised WPT final table:

Seat 1. Joshua Pollock – 5,315,000 (53 BBs)
Seat 2. Owais Ahmed – 1,720,000 (17 BBs)
Seat 3. Will Failla – 6,770,000 (67 BBs)
Seat 4. Adam Aronson – 2,190,000 (21 BBs)
Seat 5. Ken Aldridge – 3,640,000 (36 BBs)
Seat 6. Jeff Vertes – 4,085,000 (40 BBs)

The televised WPT final table begins Tuesday at 4:00 pm PT, and live-streaming will be available over the internet (with hole cards) on a 30-minute delay.

As always, we will be providing our complete hand-for-hand coverage, with every check, bet, call, raise, and fold, along with updated chip counts after every hand. Only at WPT.com.