WPT Jacksonville bestbet Open, Day 4 Recap

By BJ Nemeth

During the dinner break, Tony Dunst (standing) and Daniel Buzton (seated) spent some time out in the parking lot enjoying the nice weather. This is a nice photo to begin the recap, though we’ll revisit it later to see it in the context of the Day 4 action.

Will Failla (right) started Day 4 as the chipleader with 1.36 million, and in the first level increased it to 1.7 million. And he wasn’t afraid to use his chips, as seen in this pic where he four-bet Matt Marafioti (left) before the flop.

Marafioti would eventually fold, and Failla had such a large lead at this point that he could’ve doubled up the fourth-biggest stack in the field and still had the chip lead.

David Tuthill (right) reraised preflop against Darren Elias (foreground, left), and then bet the flop and the turn on a board of [9h3d3s5s9d]. Elias check-called the flop and turn, and then moved all in on the river, covering Tuthill.

Tuthill tanked for more than five minutes before he called, and Elias showed [10c9c] to win the pot with the top full house, nines full of threes. Tuthill mucked his cards as he was eliminated in 14th place, and Elias moved into a tie for the chip lead with Will Failla.

With the board showing [As4c3s2c] on the turn, Robert LeBeau had check-raised the flop against James Calderaro (pictured), and then moved all in on the turn. Calderaro insta-called with [5h5s] for a five-high straight, and LeBeau was drawing dead to a straight on the board with [AdQd] (pair of aces). The river card was the [4c], and Calderaro won the pot to eliminate LeBeau in 12th place.

Shawn Cunix (left) check-raised all in after a flop of [10s6s6h] against Daniel Buzgon (right). Buzgon tanked for several minutes before he folded, giving Cunix the pot.

This is a different perspective on the same hand between Daniel Buzgon (foreground, left) and Shawn Cunix (foreground, right). There were three WPT cameras recording the action as Cunix put his tournament life at risk.

Will Failla (left) says, "I gotta show one bluff every tournament." This is that bluff.

Byron Kaverman min-raised to 32,000, Failla reraised from the button to 70,000, and Tony Dunst (right) cold four-bet from the small blind to 155,000. Kaverman folded, and Failla called. The flop came [Kd4c4h], Dunst bet 130,000, Failla raised to 270,000, and Dunst folded, asking if Failla was bluffing in that spot..

As Failla took the pot, he turned over [10d9h] to show his ten-high bluff.

Shortly after Tony Dunst (left) was bluffed by Will Failla, Dunst check-raised all in after a flop of [10c9c8d] against Shawn Cunix (standing, far right). Cunix insta-called with [Js10h] for top pair with an open-ended straight draw, while Dunst turned over [Kd7c] for the lower open-ended straight draw.

The turn was great for Dunst — the [6c] gave him a ten-high straight with a club flush draw. But the [Qd] on the river gave Cunix a higher queen-high straight — and the pot.

This double-up propelled Cunix above average in chips, and his momentum didn’t stop. Cunix kept accumulating chips after the dinner break to eventually take the lead.

WPT Anchor Marianela Pereyra (left) — filling in for Kimberly Lansing who is on maternity leave — stops by the tournament area and tells Will Failla (right) that if he makes the WPT Final Table, he should wear a nice button-down shirt. (Failla is not known as the sharpest dresser on the World Poker Tour.)

Marianela offers to go shopping and select a nice shirt for him to wear, and James Calderaro tells her that if she picks the shirt, he’ll pay for it. (Marianela insta-called that offer.)

Failla had one demand — he refused to wear long pants and would only wear shorts. Marianela agreed, saying that while he was sitting at the poker table, nobody would see his legs anyway.

A few minutes before the dinner break, Tony Dunst (standing, left) moved all in preflop with [2c2s], and Daniel Buzgon (right, in black) moved all in over the top with [10c10d]. Dunst figured his tournament was over, but the board came [7d5c4s3sAc], giving Dunst a runner-runner five-high straight to win the pot and double up — crippling Buzgon down to 12 big blinds in the process.

Remember this photo from earlier? Well, it takes on additional meaning now that you know Tony Dunst (center) levied a bad beat against Daniel Buzgon (left) leading into the dinner break.

But bad beats are part of poker, and there were no hard feelings between these two as they discussed the tournament and enjoyed the nice weather outside. (That’s Tony’s suit jacket hanging from the nearby tree.)

Peter Campo was eliminated in 11th place about 45 minutes after the dinner break, and the final 10 players combined to a single table. In seat order, clockwise from the dealer: (1) Matt Marafioti, (2) Amelio Amato, (3) James Calderaro, (4) Daniel Buzgon, (5) Will Failla, (6) Tony Dunst, (7) Shawn Cunix, (8) Blake Purvis, (9) Darren Elias, and (10) Byron Kaverman.

Blake Purvis (left) lost a big pot in the 16th hand at the final table — his two pair was lower than James Calderaro’s two pair. That hand left Purvis crippled down to less than two big blinds, and he got it all in with [6h5s] in Hand #17 against the [AhAs] of Darren Elias (right). The best hand held up, and Purvis was eliminated in 10th place.

With nine players remaining, Matt Marafioti (pictured) moved all in after Shawn Cunix checked on a flop of [Ac9c2d]. But Cunix insta-called with [2c2s] for a set of deuces, and Marafioti was drawing thin with [AhQd] (pair of aces). The turn was the [9h], the river was the [7c], and Marafioti was eliminated in ninth place.

Marafioti was not pleased with the way he busted, and he quietly put his head down while waiting for paperwork at the payout table.

In Hand #46, with eight players left, Will Failla moved all in with [Ac9d], and Byron Kaverman called from the big blind with [KsJs]. The flop belonged to Kaverman as it came [Kh10d7h], though the [8s] on the turn gave Failla an open-ended straight draw to go with his ace.

The river card was the [As], and Failla was stunned by his good fortune to double up, softly saying, "How did I hit that f—ing card?"

Once he clinched an eighth-place or higher finish, Will Failla (right) officially passed Joe Serock (left) in the WPT Player of the Year standings. Serock stopped by during one of the breaks to check out the tournament and chat with Failla.

But Failla hasn’t locked up anything yet. He isn’t even guaranteed the lead after this tournament — if Failla fails to reach the top four here, Daniel Buzgon could take the POY points lead with a victory.

In Hand #81, Will Failla (seated, center) four-bet all in preflop with [AsQs] against the [9d9h] of Tony Dunst (standing, right). The dealer quickly put out a flop of [Kc4c3s], and was about to put out the turn when Failla stopped him and asked him to slow down. Failla said, "I’m feeling a queen."

You can probably sense where this is going …

The turn card was — the [Qh].

Will Failla (seated, center) paired his queen and pumped his fist as he took the lead over the pocket nines of Tony Dunst (standing, right). The [Ad] on the river gave Failla the pot with two pair to double up in chips.

In Hand #88, Byron Kaverman (pictured) moved all in under the gun with [AhKd], and he was racing against the [JhJs] of James Calderaro. The board came [Qd10c6h4h4s], and Calderaro won the pot with his pocket jacks. Kaverman was the unfortunate TV Bubble Boy, finishing seventh. Kaverman gave an exit interview to the WPT cameras while the six WPT Final Tablists received their instructions in the background.

The six final tablists — James Calderaro, Daniel Buzgon, Will Failla, Tony Dunst, Shawn Cunix, and Darren Elias — fill out their WPT bio sheets, which are used by Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patten to provide additional color commentary.

It’s already a big story that Will Failla (left) has retaken the lead in the WPT Player of the Year race, but he is also trying to become the first player since Season III to win two WPT titles in the same season. (Failla won the WPT Legends of Poker back at the beginning of the season in August.)

Tony Dunst (right) will be appearing at his first WPT Final Table — as a player. Dunst is normally the lead commentator for the WPT Live Stream, but he obviously can’t be in the booth if he’s at the table. This time, the WPT’s Raw Deal Analyst will be analyzed by others that can see his hole cards — Darryll Fish and James Dempsey will be filling in for Dunst in the live commentator’s booth.

Here are the official chip counts and seating positions for the WPT Final Table:

Seat 1.  James Calderaro  –  2,110,000  (70 BBs)
Seat 2.  Daniel Buzgon  –  570,000  (19 BBs)
Seat 3.  Will Failla  –  1,535,000  (51 BBs)
Seat 4.  Tony Dunst  –  1,315,000  (43 BBs)
Seat 5.  Shawn Cunix  –  2,770,000  (92 BBs)
Seat 6.  Darren Elias  –  1,280,000  (42 BBs)

The WPT Final Table begins tomorrow (Wednesday) at 4:00 pm ET, and the WPT Live Stream will be broadcast on a 30-minute delay with hole cards and commentary by Darryll Fish and James Dempsey.

As always, we will also be providing full hand-for-hand updates here in the WPT Live Updates, with every check, bet, call, raise, and fold, along with chip counts updated after every hand.