Photo Recap: Day 4 of WPT Festa al Lago

By BJ Nemeth

The action got intense on Day 4 as 41 players returned to play deeper into the money and put themselves in position to make Wednesday’s televised WPT final table.

Annette Obrestad started with an above-average chip stack, but got crippled down to about 100,000 or so before storming back to take the chip lead. And once she had it, she used it, putting a lot of pressure on her opponents.

The more surprising story of the day was Allen Kessler, the omnipresent tournament grinder known for below-average chip counts and min-cashing. But he surprised everyone by finishing the day third in chips, and those who know how tight Kessler is know that stack should last him a very long time.

At the end of the day, there were 13 players left. Here are the official chip counts and seating positions:

TABLE 1
Seat 1. 
Seat 2. Randal Flowers – 691,000 (34 bb)
Seat 3. Annette Obrestad – 2,009,000 (100 bb)
Seat 4. Skip Wilson – 531,000 (26 bb)
Seat 5.
Seat 6. John Krpan – 397,000 (19 bb)
Seat 7. Allen Kessler – 1,275,000 (63 bb)
Seat 8. Brandon Steven – 977,000 (48 bb)
Seat 9. Bobby Suer – 1,129,000 (56 bb)

TABLE 2
Seat 1.
Seat 2. Michael Benvenuti – 530,000 (26 bb)
Seat 3. John Monnette – 1,271,000 (63 bb)
Seat 4. Noah Schwartz – 1,137,000 (56 bb)
Seat 5. Jason Koon – 396,000 (19 bb)
Seat 6.
Seat 7. Andy Frankenberger – 1,820,000 (91 bb)
Seat 8. Jeff Madsen – 1,267,000 (63 bb)
Seat 9.

And now, a photographic look back at Day 4 of the WPT Festa al Lago at Bellagio:

Lauren Kling (left) and Annette Obrestad were the final two women in the event, after Nancy Todd Tyner busted in 29th place. Women have definitely been outperforming their relative numbers in this tournament.

Barry Greenstein was one of the first eliminations of the day, busting out in 30th place at the hands of Lauren Kling. As is his custom, he wrote the details of his final hand into an autographed copy of his book that he gives to the player who eliminates him. In this case, it was a standard preflop race between Greenstein’s A-K and Kling’s pocket jacks.

A look at the Fontana Lounge with 30 players remaining at the final four tables. The Fontana Lounge is one of the most fan-friendly places to watch a WPT event, once the field shrinks down to a handful of tables.

Jeff Madsen started the day second in chips, but it didn’t take him long to move into the top spot of the leaderboard. Madsen is still looking for his first televised WPT final table — could this be his tournament?

After a flop of [8s7h5c], Matt Affleck (center) moved all in against Noah Schwartz (left). Schwartz tanked for several minutes, but eventually folded.

From left to right, Royal Flush Girls Katrina, Sunisa, Michelle, and Jennifer participate in a streaming webchat so they can interact with the fans at home.

With the board showing [10d7h6h5d], Jeff Madsen (left) bets into Allen Kessler (right). Kessler tanked for a while before he folded, still with a roughly average chip stack.

The big hand in the middle of the day was between Steve O’Dwyer (left) and Annette Obrestad (right). Obrestad moved all in with the final board showing [Ac8h2cAs5c], and O’Dwyer tanked for a long time as a crowd gathered around the table.

Even as Steve O’Dwyer’s time in the tank passed the five-minute mark, nobody dared to call the clock on him, because it was obviously a big decision. Eventually, O’Dwyer folded, and Annette Obrestad collected the pot with a smile.

Erik Cajelais (right) was all in preflop with A-10 suited against the pocket jacks of Andreas Hoivold (left). Cajelais never improved, and he was eliminated in 26th place — the highest finish for a player who late registered for this tournament on Day 2. For this tournament, it didn’t work out as a very effective strategy.

John Krpan (left) and Mark Newhouse sit side-by-side in the middle of Day 3. While Krpan survived the day with a short stack, Newhouse was one of the late casualties, busting in 15th place.

Annette Obrestad started the day with an above-average stack, but found herself knocked down to about 100,000 in chips. But the field missed the opportunity to eliminate a tough player, and she made a comeback — a big comeback. And once Obrestad has chips, she isn’t afraid to use them. In this hand, Annette Obrestad applies pressure on the river against Kaied Barkho (not pictured).

Reigning WPT Bay 101 champion McLean Karr had a highly volatile chip stack on Day 4, going through several periods where he’d win a big pot right before losing a big pot, and then winning another. Unfortunately, the swing finally went against him, and he was eliminated in 17th place.

John Monnette (seat 1) plays a pot against Brandon Steven (seat 2) on Day 4. Both players survived the day, with an average stack for Steven and an above-average stack for Monnette.

Annette Obrestad was the only player to cross the two-million chip mark, and she did it during the second-to-last level of the day. Here’s a look at Annette’s 2-million chip stack during the final break.

It’s an unfamiliar point of view for Allen Kessler — chipleader at his table. When this photo was taken, he had nearly 1.3 million in chips, which is roughly where he finished the day, good for fourth place.

Annette Obrestad had nothing but good news to report to her boyfriend, Scott Montgomery. Her chipleading stack puts her in excellent position to make her first WPT final table.

Here’s a look at Table 2 in the final minutes of Day 4. The stack in seat 2 belongs to Michael Benvenuti, and the others, in seat order, are John Monnette, Noah Schwartz, Jason Koon, Lauren Kling, Andy Frankenberger, and Jeff Madsen. Since there have been redraws for every table break (starting at the final six tables), the players will keep these seats for the start of Day 5 — with one notable exception (see below).

In the final hand of Day 4, Lauren Kling moved all in with [10c10d], but ran into John Monnette’s [QcQh]. Monnette flopped a set of queens and turned four of a kind, which left Kling drawing dead before the river. Jason Koon (center) offers his condolences and his congratulations on a deep finish for Lauren Kling, who has entered three WPT events in her young career, and cashed in two of them.

Day 5 begins tomorrow (Tuesday) at 12:00 noon PT, when the final 13 players will move to Bellagio’s poker room to play down to Wednesday’s televised WPT final table. Return to WorldPokerTour.com for complete live coverage of all the action, including hand-for-hand coverage starting at the final 10 players, video interviews with Kimberly Lansing, and an as-yet-unnamed video recap show with Jessica Welman and BJ Nemeth.