Photo Recap: Day 4 of WPT World Championship

By BJ Nemeth

Day 4 of the WPT World Championship saw the field diminish from 52 players down to 15, bursting the money bubble (27 players) along the way. Here’s a look back at what happened on Day 4:

Yevgeniy Timoshenko (not pictured, because his seat is the empty one) started the day with about 20 big blinds, but he was a no-show at the start of play. Timoshenko didn’t arrive until an hour after play began, and he didn’t stick around long — he got it all in with [9c9d] against Tony Gargano’s [JcJh], and even though Timoshenko flopped a set, Gargano turned a higher set to eliminate the former WPT World Champion from the tournament.

Andy Frankenberger gives his thoughts to the WPT cameras after his elimination in 46th place. Frankenberger still leads the WPT Player of the Year race, but there are still several players who can catch him if they go deep enough in this event.

After some preflop action, Alan Sternberg (left) moves all in against former WPT World Champion David Chiu (far right). Chiu would eventually fold, giving Sternberg a bit pot without even seeing a flop. Unfortunately, neither player would survive the day.

Doyle Brunson (top left) smiles after catching his flush on the river to cripple Ali Tekintamgac (right), who had flopped two pair. Tekintamgac was knocked down to a single small blind (5,000), and eliminated on the next hand in 37th place.

Recent WPT Seminole Hard Rock Showdown winner Taylor Von Kriegenbergh speaks to the WPT cameras after his elimination in 39th place. Von Kriegenbergh was one of the players in the WPT Player of the Year race, and his elimination gave POY points leader Andy Frankenberger a little more breathing room.

Shannon Shorr is one of three players still in the WPT World Championship who can win the WPT Player of the Year award. Shorr will tie Andy Frankenberger with a fifth-place finish, and win it outright with a fourth-or-better finish. Shorr finished the day fifth in chips with 1,786,000.

Steven Kelly can win the WPT Player of the Year award with a third place-or-better finish. Kelly finished the day sixth in chips with 1,674,000.

Sam El Sayed, who won the WPT Amneville event in France, can tie Andy Frankenberger for the WPT Player of the Year award with a fifth-place finish, and like Shannon Shorr, can win it outright with a fourth-or-better finish. El Sayed finished the day second in chips with 2,774,000.

Scott Seiver wins a huge pot against Sam El Sayed with 24 players left to shoot up the leaderboard into second place. There was nearly 1.5 million in the pot on the turn, and both players checked the river on a board of [Kh4c3c3h3s]. Seiver showed [KsJh] to win the pot with a full house (threes full of kings).

Roger Teska (center, right) studies Kwinsee Tran (foreground, right) after Tran raised him on the turn with the board showing [Jh10s6h6d]. Teska tanked for several minutes before folding. Tran would win this pot, but was eliminated in 20th place ($37,167) a little while later. Teska finished the day third in chips with 2,194,000.

Doyle Brunson (foreground, right) waves goodbye to the table after his elimination in 24th place ($37,167). After a flop of [QhJc5h], Brunson check-raised all in with [AsJd] (pair of jacks) but ran into the [QsJh] (top two pair) of Galen Hall (center left).

Will Failla (standing, left) looks into the cameras to beg for a ten as he is all in against Justin Young (far right). It was a preflop race between Failla’s [10c10s] and Young’s [AdKc]. The board came [Jd5h5s6h3s], and Failla doubled up. Curiously, Young told Failla at the beginning of the level that he had a feeling he would double him up before the end of the night.

Abe Mosseri gives a brief interview to the WPT cameras after his elimination in 19th place ($37,167).

The WPT TV cameras cover the action as Steven Kelly (right) moves all in against Sam El Sayed before the flop. El Sayed eventually folded, and Kelly took the pot.

WPT Anchor Kimberly Lansing interviews chipleader Galen Hall, who finished Day 4 with 3,438,000. Hall was named the RISE Player of the Day.

1. Galen Hall – 3,438,000 (143 BBs)
2. Sam El Sayed – 2,774,000 (115 BBs)
3. Roger Teska – 2,194,000 (91 BBs)
4. Scott Seiver – 2,001,000 (83 BBs)
5. Shannon Shorr – 1,786,000 (74 BBs)
6. Steven Kelly – 1,674,000 (69 BBs)
7. Tony Gargano – 1,577,000 (65 BBs)
8. Ashton Griffin – 1,474,000 (61 BBs)
9. Nenad Medic – 1,282,000 (53 BBs)
10. Justin Young – 1,249,000 (52 BBs)
11. Freddy Bonyadi – 700,000 (29 BBs)
12. David Peters – 633,000 (26 BBs)
13. Daniel Alaei – 530,000 (22 BBs)
14. Will Failla – 393,000 (16 BBs)
15. David Williams – 318,000 (13 BBs)

Day 5 begins at 12:00 noon PT. Return to WorldPokerTour.com for continuing live coverage, including hand updates, frequent chip counts, video interviews with Kimberly Lansing, and another episode of the Jess & BJ Show.