Photo Recap: Day 5 of WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic

By BJ Nemeth

The final 15 players battled for the right to sit at Wednesday’s televised WPT final table, and with a tough field, it wasn’t an easy task. Sorel Mizzi was hoping to improve on his seventh-place finish from our last stop on the tour (Foxwoods), but fell short in ninth place, just missing two televised WPT final tables in a row. Kia Mohajeri, who had a shot at catching WPT Player of the Year points leader Andy Frankenberger with a third-place-or-higher finish, was the unfortunate "Bubble Boy," finishing seventh.

But enough about those who fell short. It’s time to take a look at the players who went the distance, and it’s one of the most interesting final tables the WPT has had in recent years. Here are the official seating and chip counts:

Seat 1. Antonio Esfandiari – 2,105,000 (35 bb)
Seat 2. Vanessa Rousso – 5,830,000 (97 bb)
Seat 3. Ted Lawson – 635,000 (10 bb)
Seat 4. John Racener – 3,235,000 (53 bb)
Seat 5. Kirk Morrison – 2,650,000 (44 bb)
Seat 6. Andrew Robl – 3,210,000 (53 bb)

And now, a photographic look back at how those six final tablists made it down the home stretch:

Royal Flush Girl Melanie Iglesias (standing, right) checks out the players at the final two tables early on Day 5, including Kia Mohajeri (left) and Antonio Esfandiari (center).

With the board showing [8c8h4s8d7c] and nearly 900,000 already in the pot, Antonio Esfandiari moves all in against Vanessa Rousso. Rousso removes her sunglasses to talk to Esfandiari, saying, "You don’t look scared at all Antonio. I have the weirdest feeling you have aces. I don’t think you have an eight."

Charles Caris (left) and Chris DeMaci (center) wait for Vanessa Rousso (right) to decide whether to call or fold to Antonio Esfandiari’s all-in bet on the river. Rousso says, "What do you think I have? Anything?" Rousso says, "You think I can make a tough call," and repeats that phrase to herself a few times. Rousso spent a long time in the tank, but none of the other players dared to call the clock on her, because it was obviously a crucial point in the tournament for both Rousso and Esfandiari.

Antonio Esfandiari waits for Vanessa Rousso to make a decision. Rousso eventually apologizes to the rest of the table and calls the clock on herself. About 30 seconds later, Rousso calls and turns over [10c10h] for a full house, eights full of tens. Esfandiari silently mucks his cards, and Rousso wins the pot.

Vanessa Rousso pulls in the pot after making one of the toughest and more important calls of her career, saying, "Oh my god, that was the hardest thing ever." Rousso is visibly giddy and jittery as she stacks her chips, saying, "I need a break, I need a break. That’s all I can say. I need a break." The double up catapults Rousso into the chip lead, and knocks Antonio Esfandiari out of that position for the first time in three days.

Kirk Morrison (left) doubles thru Amit Makhija in a cooler — Makhija has [QcQs] to Morrison’s [KcKd], and they reraise each other back-and-forth from the blinds until Morrison six-bets all in. The board comes nine-high and misses them both completely, sending Morrison near the top of the leaderboard and knocking Makhija down. Makhija was eliminated in 13th place a short while later after running flopped top pair and a gutshot straight draw into Vanessa Rousso’s set of deuces.

Ray Dehkharghani plays a hand against John Racener with 12 players remaining.

After Luis Velador’s elimination in 11th place, the final 10 players redraw for seats at a single table. Vanessa Rousso (left) still holds the chip lead, while Kirk Morrison (right) has increased his stack to third in chips.

The final 10 players, in seat order: (1) Antonio Esfandiari, (2) Vanessa Rousso, (3) Ted Lawson, (4) Kia Mohajeri, (5) Andrew Lichtenberger, (6) John Racener, (7) Ray Dehkharghani, (8) Kirk Morrison, (9) Sorel Mizzi (not pictured), and (10) Andrew Robl.

Ted Lawson (left) turns to update his wife Michelle (right) on the status of his chip count with 10 players remaining. At that point, Lawson was ranked seventh in chips, and he knew he’d need to move up if he was going to reach the six-handed WPT TV final table.

John Racener (right) studies Andrew Lichtenberger (left) as they battle over a pot that extends into the break.

Antonio Esfandiari describes his up-and-down day to the WPT cameras during a break. Esfandiari had been at or near the chip lead since the start of the tournament, but took a beating at the start of Day 5. But Esfandiari stayed strong and managed to battle back into contention. Esfandiari also mentions that this TV final table falls on his birthday — what could be a better present than that?

Andrew Lichtenberger gets a massage as he waits for the other nine players to return from break.

The rest of the players watch as Sorel Mizzi (foreground, left) considers whether to call or fold to the all-in bet of Ray Dehkharghani after a flop of [AcJs9c]. After more than six minutes, Mizzi calls the clock on himself (as Vanessa Rousso did earlier), and eventually calls with [KsJh] for a pair of jacks. Dehkharghani turns over [As10c] for a pair of aces, and he’s poised to double up. But the [Jc] falls on the river to give Mizzi trip jacks, sending Dehkharghani home in 10th place. Though Mizzi won this pot, he would be the next player to be eliminated, finishing ninth.

Andrew Robl (right) studies John Racener (left) as they battle over a pot with eight players remaining.

With the board showing [Kh7c2hKcJs] and more than 2 million already in the pot, Vanessa Rousso (foreground, right) bets 1 million in chips — those two red stacks in front of her represent 500,000 each. John Racener (far left) says, "I know you have two jacks. It’s just so brutal. I was supposed to bet the million and you were going to call." Racener folds, trusting his read as he forfeits the pot to Rousso, who mucks her cards without offering any information.

Vanessa Rousso pulls in the big pot that she just won against John Racener. Rousso had a lot of practice stacking chips after all the pots she’s been raking. Antonio Esfandiari, sitting next to her, asks, "So Vanessa, how are you running today?"

With eight players remaining, Andrew Robl (left) bets the river against Vanessa Rousso (right) on a board of [Jc8c7s9h3h]. Rousso thinks for more than a minute before she calls, and Robl shows [10c10s] to win the pot with a jack-high straight.

Andrew Lichtenberger talks to the WPT cameras after his elimination in eighth place. After a flop of [As10d6s], Lichtenberger was all in with [AcQd] (pair of aces) to Vanessa Rousso’s [Ah6h] (two pair).

Kirk Morrison is never boring. While two other players battle over a pot, a WPT producer gives Morrison a chance to record the action for the show.

Antonio Esfandiari (left) and Vanessa Rousso (right) are both eager to make the televised WPT final table. Esfandiari won a WPT title all the way back in Season II, but hasn’t earned his way to one in nearly seven years. Meanwhile, Rousso made her first splash in the poker world with a high-profile seventh-place finish in the 2006 WPT World Championship, and she is still looking for her first televised WPT final table.

With the final board showing [10c9d7h2s4s] and about 1.2 million already in the pot, Andrew Robl (right) moves all in, and Kirk Morrison (left) tanks for a bit before he calls. Robl shows [QcQs], and Morrison points at the queens to indicate it’s the best hand. Morrison rechecks his cards, and jokingly exclaims, "Two pair" before tossing his cards into the muck. Morrison complimented Robl on the hand, saying Robl got maximum value with his bets.

Kia Mohajeri is the unfortunate "Bubble Boy," eliminated in seventh place when he runs [AhQs] into John Racener’s [AsKd] preflop. Mohajeri sincerely wishes the other six players good luck as he leaves the tournament.

Antonio Esfandiari and Vanessa Rousso fill out their WPT bio sheets while they wait for a TD to verify their chip stacks for the TV final table. Rousso will resume play with a big chip lead, hoping to become the first woman in history to win an open WPT title, while Esfandiari hopes to enter the elite club of players with multiple WPT titles.

The final table begins tomorrow (Wednesday) at 4:00 pm PT. Return to WorldPokerTour.com for complete live coverage of every check, bet, call, raise, and fold from the final table, including updated chip counts every hand. And we’ll cap off the entire tournament with a final episode of the Jess and BJ Show that will be posted Thursday morning.