Photo Recap: Day 5 of WPT World Championship

By BJ Nemeth

Day 5 of the WPT World Championship began with 15 players, including defending champion David Williams and three players still in the hunt to pass Andy Frankenberger for WPT Player of the Year honors — Sam El Sayed, Shannon Shorr, and Steven Kelly.

Wednesday also saw the start of the first-ever $100,000 buy-in WPT Super High Roller event, which many people were closely watching to see what kind of turnout it would get in a post-Black Friday poker world.

And now, a photographic look back at Day 5 of the WPT World Championship:

The first-ever $100,000 buy-in WPT Super High Roller began at 12:00 noon on Wednesday, and each player began play with 400,000 in chips. Registration remained open for the first six levels (until about 8:00 pm), and the event beat most expectations by eventually attracting 29 players.

There were 10 players in the $100,000 buy-in WPT Super High Roller shortly after it started, including (from left to right) Vivek Rajkumar, Erik Seidel, Justin Smith, and Nikolai Evdakov.

Day 4 chipleader Galen Hall continued his hot streak at the start of Day 5, increasing his stack to mountainous proportions. David Peters (right) seems more than a little envious.

Defending WPT World Champion David Williams was all in preflop, and had to watch as Daniel Alaei (center right, in black) and Shannon Shorr (foreground, right) checked to the river on a board of [Ac9c5c4s10c]. Williams and Alaei watch as Shorr reaches for chips to make a bet.

Shorr bet, and Alaei quickly folded. Williams showed [JcJs] for a jack-high flush, but Shorr won the pot with [QcJd] for a queen-high flush. Williams was eliminated in 14th place, earning $53,095.

With the board showing [Kh7s5h7h] on the turn, Steven Kelly (center right, in black-and-grey stripes) moved all in with [10d7d] (trip sevens), and Roger Teska (foreground left) called with [AcAh] for an overpaid.

Everyone watches as the dealer puts out the fateful river card — the [As]. Teska wins the pot with a higher set to eliminate Steven Kelly in 13th place on a painfully bad beat. Kelly also had a chance at the WPT Player of the Year award, but he needed to finish third or higher.

Ashton Griffin gave a few words to the WPT camera after his elimination in 12th place, for which he earned $63,714. After a short break, Griffin returned to Bellagio’s Fontana Lounge to enter the $100,000 buy-in WPT Super High Roller.

In the last hand before the first break, Sam El Sayed (standing, left) watches as Daniel Alaei (center) check-raises all in against Justin Young (right) on a board of [9c9s3d2s]. Young would tank for a few minutes before folding.

Freddy Bonyadi (right) was all in preflop for 20 big blinds with [AcAs], and doubled up thru the [Js10s] of Shannon Shorr (left) on a board of [9h4h4c2sQs].

Close friends Justin Young (center, right) and Shannon Shorr (far right) cover their eyes as the dealer puts out the river card. Young had moved all in preflop with [AdAs] against the [AhQh] of Roger Teska (foreground, left). By the turn, Teska had a pair and a flush draw on a board of [Qd8s2hKh], and neither Young nor Shorr could bear to watch the river card.

The river was the [Jc], and Justin Young won the pot with his pocket aces to double up.

Scott Seiver was on a roll early early, building a huge stack of chips to contend for the chip lead.

WPT Commentator Mike Sexton (standing, center) checks out the action as Freddy Bonyadi (far right) calls a bet from chipleader Sam El Sayed (far left) after a flop of [8d6h4h]. El Sayed would take the pot on the turn, betting big after the [Jc] hit. After the hand, Roger Teska would call El Sayed "The Wrecking Ball."

After Daniel Alaei’s elimination in 11th place, the final 10 players combined to a single table. Two of the players were still in the hunt for the WPT Player of the Year title — Shannon Shorr and chipleader Sam El Sayed — but they needed to finish at least fifth to force a tie with WPT POY points leader Andy Frankenberger.

The final 10 players, in seat order: (1) Sam El Sayed, (2) Galen Hall, (3) Nenad Medic, (4) Justin Young, (5) Tony Gargano, (6) Shannon Shorr, (7) Roger Teska, (8) Scott Seiver, (9) David Peters, (10) Freddy Bonyadi.

In the first hand at the final table, Nenad Medic (top center) was all in preflop with [QdQh] against the [AhAs] of Roger Teska (foreground, right). The board would come [7c3h2d2c9h], and Teska would win with his pocket aces to eliminate Medic in 10th place ($63,714).

Shannon Shorr would be eliminated just five hands later, all in preflop with [QsJh] against the [AhQd] of Justin Young — Shorr’s close friend. The board came [Ad8c2s6d5c], and Shorr busted in ninth place to earn $84,952.

While most players used the break to head to the restroom or smoke out on the balcony, Galen Hall did some push-ups.

As the field for the $100,000 buy-in WPT Super High Roller continued to grow, there was a snowball effect as it attracted more and more players. Tony G. (standing, center) was one of those who stopped by to check things out, and he eventually registered close to the deadline. Also pictured in the WPT Super High Roller, from left to right: Justin Bonomo, Phil Galfond, and Nikolai Evdakov.

In Hand #26 of the final table, David Peters (right) doubled up, all in preflop with [KhQh] against the [JcJh] of Scott Seiver (center). Peters flopped a flush on a board of [5h4h2h4c9c].

In Hand #41, Freddy Bonyadi (foreground, left) doubled up, all in preflop with [KcKd] against the [QcQs] of Justin Young (top left) on a board of [8d3c3s6s3h].

In Hand #91, Sam El Sayed (left), Galen Hall (center), and Justin Young (right) play a pot with the board showing [KdQh2h5h] on the turn. A bet from Young would get El Sayed to fold, while Hall called to see the [Js] hit the river. Hall bet big on the river, and Young called with [JcJd] for a set of jacks. But Hall turned over [As10h] to win the huge pot (worth nearly 2.9 million) with an ace-high straight.

In Hand #94, after a flop of [KsJh5s], Roger Teska (left) would check-raise all in against Scott Seiver (right). Seiver would fold, transferring the temporary chip lead over to Seiver.

Sam El Sayed (standing, center) had held a big chip lead with eight players remaining, but he doubled up Justin Young, lost a huge pot worth 2.4 million to Scott Seiver, and was quickly hemorrhaging chips.

In Hand #100, El Sayed moved all in from the cutoff with [5c5s], and Galen Hall (seated, center) called from the button with [Ac10s]. The flop came [10c10d10h] — quad tens for Hall, and El Sayed stood stunned as he was already drawing dead. El Sayed, who led the field with eight players remaining, was eliminated in eighth place, earning $119,464. El Sayed was the last remaining WPT winner in the field, having won WPT Amneville in France earlier this season.

In Hand #104, David Peters moved all in with [10h10s], and was racing against the [KsQh] of Scott Seiver (left). The board came [Kd9d7d8cKh], and Seiver won the pot with trip kings to eliminate Peters on the TV bubble in seventh place ($172,559).

Here are the official seating assignments and chip counts for the final six players, along with the prizepool they’re playing for:

Seat 1. Galen Hall – 5,095,000 (84 BBs)
Seat 2. Justin Young – 1,750,000 (29 BBs)
Seat 3. Tony Gargano – 3,550,000 (59 BBs)
Seat 4. Roger Teska – 3,600,000 (60 BBs)
Seat 5. Scott Seiver – 5,075,000 (84 BBs)
Seat 6. Freddy Bonyadi – 2,470,000 (41 BBs)

1st: $1,618,344
2nd: $1,061,900
3rd: $589,355
4th: $371,665
5th: $278,749
6th: $225,654

The televised WPT Final Table begins Friday at 4:00 noon PT. While you wait for the final table, be sure to check out the live coverage of the first-ever $100,000 buy-in WPT Super High Roller event, with hand updates, frequent chip counts, and another episode of the Jess & BJ Show.