WSOP Main Event Day 5 recap sees Mark Newhouse looking to achieve the magnificent feat of making back-to-back final tables, as he leads the final 79 players.
At what point do you start thinking about the possibility of winning $10 million?
What about when you have 79 players left?
Surely, that’s the time when you can afford a dream or two?
One man who can be forgiven for getting carried away is Mark Newhouse. He was the only man who made the 2013 November Nine who came away with the same amount of money he had locked up after the summer festivities and he is currently leading the 2014 pack with 79 players remaining.
“I am running very good but also had the table in a position where nobody had any chips and nobody wanted to gamble with me. I was opening every hand and running over them,” Newhouse told PokerNews.
With 7.4 million in chips Newhouse’s stack is bigger than the one he took to the 2013 final table and although there is a long way to go, he is one of the favorites to make that final nine berth.
So is he feeling any pressure now he has the chip lead?
“I have felt relaxed all through the tournament. I have been here before. It’s a very different feeling as the chip leader, rather than just squeezing through. The pressure comes from coming ninth last year, not being the chip leader.”
It’s a great time for Newhouse to spurt to life. He hasn’t cashed in a live tournament in 2014, and has only cashed in two since his ninth place finish a year ago.
291 players started the fifth day of action and there is still a whole host of top pros left in the field. Players to keep a special eye on include Dan Smith, Craig McCorkell, Martin Jacobson, Matt Waxman, Isaac Baron, Brian Hastings and the World Poker Tour (WPT) Champions Club members Vladimir Bozinovic and Yorane Kerignard.
One of the favorites has to be Dan Smith who has 5,360,000 in chips. The IveyPoker Pro is in superlative form amassing $2.6 milion in live tournament earnings in 2014, including a first in the recent Bellagio $100K for just over $2 million, and two final tables at this series where he has recorded a ninth and a sixth place finish.
Maria Ho is once again the last woman standing and will start Day six with 435,000 chips. The last time she was in this position was back in 2007. She finished in 38th place for $237,865 that year but is expecting bigger and better things during this run.
“It’s obviously good to duplicate the success that I had and to do better. The last woman standing tag is good to bring more women into the game but I have much bigger plans than that in this competition.” Ho told PokerNews before continuing, “Nobody knew what they were doing back then and I just knew a little bit more than what they knew and I didn’t know what I was doing. I was really fortunate to get that run. I feel good about where my game is at, and I feel really good right now.”
The remaining players are guaranteed $85,812 for reaching the sixth day of action.
