“For the first time sh*t feels a bit real.”
That’s what Shaun Conning said when he woke up this morning. He was about to return to compete in the fifth day of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) main event positioned 124/244.
“I have won plenty of tournaments from this spot before…let’s do this.”
His Facebook page and Twitter feeds are littered with updates, each critical hand – emotions and all – decorating his social media landscape. His friends and family are glad that the weekend has arrived so they can stop skipping work to check on his progress. The friends who have pieces of him keep checking the ‘Payouts’ section on PokerNews.
I can imagine Conning lying on his bed late last night. Too buzzed to sleep. Religious or not I bet he had a little prayer hoping that someone special was listening. I bet he closed his eyes and asked for his ‘one time.’
People dream of being free from the shackles of financial worry and we all carry the Del Boy mentality. We all want to be ‘cushty’ and ‘lovely jubbly’ because this time next year we’ll be millionaires! We often think it will come in the form of a lottery, which is exactly what people think this is when they are staring at a field of 6,352 players. But at some point it becomes serious. You develop the belief that you can do this.
“For the first time sh*t feels a bit real.”
Day Four was a crazy day of action. It was the most exciting moment of the series – the money. The time when players are finally able to take off the handbrake and roll instead of staying stagnant. Three times WSOP bracelet winner, Farzad Bonyadi, was the man wearing the crown made out of thorns. Nick Schwarmann raised to 12k in midfield and Bonyadi made the call in position. The flop was [Jd] [5s] [3s] and Schwarmann check-raised to 37k; Bonyadi called. The turn was the [Ts] and Bonyadi called a 54k Schwarmann bet. The river was the [Kh] and Schwarmann put Bonyadi all-in and he duly called. Bonyadi showed ace-jack, for a pair of jacks, and Schwarmann showed ace-queen for the rivered Broadway and Bonyadi was the most popular man in the poker room.
The team at Bodog was on hand to give Bonyadi a hug and award him with a seat at the Grand Final of the innovative Anonymous Poker Series that is going to be held in Manila, Philippines, January 2014. Bodog will also take care of his flights and accommodation.
Unusually, the elimination of the bubble boy did not create the biggest cheer of the day. Instead, that accolade was reserved for the Godfather of poker, Mr. Doyle Brunson. Texas Dolly got it in with [Kd] [Ts] against the pocket tens of his opponent whilst playing on the featured table. The board remained free of any surprises and Brunson was eliminated in 409th place. As he slowly walked out of the Amazon he was greeted by a standing ovation from players, supporters and employees alike.
So with the bubble bursting 648-players were suddenly guaranteed $19,106 and two players were making a little bit of history. IveyPoker pros Ronnie Bardah and Christian Harder both equaled Chris Bjorin’s record of four consecutive WSOP Main Event cashes. Harder crashed out in 608th place but Bardah remains in the Day Five field as he searches for his second WSOP bracelet.
The Day Five field still contains its former champion. Greg Merson bagging up 635k chips at the end of Day Four, which coincidentally is double the stack size, he finished the same day last year and we all know what he went on to do after that. Merson looking to be the first player to win back-to-back WSOP main event titles since Johnny Chan back in 1987/88.
At the time of writing Jon Lane is the chip leader with 3.35m chips and there are still some outstanding players left in the field including Vladimir Geshkenbein, Annette Obrestad, Max Steinberg, David Benefield, Yevgeniy Timoshenko and Marvin Rettenmaier.
