2011 World Series of Poker Day 47: Lenaghan Leads, Moutinho is Last Woman Standing
The first five days of the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event were primarily about survival. That all changed on Sunday when "chip up or bust" mode kicked in. Several players contended for the chip lead throughout the day and others tried to build their stacks for a shot at contending on the final two days of this event. David Bach began the day as the chip leader but after several lead changes, Ryan Lenaghan finished with close to a 3-million-chip lead on the rest of the field. In addition, we discovered who the "last woman standing" will be in the Main Event.
Ryan Lenaghan emerged as the Day 6 chip leader after going on a huge heater. He began the day with 2.3 million and moved up to 6 million in chips after knocking out Julian Stuer. Stuer was all-in with A♣8♣ and was dominated by the A♠K♠ of Lenaghan. He moved up to 7.82 million when he took out Aaron Rupert. Rupert was all-in with pocket threes but Lenaghan, who was holding A♣9♠, caught an ace on the flop.
The pot that gave Lenaghan the chip lead was a monster against Bryan Follain. After Lenaghan opened for 110,000, Follain three-bet to 355,000. Lenaghan bumped it up to 865,000 before Follain made it 1.2 million to go. Lenaghan then moved all-in for around 8 million and Follain went into a deep tank. Finally, he made the call and shocked most everyone in attendance when he showed A♥Q♦. Lenaghan showed J♣J♦ and it was race time. The flop fell 9♦2♦6♣ to give Follain a backdoor flush draw. The turn brought the 4♦ and now Lenaghan had to dodge an ace, queen, or any diamond. The 10♣ fell on the river and Follain hit the rail as Lenaghan soared to 12.3 million in chips and the chip lead. Lenaghan moved up to 13.3 million after busting Amanda Musumeci but gave a few back before finishing the day with 12.8 million in chips.
David Bach began Day 6 as the chip leader with 4.7 million but quickly lost that lead when Phil Collins went on an early tear. In the first hour, Collins moved solidly into the chip lead after stacking Giuseppe Pastura in a 2-million-chip pot. Shortly thereafter, Joseph Cheong shoved his last 500,000 in with A♦Q♦ and ran into the Collins' A♠A♣. The aces held and Collins moved up to 8.6 million. Collins then moved up to 10 million in chips after taking out Lance Steinberg with a turned straight. Collins had literally lapped the field after the Steinberg elimination but failed to hold that lead. After losing a couple of million in chips, Ben Lamb emerged as the chip leader. Lamb climbed over 8.11 million in chips when he flopped a set of fives against the A♠J♥ of an all-in Frank Calo. Lamb chipped up over the rest of the day to finish the day with 9.98 Million, but he failed to finish the day as chip leader.
Three woman remained in the field at the start of play on Sunday. Claudia Crawford began her day with 1.88 million in chips and quickly moved up to 2.36 million. From that point, she slipped throughout the day and eventually was under 1 million chips. She put those chips at risk on a flop of 10♦4♥9♣ against Guillaume Darcourt. She held Q♥J♣ for an open-ended straight draw and Darcourt held pocket sevens. The turn 5♥ and river 5♣ missed and Crawford was eliminated. Amanda Musumeci was well below the average stack to start Day 6. When play began she had 738,000 and after slipping to about 565,000, she found a double-up against Jonathan Seelbach to move up to 1.1 million. Her stack started trending downward again and with just about 500,000 left, she put her tournament life at risk with pocket nines against the A♠Q♦ of Ryan Lenaghan. The flop missed both, but the turn Q♥ put Lenaghan in the lead. The river failed to produce a nine, and Musumeci was eliminated.
With Musumeci's elimination, Erika Moutinho was left as the last woman standing for the 2011 WSOP Main Event. She started the day with 878,000 and chipped up to around 1.4 million before a huge double-up. JP Kelly raised to 125,000 preflop and was called by Brian Yoon and Aleksandr Mozhnyakov. Matthew Salsberg shoved for 945,000 and then Moutinho re-shoved for 1.2 million, forcing the other players to fold. It was A♦K♣ for Salsberg against pocket tens for Moutinho. A ten on the flop gave Moutinho a set and a five on the turn left Salsberg drawing dead. Moutinho moved up to 2.6 million with that pot and finished the day at 2.07 million. Moutinho could become the first woman in history to make the November Nine.
The biggest comeback story of Day 6 had to be that of Erick Lindgren. He began the day with only 385,000. He doubled up nearly immediately after the start of play against Minh Nguyen and a few minutes later took a pot off Lars Bonding to move up to 1.2 million. Lindgren had a small bit of breathing room but started to slide again. A pair of big pots changed his fortunes and put him back in contention in the event. First, he doubled up with pocket aces against the A♠K♥ of Jerry Van Strydonck to move up to 1.34 million. Then Lindgren pushed Brian Yoon off a 1.2-million-chip pot at the river to move up to 2.6 million. For the rest of the day, Lindgren's chips fluctuated somewhat wildly. He was up to over 3 million at one point and then dropped to 1.2 million, only to go back over 3 million. Lindgren ended the day with 2.19 million in chips and will be back to battle on Day 7.
After four levels of action, only 57 players remain in the WSOP Main Event. Lenaghan and Lamb are at the top of the leaderboard but several big names are still in the hunt. Phil Collins finished the day fifth in chips with 7.24 million and Bryan Devonshire is 10th with 5.97 million. Pius Heinz dropped out the top 10 in chips but still finished the day with 5.69 million. JP Kelly is slightly above average with 3.75 million in chips. Other players still in the field include Lars Bonding, Sam Barnhart, David Sands, Tony Hachem, David Bach, Erick Lindgren and Sebastian Ruthenberg. Players will return to the Rio on Monday to play from 57 down to the final 27 players.
On Tap
The march to the November Nine is officially under way. The final 57 players will make their way back to the Rio Monday as they look to make it to the final three tables and position themselves to make a run at the final table on Tuesday.
Podcast
The PokerNews Podcast is your one stop for all things Main Event. This past week, the crew focused the majority of their time on the Main Event as the field thinned and players started having visions of making the November Nine. Annie Duke also joined the podcast to discuss the Epic Poker League. If you missed anything during the week, you can access past episodes in our archives.
You can access our archives by clicking here.
Video of the Day
Bryan Devonshire is easily one of the nicest guys you will meet at a poker table. Devo has been in the top 10 in chips in the Main Event during the last two days and Kristy Arnett caught up with him during the dinner break on Day 6. She talked with him about his run, the impact that the event has on one physically, and he shared a fun story about a player in the event.
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