WSOP What To Watch For: Farha Chases Four, Mercier Goes for Three in Event #39
In this edition of the PokerNews What To Watch For, two stacked fields are left in the two events that have moved forward to Day 3 at the 2012 World Series of Poker. Event 39: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha and Event 40: $2,500 Limit Hold'em - Six-Handed are those two events set to conclude.
Event 39: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha
Is Farha Best Omaha Player Ever?
Everyone that knows poker, knows that Omaha is Sammy Farha's game. All three of his WSOP bracelets come from some variant of it and he has numerous other big scores in the game. Omaha fits Farha's style of of play as he loves to stay active. When you combine Farha's love for action and the erratic style of play that can come from Omaha, it's one of the most fun things to watch in poker.
On Days 1 and 2, Farha's stack was all over the place. He took big swings hand after hand, but he keeps things interesting and embraces the "gamble" portion of the game. Coming into Day 3, Farha has the second largest stack of the bunch, meaning he has plenty of chips to play around with. It's going to be a very fun day watching him on the felt and you won't want to miss any of the action.
Mercier Attempts To Make It End
Jason Mercier isn't only one of the best young players in the game today, he's one of the best overall. He'll be looking to solidify that position by winning his third WSOP gold bracelet, which would all come in Pot-Limit Omaha if he were to win this event. In 2012, he's hasn't had the best of runs in live events, but he'll be looking to end all of that here in Event 39.
Mercier did well on Day 2, but lost a big, crucial pot that knocked him down to the bottom of the leader board towards the end of the night. He was battling being sick all day and battled back from the adversity of the short stack to fight his way into Day 3. When play starts on Saturday, he'll be 10th out of the 13 remaining players, but everyone knows he's as much a threat — if not more — then the next guy.
Brown, Wahlbeck and Kabbaj Chase Number Two
Chip leader Andrew Brown and two short stacks, Ville Wahlbeck and John Kabbaj, all own one WSOP gold bracelet. Down to the final 13 players in Event 39, these three are very close to getting their second. Brown will have the best shot, as he enters the third and final day with a sizable chip lead, while Wahlbeck and Kabbaj are bunch at the bottom of the group and will need to run their stacks up in order to give themselves a true chance.
This is really Brown's tournament to lose at this point. He's an avid Pot-Limit Omaha player, having won the Full Tilt Poker $25,000 Heads-Up Pot-Limit Omaha Championship for nearly $320,000 and a PokerStars SCOOP event, the $2,100 Pot-Limit Omaha 1 Rebuy, 1 Add-on 6-Max event for over $166,000. Backed by his prowess in the game and the largest stack in the room, Brown is the hands-on favorite for the title.
Event 40: $2,500 Limit Hold'em - Six-Handed
Chan Looks for Gold, Again
Often revered as the best limit hold'em player in the world, Terrence Chan finds himself second in chips of the final 10 players in Event 40. Earlier in this Series, Chan was second in chips in Event 20: $5,000 Limit Hold'em with 17 players left going into Day 3. He finished 12th.
Chan has never won a WSOP gold bracelet, but he has come close many times. On his record, Chan has a second, a third and two eighth-place finishes. He's also quietly performing extremely well at this year's WSOP. In 2012 alone, Chan has cashed in seven events, making this his eighth. Still, Chan chases that elusive gold bracelet.
Back-To-Back Final Tables for van den Bijgaart and Wheeler?
Joep van den Bijgaart and Brent Wheeler are both coming off a recent final table performance in Event 35: $2,500 Mixed Hold'em. They finished in fourth and seventh, respectively, but will be looking to make this final table and top those results this time around.
As always, you can find PokerNews' coverage of the 2012 WSOP on our Live Reporting Pages. We look forward to having you follow along and stay tuned for plenty more from our What To Watch For series.
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