2014 WSOP Day 5: Phil Hellmuth Makes 50th Final Table; Millionaire Maker Smashes Records

Brett Collson Chief Editor

PokerNews Staff

Jun 01, 2014 7 min read Last updated Jun 05, 2014

Phil Hellmuth told PokerNews' Rich Ryan last month that he wants to win 11 more bracelets before his poker career is over. Laugh all you want, but he might be holding up one of those 11 bracelets on Sunday.

Hellmuth is second in chips heading into the final day of Event #7: $1,500 Seven-Card Razz event. The "Poker Brat" hit another incredible milestone by reaching his 50th final table at the WSOP and on Sunday he could further increase his all-time bracelet lead by winning number 14.

Very pleased to make my 50tjh Final Table at the @WSOP! I am second in chips #WSOPRazz w 314,000. Winning Bracelet 14 would amazing!
— phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth)

In addition to Hellmuth's success, two established pros collected bracelets on Saturday. The day also marked the beginning of one of the largest tournaments the World Series has ever seen. Here's a complete recap of Day 5 of the 2014 WSOP:

Event #4: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em

In 2013, World Series of Poker Circuit grinders dominated at the WSOP in Las Vegas. Loni Harwood, Bryan Campanello, Jonathan Taylor and of course Ryan Riess all won gold bracelets, putting the close-knit WSOPC brigade on the map for good.

Circuit superstar Kyle Cartwright supported every member of his crew last year despite falling short at his own final table in a $1,000 hold'em event. But on Saturday Cartwright got another chance, and he capitalized — with his band of grinders supporting him every step of the way.

Cartwright won Event #4: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em, defeating a field of 2,224 players over three days to capture the top prize of $360,435 and his first WSOP bracelet. Cartwright entered final day as the chip leader and never looked back, eventually defeating Jason Paster heads-up for the title.

Final Table Payouts

Place	Player	Prize
1	Kyle Cartwight	$360,435
2	Jason Paster	$223,518
3	Ylon Schwartz	$157,926
4	Daniel Dizenzo	$113,550
5	Matthew O'Donnell	$82,726
6	Jeremy Dresch	$61,068
7	Robert Kuhn	$45,656
8	Ken Weinstein	$34,567
9	Michael Sortino	$26,501

After former November Niner Ylon Schwartz was dispelled in third place, it didn't take long for Cartwright to seal the deal. On the final hand of the tournament, Paster raised to 100,000 from the button and Cartwright three-bet to 270,000. Paster four-bet shoved for 1,845,000 and Cartwright quickly made the call.

Cartwright: A♣Q♦
Paster: 4♣4♠

Both players stood up and had their eyes glued to the felt as the dealer rolled out a 5♠Q♥2♦ flop, fiving Cartwright a stranglehold on the hand. Neither the J♠ nor the Q♣ provided help for Paster, and Cartwright threw his arms in the air in jubilation as he rushed over to his supporters on the rail.

2014 WSOP Day 5: Phil Hellmuth Makes 50th Final Table; Millionaire Maker Smashes Records 101

Event #5: $10,000 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball Championship

The first $10,000 Championship event of the 2014 World Series of Poker came to a close late Saturday night. After an intense day of Limit 2-7 Triple Draw, Tuan Le rose above the field and bested Justin Bonomo during heads up play to claim $355,324 in first-place prize money as well as his first WSOP bracelet.

Final Table Payouts

Place	Player	Prize
1	Tuan Le	$355,324
2	Justin Bonomo	$219,565
3	Eli Elezra	$144,056
4	Nick Schulman	$99,015
5	George Danzer	$70,308
6	Phil Galfond	$51,538

The day began with 12 players returning to the tournament felt after reaching the money late Friday night. Online wizard Phil Galfond led the field coming into the final day, but the chip lead would change hands dozens of times as the day progressed due to the large limits and swingy nature of the game. One by one, Le's competitors fell as he continued to ascend the chip counts.

The heads up battle between Le and Bonomo began with the former having a very slight chip advantage. Le came out firing and took the chip lead right away, but the match continued on for several hours. Bonomo managed to work his stack back up to even, but Le continued to hammer away and quickly regained the lead.

Eventually, with blinds at 25,000/50,000, Le was able to string together a series of small pots that resulted in the decimation of Bonomo's stack. Soon after, Le opened his button to 100,000 and Bonomo tossed out a call. Both players drew two cards and Bonomo led out. Le called and on the second draw they each pulled one. Bonomo led once more, Le raised, and Bonomo announced all in for 210,000 total. Le called and both players stood pat.

Bonomo: 9x8x7x5x4x
Le: 9x6x4x3x2x

With absolutely no sweats, Le showed the better hand and was instantly crowned the champion. Bonomo was eliminated in second place and collected $219,565 in winnings.

2014 WSOP Day 5: Phil Hellmuth Makes 50th Final Table; Millionaire Maker Smashes Records 102

Event #6: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout

After 10 hours of play, 12 players advanced to Day 3 of Event #6: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout. The most well-known of the bunch is Josh Arieh, two-time bracelet winner and former third-place finisher in the Main Event, who has over $6 million in live cashes.

Arieh isn't the only poker millionaire to win his table today, though. Fellow bracelet winners Shawn Busse ($1 million in cashes) and Alex Bolotin ($2.2 million) also advanced, as did well-respected players like Dimitar Danchev ($3.2 million) and Jared Jaffee ($1.6 million). The final 12 will draw seats into two tables of six, combining when 10 players remain. Everyone brings 346,000 to 361,000 into Day 3, with variance due to imbalances in Day 1 tables.

A slew of notable players who failed to take down their tables today: Josh Pollock, Greg Merson, Dutch Boyd, Jordan Cristos, Steve Gross, Christian Harder, Isaac Baron, Mike Matusow, Eugene Katchalov, Jon Aguiar, Joseph Cheong, David "Bakes" Baker, Shannon Shorr, and Allen "Chainsaw" Kessler.

Players will resume the tournament at 1 p.m. on Sunday, so be sure to tune back in to PokerNews for the conclusion of Event #6.

Here is Day 3 table and seat draw:

Table	Seat	Player	Chips
446	1	Shawn Busse	354,000
446	2	Alex Bolotin	353,000
446	3	Colin York	353,000
446	4	Dimitar Danchev	352,000
446	5	Maxx Coleman	354,000
446	6	Josh Arieh	358,000

450	1	Jon Lane	350,000
450	2	Steven Loube	361,000
450	3	Jared Jaffee	354,000
450	4	David Trager	354,000
450	5	Douglas Foster	358,000
450	6	Steven Geralis	346,000

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Event #7: $1,500 Seven-Card Razz

It was a record-setting day for Phil Hellmuth at the 2014 World Series of Poker. He not only notched his 101st cash by making the money in Event #7 $1,500 Seven-Card Razz – a tournament that attracted 352 runners and created a prize pool of $475,200 – he also went on to make the final table, his 50th at the WSOP. Hellmuth, who won the razz event at the 2012 WSOP for his 12th bracelet, will return on Sunday second in chips, putting him in prime position to make a run at the $121,196 first-place prize and his 14th gold bracelet.

However, to capture it he’ll have to top one of the most stacked final tables the WSOP has ever seen. Greg Pappas, a poker industry veteran, will start the final table as chip leader with 391,500, while last year’s runner-up, David “Gunslinger” Bach sits in third with 295,000. Bach, the 2009 Poker Players’ Champion, seeks redemption by finishing one spot higher than he did last year.

The final table also includes Brandon Cantu (175,000) and Ted Forrest (171,000). Cantu is a two-time bracelet winner that finished third in the razz event Hellmuth won two years ago. The two butted heads numerous times at that final table, and leading up to this one they engaged in numerous verbal jousts while taking turns getting under the other’s skin. As for Forrest, he has five gold bracelets on his résumé including the 1993 WSOP $1,500 razz title, and he's in a good position to make a run at No. 6.

Brock Parker, also a two-time bracelet winner, is at the final table with 138,500, as are Yuebin Guo and Kevin Iacofano, who bring up the rear with 90,000 and 45,500 respectively.

The third and final day will get underway at 2 p.m. local time on Sunday. Join the PokerNews Live Reporting Team then for all the actions and eliminations.

Event #8: $1,500 Millionaire Maker

2014 WSOP Day 5: Phil Hellmuth Makes 50th Final Table; Millionaire Maker Smashes Records 103

If you thought poker might be dying, think again.

The $1,500 Millionaire Maker event attracted a record-setting 7,977 players over two starting flights on Saturday, making it the largest one-day field in WSOP history and the second largest WSOP field ever, trailing only the 2006 Main Event. Thousands of players waited in long lines to have a chance at the $1 million guaranteed top prize, and from the looks of it the eventual winner will walk away with at least $1.2 million. The official payouts will be released on Sunday.

Leading the way into Day 2 is Andrew "BalugaWhale" Seidman, a frequent contributor to the PokerNews strategy podcasts. We discovered Seidman wielding a massive stack late on Day 1b and he eventually bagged more than 137,000 in chips, making him the unofficial overnight chip leader.

"I feel like I am playing awesome," said Seidman, who eliminated three players in a single hand during the final level of the day to climb over 100,000 in chips. Seidman said he bought into Day 1a at 11:00 a.m and busted at around 6:45 p.m. He then took advantage of late registration and entered Day 1b, and after getting off to a lousy start he went on a rush that poker players only dream of in massive events such as this one.

Among those joining Seidman on Day 2 will be Jamie Kerstetter (33,000), former WSOP Main Event champion Joe Cada (20,100), Mohsin Charania (19,900), Amit Makhija (19,100), Taylor Paur (17,500), Jake Cody (15,400), Dan Kelly (13,700), Maria Ho (12,000), David Peters (11,700), and George Danzer (7,300).