2016 WPT Five Diamond Day 4: Ryan Tosoc Soars Into the Lead With 19 Remaining
The 2016 World Poker Tour Five Diamond World Poker Classic Main Event played deep into the money on Thursday's Day 4. Action was hot and heavy, including the bursting of the money bubble, with the field whittling down from the Day 4 starting field of 75 to 19 players, from 719 entrants total.
At the end of the day, all eyes were on Ryan Tosoc (photo) as he tallied up a healthy lead with 3,492,000 (146 big blinds) in chips, well ahead of Justin Bonomo who ended the day in second place with 2,687,000 (112 big blinds) in chips.
WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic Main Event Day 4 Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ryan Tosoc | 3,492,000 | 146 |
| 2 | Justin Bonomo | 2,687,000 | 112 |
| 3 | James Romero | 2,030,000 | 85 |
| 4 | JC Tran | 1,806,000 | 75 |
| 5 | Stephen Graner | 1,655,000 | 69 |
| 6 | Jake Schindler | 1,289,000 | 54 |
| 7 | Rob Wazwaz | 1,280,000 | 53 |
| 8 | Bob Buckenmayer | 1,212,000 | 51 |
| 9 | Alex Condon | 1,189,000 | 50 |
| 10 | Igor Yaroshevskyy | 1,065,000 | 44 |
Day 4 began in hand-for-hand mode with 75 players remaining and 72 making the minimum cash of $22,251.
The first elimination took place five hands into the day with blinds at 3,000/6,000 (ante 1,000) when Keith Lehr moved all in for 33,000 from under the gun with A♥K♠. Darren Rabinowitz three-bet shoved for 164,000 with A♣K♥ from the hijack and 2013 WPT Five Diamond champ Dan Smith called with Q♠Q♦ from the big blind. Rabinowitz watched his stack soar to 372,000 after nailing the nut flush, while Lehr was sent to the rail in 75th place after the board ran out 10♣6♣3♣6♥5♣.
More than an hour later, on the 17th hand of the day, Mike Matusow was eliminated in 74th place. He three-bet shoved all in with 9♣8♣ on a J♠10♣3♦ Q♠-board against Dan O'Brien who was holding A♥K♠ for a bigger straight.
Five hands later, Justin Wong was eliminated in 73rd place on the bubble by start-of-day chip leader Ryan Hughes. From middle position, Tosoc began the hand with a raise to 16,000. Wong three-bet shoved for 45,000. Hughes called while Tosoc tossed his hand into the muck. Wong with J♠J♥ found himself in trouble by Hughes who was holding K♣K♠. All remaining players were guaranteed at least $22,251 after the board ran out 10♠2♣2♦5♣6♠.
Hughes' run for the title, however, ended before Day 4 was on the books. His stack began to take a few hits near the end of the night. With blinds at 10,000/20,000 (ante 3,000), he was all in holding A♠A♣ on a flop of K♦8♦5♣. Justin Bonomo called with 7♣6♠ for an open-ended straight draw. While Hughes was still alive when the K♣ appeared on the turn, he was eliminated in 21st place for $45,269 after Bonomo completed his straight when he spiked the 9♦ on the river.
Just before Hughes was eliminated, Tosoc raked in a huge hand that not only saw him soar to the chip lead but also eliminated Christian Christner in a three-way pot in 22nd place for $45,269. The hand began innocently enough with Tosoc under the gun, raising to 45,000. Christner three-bet shoved all in for 537,000 from the small blind and Jared Jaffee flat-called from the big blind. Tosoc four-bet shoved for 1,391,000 and Jaffee called.
Jared Jaffee: K♥K♦
Ryan Tosoc: A♦A♣
Christian Christner: 3♠3♥
Tosoc's pocket aces held after the board ran out 6♣4♣2♥6♥8♣. In addition to Christner being eliminated, Jaffee witnessed his stack being cut down by more than half to 700,000 while Tosoc's stack soared to 3,340,000.
Day 4 began with three previous WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic Main Event champions still in contention. None of the three were still in contention after the day was done. 2006 champ Joe Hachem (63rd - $25,320), 2010 champ Antonio Esfandiari (43rd - $32,225) and 2013 champ Dan Smith (30th place for $38,364) all hit the showers.
Notable players still in contention include three members of the WPT Champions Club; JC Tran (1,806,000 - 75 big blinds), Tommy Vedes (1,052,000 - 44 big blinds) and Taylor Paur (661,000 - 28 big blinds).
Despite having five WPT cashes to his name, Richard Seymour is still best known outside of poker for being a three-time NFL Super Bowl champion. He's heading into Day 5 with 553,000 (23 big blinds) in chips.
Day 5
Day 5 is set to kick off at 12 p.m. local time with blinds at 12,000/24,000 (ante 4,000). Blinds will continue to increase every 90 minutes and play will end when the six-max final table is set.
All players are guaranteed a payout of $45,269, but the 19 remaining in contention hope to grab the top prize of $1,938,118 which includes a $15,000 seat into the season-ending WPT Tournament of Champions.
WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic Main Event Day 5 Seating Assignments
| Table | Seat | Player | Chip count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 1 | - | - | - |
| 8 | 2 | James Romero | 2,030,000 | 85 |
| 8 | 3 | - | - | - |
| 8 | 4 | - | - | - |
| 8 | 5 | Ryan Tosoc | 3,492,000 | 146 |
| 8 | 6 | Jake Schindler | 1,289,000 | 54 |
| 8 | 7 | Corey Hochman | 531,000 | 22 |
| 8 | 8 | Richard Seymour | 553,000 | 23 |
| 8 | 9 | Igor Yaroshevskyy | 1,065,000 | 44 |
| 21 | 1 | - | - | - |
| 21 | 2 | David Sands | 562,000 | 23 |
| 21 | 3 | Tony Utnage | 871,000 | 36 |
| 21 | 4 | Ty Reiman | 493,000 | 21 |
| 21 | 5 | Tommy Vedes | 1,052,000 | 44 |
| 21 | 6 | Danny Fuhs | 850,000 | 35 |
| 21 | 7 | - | - | - |
| 21 | 8 | Taylor Paur | 661,000 | 28 |
| 21 | 9 | Bob Buckenmayer | 1,212,000 | 51 |
| 22 | 1 | Chris Klodnicki | 458,000 | 19 |
| 22 | 2 | - | - | - |
| 22 | 3 | - | - | - |
| 22 | 4 | JC Tran | 1,806,000 | 75 |
| 22 | 5 | Alex Condon | 1,189,000 | 50 |
| 22 | 6 | Rob Wazwaz | 1,280,000 | 53 |
| 22 | 7 | Justin Bonomo | 2,687,000 | 112 |
| 22 | 8 | - | - | - |
| 22 | 9 | Stephen Graner | 1,655,000 | 69 |
*Lead image and data courtesy of WorldPokerTour.com
