Before play began, Kristy took to her trusty mic to give you a preview of the final table. Check it out:
The Big Event at The Bicycle Casino
Level: 23
Blinds: 12,000/24,000
Ante: 2,000
Due to various production arrangements, our updates have been pushed back a bit. We'll start bringing you all the action in about 15 minutes.
Born on May 28, 1968, Annand "Victor" Ramdin is a member of Team PokerStars and one of the more amiable players on the circuit. He has amassed more than $2.8 million in tournament winnings including a first-place finish worth $1,331,889 in the 2006 World Poker Tour Foxwoods Poker Classic. Most recently, Ramdin claimed victory in the 2011 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $1,500 No Limit Hold'em event for $49,790.
Ramdin is also well-known for his charitable contributions that help benefit children in Guyana. In the past, Ramdin has donated 25% of his winning to philanthropic pursuits. If he were to claim the $500,000 first-place prize, he'd no doubt put it to good use.
The second-shortest stack today belongs to Jose De Noronha of Lisbon, Portugal. A businessman dealing in antiques, De Noronha has been playing more and more poker events as of late including the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, European Poker Tours, and plans on playing the World Series of Poker this summer. He has been looking for that elusive big score, but is assured the biggest cash of his career here today.
Throughout the tournament De Noronha has carried a notepad that he diligently writes in. Supposedly his notes serve as a guide and constantly reminds him of relevant information such as having so many big blinds in such and such level. We'll soon see if De Noronha's homework pays off and if he can work his short stack back in to contention.
This man needs little introduction as he is know to poker fans the world around after winning the 2005 World Series of Poker Main Event for $7.5 million. With more than $11 million in career winnings, Hachem has proven to be one of the more popular poker pros on the circuit.
A native of Australia, Hachem has made poker his full-time profession as a member of Team PokerStars. He has already informed the other final table players that he has no interest in chopping the prize pool, indicating he has his eyes firmly fixed on the $500,000 first-place prize and adding another title to his already impressive résumé. Hachem starts the day with fourth biggest stack.
Bryan Leskowitz, of Leominster, Massachusetts, told us yesterday he feels as if he were freerolling after starting Day 4 on a short stack and somehow managing to put together a healthy stack. With a $50,839 in live tournament winnings, Leskowitz is certain to surpass that total with a single score here today.
While his live results have been fairly modest, Leskowitz's online success has netted him hundreds of thousands of dollars. It is there that he plays under the names "Iknewwwit" and "Boston3Party". Leskowitz, who studied sport management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, begins the final table fifth in chips.
Day 4 of The Big Event Main Event was kind to Jeremy Ausmus, as he went from one of the shorter stacks to the massive chip lead; in fact, he begins final table play with almost double his nearest competitor.
With $90,497 in career earnings, Ausmus has the opportunity to surpass that total with a fifth-place finish or better. His previous accomplishments, totaling six cashes, include a 69th-place finish in the 2010 L.A. Poker Classic for $19,310 and a runner-up performance in a $2,000 No Limit Hold'em event at the 2008 Wynn Classic, which earned him his biggest score to date of $55,484, a total he'll more than likely surpass here today.
Known online as "sanpri", Santiago Nadal is a 26-year-old from Mexico. He is a student of marketing, but has already shown great promise in the poker world. In 2010, he nearly made the final table of a World Series of Poker $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em event. If his last name sounds familiar to Mexican poker players, it should. Nadal is the brother of the most recent Mexican Poker Champion Jose Nadal.
Most recently, Nadal finsihed sixth on the LAPT-Brazil Main Event in February, for which e earned $93,270. No doubt Nadal will be looking to use his final table experience to navigate today's field.
This is the first major live-event final table for the young Taylor von Kriegenbergh. Mainly an online player under the name "TheRiverHawk" (named after his college baseball team), von Kriegenbergh qualified for The Big Event in a satellite for a minimal investment, which ensures him a tidy profit no matter where he finishes.
Von Kriegenbergh, who hails from Boston, Massachusetts has been playing more live events as of late, having recently appeared at the LAPT-Brazil stop last month. Throughout the course of this tournament, von Kriegenbergh has attempted to duplicate the same routine each morning. When asked why, he attributed it to his baseball days, when many of the players tended to be a bit superstitious.
Von Kriegenbergh begins the day third in chips.