Theo Jorgensen of Copenhagen, Denmark began Day 7 with the chip lead, and has already added some to his stack here in the early going. Jorgensen has been out in front at the end of tournaments quite a bit lately, as his 2010 Main Event follows a series of impressive recent performances.
After accumulating several big cashes in Europe, Jorgensen has become a familiar face here at the WSOP over the past few years, making four final tables in preliminary events since 2007. He's also had significant success over at the WSOPE in London, where he final tabled the Main Event there in 2007 (finishing eighth), and won a bracelet in 2008 in the £5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha event.
And in May of this year, Jorgensen won his first World Poker Tour title, taking down the €10,000 Grand Prix de Paris. That recent strong finish may serve him well today as he tries preserve a good chip position moving into the latter stages of the tourney.
Ronnie Bardah raised it up to 135,000 from the cutoff position before Gabriel Nassif moved all in from the small blind for his last 950,000 chips. Bardah made the call.
Nassif:
Bardah:
The board ran out to give Bardah a set of jacks to collect the pot and eliminate Nassif from the tournament. Bardah is up to 2.3 million.
With the elimination of Jean-Robert Bellande in 78th place, he takes home $94,942. His impressive WSOP Main Event run has earned him a bit more than that, however, thanks to a side bet between Bellande and Justin "BoostedJ" Smith.
As we reported on PokerNews earlier this year, Bellande and Smith made a bet for an undisclosed amount over who would earn the most at this year's WSOP. Word was Bellande got 2:1 on his money that his tourney winnings would exceed that of Smith.
A quick check of the stats shows Smith cashed five times at this summer's WSOP for a total of $101,714. A nice Series, for sure.
Bellande, meanwhile, had two cashes prior to the Main Event for a total of $25,848. That means his Main Event finish carries him past Smith in overall winnings -- to $120,790 -- thus ensuring Bellande wins the bet.
Don't know how much of a bonus Bellande is getting for winning his bet with Smith. Whatever it is, the former "Survivor" star definitely benefited from surviving this far.
Benjamin Statz and Mark Meloche got involved in a hand and we picked up the action on the turn with the board reading . There was about 300,000 in the pot. Statz checked and Meloche fired 150,000. Statz check-raised to 550,000. Meloche reraised all in for 1.53 million and Statz called.
Statz held the and Meloche the .
The river completed the board with the and Meloche hit the rail. Statz improved to 4.7 million.
Jeff Banghart opened to 130,000 from middle position only to have Jean-Robert Bellande move all in for 815,000 from the button.
With the action on Duy Le in the big blind, he cut out a re-raise amounting to 1,350,000. Although the four-bet had both players covered, it was technically not enough, and Le was forced to make it 1,490,000 to go.
"Oh boy! I need a second" stated Banghart as he deliberated for over two minutes before open-folding .
Bellande:
Le:
With Bellande on his feet, the dealer dropped a flop to leave Bellande drawing to a ten or running cards for a straight.
The on the turn cut out all of Bellande's backdoor outs, and left him with just one of the lone tens in the deck.
"Ten please dealer" pleaded Bellande as he awaited his Main Event fate.
Unfortunately for BrokeLivingJRB, the river would fall the to see him eliminated and sent to the exit amongst a round of applause.
William Thorson continues to flex his muscle early on Day 7. After limping in preflop, Thorson then called the raise to 135,000 from Evan Lamprea to see a flop of .
Thorson checked in the dark and Lamprea bet 215,000. Thorson made the call as the hit the turn. Both players checked and the completed the board on the river. Thorson bet out 390,000 and it was enough to take it down as Lamprea tossed his cards into the muck.
Lamprea slips to 1.97 million with Thorson up to 7.5 million.
Gabe Costner bet 425,000 on the flop of . Alexander Kostritsyn made the call before the fell on the turn. Costner checked fourth street and Kostritsyn fired 1.05 million. Costner moved all in for 2.855 more, making the total bet 3.905 million. Kostritsyn mucked and Costner picked up the pot to move to 6.6 million. Kostritsyn dropped to 3.85 million.
"I wanna get my money in with the worst hand, suck out and double . . . then get my money in with the worst hand, suck out and double again! Then when I finally get some chips, then I'll start playing poker!"