After making a raise to open the betting, Aaron Massey watched as his nemesis Andrew Teng declared he was all in. After being bullied by the young pro for much of the final table, Massey snap-called for the remainder of his chips and flipped over his . Teng showed the and Massey looked poised to double up.
When the dealer spread the flop of across the felt, Massey had dodged the deck's sixes but not its diamonds. Teng now held a flush draw and would earn the win if another diamond hit the board. Massey paced around the table as he awaited the turn card that would either make or break him.
Turn:
The diamond on the turn was the dagger that ultimately dropped Massey, as he could not catch any card on the river to overcome Teng's flush. Too add insult to injury, the dealer revealed the on the river, giving Massey a useless set of kings. The aspiring pro poker player fell short of his true goal, but from what he told us earlier in the day, this run to his first WSOP final table was the realization of a long held dream.
With his short stack dwindling ante after ante, Jeremiah Siegmund decided to make his stand after watching Antonio Esfandiari open for 65,000. Siegmund pushed all-in for his last 315,000 holding the button and before The Magician could consider a call, Eric Baudry moved all-in as well. Baudry had Siegmund covered by about 75,000 or so, and Esfandiari quickly got out of the way.
Showdown:
Baudry:
Siegmund:
While had found a pocket pair to work with, Siegmund was in bad shape against Baudry's overpair. The flop ran out and Siegmund was down to a two-outer for his tournament life.
No help arrived on the turn of and after the river fell , Siegmund was the first to be bounced from the final table arena. He will take home $33,813 for his run in this event, while Baudry gave himself some breathing room with the double-up.
While the poker may be serious here at the final table, the conversation following dinner has been light-hearted. Antonio Esfandiari and Aaron Massey were discussing their preferences in alcoholic drinks. Esfandiari said to Massey, "You look like a tequila man" to which Massey replied, "Of course I drink tequila, I'm a Mexican-Jew!"
Esfandiari then said he was more of a whiskey man stating, "Jameson is no joke!"
Glad to know these players are able to enjoy each others company even in the midst of a final table battle.
Our nine remaining players have returned from dinner and are back in action. Will chipleader Jean Luc Marais be able to maintain his lead? Will Antonio Esfandiari be able to overtake him? Stay tuned to find out!
The players are currently on their 60-minute dinner break, and here is where they all stand currently. After the break the players will be moving to the ESPN main stage.
Five of our nine final tablists are making their first WSOP cash ever. While Antonio Esfandiari is certainly the most experienced of the other four, Andrew Teng (currently trying to preserve his ninth-place stack) also has an impressive resume of WSOP success.
Antonio Esfandiari -- 1 bracelet, 14th WSOP cash (1st in 2011)
Andrew Teng -- 12th WSOP cash (4th in 2011)
Jonathan Lane -- 4th WSOP cash (all in 2011)
Eric Baudry -- 2nd WSOP cash (both in 2011)
Kenneth Griffin -- 1st WSOP cash
Philip Hammerling -- 1st WSOP cash
Aaron Massey -- 1st WSOP cash
Jean Luc Marais -- 1st WSOP cash
Jeremiah Siegmund -- 1st WSOP cash
In the last two hands, Aaron Massey has tried and failed to steal Andrew Teng's blinds.
In the first encounter, Massey raised to 62,000 from the cutoff and Teng sized up his stack before shoving all-in. Massey mucked his cards and the steal attempt was thwarted.
On the very next hand, Massey held the button and raised to 50,000 after the action had folded to him. Teng again looked over at Massey's short stack and announced that he was all-in. Massey was visibly frustrated with the bullying but he tossed his cards into the muck, surrendering about one-fifth of his stack with the two failed steals.
Antonio Esfandiari has a lot of chips -- he remains in second behind Jean Luc Marais at the moment -- and not surprisingly is putting them to use. Most hands are being won without flops, and Esfandiari has taken four of the last five uncontested.
With so much at stake at the final table of a WSOP event, some players choose to wear clothes that can more easily help them hide possible emotion and tells. Here at our final table, Ken Griffin, Jean Luc Marais, Philip Hammerling, and Jeremiah Siegmund are all sporting hooded sweatshirts with the hoods up. Jon Lane, Eric Baudry and Andrew Teng are all wearing baseball caps, and Antonion Esfandiari and Aaron Massey have left their heads uncovered.
Only Lane, Hammerling, and Siegmund have left their eyes exposed while all the other players are sporting sunglasses.
It's interesting to see the different ways in which players attempt to cover themselves. We've spotted Ken Griffin pulling his hooded sweatshirt up and around his face when he is involved in a hand. So much so, that during a hand earlier Jean Luc Marais (who is sitting directly to Griffin's left) had to lean out and over the table to attempt to get a read on his opponent.