2011 November Niner Sam Holden just scored a big triple up to continue his second straight deep Main Event run.
The hand began with Holden shoving all in for 775,000 from the hijack seat, then Andrew Flaherty called from the button. Jean Malherbe then reraised all in from the big blind, and after thinking for a while Flaherty let his hand go.
Holden turned over and Malherbe , and at the sight of those hands Flaherty buried his head in his hands as though he'd wished he'd stayed in the hand.
The community cards came to give Holden a straight, so perhaps Flaherty was better off not to have called, although he now sits on a short stack.
Roland Israelashvili has had a heck of a year, so it’s no surprise to see he’s in contention for 2012 World Series of Poker Player of the Year honors. He currently sits in 63rd place on the leaderboard with 231.05, which means either a second or first place finish would put him ahead of the current leader, Phil Ivey (568.70).
Another man who could make a run at the 2012 WSOP POY title is Jeremy Ausmus, who currently sits in 145th place on the leaderboard with 159.44 points. That’s quite a few points behind the current leader, which means Ausmus would need to win the Main Event in order to surpass Ivey.
Likewise, Erik Cajelais, who sits in 82nd place with 205.75 points, will need a victory in the Main Event to overtake Ivey, who sits 362.95 points ahead of him. In addition, Yuval Bronshtein (108th—187.38), Andrew Dean (387th—89.00), Kyle Bowker (419th—84.13 points), David Randall (438th—81.75 points), David D’Alesandro (486th—76.88 points) and Leo Wolpert (490th—76.50 points) could all take the top spot if they were to win the Main Event.
Of course the World Series of Poker Europe counts toward the POY race, so these scenarios could change.
Here’s a look at the current WSOP POY standings:
Current 2012 WSOP Player of the Year Standings
Place
Player
Points
1
Phil Ivey
568.70
2
John Monnette
524.25
3
Phil Hellmuth
500.70
4
Antonio Esfandiari
488.10
5
Michael Mizrachi
486.20
6
Gregory Merson
481.13
7
David “ODB” Baker
433.38
8
Andy Frankenberger
406.66
9
Andy Bloch
405.30
10
Vanessa Selbst
388.17
Also, here’s a look at how WSOP POY points will be awarded for the Main Event:
John Beauprez opened to 85,000 from middle position, Fabrizio Gonzalez three-bet to 205,000 from the cutoff, and Paul Volpe four-bet to either 520,000 or 620,000 from the small blind (it was difficult to count the lavender T100,000 chips).
Scott Abrams cold five-bet shoved for 2.415 million more than Volpe's raise, and took down the pot.
From middle position, Jordi Martinezalonso raised to 80,000 and 2012 World Series of Poker gold bracelet winner Dung Nguyen called from the button. In the big blind, Percy Mahatan called and the flop came down .
On the flop, Mahatan led for 110,000 and Martinezalonso raised to 310,000. Nguyen moved all in for around 1.4 million and Mahatan folded. Martinezalonso quickly called.
Martinezalonso tabled the and the at-risk Nguyen held the .
The board finished weith the and , leaving Nguyen second best and sending him to the rail. Martinezalonso moved to just over three million in chips.
Nguyen was the winner of Event 38: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em for $607,200. He added another $73,805 to his pockets after this finish for a very solid 2012 WSOP performance.
Our access to the secondary feature table is limited, so we're not quite sure what position Manos Foudoulakis was in when open-jammed for his last 265,000. Eric Legoff three-bet to 500,000 on his left, and the rest of the action folded behind.
Foudoulakis
Legoff
The gave Legoff the nut-flush, but Foudoulakis could still win if the turn and river produced the and the . The turn was the however, eliminating Foudoulakis from the tournament, and the completed the board.
A.J. Jejelowo opened to 90,000 from early position and was called by Manos Foudoulakis. Michael Esposito tagged along from the small blind and the three saw a flop of . Esposito and Jejelowo checked to Foudoulakis who fired 125,000. Esposito got out of the way and Jejelowo made it 375,000 to go. Foudoulakis called and the two were heads up to the turn.
The turn brought the and Jejelowo moved all in for 1,940,000. Manos called and showed which was ahead of Jejelowo's . Jejelowo was looking to make his straight, and did exactly that when the peeled off on the river.
Jejelowo was able to double up this hand to about 4,900,000 while Manos was left crippled at 230,000.
There was about 350,000 in the middle and the board showed when Percy Mahatan led with a bet of 150,000, then Alban Juen raised to 430,000.
Mahatan glanced over at Juen who sat looking away from his opponent and staring down toward the chips he'd set out as a raise. Mahatan then announced he was reraising, and set out another 1 million to push it up to 1,150,000 total.
Juen studied for a while, then pushed his hand away.
and Malherbe 
, and at the sight of those hands Flaherty buried his head in his hands as though he'd wished he'd stayed in the hand.
to give Holden a straight, so perhaps Flaherty was better off not to have called, although he now sits on a short stack.
![[user101598]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
, but unfortunately for him had run up against the 
of Jordan Batt.
.
and the at-risk Nguyen held the 
.
and 
, leaving Nguyen second best and sending him to the rail. Martinezalonso moved to just over three million in chips.
. Her hand was dominated by the 
for Isaac Baron.
and Zhao was eliminated from the tournament.
. The turn was the 
and Jejelowo moved all in for 1,940,000. Manos called and showed 
peeled off on the river.
