Keranen Leads as the Final 97 Return for Day 6!
More than a week ago, the 2012 World Series of Poker kicked off the 43rd Annual $10,000 Main Event, which attracted 6,598 players and created a prize pool of $62,021,200. Now, as Day 6 begins, only 97 runners remain, each with their eyes firmly fixed on making the “Octo-Nine” and capturing the $8,527,982 first-place prize.
The man best position to make a deep run is Kyle Keranen, who is sitting on the biggest stack in the room with 6,935,000. Not far behind are Robert Salaburu who finished Day 5 with a stack of 6,195,000, and Taylor Paur, who bagged up 5,820,000.
Joining these men are an eclectic mix of amateurs and pros. David “ODB” Baker (1,360,000) has had a tremendous summer, winning his first gold bracelet and making three other final tables, and now he finds himself in contention for the Main Event title and 2012 Player of the Year honors (he’ll need to finish eighth or better. Another man looking to accomplish an impressive feat is Sam Holden, who is looking to make back-to-back final tables after finishing ninth last year.
Joining these two are Gaelle Baumann (3,980,000), Jan Heitmann (3,410,000), Amnon Filippi (3,400,000), Elisabeth Hille (3,390,000), A.J. Jejelowo (3,340,000), Roland Israelashvili (2,805,000), Marcia Topp (1,700,000), Jason Somerville (1,400,000),Vanessa Selbst (1,350,000), Erik Cajelais (1,180,000), Greg Merson (945,000), and Gavin Smith (675,000).
Here’s a look at the top ten chip counts at the start of Day 6:
Top Ten Chip Counts at the Start of Day 6
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kyle Keranen | 6,935,000 |
| 2 | Robert Salaburu | 6,195,000 |
| 3 | Taylor Paur | 5,820,000 |
| 4 | Erik Hellman | 4,715,000 |
| 5 | Wilfried Haerig | 4,505,000 |
| 6 | Shahriar Assareh | 4,395,000 |
| 7 | Charles Coultas | 4,015,000 |
| 8 | Gaelle Baumann | 3,980,000 |
| 9 | Fabrizio Gonzalez | 3,935,000 |
| 10 | Nicco Maag | 3,895,000 |
Play will resume tomorrow at 12:00 PM PST, which is about 40 minutes from now, so join us then as the final 97 players look to knock off another five levels and hopefully make the top 27!