Hand #20
Olivier Doremus moved all in from under the gun and got no caller.
Hand #21
Once again a simple raise preflop takes down the blinds and antes.
Hand #22
Corey Emery raised to 27,000 and John Taylor called from the button, both blinds folded. Emery checked the 
flop and Taylor bet 55,000. Emery folded and was shown the 
.
![[user252447]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
Hand #23 Roland Reparejo opened for 36,000 and John Taylor made the call.
They saw a flop of 
.
Reparejo'c continuation bet of 60,000 was enough for Taylor to let it go.
Hand #24
John Taylor raised to 37,000 from the hijack and took the blinds and antes.
Hand #25
Olivier Doremus raised to 32,000 from the hijack and found no callers.
Hand # 26
Charles Nguyen opened to 25,000 from the cutoff and no one called.
Hand #27
Marcin raised to 32,000 from early position and it folded around to Brian Wong in the big blind who made the call. The flop was the 
, wong checked and Marcin Sobczak pushed all in for 105,000. Wong folded after some brief thought.
Hand #28
Corey Emery raised to 32,000 and John Taylor made the call to see the 
flop. Taylor check-folded and showed pocket sevens.
Minutes after meeting Corey Emery for a quick interview before the final table convened, we caught up with his colleague from the Player's Club Casino in Ventura, California, where both men work as poker dealers. Taylor wasn't here to rail his buddy though, he was trying to chase him down, as he entered the final table in second chip position behind Emery.
And while his fellow veteran of the box had WSOP experience under his belt before making the trip, Taylor walked into the Rio as a WSOP neophyte, simply looking to soak in the experience and enjoy a good time. Instead, he just might become the first player of the summer to sport a shiny gold bracelet.
PokerNews: Wow, so you’re a colleague of Corey Emery, our current chip leader?
Yeah, we actually work together at the same place. I’m a poker dealer, been there for almost two years, but I’ve been dealing since about 2001. Been playing since right around that time as well.
PokerNews: We heard about Corey’s run in the 2010 Main Event, so how about you? Any experience playing on poker’s grand stage?
This is my first time attending the WSOP, which is really cool for the fact of making it here to the final table. Yeah, this is just really exciting.
PokerNews: And I take it you’ll be booking a return reservation after enjoying this experience so much?
Yeah, definitely… I plan on it. You know, I’m just very fortunate I made it this far, man. Because, you hear it’s an employee’s event, so you figure all these dealers are going to come in and start taking shots, and it’s going to be super juicy, but it turned out not to be that way. Just the whole structure of the tournament is really cool, too. I’m so used to playing fifteen-minute, thirty-minute blinds, so a one-hour blind level gives you a lot of time, even though you don’t start with a lot of chips, gives you some time to try and build. It’s really cool.
PokerNews: Any key hands from yesterday that put you in position to make the final table?
My key hand, which pumped me up really early in the tournament, was against Bernard Lee. I limped in with queen-ten and everybody folded to the blinds. It’s Bernard in the small blind, and he calls, with the big blind checking behind. The flop comes jack-eight-deuce, and me just trying to see if they had anything, trying to take it down right there, I just threw out 1,100. Bernard called, the other guy folded, and the nine hits the turn to give me the nut straight. He bets out 1,800, I make it 3,800 and he goes all in. He made two pair on the turn and I held up on the river to knock him out. So that was a big hand for me yesterday, for sure.
PokerNews: And how have things progressed today?
Today, man, it’s been really like a roller coaster ride, very up and down. I think I made a bad move with king-queen suited, got it all in with a guy I thought was on a move, but he had ace-ten. Sure enough though, I spiked two pair on the flop, and it held up to put me in a pretty good position. From there, it’s pretty much been smooth sailing, I made some really bad calls to give some chips away, but I ended up getting them back along the way.
PokerNews: Every poker player dreams of making a WSOP final table at some point, and you just accomplished that feat in your first time out. Anybody back home you'd like to let know about the good news?
Taylor: Yeah, I would say my family, you know… mom and dad, my brother. Most of all, my son Brenton. I love him, man.
Hand #29
For the second time in a row, Corey Emery opened to 32,000. One seat over, David Luttgeb moved all in and he got called by the initial raiser. Showdown:
Emery: 
Luttgeb: 
It was a crucial move at the worst possible time and the dealer showed no mercy. Luttgeb was already drawing dead on the 
turn and the 
completed the river. Emery is back to where he started the final table with.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
520,000
20,000
|
20,000 |
|
Busted |
Hand #30
The second elimination in back-to-back hands. Marcin Sobczak got it all in preflop with the 
in a battle of the blinds against Olivier Doremus. Doremus had him dominated with the 
and both players raised to their feet to see the flop.
It was something for both as Doresmus had flopped top set on 
, but Sobczak had the flush draw. Both the 
turn and the 
river blanked and that was it for Sobczak, who takes home $10,308 for his efforts.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted |
Hand #31
Brian Wong was next to move all in but this time there were no callers.
Hand #32
Corey Emery opened for 31,000 and Olivier Doremus three-bet to 78,000. That took it down.
Hand #33
Charles Nguyen opened for 25,000 which was unopposed. Blinds and antes to Nguyen as his rail cheered on, “Just like I told you, great sizing.”
Hand #34
Nguyen again opened for 25,000 Brian Wong made the call. They saw a flop of 
. Check from Wong and Nguyen bet 45,000. Wong folded and there were more cheers from his rail.
Hand #35
The action folded around to Brian Wong in the small blind who made the call and John Taylor checked his option. The flop was 
and Wong checked. Taylor bet 27,000 and Wong folded.
Hand #36
Charles Nguyen opened to 25,000 from under the gun and Brian Wong pushed all in for 93,000 from the button. John Taylor thought for a moment before folding in the small blind and that was apparently enough time for Nguyen to consider his action as he quickly announced "call" after a fold from the big blind.
Wong was at risk and behind with as Nguyen turned over 
. The flop of 
was clean for Nguyen and brought a loud cheer from his raucous rail. The on the turn paired Wong and the harmless 
on the river provided him with the double up.
Hand #37
Olivier Doremus raised from the small blind and Charles Nguyen folded the big blind after a brief pause.
Hand #38
Charles Nguyen opened for 27,000 and Roland Reparejo made the call from the big blind. They saw a flop of 
. Both players checked to see a turn card . Check again and the river was the . Nguyen then check-called a bet of 55,000 from Reparejo and mucked when Reparejo showed the 
.
