2015 WSOP Main Event Down to Final 27; "Butters" Leads, Negreanu & Holz Still Alive
On Monday, the final 69 players in the 2015 World Series of Poker Main Event – a tournament that originally attracted 6,420 players and created a prize pool of $60,348,000 – returned to play down to the final 27.
After four and a half levels, and 42 crushed dreams, the goal was reached with Thomas "Butters" Kearney, a $1/$2 and $2/$4 regular on WSOP.com who often streams his exploits on Twitch, and his stack of 14.4 million leading the way.
"Where I’m at now, I’m happy," Kearney told PokerNews after bagging and tagging. "If you would’ve told me two weeks ago that I would get X amount of money, it would’ve been a wonderful summer. From here on out it almost feels like I’m on a freeroll. If I crush and win it, that’s amazing, if I don’t there’s more money every single pay jump. I hope for the best obviously.”
Kearney will face some stiff competition on Day 7 including Joseph McKeehen (11.975 million), Daniel Negreanu (8.495 million), Justin "StealthMunk" Schwartz (7.51 million), Anton Morgenstern (6.955 million), Pierre Neuville (6 million), and Blake Bohn (5 million), who spoke with PokerNews late in the day.
Among those to fall on Day 6 were Justin Bonomo (64th - $96,445), Amar Anand (55th - $113,764), Toby Lewis (53rd - $137,300), Matt Jarvis (51st - $137,300), and Brian Hastings (49th - $137,300).
Hastings, who won two gold bracelets at the 2015 WSOP, saw his run come to an end in Level 27 (30,000/60,000/10,000) when John Hinds opened for 145,000 from the cutoff and Hastings three-bet to 430,000 from the big blind. Hinds then four-bet to 1.08 million, and snap-called when Hastings five-bet all in for roughly 5.5 million.
Hastings: 
Hinds: 
Hastings was on the wrong end of the cooler, and it cost him his tournament life after the board ran out a lackluster 
. After that pot, Hinds vaulted to 11.2 million in chips.
Before long Hastings had company including Steve Gross (47th - $137,300), Mark "P0ker H0" Kroon (43rd - $164,086), Upeshka De Silva (36th - $211,821), Kelly Minkin (29th - $211,821), and Andrew Moreno (28th - $211,821).
Mikin, who was the last woman standing in the field, fell in Level 30 (60,000/120,000/15,000) after Anton Morgenstern limped the button and Federico Butteroni did the same from the small blind. Minkin checked her option from the big, and the three players saw a flop of 
.
Butteroni bet 150,000, Minkin shoved all in for 2.025 million, and Morgenstern got out of the way before Butteroni called with the 
, which dominated the 
of Minkin. The 
turn gave Butteroni a full house, and Minkin was drawing dead headed to the river, which came the .
2015 WSOP Final 27
| Table | Seat | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Blake Bohn | 5,000,000 |
| 1 | 2 | Justin Schwartz | 7,510,000 |
| 1 | 3 | Daniel Negreanu | 8,495,000 |
| 1 | 4 | Federico Butteroni | 4,980,000 |
| 1 | 5 | David Stefanski | 11,485,000 |
| 1 | 6 | Thomas Cannuli | 6,220,000 |
| 1 | 7 | Christoph Brand | 4,120,000 |
| 1 | 8 | David Peters | 2,100,000 |
| 1 | 9 | Max Steinberg | 3,290,000 |
| 2 | 1 | Erasmus Morfe | 12,085,000 |
| 2 | 2 | Fedor Holz | 4,645,000 |
| 2 | 3 | Matt Guan | 14,230,000 |
| 2 | 4 | Zvi Stern | 9,940,000 |
| 2 | 5 | [Removed:172] | 3,175,000 |
| 2 | 6 | George McDonald | 2,875,000 |
| 2 | 7 | Alexander Turyansky | 10,785,000 |
| 2 | 8 | Joe McKeehen | 11,975,000 |
| 2 | 9 | Thomas Kearney | 14,400,000 |
| 3 | 1 | Pierre Neuville | 6,000,000 |
| 3 | 2 | Mario Sequeira | 11,685,000 |
| 3 | 3 | John Allan Hinds | 6,210,000 |
| 3 | 4 | Joshua Beckley | 3,745,000 |
| 3 | 5 | James Magner | 3,500,000 |
| 3 | 6 | Neil Blumenfield | 4,315,000 |
| 3 | 7 | Anton Morgenstern | 6,955,000 |
| 3 | 8 | Chad Power | 5,300,000 |
| 3 | 9 | Patrick Chan | 7,400,000 |
The final 27 players will return at Noon local time on Tuesday to play for a spot in the coveted November Nine. Action will resume in Level 30 with 37:36 left on the clock. Be sure to check back then as PokerNews brings you interviews, videos, and more on the way to the 2015 WSOP November Nine!