Any tournament with a $25k buy-in is going to attract all the big guns and half the fun is sweating your favourite big-name pro. If you’re a fan of Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu, Erik Seidel or the Foxens, however, you’re out of luck as the GGPoker WSOP Super Main Event saw multiple legends fall!
Close to 2000 hopefuls set out on the trail for WSOP gold in Paradise, with at least a $50k share of GGPoker’s $50million guaranteed prizepool awaiting those who could make it to 207th spot or better.
Hellmuth shoulda listened!
The “Poker Brat” was down to fumes as the money bubble approached, having been told by Alex Keating that he should even fold aces to make the paid spots.
Big Phil doesn’t listen to too many people though, and as fate would have it, it was Keating who made him pay the price.
Hellmuth: A♥ K♣
Keating: 7♥ 6♥
Vaitiekunas: 4♠ 3♠
With Hellmuth all-in pre for his last 2.5 bigs, Keating and Vaitiekunas checked it down to the river.
Flop: Q♣ 5♣ 2♣
Turn: 10♥
River: 7♦
The big reveal was caught on camera, Hellmuth his usual “woe is me”, while Scott Seiver laughed and cheered on the potential bustout players on other tables in the hope that Hellmuth would be the lone bubble!
It’s official! @phil_hellmuth has stone cold bubbled the @WSOP Super Main. This leaves 3 of our Team Pro’s ITM now as they bag up to end the day.
Joseph Cheong – @subiime – $9.3M
Chris Hunichen @BigHuni – $6.1M
Farid Jattin – @FaridJattin – $1.3M#fearthepatch pic.twitter.com/GjarlKDh32— Phenom Brazil (@PhenomPokerBR) December 17, 2024
No fun for DNegs
The following day it was Daniel Negreanu’s turn to join his longtime friend/foe on the rail, struggling all day to make any headway. With less than 10 BBs to his name, the GGPoker ambassador jammed from the big blind against a raise and call before him. He got rid of Zlotnikov’s offsuit AQ but Justin Carey came along for the ride…
Daniel Negreanu: 10♠ 10♣
Justin Carey: K♥ J♥
“Come on, baby, let me win a flip one time,” said Negreanu as care revealed his hand.
Flop: 9♠ J♦ 4♦
“Dammit, I never win a fucking flip!” was DNegs response, accompanied by a muted fist-slam on the table.
Turn: Q♣
“Oh, ok, now I need a king or an 8,” he said, sitting back down as an open-ender appeared.
River: 6♣
“I had no fun today at any point from the start. Once we sat down, nothing about this was fun for me,” Negreanu moaned as he grabbed his bag and headed off to the cage to pick up $67,300 for his 170th place finish.
Seidel Loses Race
Erik Seidel, another absolute legend of the game, was predictably less voluble when his moment of truth came, a simple race to determine whether he would survive.
Erik Seidel: 5♥ 5♣
Marcelo Aziz: A♣ K♠
The quiet man of poker, who has amassed $47,061,727 in tournament winnings, would have hoped for a deeper run at the $6million top prize on offer. The river gods had other ideas…
Flop: 6♠ 10♠ Q♦
Turn: 2♥
River: A♦
That meant 161st and the same $67,300 payday as Negreanu.
Kristen Coolered as Alex Aced
When poker’s power couple, Kristen and Alex Foxen are in action, you can bet that one or other will be in or near the money. Yesterday it was both, but neither would be lifting the Super Main Event title.
It was a case of big slick never wins for both, Kristen falling first:
Lefrancois: A♦ 10♦
Foxen: A♠ K♥
Foxen’s 3-bet got them to the flop…
Flop: A♥ 10♥ 2♣
… Pascal Lefrancois check-raising the third-pot bet…
Turn: J♦
A shove saw Foxen call, but the bad news arrived and the river bricked…
River: 2♥
…sending Foxen part 1 to the rail in 210th spot for $50,000.
Husband Alex was doing a bit better, but he also fell victim to a cooler, calling off a 5-bet shove only to find Hunichen had the goods…
Alex Foxen: A♦ K♠
Chris Hunichen: A♥ A♣
Flop: 10♥ 9♥ 4♦
Turn: 3♦
River: 7♣
That meant 135th and a $67,300 for Alex, a decent family double cash but not what they would have hoped for.
Moneymaker and Addamo in the Mix
It wasn’t all terrible news for legends of the game, old-school or modern. The 36 players who made it through to day 4, all locking up $140,900, include a couple from each category.
Chris Moneymaker, 2003 WSOP Main Event champ and all-round nice guy is still well in the mix, sitting 10th in chips, while “English Rose” Liv Boeree is in 28th spot on one of her rare outings.
Meanwhile, Justin Bonomo is a scary name to see running so deep, currently in 14th spot, but even more terrifying is the man at the very top of the chip counts, Australian Michael Addamo, his 85million chips some 25million clear of second place.
The players are back in action today and will play down to a final table, and we’ll bring you all the very best of the action right here on VIP Grinders.
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