PokerWorks

By the time the field is cut in half today, everyone will be an almost millionaire before taxes, with 15th place paying $907k. By the time the night is over, everyone will have at least $1.5M. Some key questions going for today:

 

• Can Jamie Gold carry the chip lead into the Final Table? This assumes that he'll get there. He played extremely solid poker yesterday, playing premium hands for the most part then stealing when no one cared to tangle with him. He had some monster hands that put him in great shape, but we've yet to see him really handle adversity.

• Should Allen Cunningham win this thing? Cunningham is a very shy, private person who seems very comfortable at the felt or alone with a good friend or his lady. How would he handle being the next Greg Raymer? He's still the best player in the room, as he was two days ago, and he can definitely win this. He has no real interest in getting the chip lead today, but look for him to get there. If Cunningham were to win this, it would be a triumph for the pros as well as an increased focus on the technical aspects of poker.
  

• Will a short stack make it through? Luke Chung and Leif Force were two of the three smallest stacks headed into yesterday, and they both made it through yesterday. One of the bottom four - Paul Wasicka, Siddharth Jain, Mark Garner, and Richard Wyrick - will make it through to the final table. Just a hunch, but we'll see.

• How quickly will we move? The M's are tightening up now after the quick work from yesterday. With blinds still at $25k/50k and $5k antes, only Richard Wyrick sits at an M less than 5 with five others between 5 and 10. It's probably better to look at the next level, since we're halfway through this level. Blinds will be $30k/60k with $10k antes, and that puts four players below 5 and eight between 5 and 10. The payout structure is a flat $494,797 until we hit 18th, so look for a lot of action when we move up a level.

Three Tables (Total Chips)

• Table 1 ($34.0M): The largest of the three tables, the chip leader may very well come out of this table. The man to watch will be Allen Cunningham, but look for this to be a conservative table out of the shoot. No one is short stacked, so there won't be any immediate pressure here. Cunningham should try to keep pots small, but will Friberg try to dictate play. He has one win in Sweden last year, William Thorson has cashed in several tournaments in the US the last two years, Kevin Aaronson, John Magill, and Richard Lee combined have won less than $25k in their career. This is Kevin O'Donnell's seventh WSOP cash this year with two final tables. Eric Lynch has one final table this year, but he's been on an absolute tear the last three months online.

1. Erik Friberg ($7.7M)
2. Michael Binger ($5.7M)
3. William Thorson ($3.8M)
4. Kevin Aaronson ($3.7M)
5. John Magill ($3.3M)
6. Richard Lee ($3.3M)
7. Allen Cunningham ($2.7M)
8. Kevin O'Donnell ($2.1M)
9. Eric Lynch ($1.8M)
   

• Table 2 ($24.1M): This is a table with six players with less than average chips. Jeff Lisandro has a good chance at owning this table early, third in chips and first in experience and aggression. He has three WSOP cashes this year and a WSOP Circuit event last year. David Chung cashed in the '05 WPT Borgata event, David Einhorn has one small cash at Foxwoods, Leif Force cashed once in June at a weekly Bellagio event, Dustin Holmes made a final table at a WSOP event, and Mark Garner had a cash last year in a WSOP event. Players will be shuffled around as bust outs occur, but this is the weaker of the three tables.

1. Rob Roseman: $1.7M
2. Luke Chung: $1.1M
3. David Einhorn: $6.9M
4. Dan Nassif: $5.4M
5. Leif Force: $2.3M
6. Dustin Holmes: $1.2M
7. Sirous Jamshidi: $1.2M
8. Jeff Lisandro: $3.7M
9. Mark Garner: $0.6M

• Table 3 ($30.1M): We'll call this the 4th of July table or Chinese New Year, you decide. Regardless, this is where the fireworks will happen. Three players under $1M with three others below $2M, the monster chip leader Jamie Gold here with 4th place Rhett Butler. Gold has several cashes in small LA tourneys, but this is heady stuff he's in now. Doug Kim, recently graduated from Duke, is in virgin territory. Lee Kort from LA plays cash games at Commerce and in Beverly Hills, but he's new to tourney results as well. Rhett Butler and Fred Goldberg have one WSOP cash earlier this year. Siddharth Jain has a few cashes in LA. Paul Wasicka cashed twice at this World Series plus a six figure result at last year's WPT Championship. Richard Wyrick hasn't had a chip for about a week. "I am absolutely not trying to move up in cash, but I haven't had anything for two days," said the likeable Wyrick. Who is ultimately feared at this table? "I don't want Prahlad Friedman at my table tomorrow," said a knowledgeable player as he was leaving. Prahlad Friedman has one bracelet, but he's best known as a sick online beast. Mahatma and Spirit Rock are some of the names he's played under, and he plays at the highest levels online that are available. He will make any play with any cards at any time, so this will be ‘some kind of exciting' to watch him so near to Gold's huge stack.

1. Jamie Gold: $13M
2. Doug Kim: $3.6M
3. Lee Kort: $1.7M
4. Rhett Butler: $6.4M
5. Prahlad Friedman: $1.9M
6. Fred Goldberg: $1.6M
7. Siddharth Jain: $0.7M
8. Paul Wasicka: $0.7M
9. Richard Wyrick: $0.6M

This will an exciting day. Check back frequently for more insight and up to date reports. You can always see the latest action at Quest of a Closet Poker Player. Included on CC's blog will be my picks for the final table.