For months 888poker has been qualifying players for the 2019 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. On Wednesday, July 10 the “888 Squad” returned to the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino for Day 5 action.
At the start, just five of the original eighty-five 888poker qualifiers were still in action.
Here’s a look at how they did.
Down to the Final Two
It was an excellent day for poker pro and Canadian qualifier Sam Greenwood, who started the day with 1.118 million and ended with a whopping 11.95 million. That puts him in second place among the remaining 106 players.
Greenwood got off to a good start when his pocket queens held against ace-king suited to send Thomas Syversen to the rail. Later on, in the day, he picked up ace-queen to eliminated Giovanni Petroni, who had the inferior ace-jack,
The other player to bag up was Romanian Pro Mihai Manole, who qualified for the Main Event on 888poker for $100. He made it through with 5.685 million, which puts him in 34th place.
In Level 24 (25,000/50,000/50,000), Manole was playing at the secondary feature table when he called the four-bet all-in jam for 1.575 from Jordan Knackstedt, who held the J♣J♠. Manole was out in front with the Q♥Q♦ and scored the elimination after the board ran out A♦K♥9♣K♣10♥.
Morrone, Brandt and de Moree All Fall
On the flip side, Day 5 wasn’t so kind to Dean Morrone. He started the day as chip leader, but after an unsuccessful bluff against Antonio Esfandiari, he saw his stack cut down to size. Then in Level 24 (25,000/50,000/50,0000, Chris “Big Huni” Hunichen raised and Morrone three-bet to 325,000. Hunichen put in a four-bet and then called when Morrone shoved.
Hunichen: K♣K♦
Morrone: A♠9♦
Morrone managed to catch an ace on the 4♠A♦K♥ flop, but it was no good as Hunichen also found a set. The 5♥ turn left Morrone drawing dead, and he watched helplessly as the meaningless 8♣ was run out on the river to put an end to his 2019 WSOP Main Event. Morrone turned his $100 investment into $59,295 for his 159th-place finish.
After Niels de Moree bowed out in 249th place for $43,935, Patrice Brandt followed him out the door in 222nd place. It happened in Level 23 (20,000/40,000/40,000) when Greg Candido opened for 90,000 under the gun and Brandt three-bet to 225,000 from the hijack, which left him just 15,000 back. Mostafa Ashkarkhizani proceeded to four-bet to 500,000 from the cut-off, Candido got out of the way, and Brandt called off.
Ashkarkhizani: A♣Q♣
Brandt: 6♣6♠
Brandt got it in good but needed to win the flip to survive. Unfortunately for the 36-year-old, that proved easier said than done as the board ran out A♦A♠K♠4♣10♦ to give Ashkarkhizani trip aces.
Brandt, who has a degree in sports economics from Cologne University – which is where he first started playing poker with fellow students as they enjoyed home games in between their studies – took home $50,855 for his win. Not too shabby for the man who back in 2013 put all his remaining bankroll of $1,000 into an online tournament and won it for $108,000!
888poker will be bringing you daily 2019 WSOP Main Event updates on our qualifiers. Check back to see who goes deep and who ultimately finishes as the 888 Squad last player standing.
