Bradley Mercer raised to 175,000 from under the gun, but Kristen Foxen in the cutoff three-bet to 500,000. The blinds folded and Mercer shoved for 2,655,000. Foxen asked for the count and called.
Bradley Mercer: K♦K♣
Kristen Foxen: A♦K♥
Mercer was on the edge of elimination after Foxen hit top pair on 10♠A♣6♦. But he saw the K♠ turn landing on the felt to save him, and he doubled up after the 2♠ river.
Tomas Szwarcberg three-bet to 450,000 preflop and was called by Rodrigo Garrido Portaleoni, who then check-folded the Q♣8♣6♦ flop to a bet.
Shortly after, Iaron Lightbourne raised to 225,000 and fellow Brit Abdullah Al-Shanti three-bet to 625,000 in the small blind. Lightbourne clicked it back to 1,175,000 and then called the clock on his opponent after a mere 45 seconds. "Best I can do for you mate," Lightbourne grinned.
Al-Shanti was given more time before the extra 30 seconds kicked in and he then mucked, exposing an ace first.
"Show me both and I will show mine," Lightbourne said. Al-Shanti exposed the A♥7♠ and was shown the K♣K♦ by Lightbourne.
They went back and forth with more banter and Lightbourne was all smiles after further boosting his stack.
Jason James and Stephen Song were enjoying the show from up close and could barely stop laughing.
Stephen Song opened to 160,000 from the hijack and was called by Tomas Szwarcberg on the button for a heads-up pot.
Song check-called a 250,000 bet from Szwarcberg on the 6♠A♠10♣ flop and the both players checked on the 2♠ turn.
The 8♠ river brought four-to-a-flush and Song led out for 700,000. Szwarcberg tanked, but eventually decided to put in a call and Song turned over K♠K♦ for the nut flush.
Szwarcberg sent his hand into the muck and Song added to his stack.
On the main feature table, Julio Trimmer raised to 170,000 with 10♠10♥ from middle position then called after Kristen Foxen to his left three-bet to 420,000 with A♦K♣.
Trimmer flopped a set on 7♦10♣2♥, so he check-called for 330,000. Both players checked the 10♦ turn, which gave quads to Trimmer, who led out for 925,000 on the 4♣ river.
Foxen went deep into the tank, but eventually folded. Trimmer didn't show his hand.
Iaron Lightbourne peeked at his cards then looked at who was in the big blind and saw Stephen Song.
"It's more for you," said Lightbourne as he made it 200,000 to go.
Once it folded to Song, he made the call.
They saw a monotone flop of A♣3♣K♣ where Song checked, Lightbourne bet 80,000, and Song made it 300,000. Lightbourne hadn't seen the raise of Song and jokingly called the clock, not knowing that he was calling the clock on himself. The floor came over to give the countdown when Lightbourne finally realized.
"You're calling the clock on yourself?" asked Song.
"Oh what. You raised?" replied Lightbourne as he saw the raise of Song in the pot, then folded his hand.
On the first hand of the day at the feature table, Kristen Foxen raised to 160,000 from under the gun with A♦8♦, then Bradley Mercer in the cutoff three-bet to 425,000 with A♠Q♦.
Foxen went deep into the tank, staring at Mercer, but she eventually decided to fold.
It will be hard to match the dramatic action that took place on Day 5 of the 2024 World Series of Poker $10,000 Main Event No-Limit Hold'em World Championship, but the remaining 160 players returning for Day 6 inside the Horseshoe Event Center will do their best as poker's biggest event gets closer to crowning a champion.
Leading the way for the third straight day is 2022 GPI Player of the Year Stephen Song, who seeks his second bracelet, another career year and to add to his more than $6 million in live earnings.
Song, who bagged 4,745,000 on Day 4 before running up a stack of 12,310,000 on Day 5, will have to fend off a trio of Portuguese pros who ascended to the top of the counts on Day 5: Carlos Caldas, Diogo Coelho and Manuel Machado. He will also have to contend with fellow Americans Yegor Moroz and Kevin Davis, as well as Ireland's Charles Russell, Mexico's Tomas Szwarcberg, Belgium's Laurent Manderlier and Sweden's Niklas "Lena900" Astedt, an online crusher recognized as one of the best in poker without a bracelet.
Niklas Astedt
Day 6 Top Ten Chip Counts
Place
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Stephen Song
United States
12,310,000
154
2
Carlos Caldas
Portugal
12,110,000
151
3
Diogo Coelho
Portugal
9,950,000
124
4
Yegor Moroz
United States
9,470,000
118
5
Manuel Machado
Portugal
8,830,000
110
6
Kevin Davis
United States
8,675,000
108
7
Charles Russell
Ireland
8,055,000
101
8
Tomas Szwarcberg
Mexico
7,950,000
99
9
Niklas Astedt
Sweden
7,900,000
99
10
Laurent Manderlier
Belgium
7,500,000
94
Other notables who will be in the Day 6 field include Poker Hall of Famer Brian Rast, four-time bracelet winner Kristen Foxen, poker commentator Tony Dunst and high-stakes familiars Danny Tang, Ren Lin and Leonard Maue.
Kristen Foxen
The field shrank significantly on Day 5 and saw some of poker's biggest names go, including Phil Ivey, Alex Livingston, Nacho Barbero, Alejandro Lococo and Adrian Mateos, who correctly folded kings before getting aces cracked in a brutal turn of events.
Day 6 kicks off today at noon local time on Level 26 with blinds of 40,000/80,000/80,000. It will follow the same schedule as previous days with five two-hour levels planned and 20-minute breaks after each level and a 75-minute dinner break scheduled after Level 28 at approximately 6:40 p.m.
Each returning player has locked up a payday of at least $70,000, while all eyes are on the eight-figure prize of $10 million up top.
Remaining Payouts
Place
Prize
Place
Prize
1
$10,000,000
14-17
$450,400
2
$6,000,000
18-26
$350,000
3
$4,000,000
27-35
$300,000
4
$3,000,000
36-44
$250,000
5
$2,500,000
45-53
$200,000
6
$2,000,000
54-62
$160,000
7
$1,500,000
63-71
$140,000
8
$1,250,000
72-80
$120,000
9
$1,000,000
81-125
$100,000
10-11
$800,000
126-134
$85,000
12-13
$600,000
135-162
$70,000
Stay tuned as the PokerNews live reporting team is here on-site and ready to continue providing Main Event updates ahead of the 2024 champion being crowned.
