The long-awaited recommencement of the 2014 WSOP Main Event final table got underway last night after a four month hiatus. The elite November Nine took to the felt for 12 hours before the tournament was called to a halt with just three competitors remaining. Action will resume later this afternoon as an all-European trio – Jorryt van Hoof (Netherlands), Martin Jacobson (Sweden) and Felix Stephensen (Norway) – returns to the Penn & Teller Theater in the Rio Las Vegas to battle it out for the $10 million 1st place prize.
Surprisingly, Mark Newhouse became the first victim of the WSOP Main Event final table for the second year in a row. Newhouse struggled from the start, eliminated on hand #56 by Will Tonking. The board offered no help to either player, and Newhouse’s pocket 10’s weren’t enough to overcome the pocket Queens of the New Jersey online poker pro. Out in 9th in back to back WSOP Main Event’s, Newhouse earned $730,725 for his superlative efforts.
The day’s starting low stack, Bruno Politano of Brazil, suffered an 8th place elimination at the hands of Stephensen on the 100th deal of the day. With all action folded to him, Politano shipped his 8.175mm stack, getting the call from Felix in the big blind. Bruno showed Q♠-10♣ to the Norwegian’s 7♣-7♠. The dealer splayed 2♣-6♥-3♥, followed by K♣. The entire arena was on their feet, but Politano got no help from the 9♥ river, finishing 8th for $947,077.
Six hands later, US poker pro Dan Sindelar put his tournament life at risk, 4-betting over van Hoof with the last of his 10.35mm stack. Hoof called, showing A♥-3♥ as Sindelar tabled J♦-J♣. A flopped Ace gave the Dutchman the resilient lead that sent Sindelar out in 7th for $1,235,862.
Jorryt van Hoof used his substantial chip lead to influence the pot, raising 1.8mm from the button on hand #140. Andoni Larrabe made his move, pushing all in with J♣-10♣. Van hoof called with K♥-5♥ and again, the flop favored him with another King that he rode to the showdown. The Spaniard earned $1,622,080 for the 6th place finish as Jorryt increased his lead to 85.475mm.
Nearly 3 hours passed before World Champion Foosball player, Billy ‘Pappas’ Pappaconstantinou was crippled by Jacobson, dropping over 24mm chips and bringing his total to just 50k. Posting the ante on the next hand, Pappas was forced all in. Van Hoof swiped over 8mm from the table with pocket Jacks as Pappas made the 5th place exit, worth $2,143,174.
Jorryt van Hoof had risen to 101mm, nearly twice that of his nearest rival Felix Stephensen (57.2mm), by the time hand #224 rolled around. Under the gun, van Hoof tossed out 2.2mm, inciting a 20mm shove from Will Tonking, and another 21.35mm push from Jacobson. The Dutchman got out of the way and the cards were turned; 2♥-2♣ for Tonking, 10♥-10♦ for Jacobson. A flurry of clubs fell on the flop, 4♣-5♣-J♣, giving Tonking a boat load of outs, but the 6♦ turn and Q♠ river failed to help. Jacobson rose to 45.15mm in the counts as New Jersey’s Will Tonking made his way to the cashier cage to collect the 4th place prize of $2,848,833.
The final three played on for another half hour before the WSOP Main Event final table was halted minutes prior to 4:30am. The end of day chip counts left Jorryt van Hoof in the lead with 89,625,000, Martin Jacobson in second with 64,750,000 and Felix Stephensen trailing at 46,100,000. The final table resumes today at 4:30pm PT (7:30pm ET).