Poker News

Tiffany Williamson, the last female in the Main event is in the 10 ten in chips going into day 5

[Visit the Photo Gallery, 2005 World Series of Poker Results and the WSOP Top Money Finishers. Our WSOP writer is live blogging the WSOP on his poker blog, Tao of Poker]

2004 World Series of Poker Champion Greg “Fossilman” Raymer had a tough day ahead of him. He began Day 4 as the chipleader and had all 185 players gunning for him. The action was faster than expected once again after over 127 players were eliminated in all on Tuesday. Several top pros made big moves. John Juanda went from a middle stack to over $1 million in chips while Phil Ivey, Mike Matusow, and Tim Phan flirted with $2 million stacks all day. Unfortunately during the last hour of play, Raymer’s stack took a huge hit and he lost half of it. He ended the day around $700K in chips, which was below the average stack of $968K.

Mike Matusow on the other hand admitted, “I’m playing the best poker of my life.”

It’s true. By the end of Day 4, he emerged as one of the chip leaders and spent most of the day in front of the cameras on the featured TV table. Although the crowd was expecting a prototypical Mike Matusow blow up, he held his cool. When he won a huge hand late when his pocket jacks held up against A-K, he sarcasticallyscreamed “I finally won a coin flip!”

The Buzz

Everyone was talking about whether or not Greg Raymer can survive one more day and have a shot to repeat. Others wondered if an unknown player was going to win this year. Tiffany Williamson, an American born attorney who works in London, emerged as the Cinderella story. She’s started Day 4 as one of six female players remaining. She won a $10 satellite and that’s why she’s in Las Vegas playing against the world’s top players.

The Back Story

Yesterday Sammy Farha lost over $25,000 in side bets with a player at his table. They were betting on drawing for high card out of the dealer’s scramble along. When they were informed by tournament directors that they were forbidden to touch the cards, Sammy decided to bet on coin flips instead. By the end of the session, Sammy paid his debt by tossing the player a single $25K chip from the Bellagio.

Sight of the Day

The oddest sight was seeing rows of empty poker tables after the once jam packed poker room condensed to a handful of tables. There were twice as many mediareps covering the event today than actual players who began Day Four.

Quote of the Day

“The comeback is almost complete,” said Mike Matusow as soon as Day 4 ended. After a brief stint in jail, which he spent in the months after last year’s WSOP, he’s looking to turn things around, especially his poker game.

Top 10 Chip counts with hometown, table and seat number.

1 Tim Phan

Westminster

$3,244,000

129

7

2 Mike Matusow

Las Vegas, NV

$2,561,000

117

7

3 Farzad Bonyadi

Los Angeles, CA

$2,402,000

117

5

4 Steve Danaman

Severn, MD

$2,143,000

118

3

5 Phil Ivey

$2,027,000

131

3

6 Tex Barch

McKinney, TX

$2,025,000

117

9

7 Tiffany Williamson

London, UK

$1,992,000

133

3

8 Johnny Howard

Lexington Park, MD

$1,806,000

133

5

9 Scott Lazar

Studio City, CA

$1,629,000

129

6

10 Tuan Vu

Las Vegas, NV

$1,571,000

129

5

Notable Chip Counts

Phil Ivey 2,027,000

Tiffany Williamson 1,992,000

Lee Watkinson 1,221,000

Minh Ly 1,102,000

John Juanda 841,000

Greg Raymer 766,000

Andy Black 371,000

Notable Bust-outs

Howard Lederer

Paul Darden

Russ Hamilton

JC Tran

Joe Beevers

Jason Lester

Player Name Hometown Chip Count Table # Seat #

Tim Phan Westminster $3,244,000 129 7

Mike Matusow Las Vegas, NV $2,561,000 117 7

Farzad Bonyadi Los Angeles, CA $2,402,000 117 5

Steve Danaman Severn, MD $2,143,000 118 3

Phil Ivey $2,027,000 131 3

Tex Barch McKinney, TX $2,025,000 117 9

Tiffany Williamson London $1,992,000 133 3

Johnny Howard Lexington Park $1,806,000 133 5

Scott Lazar Studio City, CA $1,629,000 129 6

Tuan Vu Las Vegas $1,571,000 129 5

Gregory Rice Birmingham $1,414,000 142 6/7

Raymi Sanchesz Thorn Stockholm $1,288,000 142 1

Lee Watkinson $1,221,000 133 1

Tom Sartori Buffalo, NY $1,208,000 120 3

Daniel Bergsdorf Umea $1,144,000 118 2

Brad Koundracki Kingston, PA $1,136,000 117 8

Minh Ly Las Vegas, NV $1,102,000 118 7

Terry Burt Mesa, AZ $1,080,000 131 9

Steve Marx Bellevue, WA $1,042,000 118 4

Per Hildebrand Stockholm $1,017,000 129 2

Michael Kessler Spotsylvania $986,000 120 2

Shahram $983,000 120 8

Patrick Hayden Ribs $972,000 142 6/7

Dustin Woolf Los Angeles $968,000 117 6

John Juanda Marina Del Rey $841,000 142 8

Joseph Hachem Melbourne $814,000 133 8

Nick Givson Windsor, UK $811,000 118 8

John McGrane London, UK $780,880 129 4

Aaron Kanter Lodi $778,000 131 10

Ayhan Alsancak Gothenburg $775,000 133 6

Greg Raymer Stonington, CT $766,000 120 5

Radu Butan London, ON $762,000 120 7

Bing Wang Jersey City $739,000 133 7

Oskar Silow Sweden $720,000 131 6

Adam Friedman Gahanna, OH $719,000 118 1

James Butt Buckley, WA $716,000 120 4

Russell “The Muscle” Salzer $710,000 131 2

Bryant King Liberty, UK $702,000 129 3

Frankling Caldwel Lexington $690,000 117 2

Yakov Hirsch Brooklyn, NY $658,000 142 9

Joe Connor Atlanta, GA $641,000 117 3

Mark Forrester Preston, UK $628,000 133 10

Karlo Lopez Puerto Rico $607,000 120 1

Joe Stillman Staten Island $584,000 133 2

Kevin Kaikko Princeton, NJ $571,000 118 5

Tony Abesamis West Covina, CA $513,000 133 9

Kenna James Los Angeles, CA $510,000 142 2

Hung La MB, CA $505,000 131 8

David Richardson Englewood $501,000 131 5

Roland Israelashvici New York $469,000 131 4

Francis W O’Brie Tunica Resorts $423,000 142 5

Bernard Lee Wayland, MA $379,000 142 4

Andrew Black Dublin $371,000 131 1

Conor Tate Bury M/Cr $368,000 129 1

Derek Dix Chico, CA $202,000 133 4

Rod Pardey Jr. Las Vegas, NV $187,000 142 3

Larry Prugh Macomb, MI $166,000 118 6

Jarl Lindholt Aarhus, Denmark $101,000 117 1

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