The 693 players who managed to hold on long enough to get a return of heir $10,000 investment at the WSOP Main Event have finally been decided, but instead of having the mood wind down to a relaxed state, play became even more feverish and more hectic. Now the players are dead serious about reaching the very top, and the competition is fiercer than ever. Many people have already noted how fast-paced this year’s Main Event is and, if anything, things are even more fast-paced now.
The Bubble Boy
One of the most interesting and exciting parts of the WSOP Main Event is when the money bubble is close to bursting. At that point, everybody’s praying that they won’t be the ‘Bubble Boy’ – i.e. the last one to be eliminated who won’t be able to take home a piece of the prize pool. This year, the unfortunate bubble boy was Reza Kashani. Kashani and 2010 November Niner Joseph Cheong clashed in the hand that ultimately became Kashani’s undoing. Still, being the Bubble Boy isn’t as bad as it seems because Kashani did win a free seat to next year’s WSOP for his efforts. In a sense, his investment was returned, just not expanded upon. The celebration when the money bubble burst wasn’t at all raucous though. There was some applaus and some cheering from the friends and family of those remaining, but overall the atmosphere was pretty serious. It would be a race to the top from here on in.
The Leaderboard
Of course, there were those who climbed to the very top of the leaderboard and are actually vying for the win and not just for survival. At the top of the pack is Manoj Viswanathan, with 2.115 million chips. He was actually the first one to pass the 2 million chip mark. Sam Barnhart is close on his heels with 1.925 million chips, followed by Pius Heinz with 1.887 Million chips.
There are still some top pros remaining in the competition. Ben Lamb, of course, is still in the running. He has a pretty good chip stack of 1.268 million. Allen Cunningham is also in a decent position with 582,000 chips. Erick Lindgren has 492,000 chips. Phil Hellmuth was eliminated earlier in the day, much to the disappointment of his fans. Todd Brunson was also eliminated, though he did finish in the money.
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