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Day 5 of the WPT Season VII finale cranks up at noon PT on Thursday. These 24 players will return guaranteed $49,025 but they will be gunning for a spot at the final table and the $2.1 million grand prize.

End of Day 4 chip counts:

Eugene Katchalov -- 4,294,000
Christian Harder -- 3,083,000
Yevgeniy Timoshenko -- 2,613,000
Justin Young -- 2,553,000
Brian Rast -- 1,931,000
Scotty Nguyen -- 1,823,000
Andrew Lichtenberger -- 1,663,000
Freddy Deeb -- 1,575,000
Ross Boatman -- 1,545,000
Owen Crowe -- 1,500,000
Jeff Madsen -- 1,265,000
Elky Grospellier -- 1,230,000
Shannon Shorr -- 1,200,000
Sinan Yoyen -- 1,137,000
Blake Cahail -- 1,083,000
Andy Miller -- 1,011,000
Ran Azor -- 859,000
Eric Liu -- 844,000
Jennifer Harman -- 821,000
Marco Johnson -- 814,000
Matt Hyman -- 433,000
Nick Binger -- 401,000
David Grey -- 322,000
Bruno Fitoussi -- 210,000

Day 4 Payouts:

25 -- Hyon Kim -- $49,025
26 -- Steve Billirakis -- $49,025
27 -- Nenad Medic -- $49,025
28 -- Chris Ferguson -- $49,025
29 -- David Baker -- $49,025
30 -- Philip Gurian -- $49,025
31 -- Chris Bell -- $40,855
32 -- Ulises Roman -- $40,855
33 -- Barny Boatman -- $40,855
34 -- Phil Ivey -- $40,855
35 -- Steve Sung -- $40,855
36 -- Jonathan Aguiar -- $40,855
37 -- Boris Becker -- $40,855
38 -- Liv Boeree -- $40,855
39 -- Mark Seif -- $40,855
40 -- Will Failla -- $40,855
41 -- David Singer -- $32,685
42 -- Steven Fung -- $32,685
43 -- Evan McNiff -- $32,685
44 -- Jimmy Tran -- $32,685
45 -- David Benyamine -- $32,685
46 -- Javed Abrahams -- $32,685
47 -- Farzad Bonyadi -- $32,685
48 -- Matt Glantz -- $32,685
49 -- Nick Salem -- $32,685
50 -- Cody Slaubaugh -- $32,685

Wednesday, 22nd of April 2009 09:25 PM

Day 4 is currently closing and two dozen players are bagging it all up.




	Hyon Kim (25th)

We lost another half dozen during the last level. Here's a look at who hit the payouts desk lately to pick up their $49,025:

25th -- Hyon Kim
26th -- Steve Billirakis
27th -- Nenad Medic
28th -- Jesus Ferguson
29th -- David Baker

David Baker was all in during level 20's opening minutes. The pro from Katy, TX, was looking to dodge not only Freddy Deeb, but Christian Harder as well. With Baker all in, the two checked it down. Deeb's pocket fives had filled up on the river and Baker left quietly.

After Eric Liu took care of Jesus, we were down to three tables. Re-draw time. Billirakis should have used his easy button to get a table change.




	Justin Young

Justin Young had just pumped his stack up to 1 million and was moving all in on Billirakis. A call was announced and Billirakis would soon find out he ran his kings into aces. By the river, Young was the only one to improve. He ran his stack up to 2 million and left Billirakis with about 500K.

A few hands later, after Nenad ran his straight into a Timoshenko boat, Billirakis shoved with a pair of Johnnies and got action from Christian Harder armed with big slick. Billirakis got some good news when he watched Scotty Nguyen fold A-K face up, killing some outs. But the dealer would get the ace out of the way on the flop, ultimately sending "MrSmokey" out in 26th.

Hyon Kim was the last elimination of the evening. Kim called off the rest of his chips with the nut flush draw. Timoshenko turned over bottom two. Sadly, Kim couldn't dig up a heart on 4th or 5th and would instead go home in 25th-place.

I'm waiting on the final results from the Bellagio staff. They'll be posted very shortly. Day 5 begins tomorrow, Thursday, at noon PT.

Wednesday, 22nd of April 2009 07:35 PM

Level 19 has come to a close. The 30 players still holding onto chips are now taking their last break of the day. Day 4 will close after level 20, which brings 12,000-24,000 blinds plus antes of 3,000.




	Chris Bell (31st)

During the level, a half dozen players ran out of chips.

30th -- Philip Gurian -- $49,025
31st -- Chris Bell -- $40,855
32nd -- Ulises Roman -- $40,855
33rd -- Barny Boatman -- $40,855
34th -- Phil Ivey -- $40,855
35th -- Steve Sung -- $40,855
36th -- Jonathan Aguiar -- $40,855

Aguiar ran his queens into kings. Steve Sung called off the rest of his stack with pocket deuces after a 9-9-3 flop. Shannon Shorr had a pair of threes, which held up to drop Sung in 35th.

Phil Ivey got it in real good, his A-K dominating the A-9 of Scotty Nguyen. But the "Prince of Poker" would come from behind after the dealer ran out 9-7-5-7-8 and Scotty's pair of nines spelled the end of the road for Ivey.

Freddy Deeb dropped both Ulises Roman and Chris Bell. Deeb is at 1 million chips while Roman and Bell will have to settle for $40K in cash.




	Eugene Katchalov

Eugene Katchalov has emerged as the overwhelming chip leader. Not long after taking a 700K pot from Owen Crowe, table newcomer Shannon Shorr would tangle with the new chip leader in his first hand at the new table.

Shorr opened the hand with a raise to 54K. Both Katchalov and Crowe would make the call. The flop falls 9

and it's checked to Shorr, who bets 110K. Katchalov would call, but Crowe gave up defending his big blind. The turn would bring the 5

and Shorr made it 205K. Again, Katchalov would call. The river came 7

and Shorr put on the breaks. After seeing a check, Katchalov sent 350K to the middle and Shorr made the insta-muck.

A couple hands later. Katchalov took the rest of Philip Gurian's chips when his J-J held up vs. 8-8.




	Billirakis with his 'Easy Button'

Unofficial counts of the big stacks, from the WPT:

1 -- Eugene Katchalov -- 4,310,000
2 -- Christian Harder -- 2,500,000
3 -- Scotty Nguyen -- 2,285,000
4 -- Ross Boatman -- 1,770,000
5 -- Steve Billirakis -- 1,660,000

Billirakis is making it look easy, thanks to the bracelet and WSOPC winner having his own 'Easy Button' with him. During a big pot with Jeff Madsen, a big call on the turn against a Q-high board forced Madsen to put on the breaks. After the river improved neither player, Billirakis got to show his A-K high for free. Madsen shook his head, then tossed his hand in the muck. Billirakis slammed the easy button and began stacking.




	Yevgeniy Timoshenko

A couple hands later, with 8-4-9-K-10 on the board, Madsen would check-call 125K on the river to see Marco Johnson show him A-K, good for top pair and the pot. Former chip leader Yevgeniy Timoshenko tossed Billirakis' easy button across the table to Johnson, who gave it a tap of his own.

Maybe Timoshenko should have used the button himself. Right after all that action, Timoshenko woke up with K-K and had Elky all in and at risk. Sadly, Elky turned over A-A. Nothing funny happened on the board and Elky moved over the 1 million mark. Timoshenko, who was on his way to 3 million earlier, is now on the low-side of 1 million.

Wednesday, 22nd of April 2009 05:10 PM




	David Singer (41st) and Jesus Ferguson

We're midway through level 18 and the clock has been paused. The board is showing 36 players and it's time for a re-draw.

Recent eliminations (each worth $32,685):

48th -- Nick Salem
47th -- Freddy Bonyadi
46th -- Javed Abrahams
45th -- David Benyamine
44th -- Jimmy Tran
43rd -- Evan McNiff
42nd -- Steven Fung
41st -- David Singer

After the pay jump, we lost four player right away. The following players each earned $40,855:




	Mark Seif (39th)

40th -- Will "the Thrill" Failla
39th -- Mark Seif
38th -- Liv Boeree
37th -- Boris Becker

Will "the Thrill" had his run come to an end when Jeff Madsen's A-Q topped his 9-9. The queen came in the window and that would do it for Failla.

Mark Seif started the level by dumping half his stack to see Eugene Katchalov's set of fives. Later, Seif was crippled after getting it in with a flush draw post flop and not getting there vs. the top-pair top-kicker of David Grey. Shortly after, Seif would dump his last 100K or so off to Bruno Fitoussi.




	Young and Boeree (38th)

Liv Boeree came over the top of a Justin Young raise with her last 175K. Young ran the numbers, then apologized for the bad beat ahead of time. He called to show 3

, looking to crack Boeree's K

. Young would pick up a flush draw after the 6

flop. After the 10

turn, Young had stolen the lead in the hand. Young was then able to dodge another heart on the river, sending the lovely Boeree home in 38th.

Nine-time grand slam winner Boris Becker was sent packing at just about the same time. Becker had a tough break previous to his all in. After getting it in with K-K to the J-J of Sinan Yoyen, both would wind up playing the board after it showed queens full of aces. Not long after the chop, Becker's elimination meant it was time for a redraw.

Wednesday, 22nd of April 2009 04:00 PM

In the money!

With 52 players still seated, Ron Levi and John Martin each ran out of chips during the same hand. The double elimination means we can skip all that hand for hand stuff. Everyone has guaranteed themselves at least $32,585.

After the bubble burst, a couple players tried to move up the payouts, but failed.




	Bonyadi stares down Slaubaugh (50th)

The first was Cody Slaubaugh. Slaubaugh picked up a win and a runner-up during the prelims here at the Bellagio, but will leave the World Championships in 50th.

Earlier, Slaubaugh was forced to give up a big pot to a Freddy Bonyadi all in. Later, Slaubaugh was crippled after he ran top pair into bottom two after an A-Q-9 flop. Right after, Mark Seif put Slaubaugh to rest with K-K.

Matt Glantz would also bust. We're down to 47 players and should see play loosen up now that everyone is in the money.

The survivors have returned from another break to level 18, with blinds of 8,000-16,000 and 2,000 antes.

Wednesday, 22nd of April 2009 03:00 PM

We were down to 54 players by the time level 17 rolled around, with 6,000-12,000 blinds and 2,000 antes.

Just before the break, we lost Dutch Boyd, Steve Brecher and Chad Batista. Boyd got the rest of his chips in with A-Q after a 2-3-3 flop and was looked up by David Singer's 10-10. Boyd couldn't get there and is out near the bubble. Bay 101 winner Stever Brecher ran his short stack into aces from the button. Batista raced his ladies agains the AK of Marco Johnson and came up short.




	Jennifer Harman

Jeff Madsen flopped the nuts and was able to take a nice pot off of Jennifer Harman.

Madsen and Ran Azor call a preflop raise to 3,600 by Harman to see 10

flop. Harman leads out for 65K and Madsen comes right over the top, making it 170K to go. Azor mucks, but Harman makes the call. 2

on the turn and Harman checks to the raisor. Madsen makes it 170K to go and Harman had some thinking to do. After a few minutes, Harman let it go. Madsen shows 7

for the 10-high straight. What a gentleman.




	Nenad Medic

Nenad Medic picked up a nice pot off of Blake Cahail, only to give it all back in a pot with Javed Abrahams.

Cahail paid Medic an extra 200K or so after the river on an A-J-5-7-10 board to be showed 7-7 for a turned set. About an orbit later, Medic would defend his blind vs. Abrahams.

With Q-9-J on the board, Medic check-called 80K from Abrahams. After a deuce bricked on the turn, Medic would again check-call, this time for 120K. The river would bring a 6d and after another check, Abrahams would bet 150K, leaving about 200K behind. Medic would immediately announce all in and Abrahams would snap to show K-K for an overpair. Medic shook his head and turned his A-Q over (top-pair) before counting out the Abrahams double thru.




	Steve Billirakis

Here's a look at the big stacks, according to the WPT, as we inch towards the money:

1 -- Yevgeniy Timoshenko -- 2,330,000
2 -- Steve Billirakis -- 1,840,000
3 -- Mark Seif -- 1,410,000
4 -- Christian Harder -- 1,375,000
5 -- Scotty Nguyen -- 1,250,000

Timoshenko just inherited the chip lead after doubling through David Singer. The APT Macau champion was able to show Q-3 against a 3-3-8-2-Q board to take down the 2.3 million pot.

Still a couple away from the money.

Wednesday, 22nd of April 2009 01:30 PM

There are less than 60 players remaining in the WPT World Championship. Only the top 50 will get paid, so were taking on the money bubble first thing today.




	Madsen and Becker

Here's a reminder of what they're playing for:

Place	Prize
1 --	$2,149,960
2 --	$1,446,265
3 --	$776,245
4 --	$571,965
5 --	$408,550
6 --	$285,985
7 --	$204,275
8 --	$163,420
9--	$130,735
10 --	$98,050
11 - 15 --	$81,710
16 - 20 --	$65,370
21 - 30 --	$49,025
31 - 40 --	$40,855
41 - 50 --	$32,685

A few notables have already left today, including Quinn Do, Michael Demichele, Mike Matusow and Kathy Leibert.

Quinn Do missed out on the money after getting it all in with J-J against the A-Q of Jeff Madsen. The jacks held all the way through the turn, but Quinn's arms went up in the air after a queen hit the river. Madsen had to smirk as Boris Becker gave him a hard time.




	Christian Harder

Thanks to Christian "CHarder" Harder, Michael Demichele will miss out on the money.

Harder entered the day with over 700K. He took a dip early, mostly due to his J-J coming up short to Jimmy "Gobboboy" Fricke's A-K. Harder would get his paybacks later, switching the tables and doubling through Fricke's J-J with an A-K of his own. A few hands later, Harder bounced Fricke with a set of deuces.

By the time Demichele came around to tangle, Harder was up near 900K.




	Demichele vs. Harder

The board was showing J-3-9-4 when the fireworks went off. A Demichele bet was met by a Harder re-raise of about 100K. Harder made the move all in after Demichele popped one last time and the 2008 $50K HORSE runner-up made the call.

Harder turned over J-J, having flopped top set. Demichele hesitated a bit, before finally showing 4-4 for a turned set. The river fell with just a 10, meaning Demichele was done.

Mike Matusow wasn't far behind.




	Matusow misses the money

Matusow opened the action with a raise to 26K from the cutoff. Matt Hyman made the call from the button, only to see Justin Young re-pop another 110K from the SB. Action folded back around to Matusow, who moved in his last 225K. Hyman tanked a bit, before ultimately mucking his hand. Young called.

"You got aces?" asked Matusow. Young nodded. "Of course you have the biggest hand in the deck. Maybe I'll hit a two-outer."

Matusow showed Q-Q and Hyman tells the table he mucked J-J. No two-outer for "the Mouth" as the board missed everyone (except Hyman, who would have hit his two-outer). Matusow missed the money.




	Leibert's last stand

At the same table, Scotty Nguyen dispatched Kathy Leibert. Leibert managed to get the rest of her chips in with A-J after a flop of all baby cards. Scotty made the call with 9-9. After the nines held, Leibert's World Championship was over.

There's still some time left in level 16, with 5K-10K blinds and 1K antes.

Day 4 of the WPT World Championship begins at noon PT on Wednesday. Sixty-two remain with only 50 spots in the money up for grabs. Click here to read the Day 3 blog,

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