World Poker Tour superstars Darren Elias and Chino Rheem beat the bubble and advanced to Day 4 in the $10,400 WPT Five Diamond World Classic at Bellagio in Las Vegas on Wednesday.
Daniel Negreanu also bagged a stack, albeit a modest one. The GGPoker ambassador bought into the tournament twice after publicly speaking out against unlimited re-entry. As it turns out, firing that extra bullet paid off. Negreanu busted on Day 1 and then re-entered on Day 2. He’s now one of the 81 remaining players, and in the money.
Negreanu Seeks Second WPT Five Diamond Title
Negreanu hasn’t cashed in a World Poker Tour event since the 2015 WPT Five Diamond, as he’s no longer a regular on the WPT. He won this event in 2004 for $1.8 million – the buy-in was $15,300 at the time – and finished third for $592,000 two years later.
This year, he locked up his sixth WPT Five Diamond cash, but will head into Day 5 on Thursday with just 239,000 chips. The blinds will start at 10,000/20,000 with a 20,000 big blind ante when play resumes at noon PT.
The Five Diamond is arguably the most prestigious event on tour each year, and also has some historical significance. Gus Hansen was the inaugural champion in 2002, winning the event for $556,400. That tournament was the first-ever World Poker Tour event.
Elias Seeks Fifth WPT Trophy
Darren Elias is the only four-time winner on the World Poker Tour. He also holds the record for most cashes (now at 38) and final table appearances (13). In a nutshell, he’s the G.O.A.T. of all G.O.A.T.’s when it comes to the WPT.
On Day 4 he bagged a healthy stack of 793,000 chips, the equivalent of 79 big blinds. That puts him right in the thick of things as the field continues to play down from 1,035 entries (the largest in the event’s history) to an eventual champion, who will earn a first-place prize worth $1,694,995.
Elias isn’t the only WPT crusher who will be back to compete on Day 5. Three-time WPT champion Chino Rheem (692,000) and former WPT Player of the Year, Joe Serok (489,000), advanced to Day 5.
Wednesday was a good day for quite a few super-high rollers. Alex Foxen (1,020,000), Seth Davies (855,000), Cary Katz (575,000), Ali Imsirovic (504,000), and Negreanu (239,000), all bagged chips.
Everyone, however, is chasing chip leader T.K. Miles who ended Day 4 at 1,341,000. Miles also finished Day 3 with the chip lead.
Other Notable WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic Chip Counts
- Jonathan Jaffe 1,244,000
- Jeremy Ausmus 476,000
- Jake Schwartz 446,000
- Cliff Josephy 400,000
- Kitty Kuo 235,000
- Robert Mizrachi 197,000
- Jesse Sylvia 171,000
- Paul Volpe 64,000
The $10,400 buy-in tournament at Bellagio is set to conclude with the six-player final table at 2 pm PT on Saturday.
