Doyle Brunson Classic Championship Day 5

Play during Day 5 at the 2008 Doyle Brunson Classic Championships went at a rapid pace with players busting out of the tournament one after the other leaving plenty of air time at the televised final table.  The final table of six players features two young online pros, three frequent World Poker Tour final table participants and a member of the World Series of Poker November Nine.
 
The first elimination of the day was quickly determined after only six hands of play.  Evan McNiff raised to 75,000 pre-flop and Bill Klein quickly re-raised to 215,000.  Not to be outdone, McNiff re-raised all in and Klein called him.  Klein held J-J and McNiff had A-K.  The board read K-9-2-7-8 sending Klein to the rail in 18th place ($57,635).  Next up was Ben Tollerene who moved all in with A-9 against Chino Rheem who called with A-K.  The board read 7-6-2-2-8 eliminating Tollerene in 17th place ($57,635).

Hoyt Corkins saw some action when Tom Pniak raised from the small blind to 85,000 holding 9-9 and Corkins re-raised all in from the big blind holding Q-8.  The board read A-K-7-Q-3 eliminating Pniak in 16th place and boosting Corkins’ stack to over 1.7 million.  Martin DeKnijff moved all in prompting Clonie Gowen to move all in over the top from the small blind.  Jack Wu called from the big blind though Gowen had both opponents covered.  Gowen held Q-Q, DeKnijff A-J and Wu A-Q.  The board came 6-5-2-2-10 knocking DeKnijff out in 15th place and Wu in 14th though confusion ensued regarding the elimination order for spots 16-14.  After officials reviewed the tapes, they determined that Pniak’s hand was still in progress when the shuffle began at the other table.  The ruling was made that all three players would share 14th place, chopping the prize money.  The averaged amount for each player was $67,255.
 
The next few players finding their way to the door was Nick Schulman eliminated in 13th place ($72,060), Brett Richey in 12th place ($72,060), Robert Mizrachi sent to the rail in 11th place ($72,060) and Clonie Gowen eliminated in 10th place ($86,470).
 
After a good run all day, Mike “The Mouth” Matusow found himself re-raising with A-Q against Justin Young who raised from middle position with A-K.  The board read K-Q-7-J-J eliminating Matusow in ninth place ($100,880).  Next was Ben Straate, out in eighth place ($115,295) followed by Joe McGowan who moved all in from the big blind with 4-4 against Chino Rheem who was holding 9-9.  The board came A-A-5-6-8 giving McGowan no help and sending him home as the final table bubble in seventh place ($165,735).
 
Final Table Chip Counts

Seat 1: Chino Rheem — 4,240,000
Seat 2: Amnon Filippi — 2,750,000
Seat 3: Hoyt Corkins — 2,295,000
Seat 4: Steve Sung — 5,885,000
Seat 5: Justin Young — 2,410,000
Seat 6: Evan McNiff — 4,805,000