Scotty Nguyen, Faraz Jaka Lead WPT Five Diamond Final Table

Poker pros Scotty Nguyen and Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka lead the final table of the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic playing out from the Bellagio in Las Vegas. The six-handed finale will begin at 4:00pm PT today.

Nguyen holds a stack of 4.9 million entering the six-handed televised final table, which will air as part of Season 8 of the WPT on Fox Sports Net. The Five Diamond will mark Nguyen’s eighth WPT final table. His only win of the seven previous appearances came during Season 4, when the pro took down the World Poker Open for $969,000. All told, Nguyen owns $2.1 million in WPT earnings and has been a staple of the tour ever since its first season. Jaka, an acclaimed online poker pro, leads the way at the Bellagio with 5.4 million chips.

Joe Cassidy was the final table bubble boy at the Bellagio. He shoved under the gun for 715,000 and Josh Arieh pushed over the top. Nguyen, in typical dramatic fashion, held his cards (A-Q) high in the air and, according to coverage found on WPT’s website, commented, “Oh baby, I would have called you if he didn’t.” Stephen “MrTimCaum” O’Dwyer grew frustrated with the situation, as players were still left to act in the hand, and stated, “How hard is it to keep your cards on the felt? And why am I the only one concerned about it?” Shawn Buchanan called as well, setting up a three-way all-in to determine the six-handed final table.

Arieh flipped over pocket tens, while Buchanan had him dominated with pocket queens. Cassidy, meanwhile, held live cards with K-J and watched as the flop came J-5-4. Buchanan’s wired pair of queens remained in the lead and a running 7-5 sent Cassidy to the rails. Buchanan scooped the massive pot, resulting in a stack of 2.8 million entering the final table. Here’s a look at the chip stacks of the members of the final table in the WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic:

1. Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka - 5,385,000
2. Scotty Nguyen - 4,900,000
3. Daniel Alaei - 3,925,000
4. Shawn Buchanan - 2,800,000
5. Josh Arieh - 1,710,000
6. Stephen “MrTimCaum” O’Dwyer - 1,050,000

Others eliminated on Friday included Chad “lilholdem954” Batista, who was sent to the rails in 10th place for $57,000. Batista open-shoved pre-flop with pocket fives and Nguyen made the call with K-J. The flop came king-high and Nguyen turned a third king for trips, sending Batista into the Las Vegas night. Batista recorded his second WPT cash in the process; he took 23rd in the Festa al Lago earlier this year for $24,000.

Carter “ckingusc” King, who chopped the 2008 PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) Main Event, was ousted from the WPT Five Diamond in 14th place. King pushed all-in over the top of a raise by 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event Champion John Juanda, who made the call. King showed A-9 and Juanda flipped over pocket sixes, setting up a race situation. The board ran out J-8-4-4-3 and that was all she wrote for King, who earned $47,000 for his troubles.

Friday’s action saw the field trimmed from 16 players to six. Those who fell by the wayside over the course of the day, along with their paydays, were as follows:

7. Joe Cassidy - $154,747
8. Eric Hershler - $107,133
9. Curt Kohlberg - $76,183
10. Chad “lilholdem954” Batista - $57,137
11. John Juanda - $57,137
12. Lee Salem - $57,137
13. Mike “SowersUNCC” Sowers - $47,615
14. Carter “ckingusc” King - $47,615
15. Matt Waxman - $47,615
16. Joe “BigEgypt” Elpayaa - $38,092

When play paused for the night on Friday, the blinds were 30,000-60,000 with a 5,000-chip ante. The action kicks off at 4:00pm PT today from Las Vegas. We’ll have full WPT results right here on Poker News Daily.

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Poker dictionary:

FREEROLL - [1] A poker tournament that does not charge a buy-in fee; players must earn buy-in credits through previous play at the same establishment. [2] Having a lock on part of a pot (sure to win a greater fraction of the pot than one is betting) and playing to win more or all of it.
BLACK - When referring to chips, black usually stands for $100 casino chips. "This guy sits down with a stack of blacks and raises the first bet." Not ALL casinos use black for $100 but that is the common usage.
ROYAL FLUSH - An ace-high straight flush, the best possible hand in regular poker.
FLAT LIMIT - A variant of fixed limit where all bets are the same amount.
HOOK - A Jack. So named because the "J" resembles a hook.
TELL - Any personal mannerisms that reveal the quality of one's hand. E.g., constantly looking at one's hole cards is often a tell of a poor hand. (Some players, knowing this, will at times check their hole cards when they have a great hand and don't need to look.)

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