Barry Shulman also had a great day, starting as one of the leaders, and continually adding to his mountain of chips. More than one other player remarked that Shulman was playing "the best poker of his life." He ended the day in second place, and he'll start the final table with exactly $400,000.
The day started with an unusual flurry of activity. Shortly after the day's action started, there was a thirty-minute period where ten players were eliminated. (That average of one player every three minutes is even more impressive when you realize that every all-in hand had to stop and wait for TV cameras to arrive and tape the action.) The field dropped from 45 to 35 in the blink of an eye, and it was difficult to keep track of the players as they were headed to the exits. At that rate, they'd have reached the final six players well before 6:00 pm.
Of course, that didn't happen. The departures slowed down to a more reasonable pace, and the the day's action ended about 11 hours after it began.
The last player eliminated -- that unfortunate 7th-place bubble finisher -- was Todd Brunson, son of legendary player Doyle Brunson. As the field got smaller and smaller, it seemed more and more likely that they'd be able to play at the same TV Final Table. That dream was dashed when Todd Brunson's A-Q went up against chip leader Lee Markholt's A-K in the last hand of the night. Seventh place is doubly frustrating at the PPT, because not only do you miss the TV Final Table, but the top six places are the only ones paid in this invitational freeroll event.
Doyle Brunson reaches the final table in fourth place, with $324,000 in chips. He'll be seated next to poker superstar Erick Lindgren, in third place with $381,000. Chris Bjorin and Dan Heimiller round out the top six. Heimiller will definitely have his work cut out for him, as he is the short stack at the table, with only $85,000. And he's sitting just to the right of Markholt, who has more than a 10-to-1 chip lead over him -- and position.
Action will be suspended until Monday, April 25 -- more than a week away. The final table won't be taped until after the WPT World Championship, so the same set and production crew can be used for both events on back-to-back days.
Here are the standings for the final table of the Professional Poker Tour (PPT) event at Bellagio's Five-Star World Poker Classic:
1. Lee Markholt - $889,000 (seat 2)
2. Barry Shulman - $400,000 (seat 3)
3. Erick Lindgren - $381,000 (seat 5)
4. Doyle Brunson - $324,000 (seat 6)
5. Chris Bjorin - $214,000 (seat 4)
6. Dan Heimiller - $85,000 (seat 1)
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