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While Day 6 of the WSOP Main Event action continues at the Rio, Aussie John Caridad is preparing for a huge poker day in front of the cameras, when he takes his seat at the WPT Bellagio Cup IV final table. A regular on the PokerNetwork forums as jcsydney, Caridad is in a commanding position leading into the final as he carries 5,120,000 in chips, with his closest opponent on 2,715,000.
Prior to this event, Caridad’s biggest live result was a 3rd place at the ANZPT Sydney Main Event in 2009 worth $93,670. He is guaranteed to smash this record today, as he is already guaranteed US$118,950 and is well on the way to the US$875,150 first place prize.
Caridad will have a tough battle ahead, with eight-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Ivey sitting to his direct left, holding 1,595,000 chips. Ivey is no stranger to this situation and this will be his 9th WPT final table appearance, a record for the tour. Ivey took advantage of the WPT rule that left registration of the event open as late as day three of the event. While many others had several days to build their stacks into six-figures when day three commenced, Ivey sat down with just 20,000 and went to work. It seemed like a fitting handicap to the rest of the field! The decision to keep the registration open was to allow as many WSOP Main Event players as possible to enter the field. In the end the event attracted 353 runners, creating a $3,424,100 prize pool.
Justin “BoostedJ” Smith made back-to-back WPT Bellagio Cups and will be looking to improve on his 3rd place finish from last year.
Other Aussies who made deep runs in the event include Joe Hachem who placed 24th ($20,392) and Jeff Lisandro who bowed out in 15th ($33,986).
But the tournament has been all about John “jcsydney” Caridad who will be looking to lock up the top prize of $875,150. The PokerNetwork community is fully behind the cause. We wish Caridad an amazing run all the way to the end. Check his progress throughout the day on http://www.worldpokertour.com/Live_Updates/Live.aspx.
Play will resume at 4pm Vegas time (9am AEST), with blinds at 30,000-60,000 with a 5,000 ante. The average chip count is 2,353,333 and the final line-up looks like this as the cameras begin to roll:
Seat 1: Phil Ivey - 1,595,000
Seat 2: Justin Smith - 2,100,000
Seat 3: Rob Akery - 1,980,000
Seat 4: Eric Afriat - 620,000
Seat 5: Moritz Kranich - 2,715,000
Seat 6: John Caridad - 5,120,000
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