Xuan Liu Leads Entering Final Day of WSOP 2012 Event #4

Canadian Xuan Liu leads the way in the chase for the $201,559 first prize in Event #4 of the World Series of Poker of 2012.

Day 2 of the Seven-Card Stud Hi/Lo tournament witnessed 198 of the original 622-player field – who created a prize pool of $839,700 – return to the Amazon Room for 10 levels of play, with Ontario’s Liu top the chip counts of the 23 survivors on 330,500 to sit just head of Vegas’ Chris Tryba (307,500).

The money bubble burst just ahead of the dinner break, Vegas-based Jamie Kaplan the unfortunate player to miss out in 65th place when his sixes lost out to Russian Vladimir Shchmelev’s aces. That meant Moscow’s Andrey Pateychuk crept into the money in 63rd for $2,754 after holding just 1,600 as the bubble approached for his second WSOP career cash.

Linda Johnson Survives in Sixth Place

Other players to make it through the day included last year’s runner-up Sexton, fellow Hall of Famer Linda Johnson (sixth on 175,000), 2011 bracelet winner and Players Championship final tablist Owais Ahmed (ninth on 147,000), Michael Mizrachi (11th on 110,000), Todd Brunson (13th on 87,500), Australian Poker Hall of Famer Marsha Waggoner (15th on 77,500), Bonnie Rossi (16th on 57,000), double bracelet winner and 2010 WSOP Player of the Year Frank Kassela (eighth on 159,000), London-based Swede Chris Bjorin (fourth on 220,500), two-time bracelet winner and serial casher Jerrod Ankenman (12th on 106,000), Frankie O’Dell (18th on 43,000), John Monnette (14th on 79,500), David Singer (23rd on 16,500) and Cory Zeidman (third on 261,500).

However, there were also some big-name casualties, including Phil Ivey, 2011 champion Chris Viox, Daniel Idema, Dan O’Brien, Mike Watson, Chris Klodnicki, Jon Turner, Dutch Boyd, Chau Giang, David Bach, Barry Greenstein, Women’s Poker Hall of Fame member Jan Fisher, Scotty Nguyen and One Drop entrants Dan Shak and Cary Katz.

WSOP 2012 Event #4 Day 2 Top 10 Chip Counts

1. Xuan Liu (Canada) – 330,500

2. Chris Tryba (USA) – 307,500

3. Cory Zeidman (USA) – 261,500

4. Chris Bjorin (Sweden) – 220,500

5. Brandon Shack-Harris (USA) – 178,500

6. Linda Johnson (USA) – 175,000

7. Sanjay Pandya (USA) – 165,500

8. Frank Kassela (USA) – 159,000

9. Owais Ahmed (USA) – 147,000

10. Yarron Bendor (USA) – 126,000