Faraz Jaka, Erik Seidel Among WPT Bellagio Cup V Leaders

Ten players remain in the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Bellagio Cup V. At the top of the pack after four days of play are Day 3 chip leader Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka and Full Tilt Poker pro Erik Seidel.

Seidel knocked out Tommy Hang on the money bubble in 28th place. Hang pushed pre-flop holding A-J, but ran into Seidel’s A-Q. The flop came K-Q-2, pushing Seidel into the lead for good in the hand. Running cards didn’t come for Hang and he received the unfortunate title of Bubble Boy. Seidel then sent former Bellagio Cup winner and online poker superstar Kevin “BeL0WaB0Ve” Saul packing in 25th place after Seidel’s pocket nines trumped Saul’s pocket kings. Despite being a 4:1 underdog pre-flop, Seidel spiked an eight on the river to make a nine-high straight. Saul took home just over $23,000 for his efforts. His win in the third Bellagio Cup two years ago was worth a healthy $1.3 million.

Seidel wasn’t done there, however. Late during play on Friday, the eight-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner doubled up with pocket aces against Anthony Spinella’s K-Q. Seidel pushed all-in on a board of K-8-4-J-7 and was promptly called by Spinella, who had top pair. Seidel continued his streak by taking a pot off Jaka to push his stack to 2.4 million. When the smoke cleared on Day 4 at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, Jaka held a stack of 3.3 million to top the leaderboard, while Seidel owned the fourth largest stack at 1.8 million. Here is a look at the final 10 players remaining in the WPT Bellagio Cup V:

1. Faraz Jaka – 3,299,000
2. Justin Smith – 2,620,000
3. Alec Torelli – 1,919,000
4. Erik Seidel – 1,799,000
5. Alexandre Gomes – 1,713,000
6. Ray Taylor – 1,085,000
7. Christopher Sonesson – 786,000
8. Mimi Tran – 690,000
9. Sam Stein – 666,000
10. Pavel Reshetov – 507,000

Spinella, who held the second largest stack overall entering Friday’s play, was sent to the rails in 11th place for $46,000. Spinella moved all-in pre-flop with pocket threes and Alexandre Gomes, a card-carrying member of Team PokerStars Pro, called with A-9. The K-Q-4 flop kept Spinella out in front with a wired pair of threes, as did a six on the turn. However, Gomes hit a nine on the river to send the poker pro home. Last July, Spinella, who is known as “holdplz” online, took down the Full Tilt Poker $750,000 Guaranteed for $132,000. More recently, the North Carolina native finished second in the PokerStars Second Chance for $40,000 in April.

Mimi Tran, the lone female remaining at the Bellagio, is in search of her second WPT final table. She reached the six-handed finale of the World Poker Finals during Season V, finishing third for $472,000. All told, Tran finished in the money three times that season for a grand total of $517,000. Tran took 13th in a $2,500 buy-in Mixed Hold’em event during the 2009 WSOP for $14,000, a tournament ultimately won by Bahador Ahmadi.

Play on Saturday kicks off at Noon Pacific Time and will continue until six players remain, likely making for a short day. When the cards hit the air, blinds will be 10,000-20,000 with a 3,000 chip ante. Every player left is guaranteed $46,000, while the winner of the Bellagio Cup V will bank $1.1 million. Among those who fell by the wayside on Friday were:

19. Alexander Kravchenko – $23,245
22. Vivek Rajkumar – $23,245
23. Hoyt Corkins – $23,245
24. Adam Geyer – $23,245
25. Kevin Saul – $23,245
26. Freddy Deeb – $23,245

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest from the storied Las Vegas casino.