The eight-handed final table of the PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT) Mohegan Sun Main Event is set in stone and features a rock solid lineup. Mike Beasley leads the way with a stack of 4.98 million.
Beasley send 2009 UB.com Aruba Poker Classic winner Brandon “AreTheseUtz” Hall to the rails in ninth place to set up Sunday’s finale in Connecticut. Hall pushed all-in pre-flop for 1.47 million with K-J and received a call from Beasley, who held A-Q of spades. The flop came ace-high and by the river, Beasley held the nut flush. The hand propelled him into the chip lead entering final table play. Hall was the runner-up in the PokerStars Sunday 500 on the final weekend of March, banking $68,000, and has remained a staple of the poker world ever since last year’s monumental score in Aruba.
Beasley also sent Team PokerStars Pro member Vanessa Rousso home in tenth place from the NAPT Mohegan Sun Main Event. Rousso pushed pre-flop after picking up 8-7 and Beasley made the call with A-J of hearts. The flop came K-6-4, keeping Beasley out in front, but the first three cards gave the Go Daddy Girl an inside straight draw to a five. A four on the turn paired and board and the river was a ten. Rousso earned $47,000 for her tenth place showing and Beasley continued his improbably late-day run.
Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy, an online poker legend and World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner, owns the fifth largest stack after four days of play at Mohegan Sun. Just before the dinner break on Saturday, Josephy doubled up through Jonathan “FatalError” Aguiar with pocket aces against pocket queens. Josephy spiked top set on an A-9-7 flop and never looked back. Josephy has racked up $3.3 million in tournament earnings in the last five years and regularly backs some of the game’s most successful players. He was recently seen railing Joe Cada during his 2009 WSOP Main Event run and will own a stack of 1.94 million when play resumes.
Out of the eight remaining players in the NAPT Mohegan Sun Main Event, four of them, or half, are WSOP bracelet winners. Among them is Scott Seiver, who has been on a live poker tear in recent months. He had not one, but two six-figure scores in February. Seiver finished fourth in the NAPT Venetian High-Roller Bounty Shootout for $215,000. Five days later, he won the High Roller tournament during the L.A. Poker Classic for another $425,000. Back in December, Seiver won a $5,000 No Limit Hold’em event held as part of the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic for $218,000. He will be the NAPT Mohegan Sun Main Event’s short stack when play kicks off on Sunday at 1.13 million.
Finding the rail in 16th place was Jordan “iMsoLucky0” Morgan. He doubled up Seiver after flopping an open-ended straight draw against Seiver’s flush draw. The latter hit on the turn and slashed Morgan’s stack to 850,000. Then, the youngster shoved all-in pre-flop with pocket fives and ran into WSOP bracelet winner Derek Raymond’s A-K. Raymond spiked a king on the flop and that was all she wrote for Morgan, who pocketed $23,000 for his efforts in the $5,000 buy-in tournament. Morgan won the 2007 WSOP Circuit Championship at the Grand Casino Tunica for $216,000.
Here are the chip stacks of the eight players remaining in the inaugural NAPT Mohegan Sun Main Event:
1. Mike Beasley – 4,985,000
2. Vanessa Selbst – 4,545,000
3. Michael Woods – 2,950,000
4. Alistar Melville – 2,940,000
5. Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy – 1,940,000
6. Derek Raymond – 1,545,000
7. Jonathan “FatalError” Aguiar – 1,535,000
8. Scott Seiver – 1,125,000
All eight players still alive are gunning for a top prize of $750,000. Here are the payouts in store for the members of the final table:
1st Place: $750,000
2nd Place: $428,000
3rd Place: $240,000
4th Place: $190,000
5th Place: $150,000
6th Place: $115,000
7th Place: $85,000
8th Place: $60,244
Play will pick back up at Noon ET. Then, the blinds will be 25,000-50,000 with an ante of 5,000. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest NAPT Mohegan Sun results.
