WSOP Main Event Canadian Contingent: Benger Continues to Build on Day 4

• July 12 2014
• Lane Anderson

At the close of Day 4 of the World Series of Poker Main Event, there were 291 players to seal chips in bags once again, whittled down from the 746 who started the day.

Action resumed just 53 spots away from the money. When the bubble burst, there were three players who all claimed the title of bubble boy. The first was John Dwyer who called to put himself all in on the river with the board reading . When he turned his hand over, his made a full house. But Mark Newhouse flipped up for quads.

At the same time, Zhen Cai pushed his short stack of 29,500 all in from early position and was called by Canadian Darren Keyes. Cai held two lovely ladies — — but Keyes had the rockets — — and maintained the lead when the board ran out , eliminating Cai.

The third player to bust on the bubble was Kori Hunter who pushed all in for 46,000 over Harry Kaczka’s opening raise. Kaczka called with and Hunter had the best starting hand in hold’em — . The flop was , giving Kaczka a pair but Hunter maintained the lead with his overpair. The turn was the , adding the gutshot to Kaczka’s outs. The river didn’t complete the straight, but the gave Kaczka two pairs and eliminated Hunter.

With the multiple bustouts on the bubble, Dwyer, Cai , and Hunter didn’t have to leave the event completely empty-handed. The three players split the 693rd-place money of $18,406, giving each of them $6,135 for a small consolation. Then WSOP Tournament Director Jack Effel instructed a dealer to fan the deck and the three players drew a card to determine who would also earn a $10,000 seat for next year’s Main Event. Hunter pulled the from the deck and didn’t have much chance to hold as the high card. Cai drew the and left just six cards in the deck for Dwyer to pick for a win with the diamond being the second-lowest ranking king. Dwyer pulled out the and Cai received a 2015 Main Event seat.

The 692 remaining players were all guaranteed the min-cash of $18,406 going forward, but that $10 million first prize is the one they all have their hearts set on.

At the end of play, Matthew Haugen bagged the biggest stack in the room. He will carry 2,808,000 chips into Day 5, nearly 450,000 ahead of Zach Jiganti who holds the second-largest stack.

Close behind with third-place chips is our top Canadian hope — Griffin “Flush_Entity” Benger — with 2,329,000. Benger has now secured his fifth cash of this summer’s WSOP. He began the day as the top Canadian stack and he carried his momentum through the day, continuing to pile chips in front of him.

One of the pivotal points for Benger came when he scooped up a seven-figure pot and eliminated Alex Tran. Mark Herm raised to 10,500 and Tran called. Benger sat also called from the cutoff and Roman Valerstein three-bet to 40,000 from the button. The blinds wanted nothing to do with it and the action came back around to the original opener, Herm. He folded but Tran and Benger both called.

The flop was and Tran and Benger checked. Valerstein counted out a bet of 58,000 and slid it in. Tran dropped calling chips in the middle but Benger check-raised to 152,000. Valerstein gave up and Tran tanked before announcing that he was all in. Benger made the call. Tran held but Benger had top two with . The turn and river were a harmless and , awarding Benger the massive pot.

With Benger topping the Canadian contingent, here are the remaining stacks from our nation:

These 11 players are our final hopes for this Main Event. Some of the players to watch that met their tournament end on Day 4 include Ryan Hall, Owen Crowe, and Paul Klann. These are all of the players who busted Day 4 in the money:

Day 5 will bring players back to the tables at 12 p.m. To get the most current updates on the action, follow the PokerNews live reporting blog. Then check back in here for a recap of the day.

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