Buckner, Calderon & Gathy Among Those at WPT Five Diamond Final Table

Just seven players remain after Day 4 of the World Poker Tour (WPT) Five Diamond World Poker Classic Main Event with Albert Calderon leading the way with 8,395,000 chips, followed by Day 2 and 3 chip leader Brian Kim with 6,510,000, and Michael Gathy with an improbable 5,695,000 after coming back from less than four big blinds.

The remaining players have each locked up at least $166,000, but one more day of skill and fortune will send someone home Sunday with $1,042,300 and a seat in the WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas in December.

Five Diamond World Poker Classic Final Table Seat Draw

Calderon Takes Control at the Final Table

Gathy had been the story much of the day after spinning three and a half big blinds into the chip lead before the final level, but Calderon had been lurking much of the day. Once the final table of nine was reached, Calderon sprung to take the lead and never looked back.

The hand that gave Calderon the lead saw Dan Colpoys limp his small blind to Calderon in the big blind. Calderon then moved all in for Colpoys’ remaining 660,000 chips which he happily called off holding q♦️

While Calderon snagged the chip lead in that monster versus monster all-in pot, he said it was quite the opposite that got him to that point.

“I was just shocked how many bluffs they let me get through," said Calderon.

"I wasn’t all in at any time, I just kept getting away with murder and they let me. Almost every time there was a cutoff or a button raise, I would three-bet and they would almost never peel.”

When he wasn’t getting away with murder as he put it, Calderon said the cards were also falling in his favor.

“I’ve been running good. Most of the big pots I’ve played I’ve won and I’ve held. I’d say I’m a pretty average player, but I run better than the average person.”

Hand of the Tournament Brings Kim Back into Contention

While Brian Kim came into the day with the chip lead as he did on Day 3, he dropped back a bit into the middle of the pack for a good part of Saturday. That is until he got involved in a massive hand late that saw him rocket back up to second place while eliminating Ren Lin in horrific fashion.

After Kim min-raised under the gun to 100,000, Lin called in early position, and David Kim three-bet to 450,000 in the big blind. Both opponents called to see a tournament-changing flop of q♦️9♣️3♦️.

David Kim checked the big blind to Brian Kim who bet 525,000. Lin then moved all in for 1,665,000, David Kim moved all in for more, and Brian Kim called for 2,260,000.

An incredible cooler was revealed as Lin tabled 9♠️9♦️ for a set of nines, David Kim showed q♥️q♣️ for a better set of queens, and Brian Kim turned over ♦️ak♦️ for the nut flush draw.

After the 4♠️ came on the turn, the dealer dropped the 6♦️ on the river, completing Brian Kim’s flush to eliminate Lin and leave David Kim under 20 big blinds.

It was a ridiculous end to the tournament for the charismatic Lin, who had made a runner-runner royal flush earlier in the day and seemed certain to advance to the final day of play, but instead left with eighth-place money of $129,000.

Gathy’s Crazy Comeback

Michael Gathy needed to hit a ten-outer on the river in the final minutes of play Friday just to advance to Day 4, which at the time seemed fortunate enough, but his comeback on Saturday was truly incredible.

All-in for less than four big blinds midway through the day, Gathy was dominated with ace-nine against Oddie Dardon’s ace-ten. Gathy managed to spike a nine on the river to stay alive.

Now with ten big blinds, Gathy was all in again holding 9♠️5♠️ against Mike Vanier who had ♦️a4♠️. Again, Gathy was saved on the river, this time drilling a five on the end. This would also be part of a terrible collapse by Vanier, who entered the day second in chips, but would not survive the day.

Gathy told PokerNews after bagging that he knew he was incredibly fortunate Saturday.

“I feel like I’m on a freeroll because when I was down to three big blinds, I was tanking to just get the pay jump and now I have a big stack. Basically, the pressure went away because I was so short and didn’t expect anything.”

Once he got his stack healthy again, Gathy went on a run in Level 23, winning big hands versus Chad Eveslage, Colpoys, and Matthew Su to take the chip lead into the final table. He’ll now take the third largest stack into play Sunday, and while he feels he’s freerolling, he says he’ll need to adjust to his opponents.

“The two people that have the bigger stacks are very aggressive so probably I need to tighten up a little bit, and also I’ll see how it goes tomorrow because it depends on the mood of everybody.”

Vanier Bamboozled by Buckner

A Pair of WPT Player of the Year Contenders clashed midway through the day, which started the rise of one of them, and the demise of the other.

Vanier had finished each of the previous three days second in chips and looked primed to make a run at some significant POY points, but two big hands versus Steve Buckner ended his day unceremoniously in 21st place.

Vanier first lost a large chunk of his chips to Buckner on a turn board of k♠️6♦️5♠️2♦️ when Buckner check-raised all-in for 555,000 to a bet from Vanier on the button. Vanier called with 6♠️5♥️ while Buckner held k♦️5♦️ for a better two pair, then rivered a flush with the 2♦️.

A bit later Vanier was on the wrong end of a huge cooler to Buckner that essentially ended his final table hopes.

On a flop of j♥️9♠️4♦️, Vanier check-called a bet of 125,000 from Buckner to see the board-pairing j♠️ fall on the turn. Buckner jammed for 810,000, and after two minutes in the tank, Vanier called with k♦️j♣️ for trip jacks with a king. Unfortunately for him though, Buckner held a♠️j♦️ for trip jacks with an ace.

The river ♦️a gave Buckner a full house which he celebrated loudly, shouting “One time! One time!”

Vanier would be eliminated shortly after, losing a preflop flip to Long Tran when his pocket sevens couldn’t hold against Tran’s ace-jack.

Despite his early exit, Vanier still earned enough points to move him into a tie for second in the POY race with 1,400 points along with Mark Davis and Alexander Yen.

Buckner meanwhile would pass Ray Qartomy for the POY lead Sunday if he can finish in fourth place or higher.

Team WPT Member Bubbles Final Table

Daniel Maor, who works for WPT Global and is also a successful tournament player with just under $240,000 in live tournament earnings came close to his first WPT final table, finishing in 10th place after he was eliminated by David Kim.

Maor called off for his final 450,000 chips holding ace-king for top pair, top kicker, while Kim had turned Broadway against him.

Still, the $101,000 Maor took home was more than double his previous best tournament cash.

Remaining Final Table Payouts

A Champion Will Be Crowned on Sunday

The final seven players will return to the Bellagio poker room at noon on Sunday to play down to a winner. They’ll start at level 25 with blinds of 30,000/60,000 with a 60,000 big blind ante. Levels will remain 90-minutes in length.

The WPT Action Clock will remain in play with players carrying over their remaining 30-second time extensions. Once they reach the official WPT final table of six, players will be reset to eight time extensions.

PokerNews will again be on hand to bring you a full recap of the action once a champion is crowned.

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