Day 5 of the 2018 World Series of Poker $10,000 buy-in main event came to a close in a peculiar fashion. The Amazon room experienced a power outage as a result of the thunderstorm that was pounding Las Vegas late on Monday night. Although there was some light available, the tournament staff decided it was best to halt play for the evening and send the remaining players home.
There are now just 109 players left from the 7,874 that entered this year’s main event, making it the second largest in the tournament’s history. The remaining players are all now guaranteed a $57,010 payday at a minimum, but surely they all have their eyes on the championship bracelet and the $8,800,000 top prize.
The chip leader going into day six is Michael Dyer (pictured above) with 12,180,000. The American has over $130,000 in prior live tournament earnings, including a final table finish in a 2009 WSOP $2,000 no-limit hold’em event for $65,905
There are plenty of notables still remaining with a shot at becoming poker’s next world champion. Three-time bracelet winner Brian Yoon bagged up 8,395,000 for the second largest stack heading into day 6.
France’s Benjamin Pollak finished day five with 5,715,000. The 2017 main event third-place finisher took home $3,500,000 last year, and is looking to add to his $8,866,323 in career earnings with another deep run. Other recognizable names still in contention include bracelet winner Barry Hutter (5,695,000), two-time bracelet winner Eric Froehlich (5,365,000), Ivan Luca (4,580,000), Shannon Shorr (2,915,000), another three-time bracelet winner in Shaun Deeb (2,610,000), Yueqi Zhu (2,210,000) and James Obst (1,730,000).
Card Player TV caught up with Eric Froehlich on the final break of the night for a video interview regarding him stepping away from playing poker full time and making a deep run in the main event after making that decision. Check out the video below:
2009 WSOP main event champion and three-time bracelet winner Joe Cada is the only player in the field who has a chance to win this tournament for the second time. He ended the day with 2,965,000.
From 301 female entrants in this year’s main event, now only one remains. With the elimination of Natalie Teh in 120th place ($57,010), Kelly Minkin became the ‘last woman standing’ for the second time. Minkin had previously garnered this distinction in 2015, when she finished 29th in the main event for $211,821. Minkin held the chip lead at one point during the day, but ended up with 1,205,000 by the time play was halted for the night.
A total of 201 players were eliminated during day 5, including the two-time bracelet winner and 2016 main event third-place finisher Cliff Josephy. The man known to many in the poker world as ‘JonnyBax’ got his last chips in with pocket kings against the AClub SuitKClub Suit of Michael Dyer. The ace on the river saw Dyer soar into the chip lead, while Josephy was sent home in 123rd place with $57,010.
Other notables who hit the rail on day 5 include the likes of Brian Altman (113th – $57,010), Scott Davies (126th – $57,010), three-time bracelet winners Antonio Esfandiari (132nd – $57,010) and Paul Volpe (142nd – $57,010), two-time bracelet winner Ben Yu (150th – $57,010), Kyle Julius (186th – $49,335), Ema Zajmovic (215th – $49,335), Chris Bjorin (253rd – $42,980), five-time bracelet winner Daniel Alaei (265th – $42,980), Chris Moorman (273rd – $42,980) and three-time bracelet winner Barbara Enright (292nd – $37,705).
Day 6 is set to resume at 11:00 a.m. local time on Tuesday, July 10, with blinds at 30,000-60,000 with an ante of 10,000 for level 26.
Here is a look at the top 20 stacks at the end of day 5:
| Rank | Player | Chip Count |
| 1 | Michael Dyer | 12,180,000 |
| 2 | Brian Yoon | 8,395,000 |
| 3 | Jeff Trudeau | 8,305,000 |
| 4 | Hari Bercovici | 7,650,000 |
| 5 | Bart Lybaert | 7,530,000 |
| 6 | Peter Campo | 6,935,000 |
| 7 | Konstantin Beylin | 6,930,000 |
| 8 | Paulo Goncalves | 6,840,000 |
| 9 | Alexander Gross | 6,755,000 |
| 10 | Artem Metalidi | 6,525,000 |
| 11 | Cole Miller | 6,195,000 |
| 12 | Alexander Haro | 6,180,000 |
| 13 | Richard Robinson | 5,950,000 |
| 14 | Samuel Bernabeu | 5,835,000 |
| 15 | Nishant Sharma | 5,800,000 |
| 16 | Benjamin Pollak | 5,715,000 |
| 17 | Barry Hutter | 5,695,000 |
| 18 | Frederik Jensen | 5,635,000 |
| 19 | Tony Miles | 5,600,000 |
| 20 | Chris Da-Silva | 5,600,000 |
