For the second time in two days, points leaders Tony Guoga and Andy Black found themselves fighting each other in heads-up play. The first time Guoga was the victor, but on Day 5 Black emerged victorious, closing the gap between him and Tony Guoga to one point.
The second match of Day 5 had Andy Black, Tony Guoga, Annie Duke, Alex Kravchenko, Dave Ulliott, and Roland de Wolfe competing at the table. The match started out very slow, as it took seventy hands for the first elimination to occur. Roland de Wolfe was the unfortunate victim, finding the exit after calling Ulliott’s preflop raise all-in with [Ah][6s]. “The Devilfish” held the advantage with [As][Kc]. Both players hit their lesser pairs on the flop of [Kh][6h][4c]. The [9d] on the turn and the [Ac] on the river sealed de Wolfe’s fate. Roland de Wolfe would leave Day 5 with no points, but his 20 points gained over the first four days had him in good shape heading into Day 6.
Ulliott would find himself making his own exit shortly after when he pushed all-in with [9d][6d] before the flop, getting called by Alex Kravchenko who held [Kh][Qc]. The board was absolutely no help for “The Devilfish” as it read [Jc][7c][5s][Kd][4h]. Ulliott gained one point for his fifth place finish and would need a strong Day 6 to have a chance at making the final table.
Tony Guoga then shocked the table by making a disgusting play that turned out to be brilliant in its backwards reasoning. Annie Duke had pushed all-in holding [As][5d] and Alex Kravchenko called all-in with [Ad][Jd]. Tony Guoga then called both all-ins with [Qs][8h], a miserable hand to be calling two all-ins with. The flop came down [10s][7h][4s], giving no help to anyone. The turn came down [Qh], giving Tony Guoga’s miserable hand the lead. The [8s] on the river sealed the deal for Tony Guoga, who knocked out both Annie Duke and Alex Kravchenko. As Annie had more chips than Alex, she was the third place finished while Alex had to settle for fourth place.
For the second consecutive day, Andy Black and Tony Guoga met in heads-up play. This time the battle was short, with Black emerging victorious when his [Ah][8d] took out Tony’s [Ks][8c]. The board gave Tony no help as it read [Js][10h][6d][2d][Qh]. Andy Black had earned the victory, setting up a great battle between the two on Day 6 when both will play in the second match.
Phil Hellmuth is out of the competition, while Juha Helppi and Ian Frazer are just barely alive. Tony Guoga and Andy Black have both clinched spots at the final table. The standings after five days is as follows:
Tony Guoga with 33 points
Andy Black with 32 points
Roland de Wolfe with 20 points
Annie Duke with 18 points
Alex Kravchenko and Eddy Scharf with 17 points
Marcel Lüske with 16 points
Vicky Coren with 14 points
Dave Ulliott with 10 points
Ian Frazer and Juha Helppi with 9 points
Phil Hellmuth with 5 points