Photo Recap: Day 4 of WPT Southern Poker Championship

By BJ Nemeth

It took less than six hours for the field to shrink from 19 players down to six, but not because of the blind structure. The final six players are extremely deep — the average is more than 100 big blinds, and even the short stack has about 40.

Seat 1. Alexander Kuzmin – 1,969,000 (197 bb)
Seat 2. Pat Mahoney – 394,000 (40 bb)
Seat 3. Leif Force – 674,000 (67 bb)
Seat 4. Ryan Hughes – 840,000 (84 bb)
Seat 5. Shannon Shorr – 663,000 (66 bb)
Seat 6. Allen Carter – 1,928,000 (193 bb)

And now, a photographic look back at Day 4 of the WPT Southern Poker Championship:

Defending champion Hoyt Corkins (standing, left) was all in preflop with [10c10h], but couldn’t win a race against the [AdKc] of Ryan Hughes (foreground, right). The board came [QcQh9sKs8s], and Hughes paired his king on the turn to win the pot and eliminate Corkins in 19th place — the first elimination of the day.

Pat Mahoney (standing, left) tells Leif Force about his big double up thru Bobby Keller with 18 players remaining. Mahoney had gotten it all in with [JcJh] on a board of [AdJd4s] against Keller’s [AsKc].

Jordan Smith (center) moved all in preflop with [8c7c], up against the [As9h] of Alexander Kuzmin (right). The board came [AcJh2s5d3c], and Kuzmin won the pot with a pair of aces to eliminate Jordan Smith in 17th place ($20,854).

Chad Brown does his exit interview after his elimination in 16th place ($20,854). Brown had moved all in with [KsQc], but ran into Bobby Keller’s [AdQh] and couldn’t catch up.

Hilbert Shirey (standing, right) was all in preflop with [AsKc] but dominated by the [AcAh] of Allen Carter (center, left). The best hand held up (Shirey was drawing dead on the turn), and Carter congratulated Shirey on his 15th place finish ($22,840).

After a flop of [Qd10d4s], Shannon Shorr (left) check-raised all in with [AdJs] (gutshot straight draw), and Ryan Hughes (right) called with [Jc9c] (open-ended straight draw). The turn was the [10c], the river was the [2d], and Shorr won the pot with ace high to double up close to the chip lead. Hughes still had the chip lead, but was suddenly much closer to the rest of the pack.

As the players take their first break of the day, Leif Force leaves his "Funshine" Care Bear card protector to keep an eye on his chips.

After the simultaneous eliminations of Dermot Blain (11th place) and Vitor Coelho (10th) at two different tables, the final nine players combined to one table. The players, in seat order: (1) Alexander Kuzmin, (2) Pat Mahoney, (3) Stuart Breakstone, (4) BJ McBrayer, (5) Leif Force, (6) Ryan Hughes, (7) Otis Wright, (8) Shannon Shorr, (9) Allen Carter.

Stuart Breakstone (center, right) was all in preflop with [Kh7h] against the [AdJc] of Pat Mahoney (center, left). The board came [Qh5d5s5h10s], and Mahoney won with ace high to eliminate Breakstone in ninth place ($35,750).

In another part of the room, the Royal Flush Girls tape a promo, but they break into laughter when Sunisa flubs a line, accidentally promising viewers free mobile phones. From left to right: Katrina Topacio, Melyssa Grace, Melanie Iglesias, and Sunisa Kim.

After a flop of [Ah4c2h], Pat Mahoney bet a quarter of his stack, only to see Shannon Shorr (far left) move all in, and Allen Carter (center left) move all in as well. Mahoney quickly folded, and Shorr had [5c5d] against Carter’s [2c2s] (set of deuces). (Mahoney tells the table he folded A-K.) The set holds up, and Carter doubles up and knocks Shorr down to the bottom of the chip counts.

Alexander Kuzmin (right) pumps his fist after eliminating Otis Wright (center left, seated) in eighth place. Wright check-raised all in with [AcAh] after a flop of [Ks9s4h], and Kuzmin called with [Kh9h] (top two pair). Wright missed his outs, and the pot catapulted Kuzmin to contend for the chip lead.

BJ McBrayer (seated, right) moved his short stack all in preflop with [Ah6d]. Alexander Kuzmin (center, left) called with [KhQh], and flopped a queen to win the pot, take the chip lead, and eliminate McBrayer on the TV bubble in seventh place. McBrayer earned $67,527, while the other six players advance to the televised WPT Final Table.

Leif Force (left) and Pat Mahoney (right) were friends before this tournament, and they share a laugh after they both made the televised final table of the WPT Southern Poker Championship.

The televised WPT Final Table begins Thursday at 4:00 pm CT. Return to WorldPokerTour.com for complete live coverage, with hand-for-hand updates and updated chip counts with every hand.