Top pros make their move in the World Series of Poker

LAS VEGAS - As the field of players was whittled to a few final tables in the World Series of Poker, some of the game's top pros asserted themselves after days of playing patient, smart poker.

Two of the biggest names, Phil Ivey and Mike "The Mouth" Matusow, were high on the leaderboard several hours into Round 5 Wednesday.

The tournament opened with 5,569 players, but only 37 were left by the evening break.

Tim Phan lost his grip on first place after Matusow ripped a couple of players, including making a brave bet with a bottom pair against Farzad Bonyadi. After the flop and turn, Matusow moved all-in. Bonyadi then folded, and Matusow revealed a pair of 2s, one of which he caught on the flop.

After the bold move, Matusow screamed: "Kneel."

Bonyadi, who started the day in third place, busted out.

Matusow later ran his total to $4.2 million to share the lead with Tex Barch of McKinney, Texas. Ivey was fourth with $3.6 million.

Defending champion Greg Raymer, who fell out of the top 30 after leading early Tuesday, worked his way back into the top 20 after picking up some decent pots. Raymer increased his chip total to $1.3 million in his bid to reach the final table Friday at Binion's Gambling Hall & Hotel.

The emerging story after six days of grueling play was the dominance of the pros and their ability to build large stacks and outlast thousands of other gamblers.

"If they play true to form, they will continue to try to avoid confrontations with other big stacks and look for opportunities to attack smaller stacks," said John Vorhaus, author of the "Killer Poker" book series and an analyst with ultimatebet.com.

Most of the topflight pros, including John Juanda, have played wisely, not taking foolish risks or going on tilt after a nasty beat or loss of a big stack.

BY ADAM GOLDMAN

News Added: 14 July, 2005

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