11 Remain in WPT Festa al Lago Main Event

The fourth day of the Festa al Lago WPT $15,000 Championship began with 37 players, just ten eliminations away from the money. Though action was painfully slow at times, it hit break-neck speed before the end of the night, leaving only 11 players standing heading into Day 5. Click here for Day 4 photos and chip counts.

Dan Shak was one of the first players to bust, and Cliff "Johnny Bax" Josephy followed soon after. Dee Friedman began the day fourth in chips but ran Tens into Freddy Deeb's Aces and then lost a race to hit the rail several spots before the money. She was disappointed to be eliminated before her husband, Prahlad Friedman, who snuck into the money despite starting the day with one of the shortest stacks.

Brandon Cantu and Andy Bloch also busted out of the money. Chau Giang lost a big race, earning him the unfortunate title of bubble boy and guaranteeing everyone else at least $23,855. Action stalled for a long stretch in the afternoon, then a flurry of bust outs cut the field from three tables to two in record time. Click here for a list of the day's payouts.

Prahlad Friedman, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, Mark Seif, Chad "lilholdem" Batista, and Lee Markholt picked up min-cashes. Although Corwin Cole and Jonas Entin began Day 4 as the two chip leaders, both were also relegated to the rail with the minimum payout. Cole was more than happy to get all of his money in pre-flop with pocket Aces against Jason Lavallee's pair of Jacks. Cole was less happy when Lavallee flopped a set, eliminating him from the tournament. The hand gave Lavallee a chip lead that he never relinquished.

A cash game pro from Montreal, Lavallee's only major tournament cashes are in-the-money finishes in two previous WPT prelims. As the night wore on, Lavallee continued to run over the remaining players, busting Matt Glantz in 18th place. Glantz picked up his third WPT cash, worth $31,805. Lavallee next eliminated WSOP bracelet winner Dutch Boyd in 16th place and WPT winner Vivek Rajkumar in 15th. After busting Rajkumar, Lavallee had built such a dominant lead that he actually had more chips than everyone else at his table combined. Though his stack shrunk a little, he is still the end-of-day chip leader.

Matt "All In At 420" Stout finished in 13th place, and Steve Brecher busted in 12th, leaving 11 players to return on Sunday to battle it out for the six spots at the televised final table. Lavallee will begin Day 5 as chip leader, followed by Freddy Deeb, Shawn Cunix, and Kido Pham. Tommy Vedes, Aaron Jones, and Chris Bjorin are also still fighting for the final table. Action will resume on Sunday at 12:00 pm PDT.

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