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John OShea Leads in the Day 5 of the 2010 WPT Championship

With poker players like Scotty Nguyen and Phil Hellmuth competing for world poker tour (WPT) glory; it was lesser-known Irish poker player John O'Shea who stole the limelight on Day 5 of the World Poker Tour Championship on April 22nd, 2010.

O'Shea finished the day as the overall chip leader with 3.1 million chips and showed absolutely no fear when fighting for pots with respected poker legends. He said that he is very happy with his position and he feels that all of his reads have been excellent over the last few days.

O'Shea has had reasonable percentage of success on the poker circuit with a world series of poker (WSOP) final table appearance and numerous cash-ins but the poker spotlight has never shined brighter on the Irish poker pro until now. O'Shea, who is considered a high-stakes PLO online poker pro, is only on his 3rd WPT tournament and has a good chance to take home the championship.

O'Shea said that it is a difficult field but he is used to it. To take home the title, O'Shea will have to outwit the likes of Phil Hellmuth, Scotty Nguyen, Billy Baxter, David Benyamine, David Williams and Eric "BaseBaldy" Baldwin who all survived to move on to Day 6. David Williams was particularly outstanding on Day 5 as he managed to defeat WPT Player frontrunner Faraz Jaka in a spectacular card hand.

In that hand, Jaka flopped a set of aces and Williams placed a broadway straight. Before this hand, Jaka had lost several large cash pots against Billy Baxter and decided to place it all-in on the river. Williams lost several large cash pots to finish the day, including one where he doubled up Scotty Nguyen, but still finished with a total of 2.1 million chips.

It has been some time since Williams was in a good position to win a major poker tournament and the Bodog poker pro stated that his priorities have changed when it comes to accolades and achievements in the poker circuit.

Williams finished in 2nd place in the 2004 World Series of Poker Main Event to win $3.5 million and since then has made three World Poker Tour final tables and won a World Series of Poker bracelet.

As expected of the ten remaining poker players in the World Poker Tour Championship are well-known in the poker circuit. Nguyen finished 2nd in total chips and is looking to join Carlos Mortensen as the only poker player to have won both the World Series of Poker Main Event and the World Poker Tour Championship.

Hellmuth could also achieve this feat although he is low on chips. Close behind Scotty Nguyen is skilled cash game poker player David Benyamine who accumulated a total of 2.5 million chips on Day 5. Williams is in 4th place while Baxter is in the top five with 2.4 million in total chips.

05/10/2010, Monday
Sherry Barlow

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