Hafiz Khan leads a stacked field heading into Day 5 of the WPT Championship.

Day 4 of the 2012 WPT Championship finished with 19 remaining, just one shy of the money.

Hafiz Khan declared jihad on the field, ending the day as big stack with 1,966,000. He’s closely followed by Germany’s Marvin Rettenmaier with 1,870,000.

Other notables remaining include Nick Schulman (1,315,000), Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi (1,168,000), Steve O’Dwyer (1,079,000), Barry “For A Guy Nobody Thinks Is a Good Player, Sure Seems To Post Decent Results” Shulman (353,000), looking to capture WPT POY honors with a 15th or better finish Joe Serock (244,000), and Josh Arieh (127,000).

All but one player will come back and min-cash ($40,266). First banks $1,196,858.

Get full chip counts here.

Tagged as: World Poker Tour

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You do not know this man.

On Day 3, late registration brought the total field at the 2012 WPT Championship up to 152. A total of 44 survived until Day 4.

Leading the way is Anonymously Good All-Star Curt Kohlberg with 918,300. In case you’re unaware, and you probably are, in limited action Kohlberg has over $1.75M in career earnings, including three WPT final table.

Kohlberg is followed by Nick Schulman (768,000), pink haired Frenchy Guillaume Darcourt (641,000), and Antonio Esfandiari (630,100).

Day 1 chip leader Steven O’Dwyer is still alive with 358,600, as is Day 2 leader Michael Mizrachi with 171,700.

First will bank $1,196,858. A total of 18 players will get paid.

Get full chip counts here.

Tagged as: World Poker Tour

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The WPT Championship added over 30 new faces on Day, not including the Royal Flush Girls.

Day 2 of the 2012 WPT Championship saw the field creep up from 103 to 135.

In year’s past, that would’ve meant the Howard Lederers, Andy Blochs, and Phil Iveys of the world (see: Full Tilt, Team) had late entered. Not this time. None of those guys came to play.

Of the 95 players still alive, the field is littered with many more new- than- old-schoolers. Having said that, one of the old guard, Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi, surged up to the chip lead by the end of Day 2. The Grinder ended play on top of the leaderboard, stacked at 428,200. He’s followed by Rinat Bogdanov with 381,000.

Other notable bigs include Guillaume Darcourt (the French dude with the pink hair from last year’s WSOP) with 356,600, Steve O’Dwyer (301,900), past WPT Championship winner David Chiu (264,300), and Nick Schulman (234,700).

Get full chip counts here.

Tagged as: World Poker Tour

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Kimberly Lansing recovered well from child birth.

The 2012 WPT Championship is underway.

And as Sal told Raj while drawing his caricature on Impractical Jokers, “Yikers.”

Many in the industry last year expected to see the bottom fall out of the poker economy right after Black Friday^TM. Live tournament turn-out was expected to decline significantly. Then the WPT crushed expectations (in Florida first, then at the 2011 Championship). The 2011 WSOP followed suit by raking record numbers.

For the most part, every live tournament series except the Wicked Epic Poker League did very well.

The tide was expected to turn eventually, and it may just have with the WPT Championship.

The first major U.S. event a year after Black Friday brought in just 103 on its Day 1. That’s down from 188 on last year’s Day 1 (by the end of registration, the total field had increased to 220).

While registration will remain open through a portion of Day 3, we don’t expect to see anything approaching 220 this go-around. The money is running dry for these bigger buy-in events, and many players are conserving their bankrolls for the WSOP.

Regardless, a strong field of the usual suspects entered on Day 1. Leading the way is the still running massively hot Steve O’Dwyer with 231,750. O’Dwyer has over 20 cashes the past year, including a slew of first and second place finishes in international events.

O’Dwyer is followed by Masa Kagawa with 228,675.

Other notable big stacks include Vanessa Selbst, a woman who likes women (207,425), Joe Serock (197,000), and Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi (194,875). Of the Holy Triumvirate^TM, only Daniel Negreanu (140,000) has entered thus far. Phil Hellmuth is expected to enter today. No word on Phil Ivey.

A total of 98 survived Day 1. Phil Laak and Erik Seidel were among the early KO’s.

Get a full recap and chip counts here.

Tagged as: World Poker Tour

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