Gaw bows out of World Poker

MANILA, Philippines - Andrew Gaw failed to sustain his good run as he struggled all throughout the day before hitting the rail in the closing minutes of Level 15 to end his bid in the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event at the Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada recently.

Coming in as one of the chip leaders, Gaw, whose campaign is supported by The Metro Card Club, managed to protect his 386,800 chips until suffering a huge meltdown in the closing minutes of Level 15 and eventually moving out as the field dwindled from 6,494 to only 789.

Reigning Asian Poker Tour champion Neil Arce went out in Day 2, while 2003 WSOP Seven Card Stud bracelet winner Toto Leonidas – a Bacolod-born Fil-Am pro – also busted out in Day 3.

That left Hollywood actor Lou Diamond Phillips as the only player with Filipino lineage remaining in contention for the coveted WSOP world championship bracelet and a lion’s share of $8,546,435 from a total pot of $61,043,600.

Phillips ended another grueling play of more than 10 hours with a healthy stack of 359,500.

French poker pro Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier took the lead with a massive stack of 1,380,500, more than 400,000 ahead of second-running Lacay Ludovic, who has 925,000.

Other notables in strong contention include 11-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth with 485,000 and 7-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Ivey with 371,000.

Australian Jeff Lisandro, who won three bracelets in this series, was named as the WSOP Player of the Year before busting out also in Level 15.

Defending champion Peter Eastgate remains in the hunt for a second world title, along with former champions Joe Hachem, Dan Harrington and Bobby Baldwin.