WSOP Day 5: Kenna busts for $64,333, McManus through

By Simon Young

Stephen Kenna’s love affair with the WSOP Main Event is over. He busted in 82nd place of the 6,844 starters and collects $64,333 for his fantastic efforts over the past week or so.

His first hand of the day was a raise with A-Q – and it was A-Q again that saw him dumped from the event tonight when he ran into J-J. No help arrived on the board, and Stephen, a pro online PartyPoker player from Dublin in Ireland, was heading for the cash desk to pick up his loot.

Kenna, in white shrt: “I had to push with A-Q”

He’d had a great World Series. On Day 2 he found himself playing all day with 10-time bracelet winner Johnny Chan, and top pros Shawn Sheikhan and Willie Tann. Nothing fazed him throughout, and he showed amazing patience and skill to make huge laydowns – once with K-K v A-A pre flop, then again with Q-Q v K-K.

Stephen was a great table companion, always talking and joking, and playing great poker. He spent all of today sitting right next to James McManus, also from Dublin, and our last surviving PartyPoker qualifier.

James took a massive hit a short while ago and is down to 2.4 million chips (when he tried and failed to get J-J off the hand pre-flop with Q-10 suited) after spending part of the afternoon at the top of the leaderboard. But he’s taken big hits in this event before and stormed back – and he’ll return tomorrow for Day 6 and a chance to rebuild once more.

There are 8o players left – just nine tables out. It’s been a heck of a long road, but we’re inching ever closer to our final table destination.

Join us tomorrow to cheer James, below, on.