The big-name poker pros fell fast and hard on Day 6 of the 2012 World Series of Poker Main Event.

Vanessa Selbst, Gavin Smith, Jason Somerville and Sam Holden were all eliminated in the early stages of the penultimate day here at the 2012 WSOP this summer leaving 27 relative unknowns heading into Day 7.

Smith was eliminated in one of the first hands of the day when he made a short-stack shove with ace-queen and got called by Eric Legoff with pocket jacks. Smith lost the coinflip and hit the rail in 94th place.

Selbst, who already won a bracelet this summer, didn’t last a lot longer as she made an ill-timed shove with queen-seven and Greg Merson called with ace-eight.

Selbst actually hit a seven on the flop but Merson rivered a straight.

The Yale graduate finished in 75th place to earn $88,070.

Somerville busted just before the dinner break when his pair of queens ended up being no good against Jacob Balsiger’s king-ten.

Holden had the unique opportunity to make back-to-back Main Event final tables but ended up busting just after the dinner break in 55th place for $128,384.

Amnon Filippi lasted a bit longer but even he eventually fell in 39th place for $191,646.

Big Names Gone But Hille, Baumann Still Looking to Break Records

With many of the pros gone, what are the compelling storylines that remain in the 2012 Main Event?

Two females remain with Norwegian Elisabeth Hille and France’s Gaelle Baumann both looking to become the first woman to make the Main Event final table since Barbera Enright in 1995.

Hille finished with an impressive 9.7 million chips while Baumann will bring 5.5 million to the table tomorrow.

Yuval Bronshtein, a noted mixed-game pro and the only player to ever win two FTOPS in a single night, finished with 9.73 million chips, good enough for sixth overall.

New bracelet-winner Greg Merson is looking to cap off an incredible $1.2 million-winning WSOP with a Main Event final table appearance.

PokerStars Pro Jan Heitmann also survived the day and is looking to make it back-to-back German players in the Main Event final table.

French Canadian Marc Andre Ladouceur finished as the chip leader with 15.8 million and is looking to follow close friend Jonathan Duhamel’s run in the 2010 Main Event.

Action will resume at 1 p.m. tomorrow so check our live updates section for up-to-the-minute news on the tournament.

Here are the complete chip counts to end Day 5:

• 1.  Marc Andre Ladouceur  –  15,875,000 (132 bb)
• 2.  Daniel Strelitz  –  12,790,000 (106 bb)
• 3.  Robert Salaburu  –  10,915,000 (90 bb)
• 4.  Russell Thomas  –  9,985,000 (83 bb)
• 5.  Elisabeth Hille  –  9,770,000 (81 bb)
• 6.  Yuval Bronshtein  –  9,735,000 (81 bb)
• 7.  Jamie Robbins  –  8,750,000 (72 bb)
• 8.  Robert Corcione  –  8,745,000 (72 bb)
• 9.  Cylus Watson  –  8,500,000 (70 bb)
• 10.  Jeremy Ausmus  –  8,300,000 (69 bb)
• 11.  Scott Abrams  –  8,080,000 (67 bb)
• 12.  Greg Merson  –  7,435,000 (61 bb)
• 13.  Jesse Sylvia  –  7,385,000 (61 bb)
• 14.  Jacob Balsiger  –  7,330,000 (61 bb)
• 15.  Michael Esposito  –  7,045,000 (58 bb)
• 16.  Percy Mahatan  –  6,750,000 (56 bb)
• 17.  Jan Heitmann  –  6,390,000 (53 bb)
• 18.  Danny Wong  –  6,360,000 (53 bb)
• 19.  David Balkin  –  6,330,000 (52 bb)
• 20.  Gaelle Baumann  –  5,530,000 (46 bb)
• 21.  Roland Israelashvili  –  5,525,000 (46 bb)
• 22.  Steven Gee  –  4,830,000 (40 bb)
• 23.  Robert Buckenmayer  –  4,410,000 (36 bb)
• 24.  Andras Koroknai  –  3,125,000 (26 bb)
• 25.  Wilfried Haerig  –  2,665,000 (22 bb)
• 26.  Paul Volpe  –  2,650,000 (22 bb)
• 27.  Nicco Maag  –  1,300,000 (10 bb)

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