The 2012 World Series of Poker Main Event continued airing on ESPNthis week with the action picking up when 59 players remained on Day 6. As ESPN poker commentator Lon McEachern pointed out, “Anyone can plan, anyone can win.” Standing tall over the field as play rolled on was Daniel Deoxyribo Strelitz.

Greg Merson(pictured) was featured early and often on Tuesday’s coverage, doubling up Russell Thomas when his Big Slick could not fend off J-8 of clubs. Merson, who at one point in the 2012 WSOP Main Event was down to just three big blinds, dumped half of his stack.

Then, Strelitz 6bet all-in pre-flop with Ah-K and Gaelle Baumann, who had 5bet, called with A-K. Strelitz hit two hearts on the flop and a third on the turn for a flush draw, but the six of clubs fell on the river, resulting in a chopped pot. McEachern observed, “Three hearts had Baumann’s heart racing.” That’s what they call a pun.

The only other woman still standing in the tournament, Norway’s Elisabeth Hille(pictured), 5bet all-in before the flop with A-J of clubs and Omar Saeed called for his tournament life with queens. No card above 10 came and Hille dropped 40% of her stack.

At an outer table on a flop of 4-4-Q, Montreal’s Marc-Andre Ladouceur3bet to 710,000 with J-9 for air and Amit amak316 Makhija called with K-Q for queens-up. The action went check-check when a seven hit on the turn and after a river ace, Makhija checked, Ladouceur put his opponent all-in, and Makhija folded his hand face up after a few minutes of deliberation. Ladouceur then showed the bluff.

Meanwhile, Belgium pokercommunity member Jean Malherbe raised all-in on a board of 2-A-9-7 with two clubs holding A-Q for top pair. Merson, who held J-10 of clubs for flush and straight draws but was only 24% to win, called and remarked, “Good luck.” Merson would have been down to just three big blinds once again if he lost, but a club on the river saved the day for the Maryland resident.

Las Vegas poker pro Scott Abramsrelegated Makhija and Tristan Clemenconto the rail in a double elimination. Following the duo out the door was Uruguay’s Fabrizio Gonzalez, who ran pocket eights into the pocket tens of former WPT champ Andras Koroknai (pictured) on his final hand.

Merson’s run-good continued. This time, he knocked out Webber Kang after ducking a flush draw on the river, leading to a tablemate sarcastically asking, “Didn’t you already win a bracelet this year?” Indeed, Merson took down a $10,000 No Limit Hold’em Six-Max tournament during the 2012 WSOP for $1.1 million.

Then, Baumann scored a runner-runner flush with A-J of hearts to draw out on the flopped set of Australia’s David Balkin. The latter went over to high-five his rail when Baumann showed her hand thinking he’d won, but his friends informed him otherwise. Baumann scooped a pot worth 7.4 million and Balkin would later double through Rob Salaburu to stay alive.

In the second one-hour WSOP on ESPN episode, Saeed 5bet all-in pre-flop with A-K and Strelitz, who had bullets, called. Saeed was drawing dead by the river and exited stage left. Strelitz, who has contributed over 5,000 posts to the PocketFives community since joining in 2008, extended his chip lead in poker’s most prestigious tournament.

House flipper Marty Zabibmoved all-in before the flop with A-6 and Balkin called with pocket eights. Zabib took the lead when an ace hit on the turn, but an eight on the river gave Balkin the victory with a set. ESPN poker commentator Norman Chad dubbed the two-outer a “crazy eight” and Balkin continued to grow his stack.

The last Slovakian in the WSOP Main Event field, Tomas Samol, committed his chips with A-Q of spades against Hille, who had queens. Hille, who was ahead the whole way, hit a flush on the river and moved to nearly 6 million in chips.

Jamie TheNewRobbins (pictured) bluffed for 1.6 million on the river with a busted flush draw. Steven Gee, who had top two pair, folded and showed an ace, while Robbins flipped over one card, a lowly four of clubs. Robbins has been a member of PocketFives since 2006 and has nearly $1.3 million in online MTT cashes in his profile.

Salaburu called all-in with pocket kings after Sweden’s Erik Hellman insta-shoved with A-8 of hearts. The board fell 9-4-6-J-Q and Salaburu doubled to 6.3 million. To add insult to injury, Salaburu then busted the Swede with A-Q against A-J.

Hellman’s elimination marked the end of Day 6 of the 2012 WSOP Main Event. Twenty-seven players made Day 7 and Ladouceur held down the chip lead at nearly 16 million. The action continues next Tuesday at 9:30pm ET on ESPN.