And that'll do it for tonight! 101 of the best players in the world ponied up the $10,000 entry fee for this event, and 54 of them survived the night. At most tournaments, we are lucky to find two or three famous faces at the same table. Well at this tournament, it was rare to see two or three faces that we DIDN'T recognize. It truly was a star studded field and at the end of the night your chip leader is none other than Konstantin Puchkov who bagged 133,400. Puchkov is looking to make WSOP history, as a cash in this event would be a record breaking 11th for him on the series. Not far behind are Hertzel Zalewki (107,700) and Hasan Habib (104,700).

The big story of the night was the return of the 10-time bracelet winner Johnny Chan, who made his first appearance at the Rio all summer. Chan cashed in this event last year, finishing 12th, but he will not be able to top that this year, as he was eliminated just before the end of the night.

Some of the players who joined Chan out the door included Phil Hellmuth, Brandon Cantu, Chad Brown, Shaun Deeb, Josh Brikis, Bryn Kenney, and Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi.

It was a great day for former champions of this event. Last year's winner John Juanda is looking to defend his title, and he will come into tomorrow with 63,000 chips. David "Bakes" Baker won this event two years ago, and he has 37,900 chips. In 2009, Nick Schulman took down the event, and he is also still alive with 65,000. Before 2009, this event played out as a $5,000 with rebuys, and the champions of that in 2008 and 2007, Mike Matusow (33,400) and Erik Seidel (91,200), will also return tomorrow looking for another bracelet!

In addition to those players, there is a near endless list of big names who are moving on to tomorrow. Just a few include Daniel Negreanu (94,200), Jason Mercier (89,000), Michael Binger (86,300), Tom Schneider (82,900), Ali Eslami (75,800), and Phil Galfond (41,200), amongst several others.

The 54 remaining players have bagged and tagged their chips, and they will come back tomorrow at 2 pm. They will play ten levels, or until they reach the final seven players, whichever comes first. Be sure to tune in tomorrow, as it should be an exciting end to the preliminary events here at the 2012 WSOP! For now, good night from Las Vegas!

Tournament staff has announced five more hands before bagging and tagging for the evening.

Action folded to Todd Brunson's button and he popped it up to 2,200. Daniel Negreanu folded from the small blind. Phil Galfond called from the big and drew one while Brunson stood pat.

Galfond fired out 5,500 and Brunson called. Galfond showed and Brunson mucked his cards.

Todd Brunson	48,000	-1,000
Phil Galfond	45,000	15,000

There will be no bracelet 11 for Johnny Chan. He has just been eliminated. We didn't catch the action, but we do know that the hand that beat him was . Chan his the rail just moments before the day is done.

Johnny Chan

0

-4,500

We caught up during the draw to see Jason Mercier take one card while Scott Fischman stood pat. With about 5,500 in the pot Mercier bet 5,400.

Fischman called the bet and Mercier showed a seventy-six in the form of . Fischman mucked his hand and Mercier scooped another sizable pot. He's currently at about 95,000.

Jason Mercier	95,000	27,000
Scott Fischman	13,000	-2,000

These were the words we heard Ali Eslami shout from his table, so we wandered over to take a look. As we arrived, it seemed obvious why. Marco Traniello has been holed up at that table all day, and there was recently an empty seat that was formerly filled by Bryn Kenney. However, after his elimination, a new player had to be brought in, and of all the people to fill the seat, it was Jennifer Harman. For those of you that don't know, Traniello and Harman are happily married and have twin boys together. Let's hope this tournament doesn't cause any problems at the house!

A new super stacked table has emerged for the last half hour of play of the evening.

Seat 1: Mike Wattel
Seat 2: Mike Matusow
Seat 3: Todd Brunson
Seat 4: Daniel Negreanu
Seat 5: Phil Galfond
Seat 6: Nick Schulman
Seat 7: Erik Seidel

Seidel was the most recent addition to this table and Matusow was the first one to note how many "sickos" were seated at this table. Fortunately for all of the players there, they will only have to deal with the talents of those around them for thirty more minutes before bagging and tagging at the end of the night.

After John Juanda won this event last year, the overwhelming consensus in the poker world seemed to be "no surprise there he's the best in the world at this game." Well today's he's proving that right, as he has just taken the chip lead in the last level of the night.

Action started with Juanda raising it up to 2,025 in on the button. He was then faced with a three-bet to 8,025 from the small blind, and after about a minute of thought, he tossed in the call. The small blind stood pat, while Juanda drew one card.

The small blind quickly checked, and Juanda squeezed his cards about six times before announcing all in. His opponent immediately flung his cards toward the dealer in anger, giving the pot to Juanda. After his opponent folded, Juanda lifted his cards up, and slowly squeezed out ............. For those following along at home, that hand is no good, as straights count again you in 2-7. No matter for Juanda though, as he takes the pot, upping his stack to 108,000.

John Juanda

108,000

38,000

Action folded around to Jeff Lisandro in the small blind and he raised to 3,000. Andy Bloch was in the big blind and thought for a moment before asking Lisandro how much he had left. Lisandro was sitting on about 14,000 behind.

Bloch three-bet from the big blind to 10,000 total and Lisandro mucked his hand. With that win Bloch has increased his stack to 100,000 and is one of the top stacks in the room.

Lisandro, on the other hand, would exit from the tournament on the very next hand.

Andy Bloch	100,000	45,000
Jeff Lisandro	0	-31,000

We found Marco Traniello, Ali Eslami, and a third player still in the hand after the draw. Traniello bet out 3,600 and Eslami called. The third player opted to muck his hand and Traniello tabled an eighty-seven.

Eslami mucked his hand when he saw Traniello's , awarding Traniello the pot.

Marco Traniello	42,000	2,000
-	41,000	-30,000

We caught up with the action to find David "Viffer" Peat all in for his last 4,100. Peat tabled .

His sole caller was Jason Mercier who had in front of him. Mercier squeezed out his last card to find a three-across. Mercier tabled the , pairing his hand and doubling up Peat.

"WOOOHOOO!" yelled Peat in victory. "Eight ball! Corner pocket!"

Jason Mercier	68,000	-6,000
David Peat	10,000	5,900

Action started with the player on the button raising to 2,000. Bryn Kenney was next to act in the small blind, and he raised all in for 17,000. His opponent made the call, and both players drew one card.

Kenney:
Opponent:

Kenney was first to show, and he drew a , giving him a ten-nine low. His opponent would need to draw a seven, five, three, or two to secure the hand, and he caught the last of those cards, a . Kenney quickly made his way to the exits, and the next time we see him will be at the main event.

Bryn Kenney

0

-9,300

We caught up with the action to see Daniel Negreanu and Nick Schulman going to the draw with over 20,000 in the pot.

Schulman was in the big blind and stood pat and Negreanu took one from the button. Schulman checked to Negreanu who took a look at his new card.

"Eh, the pot's big enough," Negreanu said as he rapped the table. Negreanu showed and Schulman mucked his hand. Negreanu is now flirting with the 80,000 chip mark after that hand.

Daniel Negreanu	78,000	36,000
Nick Schulman	73,000	-7,000

We caught up after the draw to find John Juanda toss out a bet of 5,550 that was called by David Grey.

Juanda spread out his hand to reveal a ninety-six in the form of . Grey mucked his hand and Juanda scooped up the pot of about 16,000. Juanda is currently sitting on a stack of about 70,000 and is one of the top stacks in the room.

John Juanda

70,000

8,000

We caught up to the action after the draw to find David Peat check to Jason Mercier. Mercier bet out 3,000 and Peat called.

"Nine or a ten," Mercier said, revealing that he bet after drawing a four-across card.

"A ten's no good," replied Peat.

Mercier tabled his hand and showed that he made a nine low with .

Peat showed a low and threw away the rest of his hand. The pot was pushed to Mercier who is now sitting on about 38,500.

David Peat	58,000	-5,000
Jason Mercier	38,500	6,500

Johnny Chan raised from under the gun to 1,600, and Brett Richey made the call. John Juanda, who was next to act, raised it up to 7,800, and it folded back to Chan. He tossed in the call, which represented over half his stack, and Richey got out of the way.

Chan drew one card, while Juanda stood pat. Chan checked it over to Juanda, who fired out 10,000, which would have put Chan all in. Chan peeked down at his cards, and tossed them into the muck, leaving himself just 4,500. Meanwhile, Juanda is setting himself up for a repeat run at this event, as he is up to 62,000.

John Juanda	62,000	17,000
Johnny Chan	4,500	-25,500

Daniel Negreanu opened to 2,000 only to have Nick Schulman re-raise from the cutoff to 6,500. The player on the button flat called and Negreanu called as well.

Negreanu drew one card while Schulman stood pat. The player on the button opted to take one and all three players checked post-draw.

"As Gus would say, 'that beautiful jack," said Schulman tabling . Everyone else mucked their cards and Schulman dragged in that beautiful pot.

Nick Schulman	64,000	34,000
Daniel Negreanu	42,000	-5,200

We got to the table to see Tom Marchese all in with in front of him. Marchese pulled one while his opponent stood pat with .

Marchese needed to pull either a four or a five to make the best low and stay alive. Marchese flipped up the and was able to stay alive and double to about 17,000.

Tom Marchese

17,000

8,000