Scott Abrams raised to 255,000 from early position and Michael Esposito called from the small blind. The flop came down and Esposito bet 325,000. Abrams called.

On the turn was the and Esposito fired 600,000. Abrams called. The river then completed the board with the and both players checked.

Esposito showed the for two pair on the flop that was counterfeited on the river. Abrams showed the and won the pot with a better two pair.

Scott Abrams	10,300,000	1,300,000
Michael Esposito	5,600,000	-1,445,000

Over at the outer table, Scott Abrams raised to 255,000 and Russell Thomas flatted from the cutoff seat. Michael Esposito called from the big blind and action was three handed to the flop.

The flop came down and Esposito checked. Abrams fired 475,000 and Thomas called. Esposito folded.

The turn brought the and Abrams stayed on the gas with a bet of 1.075 million. Thomas folded and Abrams won the pot.

Russell Thomas	9,200,000	-785,000
Scott Abrams	9,000,000	920,000

David Balkin opened for 250,000 from early position and received a call from Jesse Sylvia on the button. When the flop fell , Balkin led out for 325,000, Sylvia raised to 785,000, Balkin three-bet 1.7 million, and Sylvia snap-folded.

David Balkin	7,635,000	1,305,000
Jesse Sylvia	6,680,000	-960,000

Cylus Watson raised to 225,000 from middle position only to have Greg Merson three-bet to 675,000 from the button. The blinds got out of the way, and Watson responded with a four-bet to 1.5 million. Merson paused for a moment before moving all in, and Watson quickly released his hand.

Greg Merson	9,125,000	1,690,000
Cylus Watson	6,970,000	-1,530,000

The first hand at the secondary feature table saw Paul Volpe opening for 240,000 from early position and getting a single caller in Steven Gee in the big blind.

The flop came . Gee checked, and Volpe continued for 280,000. Gee thought a moment, then called. The turn was the . Gee checked again, and after pausing about 20 seconds Volpe checked as well.

The river brought the . This time Gee led out for 675,000. Volpe looked over at Gee, riffling his chips with his left hand with his right resting on his left shoulder. He then looked back down at his chips, taking two full minutes before letting his hand go.

Steven Gee	5,350,000	520,000
Paul Volpe	2,130,000	-520,000

Over at the ESPN Feature Table, Elisabeth Hille raised to 240,000 from the hijack and Jesse Sylvia defended from the big blind. Both players proceeded to check the flop, bringing about the on the turn. Sylvia took the initiative and led out for 340,000, which proved enough to take down the pot as Hille folded her hand.

Elisabeth Hille	9,515,000	-255,000
Jesse Sylvia	7,640,000	255,000

The 2011 WSOP Main Event final table was a truly international affair, with a record seven different nationalities represented among the final nine players.

In fact, last year the final 15 players came from 11 different countries — one each from Belize, Canada, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Germany, Ireland, Russia, South Africa, and the U.K., and five from the U.S.

This year the final 27 come from seven different countries, with 19 coming from the United States:

Australia (1) — David Balkin
Canada (1) — Marc Ladouceur
France (1) — Gaelle Baumann
Germany (3) — Wilfried Haerig, Jan Heitmann, Nicco Maag
Hungary (1) — Andras Koroknai
Norway (1) — Elisabeth Hille
U.S. (19) — Jeremy Ausmus, Scott Abrams, Jacob Balsiger, Yuval Bronshtein, Robert Buckenmayer, Robert Corcione, Michael Esposito, Steven Gee, Roland Israelashvili, Percy Mahatan, Greg Merson, Jamie Robbins, Robert Salaburu, Daniel Strelitz, Jesse Sylvia, Russell Thomas, Paul Volpe, Cylus Watson, Danny Wong

Jack Effel briefly welcomed the players and instructed the dealers to, "Shuffle up and deal." The cards are in the air here in the Amazon Room, and we pick up action with one hour and 37 minutes remaining in Level 30.

Nine long days are done, but there's still one more to go in the 2012 World Series of Poker $10,000 Main Event before the final nine is determined. What started with 6,598 players is down to 27, all seeking a coveted spot at the final table. The man best positioned to claim a spot is Marc Ladouceur, who emerged as the chip leader on Day 6 with 15.875 million.

Sharing the same dreams and aspirations as the Canadian chip leader are an eclectic mix of players. Greg Merson gas already proved himself this summer by taking down Event #57 $10,000 No-Limit Hold-em—Six Handed for $1,136,197. If Merson, who currently sits in seventh place on the 2012 WSOP Player of the Year Leaderboard, does make the final table, he'll earn enough to surpass Phil Ivey atop the said leaderboard and be positioned to capture those honors headed into the WSOP-Europe. Talk about extra motivation.

Likewise, Roland Israelashvili sits in 63rd place on the leaderboard, so either a second or first place finish in the Main Event would put him in the top stop; likewise, victories by either Yuval Bronshtein or Jeremy Ausmus would vault them to the top of the POY standing. While that would certainly be great, it'd no doubt be the cherry on top of having won poker's most prestigious event.

There are also a couple other storylines that has everyone talking. Among the final 27 players are two women, Gaelle Baumann or Elisabeth Hille of France and Norway respectively. Each are looking to be the first female to make the Main Event table for the first time since Barbara Enright did so back in 1995, the first and only time a woman has ever accomplished the feat. In another regard, the question lingers as to whether or not Jamie Robbins can best his eleventh-place finish in the 2009 Main Event?

All of the questions marks and speculation will become clear by day's end as 18 players will be sent home short of their goal. Action is set to recommence at 1 PM PST, which is about 40 minutes from now. We'll begin with the remaining hour and thirty-seven minutes of Level 30, and then play down to a final table. There's no telling how long it might take, but action won't stop until we get there. Join us then as we bring you all the action and eliminations en route to the 2012 WSOP Main Event final table!