Event #1: $500 Casino Employees No-Limit Hold'em

The final 14 players have returned from their dinner break in Level 27 with blinds at 40,000/80,000 with an 80,000 ante.

Bruce Jiang had opened under the gun but when he pulled his hand back from dropping the chips, he accidentally exposed the    to Michael Mcfadden who was sitting in the big blind.

Floor was called and it was the Tournament Director's ruling that Jiang would be forced to play with his hand exposed. He did not offer any further penalty to Jiang, as it was an obvious accident. The TD later went on the say, "I'm not penalizing you because you punished yourself".

The table then folded around, explaining they would act as if they hadn't seen his hand. However, once it was folded to the big blind, Mcfadden did go all-in, forcing Jiang to fold.

Mcfadden showed the   , explaining he wouldn't have made a move with a random weak hand in this particular circumstance. Jiang made light of the situation and requested that Pokernews report the incident, as it was a funny turn of events.

Michael Mcfadden	1,310,000	135,000
Bruce Jiang	935,000	275,000

Guitong He went all-in from early position, only to be called by Peter Thai in the small blind and Sean Balfour in the big blind.

All three players saw a flop of    . Thai bet 175,000 into Balfour and he called.

The turn brought the  , which Thai checked. Balfour then went all-in, forcing Thai out of the pot.

Guitong He:   
Sean Balfour:   

He was drawing dead and the river was an inconsequential brick, eliminating He in 16th place for $2,915.

Meanwhile, Eric Zavodnik was eliminated in 17th place.

Peter Thai	3,500,000	700,000
Sean Balfour	2,100,000	95,000
Guitong He	0	-2,100,000
Eric Zavodnik	0	-1,395,000

Bruce Jiang opened to 125,000 in late position and was met with a three-bet shove from Kevin Kivela two seats to his left. Jiang went into a very short tank before asking, "Do you want a call?" to which Kivela responded, "Yes."

Jiang put in calling chips and the cards went onto their backs.

Kevin Kivela:   
Bruce Jiang:   

The board ran out       which was safe for Kivela who found a much needed double.

Kevin Kivela	1,200,000	400,000
Bruce Jiang	660,000	-125,000

Bruce Jiang opened to 125,000 and was called by Eric Zavodnik in the big blind to see a flop of    .

Zavodnik checked to Jiang who bet out 300,000. Zavodnik check-shoved for the rest of his chips and was quickly called by Jiang.

Eric Zavodnik:   
Bruce Jiang:   

The turn and river ran out   and  , giving Zavodnik a full double.

Eric Zavodnik	1,395,000	1,035,000
Bruce Jiang	785,000	-515,000

There was a three-way all-in preflop between Guitong He, Paul Blanchette, and Randall Blair - the latter being the player at risk.

Randall Blair:   

Paul Blanchette:   

Guitong He:   

The board ran out      , awarding the pot to the eager Paul Blanchette, nearly tripled up. Randall Blair was eliminated in 20th place and awarded $2,411 for his deep run.

Guitong He	2,100,000	300,000
Paul Blanchette	650,000	25,000
Randall Blair	0	-650,000

Jacob Norman shoved his last 125,000 from late position and was called by Mark Kawamoto and Lisa Eckstein.

Jacob Norman:   
Mark Kawamoto:   
Lisa Eckstein:   

The flop came     and Kawamoto shoved and received a call from Eckstein.

The turn and river came   and   pairing the board a second time and splitting the pot between Kawamoto and Eckstein while Norman was eliminated in 22nd place for $2,411.

Lisa Eckstein	1,700,000	300,000
Mark Kawamoto	955,000	55,000
Jacob Norman	0	-200,000

The final 23 players are now on another 15-minute break.

Joshua Vallejo went all in from early position for 160,000. The small blind and big blind, who both covered, ended up going all in as well.

Joshua Vallejo:   
Michael Gibbs:   
Joshua Honneger:   

The board ran out       and left the blinds chopping up Vallejo's chips, eliminating him in 25th place for $2,411.

Joshua Honegger	1,250,000	350,000
Michael Gibbs	580,000	130,000
Joshua Vallejo	0	-160,000