Wednesday, July 14, 2010 7:12 PM Local Time
Down to 245,000, Will Failla moved all-in from the cutoff holding but ran smack into Jeffrey Chu's pocket aces.
There were no miracles for "The Thrill" on the board and he hit the rail.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010 7:12 PM Local Time
Brent Hanks five-bet shoved for around 800,000, and John Racener snap called. Uhoh.
Racener:
Hanks:
The board fell , and Hanks discovered that he was slightly covered. He told Racener it was a well-played hand several times and wished him luck, leaving with his head held high. Hanks is out, but Racener's tournament is just beginning with around 1.7 million.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010 7:09 PM Local Time
On a flop of , Dan Lu checked the action to Habib Khanis. Khanis bet 120,000 and was check-raised by Lu to 425,000. Khanis then three-bet shoved all in for 750,000. Lu called with a flush draw, , which was actually a running full house draw against Khanis' . The flush draw, but not the running full house, came with the turn, leaving Lu drawing dead. He's down to 690,000 while Khanis is up to 1.6 million.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010 7:07 PM Local Time
Jean-Robert Bellande opened for a raise, Alper Sar three-bet all-in for 205,000 and Bellande made the call.
Sar
Bellande
The board ran out and Bellande took it down with two pair.
"I want everyone to know I'm calling reraises," Bellande said.
"That was a terrible call," Sar said as he departed the table.
"I know," Bellande replied. "But now I won't get reraised light."
Bellande is back up to 1.36 million.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010 7:04 PM Local Time
Shane Rose moved all-in for 100,000 from early position and Javed Abrahams made the call.
Rose
Abrahams
Rose did not improve on the board and was eliminated. Abrahams is up to 750,000.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010 7:00 PM Local Time
And we're not talking about a table transfer. Bryn Kenney has just picked up two big pots to move his stack over two million in chips. Here's what happened in the back-to-back hands.
Action folded to Kenney in the cutoff seat and he raised to 30,000. The player in the small blind, Kelly Johnson, reraised to 60,000. After the big blind folded, Kenney made the call.
The flop came down and Johnson fired 60,000. Kenney min-raised and made it 120,000. After a brief moment, Johnson moved all in for just about 380,000 and Kenney called. Kenney did take a microsecond to double check his hand and made sure he had.
What he had was a middle set of nines with the . Johnson held the for top pair and a backdoor flush draw. The turn was the and the river the , keeping Kenney ahead and eliminating Johnson.
On the next hand, Kenney called a raise from Vladislav Varlashin before the two saw a flop of . Varlashin checked to Kenney, who bet 49,000. Varlashin raised to 140,000 and Kenney made the call.
Fourth street put the on board and Varlashin checked to Kenney again. Kenney fired 140,000 and Varlashin made the call.
After the paired the board on the river, Varlashin checked and Kenney fired 400,000. Varlashin mucked his hand and Kenney raked in the pot to put his stack over two million.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010 6:56 PM Local Time
On a flop, Jean-Robert Bellande checked to Larry Karambis, who bet 100,000. Bellande moved all-in and Karambis made the call for his remaining 483,000.
Karambis
Bellande
Bellande needed an ace or a jack to eliminate Karambis, but instead saw the fall on the turn and the hit the river. Karambis doubled to 1 million, while Bellande was knocked down to 1.1 million.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010 6:56 PM Local Time
Joshua Weizer appeared primed to hit the 1,000,000 chip mark. He had Chad Wutke all in and on the ropes with , needing help against Weizer's .
However, the board ran out giving Wutke two pair and the pot, upping his stack to 590,000. Weizer slipped to 445,000.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010 6:53 PM Local Time
Paul Varano got his stack of 148,000 into the middle with and was facing Garrettt Adelstein's .
The board ran out as Adelstein made jacks full to bust Varano and chip up to about 1,220,000.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010 6:51 PM Local Time
The chips were all in pre-flop for Brandon Wong and Steven Graham. Graam was at risk and showed the hand that needed to improve, . Wong tabled a pair of sevens, .
"Want to take it back and forget this happened?" Wong asked, eliciting laughter from the table. But it was Wong who took down the pot on a board of . He increased his count to about 450,000 while Graham is off to the cage.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010 6:42 PM Local Time
We're back in action to play a two-hour level, take a 20-minute break, and then play one hour of the next level.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010 5:12 PM Local Time
The remaining 312 players are off to a 90-minute dinner now to savor the fact that they've made it this far and to psych themselves up for the crucial next few hours. Perhaps they'll look for a way to combat the vortex sprang up in the middle of the room during the last level. The strange force sucked chip after chip into the area immediately in front of Matt Affleck. During the last two hours, Affleck amassed a stack large enough to break the 3 million chip barrier. He dropped slightly to 2.9 million right before dinner, but he is still by far the largest stack in the room heading to dinner.
Although the pace of eliminations slowed, there are still quite a few notables who didn't make it to the dinner break. Allie Prescott's tournament was cruelly cut short when he ran pocket kings into big slick. Adam Schoenfeld, Steven Burkholder, and Cole South also couldn't hang on. Jonathan Tamayo finished 21st in the Main Event last year, but he couldn't crack the top 300 this year. Danny Mizrachi was eliminated, leaving only two Mizrachi brothers to carry on the family fight. And poker media members Mori Eskandani and Eric Morris found their stints as players cut short.
Join us in 90 minutes for the next installment of Main Event drama. Cards back in the air at 7:40 pm.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010 5:10 PM Local Time
Max Casal was all in against Dragan Galic with the . Galic held the . The board ran out and Galic earned the elimination.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010 5:05 PM Local Time
U.S. paralympic athlete Marlon Shirley moved all in pre-flop for 90,000 with pocket queens. Shirley is aces on the track, but aces in this hand were dealt to Duy Le. Each player made a set, . Le's set of aces was the best hand, ending Shirley's impressive tournament performance.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010 5:04 PM Local Time
Andre Coimbra found himself in a bad spot, all in for about 200,000 with against Scott Clements' .
The board ran out , ending Coimbra's tournament. Clements upped his stack to about 1,200,000 with the knockout.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010 5:00 PM Local Time
Dragan Galic was all in for about 340,000 before the flop, and he was put to the test by Vitaly Lunkin who had him covered by just a single T1,000 chip.
Showdown
Galic:
Lunkin:
Let's race, shall we? Galic stormed out to a big, early lead on the flop, and Lunkin could not catch up. The turn left him dead to his two-outer and the river secured Galic's double up to about 680,000.
Lunkin's last lonely chip went in as the ante on the next hand, and he managed to find a decent to work with. The board was , though, and an oppoenent with made the winning kings up to sent Lunkin to the exit.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010 4:54 PM Local Time
Scotty Nguyen had been sliding slowly over the last couple of hours, folding a lot of hands as he moved down toward the quarter-million mark.
Just now came a hand in which he was up against Edward Ochana, and by the time the pair had reached the turn -- the board showing -- all of Nguyen's chips had made their way to the middle.
The crowd let out a big roar when the players' hands were tabled. Ochana had for two pair, but Nguyen had for a set of sevens. The river was the , and Nguyen had doubled up.
"That's why you're the Prince!" yelled a fan from the rail. "You know it, baby," said Nguyen, his smile a mile wide. The crowd had been waiting for something to happen with Nguyen over at the secondary feature table for some time, and clearly were enjoying this turn of events.
Nguyen now has 620,000 -- below average at present, but out of the danger zone. Ochana, meanwhile, slides to 560,000.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010 4:54 PM Local Time
The action thus far today (and really, for the duration of the tournament) has been unrelentingly furious, and we're all a little surprised to find ourselves down around 300 players left as the dinner break approaches. Just in the last hour or so, however, the pace has begun to slow noticeably. It's the first time in days that things have been calm and steady, and the clip of the eliminations is finally starting to taper off a tad.
The average stack is about 70 big blinds deep, and there just aren't many dangerously short stacks left in the room. Most of the middling stacks have plenty of chips to be patient and pick favorable spots, and it seems they're mostly content to do so for the time being.
We're about ten minutes from the dinner break.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010 4:54 PM Local Time
Rory Monahan raised to 23,000 from the button and Matt Keikoan shoved for 113,000 from the small blind. Larry Karambis called from the big blind and Monahan folded.
Keikoan
Karambis
Karambis hit middle pair on the flop, but Keikoan turned a Broadway straight when the fell. The river was the and Keikoan doubled to 265,000 while Karambis fell to 475,000.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010 4:54 PM Local Time
Eric Morris has been grinding a short stack all day, and he made his last stand with against Kevin Stani's . "One time! One time, dealer! I'm using my one time card," Morris said. But let's hope this wasn't his one time since the flop came , giving Stani a set. The on the turn filled up Stani's boat, and after the river, Morris wished the table luck and made his exit.