A Surprising Exit

The players returned from their break and the lion’s share of the way into hour three 66 players remained at nine tables. Thor Hansen and Tony G had both succumbed to short stacks, and had busted out of the tournament. Surprisingly, Josh Arieh was another player to hit the rail during the hour. He was among the chip leaders only a short time ago.

Table 70

Arieh had been seated at table 70, but even in his absence it continued to be the strongest table left in the field. Paul Darden ($40,000), Dale Phillips ($36,000), Fred Goldberg ($20,000), and Sherkhan Farnood ($30,000) were all seated together. Farnood finished in second place at last year’s World Series of Poker, in the $1,500 pot-limit Omaha w/rebuys tournament. Darden would take a hit to his stack with 7K56 exposed and $8,000 in the pot. His opponent flipped over the 9, which worked quite nicely with his exposed cards 499K.

Fool’s Gold

With 85 up on fourth street, Fred Goldberg bet $800. His opponent made the call with  92 exposed. The K and A were dealt to Goldberg and his opponent, respectively, on fifth street. Goldberg fired out $1,600 and his adversary popped it to $3,200. Sixth street brought the 10 for Goldberg, and the Q for his opponent. Goldberg checked, his opponent bet $1,600, and he called. A shift in Goldberg’s facial expression took place when his opponent flipped over his hole cards after a $1,600 bet and a call on seventh street. His opponent had shown AJJ for aces up and Goldberg was quite angry about this discovery. He peeked at his cards and then tossed them into the muck. He then crossed his arms in front of him and leaned back in his chair in frustration. The loss knocked him down to $12,000.

Seventh Street No Help

Mel Judah was all in and had flipped up all of his cards, 10810854. His opponent had turned over AQA3A8. The final cards were dealt face down and Judah slowly peeked at his final hope. His reaction told the rest of the story as he threw down his final hole card in disgust and got up from the table.

Rolling Along at the Top

During the course of the hour, chip leader Chris Barnes had not only maintained his lead, but increased it to $60,000. He now had Greg Raymer seated at his table. Ted Forrest had also grown his stack to over $35,000, and he now resides among the top of the leader board. 

Red Light – Green Light

Action got underway during day two of the $1,500 seven card stud event, and action went a dozen hands before stopping for a color up. The players remained in their seats for the process and they restarted play after a short hiccup in the action.

Level nine was underway with a $100 ante, $100 bet for the low card, with a $100 bring in. The limits were $400-$800. Many well-known professional players remained in the field, and a handful of them were grouped together at various tables. Michael Mizrachi and Greg Raymer were seated together, as were Phil Ivey and Robert Mizrachi. The toughest table of day two was home to Paul Darden, Thor Hansen, and Josh Arieh. Arieh was one of the chip leaders with about $25,000.

Sour Patch Kids

With J1025 exposed, Arieh faced an $800 bet from Paul Darden on seventh street. Darden had 44A3 exposed. Arieh made a sour face and reluctantly tossed his chips into the middle. Darden flipped up his hole cards 552 and Arieh mucked his hand. He looked more satisfied that he had confirmed his suspicions about Darden’s hand than the chips he lost. His stack was still well north of $20,000 after the hand.

Familiar Faces in the Stable

Other familiar faces in the field included Ted Forrest, Barry Greensetin, Tong G, Mimi Tran, Mel Judah, John Juanda, Chad Brown, William Chen, and Fred Goldberg. Max Pescatori was eliminated early in the hour, and was seen exiting at the rail. By the end of the hour there were 124 players remaining at 16 tables. Ten of these tables were placed in the featured tournament area, right to the back of the limit hold’em world championship. With the ring of spectators thrown in, it gave the scene a stable-like atmosphere as people peered in at their favorite players. Six tables were corralled to the other side of the walkway and will continue to break down into the featured area.

Dead Man’s Hand

One of the players stranded on the far side of the walkway is Goldberg. He made an interesting hand on seventh street to send his opponent packing at the end of the hour. She moved all in on third street and Goldberg made the call. Goldberg flipped over A57 and his remaining cards were dealt 3A88. This made him aces and eights, the infamous dead man’s hand, and it killed the tournament hopes of his opponent.

Due to the large number of entrants in today's 12pm event, action will get underway one hour later than scheduled.  The cards will go into the air now at 4pm PST instead of 3pm.