Three handed play resumed after the dinner break, but from the first half hour you wouldn't guess that anyone besides Daniel Negreanu was present. Don Baruch and Jared Davis played incredibly passive during the start of the level. They  were playing right into Negreanu's well known small-ball gameplan by checking when they are weak and letting him take down uncontested pots with small bets. 

Zigging When He Should Be Zagging

An example of Davis' passive play went as follows. Right after losing a small pot he picked up aces.  Hoping to get Negreanu to bet his hand for him, he just called a small preflop raise from Negreanu. The flop came Q 2 2, Davis bet and Negreanu checked behind. The turn brought the K, Davis leads out and Negreanu made the easy fold.  By never making raises until Negreanu knows his hand has no chance of winning, Davis and Baruch are only going to get paid off in a cooler situation.

The Cooler

A must-payoff situation did arise when both Negreanu and Baruch flopped top pair on a board of 9 6 4.  Baruch held the 9 8, and bet out. Negreanu called with the 9 7, and though behind, the turn of 7 caught him up in a hurry, giving him two pair. Baruch passively checked, Negreanu bet, and Baruch called. Baruch's gin card, the 5, came on the end, completing his straight. Baruch made a relatively small bet, compared to the size of the pot, and despite the river being a scare card, Negreanu reluctantly called.  When the cards were turned up, Negreanu got the bad news and was left dangerously short.

Daniel Negreanu Takes 3rd ($101,351)

Negreanu limped and Davis pushed all-in.  Negreanu went into the tank for a while, pondering a call for his tournament life with A 8.  Eventually, he did call, and Davis' revealed the 55.  The flop brought the 6 4 2.  Negreanu needed running clubs, running straight cards, an eight or an ace.  The 7 gave Negreanu an inside straight draw, but he was still in pretty bad shape.  The river brought the 7 and Negreanu's run at the bracelet was over, just hours after holding a large chip lead.  Negreanu came in 3rd, and received $101,351, but at this point his mind is surely stuck on the fact that he didn't win, despite playing well.

Heads up play began after the $264,107 first place prize was laid out on the table during the money presentation.  Baruch held a sizable lead over Davis, but play was still very passive despite making it past Negreanu and into heads up play.  Make sure to check back next hour for a recap of the first hour of heads up play here at Cardplayer.com.

The final three players have just gone on dinner break which will last for 45 minutes. Play will resume in Level 23 at 9:15 p.m. with blinds of $8,000-$16,000 and a $2,000 ante.

Current Chip Counts

Don Baruch -- $1,120,000

Jared Davis -- $870,000

Daniel Negreanu -- $760,000

Daniel Negreanu’s dominance of this final table has started to relinquish after doubling up Don Baruch and losing the chip lead. 

Michael Wehner was on a short stacked enough to move in with any ace if it was folded or limped to him. He did just that when he picked up the A 4.  Daniel Negreanu, the prohibitive chip leader, went into the tank.  He held the K Q, and was trying to determine the best course of action. After a moment, he blurted out his read, which was dead on.  He then called, and the flop came down K 7 5.  Wehner lost his advantage, but picked up hope on the turn with the 3, giving him a myriad of outs.  The K was not one, however, and it sealed Wehner's fate. He was sent to the rail in 5th, and received $36,855.  Negreanu is now up to $1,500,000.

In a multi-way pot, Daniel Negreanu held A K, Don Baruch held the A J and Doug Baughman held the Q 10.  The flop was the definition of an action flop, bringing the K J 3.  Negreanu and Baughman both checked after the flop, and Baruch bet from the button.  Negreanu reraised, and Baughman moved all-in with both an open ended straight draw and a flush draw.  Negreanu called, and the race was on.  The K on the turn took away some of Baughman's outs, because the ace that would complete his straight would give Negreanu a full house.  Baughman still had numerous outs, however.  The 2 was not one of them.  Negreanu won with trip kings, and eliminated Baughman in seventh place. Baughman will take home $15,971.  Negreanu now has a dramatic chip lead, with around $900,000.

The first hour got off to a very slow start. Of the first five hands, only one saw a flop. Notable players Daniel Negreanu and Erick Lindgren were likely feeling the pressure on them to win, while the other players likely just wanted to avoid going out first.  That  misfortune had to befall somebody however, and that somebody was Fred Goldberg.

Fred Goldberg Takes 9th ($9,828)

Around thirty hands into the final table, Daniel Negreanu raised preflop with the A K and was reraised by Fred Goldberg, who held J J. Staring Goldberg down, Negreanu said,  "I just don't believe you."  After a moment in the tank, Negreanu pushed and Goldberg quickly called. The flop brought the 7 7 8, no help to Negreanu.  The 2 on turn also improved neither player, and Goldberg was close to doubling up. The A dashed his hopes however, and sent him the to rail in 9th. ($9,828.) Negreanu raked in the pot and ended the hand as the chip leader, with around $550,000. 

Chop It Up

In the last hand of the level, Daniel Negreanu and Brandon Lee got involved in an interesting hand. Both players picked up pocket tens and saw the flop of Q 7 3, which gave Negreanu a diamond draw. Negreanu held the betting lead the whole way down, and Lee  continued to call him.  The turn brought the 8 and the river paired the board with the Q.  Once again Negreanu bet and Lee called, and they were both surprised to show down the same hand and chop the pot.

Blinds have gone up to $4,000-$8,000 with a $1,000 ante for level 2.  Make sure to check up on all the action every hour here at Carplayer.com.