Note: Play has ended for the day. The remaining eight final players will begin final table play tomorrow at 4:00pm.

Players Remaining: 8 of 192

Average Stack: 480,000

Final Table:
Matthew Glantz – 1,150,000
James Mackey – 700,000
Tom Dwan – 600,000
Michael DeMichele – 450,000
Sam Farha – 400,000
Tony Rivera – 300,000
Jeff Madsen – 200,000
Eli Elezra – 100,000

Recent Eliminations:
David Oppenheim (9^th)
Gus Hansen (10^th)

Big Hands:

Limit Hold’em: Gus Hansen Eliminated in 10^th Place ($45,120)

After being crippled just before the scheduled break, Gus Hansen’s tournament fate became even more dire during the limit hold’em round. Eli Elezra raised from the button, and Hansen three-bet from the small blind. Eli called, and Hansen bet before the flop fell JJ8. Eli deliberated, finally raising all in. Elezra was ahead with the A9 against Hansen’s KQ. The turn and river did nothing for Gus, and Elezra’s double-up left Hansen with less than 24,000 in chips.

Gus Hansen was eliminated on the next hand by Sam Farha, earning him a 10^th place finish and sending the remaining players to the final table bubble.

Stud 8: Decision Time for David Oppenheim

After not successfully winning a pot for several orbits, David Oppenheim was put to the test by Tom Dwan during the stud eight-or-better round. Showing a board of KK5, Tom Dwan made a bet that would have essentially committed all of Oppenheim’s chips to the middle. Oppenheim pondered for several minutes while staring down his opponent’s board and comparing it with his own, AK9. He eventually folded, and as he did so Dwan showed him the 5 from his hole cards. Oppenheim was decimated by the loss with only 30,000 in chips remaining.

During that hand, a decision was made by the floor staff to randomly draw one player from the table of five to join the table of four. James Mackey was selected to move, which was particularly significant. Mackey and Dwan had been virtually even in chips at their table, with the remaining players (Oppenheim, Anthony Rivera, and James Madsen) being short stacks playing very conservatively. Consequently, the majority of the pots had been contested by Dwan and Mackey. With Mackey joining the other table, Dwan was free to hijack many pots without resistance. Dwan raised every hand during his table’s four-handed play.

Stud 8: David Oppenheim Eliminated in 9^th Place ($45,120)

David Oppenheim’s difficult struggle on the final table bubble finally came to an end during the stud eight-or-better round. He was able to put all of his chips into the middle on third street with K88, called only by Jeff Madsen with A55. Oppenheim caught the K on fifth street, but Madsen’s A on sixth street overtook David’s two pair and sent him to the rail.

Players Remaining: 10 of 192

Average Stack: 384,000

Notable Chip Counts:
Matthew Glantz - 975,000
Tom Dwan - 610,000
James Mackey - 490,000
Michael DeMichele - 360,000
Jeff Madsen - 300,000
Sam Farha - 260,000
Gus Hansen - 240,000
Tony Rivera - 210,000
David Oppenheim - 190,000
Eli Elezra - 93,000

Recent Eliminations:
Ali Eslami (11^th)
Tom Schneider (12^th)

Big Hands:

2-7 Triple Draw: Hansen Shows Glantz the Money

After the third drawing round in a hand of deuce-to-seven triple draw, Gus Hansen checked and faced a bet from Matt Glantz into a large pot.  Gus contemplated for several minutes before laying down his hand.  As Glantz dragged the pot, he offered to let Hansen see his hole cards for $200.  Gus agreed and took a peek.  “Wow!  Seven-six low,” Gus commented as he took two $100 bills from his wallet and tossed them to Glantz.  “Maybe I should’ve asked for $300,” wondered Glantz.

2-7 Triple Draw: Hansen Crippled After Triple Draw Cooler

In the last hand of deuce-to-seven triple draw before the limit hold’em round began, Gus Hansen found himself involved in a large pot with Michael DeMichele.  Hansen check-raised DeMichele after the last round of drawing, adding to the already large pot.  DeMichelle just called Hansen’s raise and turned over eight-six-four low.  Hansen stood up and despairingly flipped over eight-six-five low.  Gus was left with only around 150,000 in chips at the end of the hand and is once again in immediate danger of elimination.

Players Remaining: 12 of 192

Average Stack: 320,000

Notable Chip Counts:
Matthew Glantz - 750,000
James Mackey - 520,000
Michael DeMichele - 400,000
Sam Farha - 360,000
Jeff Madsen - 280,000
Gus Hansen - 255,000
David Oppenheim - 235,000
Eli Elezra - 221,000
Ali Eslami - 210,000
Tom Dwan - 145,000

Recent Eliminations:
Johnny Chan (13^th)
Lee Watkinson (14^th)
Chris Gentile (15th^th)
Amnon Filippi (16^th)

Big Hands:

No-Limit Hold’em: Dwan Makes a Move, Takes a Hit

In the no-limit hold’em round on one of the two remaining tables, Tom Dwan raised to 15,500 from early position. Immediately next to act, James Mackey made it 55,000 to go. The action folded back to Dwan, who deliberated for a while and put Mackey all in. Mackey called and flipped over TT, well ahead of Dwan’s KT. The 87542 board offered no help to Dwan. With that hand, Dwan fell from being one of the event chip leaders to one of the shortest stacks.

No-Limit Hold’em: Gus Devastates Lee Watkinson, Finishes the Job

In the last hand of stud eight-or-better, Gus Hansen crippled Lee Watkinson leaving him with only one lonely pink 5,000 chip. This generated Eli Elezra to remark, “A chip and a chair, Lee.” The next round was no-limit hold’em, and after paying the 1,500 and posting his 2,500 small blind, Watkinson was left with one orange 1,000 chip. Hansen raised to 17,500 from early position, Watkinson called all in, and Sam Farha called from the big blind. The flop came QT3 and Farha checked. Hansen’s bet of 23,000 prompted Farha to fold, and Watkinson flipped over the AJ. Hansen initially just flipped over the 9 to show that he had diamond outs against Watkinson, but eventually revealed his other hole card to be the 7. The 6 turn gave Hansen additional outs with an inside straight draw, and the 8 river delivered for Hansen. Watkinson earned $27,072 for his 14^th place finish.

No-Limit Hold’em: Johnny Chan Eliminated by Gus Hansen

Johnny Chan’s hope of capturing his 11^th bracelet and tying Phil Hellmuth for the record were suspended when he was eliminated by Gus Hansen during the no-limit hold’em level. Hansen raised to 17,500 pre-flop and Chan called all in for 16,500. Matthew Glantz called from the big blind, and the two active players took the QJ2 flop heads-up. Glantz checked, and Hansen bet 23,000. Glantz called and the turn brought the 4. Again Glantz checked, causing Hansen to fire 69,000 into the pot. “I can’t beat a queen,” Glantz said as he threw his cards into the muck. The side pot was pushed to Gus while Chan shouted, “Put a three out there!” “I don’t know if you even need that,” Hansen shrugged as his turned over the A8. Chan revealed the A5, but the 6 river failed to help. Chan was eliminated in 13^th place.

Pot-Limit Omaha: Tom Schneider Stayin’ Alive

After an uncalled all in during the no-limit hold’em round, Tom Schneider again shoved it all in over the top of James Mackey’s pre-flop raise during the pot-limit Omaha segment. Feeling committed, Mackey made the call with KJQ3. When Schneider revealed his hole cards to be AKJJ, another player commented to Mackey, “You’re going to need a lot of threes.” The flop had a somewhat different opinion, J55, and Schneider’s full house doubled him up.

Players Remaining: 16 of 192

Average Stack: 240,000

Notable Chip Counts:
Tom Dwan - 620,000
Matthew Glantz - 560,000
Sam Farha - 360,000
Gus Hansen - 255,000
David Oppenheim - 235,000
Tom Schneider - 235,000
Eli Elezra - 221,000
Ali Eslami - 210,000
Jeff Madsen - 190,000
Johnny Chan - 180,000

Recent Eliminations:
William McMahon (17^th)
Brandon Adams (18^th)
Greg Mueller (19^th)

Big Hands:

Omaha 8: Gus Loses Massive Pot to Eli

On a board of 8772, Gus Hansen and Eli Elezra began a raising war.  Gus finally broke and just called Eli’s final raise.  On the Td river, Hansen checked to Elezra who fired another bet into the pot.  Hansen paused for a moment and said, “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”  He tossed a call across the line and Elezra turned over AK33.  Elezra’s second-nut flush and ace-trey nut low was apparently good for a scoop, as Gus Hansen mucked his cards upon seeing Elezra’s hand.  “Wow, boys, I just took a more than 90,000 dollar pot from Gus,” commented Elezra as he dragged the pot.

Omaha 8: Gus Hansen Burning Through Chips

Gus Hansen continued to plummet after losing to Eli, this time to Tom Dwan.  In a battle of the blinds, Hansen raised from the small blind and Dwan reraised from the big blind.  Hansen called, and the two saw a flop of Q54.  Hansen checked, and Dwan fired again.  Gus called and the 8 hit the felt on the turn.  Again Gus checked, and again Dwan bet.  Gus folded, and was heard afterward to remark that he had been the chip leader eight hands ago and was now fearing elimination.

Watch Erik Seidel discuss Omaha 8

Razz: William McMahon Doubles Up Before Being Eliminated

Moments after doubling up when his AQT6554 was good for the pot in a hand during the razz level, William McMahon was eliminated by Lee Watkinson in a large pot.  Johnny Chan was originally involved in the hand, but folded his cards on fourth street when his board read J8.  During the same round, Lee raised enough to put McMahon all in, and McMahon called.  By the river, Watkinson’s board of A87543 had the crowd of interested players commenting that McMahon was drawing dead.  He was eliminated in 17^th place, and the remaining players redrew for their new seat assignments during two-table play.  Today’s portion of the event will end when eight more players are eliminated and the final table is set.

Watch T.J. Cloutier discuss the game of razz

Players Remaining: 19 of 192

Average Stack: 202,105

Notable Chip Counts:
Johnny Chan - 490,000
Gus Hansen - 435,000
Matthew Glantz - 365,000
Eli Elezra - 298,000
Tom Dwan - 285,000
David Oppenheim - 260,000
Tom Schneider - 250,000
Michael DeMichele - 250,000
Sam Farha - 192,000
James Mackey - 160,000

Recent Eliminations:
Adam Friedman (20^th)
Doyle Brunson (21^st)
Scott Seiver (22^nd)
Chad Brown (23^rd)
Nikolay Evdakov (24^th)

Big Hands:

Pot-Limit Omaha: Tensions High as Amnon Filippi All In

On a board of 9342, Amnon Filippi pushed all in for his remaining 6,200. The bet represented a small fraction of the current pot, and Filippi wondered aloud why Sam Farha was deliberating for so long before calling. Farha announced that he didn’t want to show his hand, but called the bet anyway. When he finally called and Filippi turned over AAT5, Sam threw his cards towards the muck.

The dealer declared that because the hand was all in, Farha’s cards would have to be retrieved and shown so the river could be dealt. Filippi objected as the hand had already touched the muck, and the floor man was called. The ruling was that the hand would have to be shown, and a dealer standing behind the table waiting to relieve the current dealer said that he had seen Farha’s cards and would repeat them to the director to verify the authenticity of the hand. After telling the floor man what he believed Farha’s cards were, the floor man turned over the KQ96. The river didn’t improve the hand.

Farha objected the ruling and requested to the floor man that a different dealer replace the current one. The floor man obliged, and a new dealer sat in. Johnny Chan vocally opposed this ruling, and forecasted that it would set precedence for future players to arbitrarily request new dealers for insignificant reasons. The floor man disagreed with Chan, and play continued with the new replacement dealer.

The first hand with the new dealer was a game change to deuce-to-seven triple draw, and an extra card being dealt resulted in a misdeal. Johnny Chan sarcastically requested a dealer change.

2-7 Triple Draw: William McMahon Vs. Brandon Adams

On the first draw round of a hand in the deuce-to-seven triple draw, both William McMahon and Brandon Adams drew two cards. After receiving his new replacements, Adams led out with a bet. McMahon raised, and Brandon deliberated while counting his remaining chips. He eventually folded, leaving himself with only 65,000 in chips, well below the tournament average.

Players Remaining: 24 of 192

Average Stack: 160,000

Notable Chip Counts:
Matthew Glantz - 400,000
Tom Dwan - 360,000
Michael DeMichele - 270,000
Gus Hansen - 265,000
William McMahon - 250,000
Lee Watkinson - 225,000
Johnny Chan - 215,000
David Oppenheim - 196,000
Eli Elezra - 186,000
Tom Schneider - 180,000

Recent Eliminations:
Eric Froehlich
Minh Ly

Big Hands:

Razz: Jeff Madsen Eliminates Eric Froehlich and Sends Play to Hand-For-Hand

During the razz round, Jeff Madsen and Eric Froehlich contested a pot and ultimately had all the money in the middle by fifth street. Madsen had Froehlich covered by only a few hundred, and during the showdown Madsen turned over AJ98963. Froehlich mucked his cards and headed for the rail. Play continued hand-for-hand and remained at level 14 until another player was eliminated.

Meanwhile, a debate broke out between Eli Elezra and Greg Mueller over the WSOP procedures for bubble play. Elezra was concerned over what would happen if two players busted during one round of hands. Rio tournament supervisor Bill Bruce explained to Elezra the WSOP bubble policy. If the two players that bust simultaneously are playing at different tables, the 24^th place prize money would be divided equally between the two players. If both the eliminated players are from the same table, whoever began the hand with more chips would take all the 24^th place prize money and the other player would be the 25^th place finisher. Eli proposed that they discontinue the hand-for-hand, as he was concerned about how much time would expire before the bubble was broken. Mueller reminded Elezra that the tournament clock was frozen, so no tournament time would be lost.

7-Stud: Madsen Doubles Through Johnny Chan

Moments after eliminating Eric Froelich in 26^th place, Madsen found himself all in against Johnny Chan during the seven-card-stud round and in danger of being the bubble boy. Fortunately for Madsen, he pulled a lucky 3 on the river to stay alive and double up. All four tables were playing different games during the bubble period, so when one table finished their hand virtually all the remaining players began gathering around the active table until the hand was completed.

Stud 8: An Eli Elezra Eliminates Minh Ly on the Bubble, Cripples Brunson

After returning from the scheduled break to continue bubble play, Doyle Brunson, Eli Elezra, and Minh Ly found their way into a massive three-way pot that ended with Minh Ly as the bubble boy and left Doyle Brunson with less than 50,000 in chips. Ly, who was all in on fourth street, showed a final board of AKQ6 to Brunson’s AT97 and Elezra’s K553. After receiving his river card, Elezra made a bet into the side pot with Doyle. Brunson announced that he had failed to make his low draw, and folded. Elezra turned over Q52, the better hand over Ly’s A53. Players redrew for their new seats and began play at level 15.

Note: Players are now on dinner break.  The tournament will resume in one hour.

Players Remaining: 37 of 192

Average Stack: 40,851

Notable Chip Counts:
Tom Dwan - 245,000
Gus Hansen - 235,000
Tony Rivera - 214,000
Michael DeMichele - 200,000
Tom Schneider - 185,000
Johnny Chan - 182,000
Lee Watkinson - 180,000
David Oppenheim - 178,000
Matthew Glantz - 178,000
Chad Brown - 148,000

Recent Eliminations:
John Hennigan

Big Hands:

Stud 8: Johnny “World” Hennigan Eliminated

During his table’s stud eight-or-better round, John Hennigan found himself all in on the river against Gus Hansen and another opponent.  Hennigan’s visible board read AcJh6s5h against Hansen’s QJT6 and the other player’s 5432, and bet his remaining 3,200.  Hansen considered the situation before folding, and the other player quickly called and revealed the 6 for a six-high straight.  Johnny World stood up and showed his cards while preparing to hit the rail.  Hennigan’s hole cards revealed that he had a split pair of aces.

Stud 8: Mike Sexton Survives Elimination

Meanwhile, Mike Sexton also found himself all in during the stud eight-or- better round on table 47.  His all in bet was called by both Sam Farha and Tom Scneider, but when the river card was dealt Mike Sexton split the pot with Farha and continues to stay alive.

Blinds/Limits: 2,500-5,000 limit, and 600-1,200 blinds for NLHE and PLO.

Players Remaining: 39

Average Stack: 98,462

Chip Counts:
Tom Dwan: 228,000
Gus Hansen: 220,000
Johnny Chan: 180,000
Eli Elezra: 170,000
Nikolay Evdakov: 142,000
Greg Mueller: 135,000
Jeff Madsen: 125,000
Sam Farha: 110,000
Anthony Rivera: 108,000
Scott Seiver: 105,000

New Tables:
Chad Brown, Sam Farha, Jeff Madsen, Chau Giang, Amnon Filippi

Eliminations: Tom McCormick

Notable Hands:

Limit Hold 'Em

Mueller Mugs Ivey

On a board reading J63Mueller checked and Ivey led out. Mueller called, and bet when the turn brought the 8. Ivey made the call and was all in, showing A7 and trailing Mueller's A3. The river brought the 2, Mueller improved to a straight and Ivey was sent home.

Raisy Daisy

Sam Farha raised from the cutoff, Madsen reraised from the button, Farha made it four bets, and Madsen made the call. The flop came 446, Farha led out and Madsen made the call. The turn brought the J, Farha made the big bet of 5,000, and was in turn popped by Madsen, who made it 10,000 total. Farha made the call and checked the river when the J fell. Madsen checked behind and mucked his hand after Farha flipped over 99.

Omaha 8OB

Did We Already Say Raisy Daisy?

On the turn of a board reading KJ84, Farha led out for the 5,000 bet only to be raised by Chad Brown. Farha made the call, and the river paired the board with the J. Sammy led out again, and Brown only called. Sammy flipped over his cards, saying "The river was a bad card for you," and showing J432 for a rivered full house. Brown agreed, and mucked his hand, putting Sam Farha over 100,000 chips.

Stud

Vos Doubles Up

Mark Vos was all in on sixth street showing 89JJK7 against Greg Muller. Vos flipped over the 7 on seventh street, and Muller mucked his hand, muttering about how good Vos was running. Vos doubled up to stay in the running.

 

Players Remaining: 55

Average Stack: 69,818

Chip Counts:
Tom Dwan: 220,000
Sam Farha: 177,000
Tom Schneider: 175,000
Marcel Luske: 148,000
Johnny Chan: 145,000
Gus Hansen: 125,000
Eli Elezra: 125,000
Nikolay Evdakov: 120,000
Frank Kassela: 106,800
Scott Seiver: 105,000

Eliminations: Greg Raymer, Chris Bell, Erik Seidel

Notable Hands:

No-limit hold 'em

Rousso Runs Over The World

Vanessa Rousso raised to 3,000 from under the gun, and was called by both of the blinds: Phil Ivey and John Hennigan. The flop came KQ8. Ivey and Hennigan both checked, and Rousso made a continuation bet of 6500, folding Ivey but prompting a call from Johnny World. The turn brought the 7, Hennigan checked, and Rousso moved all in for her remaining 21,000, forcing a fold from Hennigan.

Pot-limit Omaha

Brunson Busts Sofer

On a board reading A54410 Doyle Brunson called the all-in bet of Evan Sofer. Sofer flipped over A867 for a busted nut flush draw, and Doyle turned over AJ87 for a bigger ace. Doyle took down the pot and Sofer hit the rail.

Richey Rails Rousso...Almost

Vanessa Rousso moved all in on the flop of a board reading J76 and was called by Brett Richey. Rousso showed AJQ3, and was drawing to the flush against Richey's top two pair with AJ97.  The turn paired the board with the 6, and filled up Richey on the river with the 7. Russo stood up and walked away to collect herself, left cripped after the encounter.