Calling the slow grind that was day 4 of the Foxwoods Poker Classic anything other than excruciating wouldn't be doing it justice. After the field motored through the first two days of the tournament, it didn't look like anything could stop what was predicted to be a premature conclusion to one of the premier stops on the World Poker Tour. Instead, the remaining 33 players spent hours trading chips back and forth until the inevitable rising blinds forced the action.

The first elimination of the day didn't come until nearly half of a level had ticked off the clock, but it jump started a run by Ted Forrest to the top, putting him in position to win his second WPT title. Forrest got nearly all of his chips in with pocket tens against Daniel Woolson's pocket kings, but he spiked a 10 on the flop to spark his run up the leader board.

While Forrest was busy chipping up, Paul Snead was busy trying to salvage a poor start to the day. Snead had been in the top five for nearly the entire tournament, but a clash with music producer Joe Simmons left him scrambling for his tournament life. Snead, Simmons, and Robert Richardson all saw a JJ5 flop in a raised pot when the fireworks started. After Snead bet 200,000, Simmons check raised all in. Snead went into the tank, asking if Simmons held a jack. Simmons replied by saying, 'If I tell you I don't have a jack, would that help you?' Snead then called the floor over to rule on the statement, which was interpreted by Simmons as an angle shot. The floor ruled in Simmons' favor, but it did not stop him from getting visibly upset by Snead. Snead eventually folded, and half of his stack was shipped over to Simmons.

Snead would inevitably give the rest away as well, when he got into another confrontation with Richardson. Snead raised preflop and was called by both Richardson and Farris in the blinds. The flop came 843 and Richardson check raised Snead's flop bet all in. Snead went into the tank for over 10 minutes before deciding to call with A2. Richardson predictably turned over a set of fours and the board bricked out for Snead, sending him home in 30th place.

Snead’s bustout opened the flood gates as more and more players joined him on the rail. For the first time all day, the action picked up and a steady stream of eliminations took players such as Adam 'AKat11' Katz and Allen Bari up the leader board. Here are the eliminations:

33. Daniel Woolson
32. Phil Bodey
31. Chris McCormack
30. Paul Snead
29. Jim Petrillo
28. Alex 'AJKHoosiers1' Kamberis
27. Jim Silva
26. Eddie Gravalese
25. Eddie Ting
24. Paul Darden
23. Jim Martin
22. Kenny Chanthamala
21. Brock 'tsoprano' Parker
20. Eddie Sabat
19. Rich Meli

The players then redrew for the final two tables allowing Erik Seidel to take over. Seidel steadily dominated his table, first doubling up through Simmons with pocket jacks and then busted Matt Brady and John Spadevecchia to take his stack over 1.5 million. Forrest maintained his million-plus stack by taking out Ben Zamani and he and Seidel took turns raising at their table to increase their leads over the rest of the field.

One table over, Mike Santoro was eliminated, causing Andrew Barta to move over for a table balance. Barta quickly became the third player to cross the million dollar mark when his pocket queens held up against Simmons' A-K. Simmons was sent home and Barta took some time stacking his 1.4 million in chips.

It seemed like table 1 was doing all the work, having eliminated five of the six during the final two tables. The trend continued when Seidel's pocket aces held up against Dombrowski's pocket queens. Seidel's stack ballooned to 2.3 million to put even more distance between himself and the field. Of course, Forrest did his best to catch up when his pocket aces took out the K-Q of Randy Spain.

With all of the executioners busy at table 1, Adam Katz was able to chip up at table 2, breaking the $1 million chip mark with relative ease. His biggest hand of the night also ended it, when he took out both defending champion Raj Patel and Steve 'Thorladen' Weinstein. Katz raised in the cutoff and Patel moved all in from the small blind. Weinstein shoved behind him in the big blind and Katz made the call with pocket aces. Weinstein showed A-K, Patel turned over K-J and neither player was able to hit any miracle cards to stay alive. Katz collected the pot and takes nearly 2.2 million into the final table.

Here are the eliminations from 18 down:

18. Michael Santoro
17. Matt Brady
16. Ben Zamani
15. John Spadavecchia
14. Joe Simmons
13. Chris Dombrowski
12. Randy Spain
11. Raj Patel
10. Steve 'Thorladen' Weinstein

The remaining 9 players will return tomorrow to play down to the six-handed WPT final table. The action starts at noon EDT as the remaining players fight for the nearly $1 million dollar first-place prize. With only 3 eliminations scheduled for tomorrow it should be a short day, but anything can happen when players are battling for not only more money, but a spot on television.

Here are the chip counts heading into day 5:

Seat 1 - Erik Seidel - 2,472,000
Seat 2 - Frank Cieri - 577,000
Seat 3 - Robert Richardson - 719,000
Seat 4 - Michael Farris - 312,000
Seat 5 - Natale Kuey - 525,000
Seat 6 - Ted Forrest - 1,682,000
Seat 7 - Andrew Barta - 1,433,000
Seat 8 - Adam Katz - 2,190,000
Seat 9 - Allen Bari - 530,000

Here are the official chip counts for tomorrow's final table:

Seat 1 - Erik Seidel - 2,472,000
Seat 2 - Frank Cieri - 577,000
Seat 3 - Robert Richardson - 719,000
Seat 4 - Michael Farris - 312,000
Seat 5 - Natale Kuey - 525,000
Seat 6 - Ted Forrest - 1,682,000
Seat 7 - Andrew Barta - 1,433,000
Seat 8 - Adam Katz - 2,190,000
Seat 9 - Allen Bari - 530,000

Action resumes tomorrow at 12:00 noon ET, when they will play down to the final six seats for Wednesday's televised WPT Final Table.

The blinds are still at 10,000-20,000, with a 3,000 ante.

Hand #63 - Allen Bari has the button in seat 2, Natale Kuey limps under the gun for 20,000, Frank Cieri raises form the small blind to 80,000, and Kuey folds. Cieri takes the pot.

Hand #64 - Frank Cieri has the button in seat 3, Adam Katz completes from the small blind to 20,000, and Natale Kuey checks his option in the big blind. The flop comes K109, Katz checks, Kuey bets 50,000, and Katz folds. Natale Kuey takes the pot.

Hand #65 - Adam Katz has the button in seat 6, Frank Cieri raises from the cutoff to 62,000, and Adam Katz calls from the button. The flop comes J63, Cieri bets 100,000, Katz raises to 370,000, and Cieri folds. Katz shows AJ for a pair of jacks as he takes the pot.

Hand #66 - Natale Kuey has the button in seat 7, Adam Katz raises from the cutoff to 57,000, Raj Patel moves all in from the small blind, and Steve Weinstein moves all in over the top from the big blind. Katz calls, covering them both, and they show their hands.

Adam Katz: AA
Steve Weinstein: AK
Raj Patel: KJ

The board comes 105383, and since nobody has a diamond, Adam Katz wins the pot with his pocket aces, busting two players on the final hand of the day.

Raj Patel, as the short stack, is eliminated in 11th place, earning $33,915. Steve Weinstein is eliminated in 10th place, also earning $33,915.

The remaining nine players will bag and tag their chips, and they'll be returning tomorrow at 12:00 noon ET to play down to the six seats at Wednesday's televised WPT Final Table.

Note: The reason play is stopping at this point is because the WPT camera crew needs to videotape the play down to the TV bubble, and they won't be here until tomorrow.

Hand 72: Erik Seidel gets a walk.

Hand 73: Richardson moves all in for 565,000 preflop and Barta tanks for a moment. He then folds pocket jacks face up. Richardson says, "Good fold."

Hand 74: Farris moves all in preflop and everyone folds.

Hand 75: Farris moves all in preflop and Richardson thinks for a moment. "The day's over!" announces the other table, which induces Richardson to fold.

The blinds increase to 10,000-20,000, with a 3,000 ante.

Frank Cieri didn't return from break in time, and he forfeited his cards in Hand #62 from the big blind.

Hand #62 - Steve Weinstein has the button in seat 9, Raj Patel limps from the cutoff for 20,000, and Allen Bari completes the small blind. The flop comes QJ9, Bari checks, Patel bets 30,000, and Bari calls. The turn card is the 9, and both players check. The river card is the 2, Bari checks, Patel bets 60,000, and Bari calls, saying, "King high." Bari flips over K5. Patel mucks, apparently unable to beat king high, and Allen Bari takes the pot.

67. Andrew Barta raises to 60,000 and Erik Seidel reraises to 190,000. Barta calls and the flop comes AQ8. Seidel continues with a bet of 160,000 and Barta folds.

68. Andrew Barta raises to 60,000 and shows pocket jacks when the table folds.

69. Randy Spain raises to 60,000 under the gun and Ted Forrest reraises to 155,000 in the small blind. Spain announces all in and Forrest quickly calls showing pocket aces. Spain shows KQ and the board comes J10268 giving Forrest the huge pot and yet another elimination.

70. Ted Forrest raises to 50,000 on the button and wins the blinds and antes.

71. Robert Richardson raises to 60,000 in the small blind and takes it.

The final 12 players return from break to increased blinds of 10,000-20,000 with a 3,000 ante. Play will continue tonight until 8:00 pm or 10 players are left, whichever comes first.

Both tables take a 15-minute break. Here are the official chip counts at the break:

TABLE 1
Seat 1 -
Seat 2 - Ted Forrest - 1,326,000
Seat 3 -
Seat 4 - Andrew Barta - 1,718,000
Seat 5 - Randy Spain - 304,000
Seat 6 - Robert Richardson - 652,000
Seat 7 - Michael Farris - 195,000
Seat 8 - Erik Seidel - 2,321,000
Seat 9 -

TABLE 2
Seat 1 -
Seat 2 - Allen Bari - 394,000
Seat 3 - Frank Cieri - 716,000
Seat 4 -
Seat 5 -
Seat 6 - Adam Katz - 1,259,000
Seat 7 - Natale Kuey - 532,000
Seat 8 - Raj Patel - 351,000
Seat 9 - Steve Weinstein - 526,000

The blinds are still at 8,000-16,000, with a 2,000 ante.

Hand #59 - Adam Katz has the button in seat 6, Frank Cieri raises from the cutoff to 48,000, and Katz calls from the button. The flop comes Q72, and both players check. The turn card is the 6, Cieri bets 57,000, and Katz calls. The river card is the 10, Cieri checks, Katz bets 110,000, and Cieri folds. Adam Katz takes the pot.

Hand #60 - Natale Kuey has the button in seat 7, Raj Patel completes from the small blind to 16,000, and Steve Weinstein checks his option from the big blind. The flop comes JJ2, and both players check. The turn card is the 7, Patel checks, Weinstein bets 22,000, and Patel calls. The river card is the Q, Patel bets 50,000, and Weinstein folds. Raj Patel takes the pot.

Hand #61 - Raj Patel has the button in seat 8, Frank Cieri raises under the gun to 50,000, and Allen Bari calls from the big blind. The flop comes AJ2, Bari checks, Cieri bets 50,000, Bari moves all in for about 225,000, and Cieri thinks for several minutes before he folds. Allen Bari takes the pot.