Day one has come to an end with 147 players remaining. Each player returning tomorrow at 2 p.m. will make at least $3,989 and play is scheduled to continue until the final table is established. The chip leader heading into day two is Sean Chen and notables Nam Le, John Esposito, Phil Gordon, Kathey Liebert and Joe Sebok are all returning as well. Come back to CardPlayer.com to follow all the action, hear from your favorite players in our Pro Blogs and see who makes the final table.

Notable Chip Counts

J.C. Alvarado	110,000
Nam Le	68,000
Phil Gordon	58,000
Kathy Liebert	55,000
Joe Sebok	52,000
Joe Tehan	48,000
Travis Green	45,000
Antonio Esfandiari	45,000
John Juanda	44,000
Aaron Kanter	42,000
Clonie Gowen	40,000
Dutch Boyd	29,000
Juha Helppi	9,000

Due to the unscheduled break earlier in the evening, tonights schedule of play has been changed slightly. Instead of synching the end of level 12 with the 2 a.m. stop time, play will only continue into a portion of level 12 and still stop at 2 a.m.

There are currently 195 players remaining and as predicted, players started to drop like flies following the money bubble bursting. Chris "Jesus" Ferguson was just eliminated from today's $1,500 No Limit Hold 'Em event and wasted no time running out to the Poker Pavilion to continue playing in the other event that started today, $5,000 World Championship Omaha Eight-or-Better. Ferguson had been playing on his breaks and juggling both tournaments for the last few hours. Earlier in the day, before Ferguson had even played a hand in the Omaha Eight-or-Better tournament and was being blinded off, there was a rumor that Ferguson had requested that his brother be able to play for him. Even though he had not played a single hand, tournament officials denied his request. Ferguson didn't even wait to get paid before rushing out of the room.

Joe Sebok had been enjoying a very large stack through the early hours of the day and even held the position of chip leader for much of the afternoon. Things have taken a turn for the worse in the last level as Sebok has lost more than $60,000 in three hands. Sebok was all in with A Q up against an opponent with Q Q. The board came 8 8 7 9 7 and Sebok paid his opponent another $23,000. Just a few hands later Sebok was all in again with A K up against another player's A 10. The flop came K 9 8 and put Sebok way ahead. The turn was the 7 and all of a sudden Sebok's opponent picked up outs. The river was the 6 and Sebok looked sick, giving away another $21,000. The bleeding continued when Sebok lost another chunk when his opponent turned over pocket tens on a king high board. Sebok now has less than $60,000 in chips and can't wait for the night to end.

Kathy Liebert has also had a small fall from grace in the last level. Liebert had built a healthy stack early in the evening and just recently found herself in the middle of the pack. In a recent hand, Liebert raised to $4,500 from the button and seat nine reraised all in from the big blind for $8,200 total. Liebert called and showed 6 3. The player in seat nine had pocket tens. The board came K Q J 7 J and Liebert lost a little more of her stack.

Notable Chip Counts

J.C. Alvarado	110,000
Nam Le	68,000
Phil Gordon	58,000
Kathy Liebert	55,000
Joe Sebok	52,000
Joe Tehan	48,000
Antonio Esfandiari	45,000
John Juanda	44,000
Aaron Kanter	42,000
Clonie Gowen	40,000
Dutch Boyd	29,000
Juha Helppi	9,000

Hand for hand play has started following a small interruption for technical difficulties. When play got near the money, the microphones held by tournament officials and floor staff started to malfunction. The disruption was enough to send the players on an unscheduled break and play has just now resumed.

There are currently 272 players remaining and only one elimination away from the money. Expect a flurry of bust outs and big hands following the money bubble.

Notable Chip Counts

Joe Sebok	145,000
Phil Gordon	92,000
J.C. Alvarado	88,000
Clonie Gowen	56,000
Nam Le	55,000
John Juanda	47,500
Kathy Liebert	44,000
Juha Helppi	43,000
Dutch Boyd	26,500
Joe Tehan	20,500
Eugene Todd	19,500
Antonio Esfandiari	18,000
Chris "Jesus" Ferguson	16,400
Tom McEvoy	6,000

The first level following dinner has been completed. Approximately 370 players left for dinner and after only one short hour, 293 remain. Still in the field are Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, Tony Ma, Nam Le, Clonie Gowen, Joe Tehan, Dutch Boyd, Joe Sebok and Phil Gordon.

Ben Babauta caused quite the ruckus in the Amazon Room shortly before the level ended when he was able to triple up to over $30,000. Babauta raised from under the gun and the player in seat six reraised all in. The player in the eight seat called and Babauta made the call for his last $10,625 as well. The player in seat six had both players covered and turned over Q Q. The player in seat eight had A K and Babauta was in the lead with K K. The flop came 9 7 3 and Babauta stood up in his chair, anticipating the worst. The turn was the 9 and Babauta didn't relax a bit. The dealer put out the J on the river and the sight of paint made Babauta almost freak out. When he realized it was a jack and not a queen, Babauta yelled at the top of his lungs, "BAM!" and made every head in the Amazon Room turn towards his table. Babauta survived the all in and is now the chip leader at his table.

Notable big stacks that have emerged this round include Phil Gordon, Clonie Gowen, Kathy Liebert and Joe Sebok.

Joe Tehan raised all in from the button for about $4,000 with no limpers behind him. The small blind folded and Reza Payvar made the call from the big blind with only $2,000 left. Tehan flipped over A 7 and Payvar showed the only card he looked at, the K. Payvar didn't look at his other card and Tehan got out of his seat to take a look. "Let's sweat it together," said Tehan. Payvar was very disappointed when he turned over his other card and it was the 3. The flop came 7 4 3 and Tehan's sevens were better than Payvar's threes. The turn was the 10 and the river was the 8 giving no help to Payvar and eliminating him from the tournament.

Notable Chip Counts

Joe Sebok	96,000
Phil Gordon	90,000
Clonie Gowen	63,000
Nam Le	60,000
John Juanda	48,000
J.C. Alvarado	45,500
Kathy Liebert	40,000
Juha Helppi	37,000
Dutch Boyd	26,000
Chris "Jesus" Ferguson	19,500
Eugene Todd	19,000
Antonio Esfandiari	19,000
Tom McEvoy	5,000

Players went on dinner break at 7:30pm and will return at 9:00pm.  Joe Reitman and Vanessa Rousso did not make it to the break however.

Joe Sebok announced to his table that his ability to get lots of chips early in a tournament, yet still bust relatively early is mythical.  Sebok was forced to surrender about $17,000 of his chipleader stack.  Sebok raised from second position to $1,800, and was called by the player in the cutoff.  The flop came A 9 6, Sebok bet $2,000, the cut off raised to $5,000, and Sebok immediately moved all in.  After thinking for several minutes the player in the cut off called  for his last $9,400 and showed A Q.  Sebok was caught playing the bully as he tabled 8 7.  The turn was the J and the river the 6.  Sebok is most likely still the chip leader, but showed a chink in his armor on that hand. 

There are currently about 550 players left in the tournament.

Joe Sebok	60,000
Kathy Liebert	49,000
Phil Gordon	41,000
Clonie Gowen	40,000
John Juanda	37,000
Dutch Boyd	28,300
Chris "Jesus" Ferguson	18,000
Tom McEvoy	11,000
Antonio Esfandiari	10,000

Shannon Elizabeth had her stack annihilated by John Juanda in a brutal hand.  Juanda checked to Elizabeth on a flop of Q-Q-4, she bet $1,500 and Juanda made the minimum raise to $3,000, and Elizabeth called.  Juanda then moved all in for about $12,000, and Elizabeth called.  Elizabeth showed K-K, and was drawing dead against Juanda's Q-Q.  Elizabeth was eliminated later in the level.

Dutch Boyd looks to have his hands full at his own table with one of the Binger brothers.  Nick Binger raised to $1,000 from the cutoff, the button called, the small blind moved all in for $1,650 more, Boyd folded from the big blind, Binger reraised  $3,000, and the button folded.  The small blind showed 6 6, and Binger, being very creative, showed J 8.  The small blind flopped a set, and won the pot, but Binger is still healthy with over $20,000 in chips, and obviously has no problem throwing them around.

More updates on the hour here at CardPlayer.com

Jimmy Tran	40,500
Clonie Gowen	40,000
Kathy Liebert	38,000
Phil Gordon	35,000
John Juanda	35,000
Joe Sebok	30,000
Chris "Jesus" Ferguson	21,000
Dutch Boyd	15,000
Antonio Esfandiari	12,000
Tom McEvoy	11,000

The second break is now over and the players have returned to the action.  Several pros have fallen in the last hour including Erica Schoenberg, Paul Wolfe, and Alex Jacob.

Phil Gordon, Shannon Elizabeth, Greg Raymer, Joe Sebok, and Kathy Liebert. have all pulled away from the pack so far with healthy chips.

Nicky Power, who recently came sixth in the Irish Open, has grown his stack from $4,000 to $6,000 and Frenchman Pascal Perrault has $3,600. His fellow countryman and online specialist Arnaud Mattern has $8,100.

Al Kelleher was involved in a ruling where a King was exposed from the deck on the turn after which a player went all in. The floor made the ruling which Al seemed to accept and after a minute's deliberation folded despite saying, 'That king didn't hurt me.'

Tables are still breaking liberally so there is plenty of play left in the day.

Roland De Wolfe, Rolf Slotboom, J.J. Lieu, and Phil Laak, have all recently been eliminated.  Laak, preoccupied with his PSP at the table for most of the day, tried to run A-Q past A-K and failed.

European Poker Tour boss John Duthie also appears to have bitten the dust.

Notable Europeans still in the field include Ben Roberts ($5,400 in chips), Noah Boeken ($3,700 in chips), Pascal Perrault ($2,500 in chips) and Irishman Al Kelleher ($14,000 in chips).

The halls outside the Amazon Room were a buzz during the break, many players on their cell phones, recounting their draw-outs and big hands to friends at home.  The sheer number of entrants in today's event is impressive. The buy-in is one of the smaller ones at $1,500, but this being a non-weekend event in the middle of this year's tournament schedule, one would have expected a slightly smaller turnout, but that is not the case today.

The official numbers have been announced for today's tournament.  A total of 2,541 players entered creating a prize pool of $3,468,465.  The 1st place finisher will receive $616,154

Phil Gordon	24,500
John Juanda	15,250
Kathy Liebert	15,000
Greg Raymer	14,500
Clonie Gowen	13,500
Dutch Boyd	13,100
Joe Sebok	12,400
Chris "Jesus" Ferguson	11,300
Men Nguyen	7,000
Shannon Elizabeth	6,500
Tom McEvoy	6,000
Antonio Esfandiari	4,000

Jon “PearlJammer” Turner, Phil Gordon, Jared Hamby, Ben Roberts, and Dustin Dirksen are just a few players who have chipped up early in today’s event. T.J. Cloutier and Gavin Smith have not been so lucky, and have been eliminated.  Lee Watkinson, who was just one seat over from Gordon, pushed all in preflop with pocket nines, only to be called by pocket Queens at the other end of the table.  Watkinson received no help and was eliminated. 

 

Shannon Elizabeth proved its best to not overestimate your opponents.  In a four-way limped pot, Elizabeth checked from the big blind.  The flop was Q 9 7, Elizabeth checked, Seat 4 bet $400, one limper folded, Seat 10 called, and Elizabeth called.  The turn was the 2, Elizabeth checked, Seat 4 moved all in for $1,650, Seat 10 moved all in over the top for about $3,000, and Elizabeth laughed and eventually called.  Elizabeth showed A 10, Seat 4 had K Q and Seat 10 held Q 10.  The river was the A, and Elizabeth tripled up.

 

Michael Mizrachi has wasted no time mixing it up at his table.  Five players called a $250 raise including Mizrachi from the button.  The flop came A 5 4 and all players checked.  The turn was the A, an early position player raised $350, and only Mizrachi called. The river was the 7, the early position player checked, and Mizrachi bet $1500.  His opponent folded and Mizrachi needled him, showing the 2 2.

 

We will also be following the progress of Erica Schoenberg in our Pro Blogs section today.  Keep it here at CardPlayer.com