Only five minutes into the new level, John Esposito eliminated the last two players of the day in one hand.  With all the money in preflop, Esposito held J-J against the 3-3 and A-Q of his opponents. His Jacks held up, and the final table was set.  Ryan Young remains the chip leader at around $2,500,000, with Dustin Kirksen a little more than $800,000 chips behind him.  With the three-way pot that ended the night, Esposito climbed into third at around $900,000.  Nam Le will go into the final table with approximately $450,000 and Michael Trimby from Northern Ireland will feel confident on $650,000 in chips - read his Pro Blog during the final table. With $616,154 and a gold bracelet on the line, the final table is sure to be exciting.  Make sure to check back tomorrow at 3 p.m. for final table coverage here at Cardplayer.com.

Eliminations came at a rapid pace this hour, with the final two tables losing seven players this hour.  The first to bust after combining tables was Aaron Kanter in 18th ($23,586).   Two players emerged as massive chip leaders.  Ryan Young was sat in seat five at table 61, with Nam Le.  With more than $2,000,000, he had more than the rest of the table combined until Dustin Dirksen, the second largest stack with around $1,500,000, was moved to balance the tables. The dynamic shifted dramatically after that, and Dirksen brought a light atmosphere to the table.  The two chip leaders soon got involved in a pot. Young raised $55,000 and Dirksen called preflop.  The flop came A 5 6 and Young bet $140,000.  After folding, Dirksen said," Will you show me? How about for a hundred?" When Young agreed, Dirksen quickly pulled a $100 from his pocket and threw it to Young, who revealed his 5-6 for a flopped two-pair.  The eleven remaining players will continue on until the final table is set, so make sure to check back for more updates here at Cardplayer.com.

The $1,500 no-limit hold'em event got down to two tables with a few minutes left in the level. Nam Le is one of the biggest names left in the field. Going into three table play was one of the short stacks, but this level he chipped up dramatically.  At first he built up slowly by winning a number of pots preflop.   He also happened to be on the desirable side of a cooler, with A-A over K-K.  His brother Allan Le was railing him the whole time, and J.C. Tran, Kirk Morrison and Amnon Filippi stopped by. Amnon and J.C. had a stranger ask Le to autograph a picture of him in another magazine that was mis-labeled as David Pham.  "Excuse me, David, can I get an autograph?" Le ignored the railbird for a few seconds, then turned and looked confused until Filippi and Tran jumped out from behind the crowd.
Notable Chip Counts

Dustin Dirksen	1,570,000
Nam Le	360,000

In little under an hour the $1,500 no-limit event burned thirteen players. With the elimination of Phil Gordon in 28th place the final three tables were set.  By making it to at least 27th place, the remaining players are guaranteed $20,117.   Gordon had a healthy stack last hour, but after losing a number of large pots found himself all in with A-5 against tens.  Gordon thought he might finally be getting back on track when he caught an ace on the flop, but his comeback was cut short by a 10 on the turn.   Nam Le is still in, but nursing a short stack.  Make sure to check back here at Cardplayer.com as the final table approaches.
Notable Chip Counts

Dustin Dirksen	532,000
Nam Le	140,000

With the elimination of Fred Ruscetti the final five tables have been set.  In the last hour several big names were eliminated.  Antonio Esfandiari and John Juanda were elimintated in 62nd and 61st place repspectively winning $9,708.  Dutch Boyd earned the same payout busting in 58th place. 

Dustin Dirksen has rebuilt his depleted chipstack and is currently sitting second in chips.  Nam Le, Phil Gordon, and Aaron Kanter are still alive as well.

There are currently 40 players remaining with an hour and a half until the dinner break.

Notable Chip Counts

Dustin Dirksen	490,000
Phil Gordon	171,000
Nam Le	100,000
Aaron Kanter	98,000

There are currently 65 players remaining on 8 tables.

One-time chip leader Dustin Dirksen sent a large portion of his chips to the player in Seat 9, when they were all in preflop in a race.  Dirksen started with the lead with Jacks, but Seat 9's A-K caught up with an Ace on the turn, and Dirksen was sent to the middle of the chip leaderboard. 

Still alive in the tournament are Dutch Boyd, Antonio Esfandiari, and Phil Gordon.

The dinner break is scheduled for 9pm.  Expect many more tables broken before then.

Notable Chip Counts

J.C. Alvarado	170,000
John Juanda	135,000
Dutch Boyd	114,000
Phil Gordon	96,000
Nam Le	81,000
Antonio Esfandiari	27,000

There are currently 89 players left on 10 tables.

Players were treated to an extensive break as the $100 chips were colored up. 

In one notable hand as the action restarted, Phil Gordon lost a big race.  Gordon put his opponent all in with a re-raise to $57,000 preflop.  His opponent called and showed 9 9.  Gordon tabled A Q, and they were off to the races.  The flop came 8 6 4, no help to Gordon.  The turn 5 also missed.  Gordon called out for his opponent to catch the 7 on the river for the straight, but the 10 fell, and the nines held.  Gordon was knocked down to about $100,000 after that hand.

Notable Chip Counts

Dustin Dirksen	230,000
J.C. Alvarado	123,000
Phil Gordon	108,000
John Juanda	80,000
Aaron Kanter	80,000
Nam Le	53,000
Dutch Boyd	42,000

Yesterday’s $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em event is now down to the final 94 players with an average chip stack of $81, 063. Level 12 has come to end and players are now entering Level 13 where the blinds will increase to $2,000-$4,000 with a $500 ante. Level 12 has brought us many eliminations, including those of Joe Sebok and Kathy Liebert. Sebok raises all-in for $31,000 before the flop and the player on the button makes the call. Sebok turns over A 10 while the button turns over 10 10. The board comes 9 5 3 4 J, no help to Sebok as he hits the rail in 96^th place.

Nam Le would be a little luckier when he shoves all-in and puts his tournament life on the line. Le raises $5,000 before the flop and the player in seat 2 makes the call. The flop comes J 9 5, and Seat-2 makes it $10,000 to go when Name Le re-raises all-in for another $12,300 more. Le shows K J while his opponent turns over A K. The turn and river bring the 4 and the 4, no help for ace-king and Name Le doubles up and lives to see another flop.

Irishman 'Big' Al Kelleher busted out of the tournament in 97th place not long after making 'a horrendous blunder' .

'I'd been playing great,' said Al, 'and i make one bloody mistake and it's all gone. I didn't notice a caller in a pot and raised to steal the blinds. After the big blind had passed i went to scoop the pot but was stopped. I had K8 and the flop came K-J-8 - what a flop - so i put the raiser all in. He had Q-10 and hit an Ace on the turn for a straight and i never recovered from it.'

There are a lot of short-stacks as we enter Level 13, and with the price of poker being that much higher, we should see the eliminations start to pile up very soon. Check back with CardPlayer.com for more updates and your favorite Pro Blogs.

Notable Chip Counts

Phil Gordon	155,000
J.C. Alvarado	123,000
John Juanda	80,000
Nam Le	53,000
Antonio Esfandiari	40,000
Dutch Boyd	38,000
Aaron Kanter	25,000