Three hands into the current level Andy Bloch was virtually all in in the big blind.  He kept his final $5,000 behind "just in case its capped before it gets to me."  As the cards were dealt Rafi Amit asked why he wouldn't still throw in his last few chips in that hypothetical situation.  Bloch repsonded by asking, "What cards could possibly be left in the deck at that point?"

It would be Amit who would take Bloch out on the hand as well.  Amit raised from the button, and Bloch called for his last few chips.  Amit took one card, while Bloch drew four.  Amit then drew one again, and Bloch was ecstatic to be only drawing one at this point as well.  Amit then stood pat for the last draw, and when Bloch took one, Amit showed him a 10-9.  Bloch turned over the 7-6-4-2, but drew a Jack on the last card.  Bloch was eliminated in 7th place earning $19,489

Here are the final six players for tomorrow's final table:

Seat 1. Anthony Lellouche - $205,000
Seat 2. Lenny Martin - $133,000
Seat 3. Eugene Ji - $192,000
Seat 4. Mark Bartlog - $98,000
Seat 5. Rafi Amit - $374,000
Seat 6. Jon Shoreman - $518,000

The final table will begin at 7pm PST

Remarkably no one has gone bust in the last hour and we are still searching for our official final table bubble boy.  Currently the players are on a 15 minute break.  They were given the option of playing through the break, but took the break at one player's request

Andy Bloch has been extremely card-dead and is on life support with only $20,000 in chips.  When play resumes he will have less than one big bet.  Mark Bartlog was able to double his own short stack courtesy of chip leader Jon Shoreman making a 10-8 low after the second draw, and standing pat, but with $130,000 he will have just over 4 big bets when play resumes.

Both Rafi Amit and Anthony Lellouche have made it clear that they are more interested in being unrestricted for the $10,000 pot limit omaha event tomorrow, so they have been playing lots of hands, but Amit is currently second in chips.

Rafi Amit was dealt a wheel to eliminate Ben Armstrong in 8th place.  The final 7 players have now been combined into one table.  Dealing seven players into a hand of triple draw creates the potential situation for the deck to be completely dealt out before the action in the hand is completed.  Sometimes at this stage, each of the 7 players will take turns sitting out for an enitre orbit; however in this case all seven players will be dealt into the hands.

Here are the recent eliminations:

8. Ben Armstrong - $19,489

9. Danny Fuhs - $14,075

10. Ralph Rudd - $14,075

11. Dan Dumont -  $8,662

Eugene Ji has shown remarkable resilience surviving several all ins to stay alive in the tournament.  In one all in hand Mark Bartlog and he each drew one card on the final draw.  They each flipped over the cards they kept.  Ji was in the lead showing a 8-6-5-3 to Bartlog's 8-7-4-2.  Amazingly they both drew an Ace, and Ji's A-8-6 was good enough to take the pot.  Soon after Ji was down to the felt in a pot against Andy Bloch.  Bloch checked to Ji after the second draw, and Ji took one, while Bloch took two.  Bloch then led out before the third draw, and Ji called leaving only one more bet behind.  Bloch then drew one while Ji stood pat.  Ji bet his last chips, and Bloch folded showing he drew to a 6-5-4-2 on the last draw, unfortunately pairing his two.

Action will stop once the 7th place finisher is determined.

The number of known players in the field is shrinking.  In the last hour Doc Jennings (16th), Steve Zolotow (15th), and Chris Ferguson (14th) were all eliminated earning $6,496.

Ferguson was dealt a bit of a blow to the stomach by the poker gods.  With only two $1,000 chips left Ferguson was dealt a wheel to triple up to $6,000.   A few hands later he was in the big blind, and Eugene Ji put him all in before the first draw.  Ferguson called and stood pat, while Ji drew three cards.  Ji drew one card on the next draw and Ferguson again decided to stand pat.  Ji decided to stand pat for the final draw and showed a 9-7-6, which was just enough to nip Ferguson's 9-8-7.

Arturo Diaz was then eliminated by Andy Bloch prompting the players to redraw for the final two tables.  Robert Swickard was the first to cash after latest pay bump earning $8,662 for 12th place.

There are currently 11 players left.  The blinds are $3,000 and $6,000.

Notable Chip Counts

Andy Bloch	118,000

Only 16 players now remain spread mout over three tables with an average chip stack of $94,250.

Here are the most recent notable eliminations…

17^th Devon Miller ($6,496)

18^th Brian Heveson ($6,496)

19^th Ralph Perry ($5,414)

20^th Jameson Painter ($5,414)

21^st Hertzel Zalewski ($5,414)

22^nd Chau Giang ($5,414)

23^rd Joes Cassidy ($5,414)

24^th Matthew Wasko ($5,414)

Here are those still in contention…

Rafi Amit -- $82,000

Steve Zolotow -- $77,000

Andy Bloch -- $74,000

Chris Ferguson -- $73,000

Chris Ferguson just lost a big pot ($30,000) before the level change against Rafi Amit and his perfect-eight (8-5-4-3-2).

Be sure to check back with CardPlayer.com for more updates and your favorite Pro Blogs.

Play has slowed to a crawl in the presence of the money bubble.

Steve Zolotow and Chris Ferguson are two of the short stacks.  Ferguson has been up and down from his chair as he checks the action of the nearby $1,500 holdem event.  Zolotow was the beneficiary of some good luck in his most recent all in hand.  Zolotow was all in before the first draw, and had two callers, including Eugene Ji.  Zolotow stayed pat after the last two draws, while his two opponents drew one each time.  Ji's opponent showed a 6-high straight, and Ji paired his 7 with his 7-5-3-2 draw on the end.  Zolotow took the pot with a J-10, and Ji was very steamed, as he had a better low than Zolotow on the last two draws, but he had kept drawing and paired on the end.

Devon Miller pulled off an unusual tactic when he and his opponent drew two on the second draw.  Miller bet in the dark, and elicited a fold from his opponent.  Miller then looked at the two cards he had drawn and breathed a sigh of relief saying, "I'm glad I didn't look" as he turned over two face cards before throwing them in the muck.


If this bubble play is indicative of the continued pace of the tournament, we're in for a long night.

Notable Chip Counts

Andy Bloch	71,000
Chris Ferguson	57,000

Only 27 players still remain in Event no. 48, and the most recent eliminations include Allen Cunningham and Amnon Filippi. Level 9 is coming to an end and players will be facing a blind increase to $1,200-$2,400. 

Down to his last $800, Allen Cunningham is forced all-in from the small blind when William Chen comes in for a raise and Steve Zolotow calls from the big blind. Chen continues to bet the side pot down to the third draw with Zolotow calling behind him. Zolotow took three cards on the first draw, Chen took two cards and Cunningham took one. They each continued to draw one card down to the last card, and Chen flipped over the nuts; 2 3 4 5 7. Chen rakes both the side and main pots, sending Cunningham to the rail just short of the money.

Amnon Filippi would be the next to go, only his elimination wouldn’t come so easy. Sitting at table no. 60, most arguably the toughest table of the field, Filippi was short stacked against Ralph Perry, Andy Bloch and Joe Cassidy. 

Filippi loses the brunt of his stack in a heads-up pot with Andy Bloch, Filippi coming in for a raise and Bloch calling until the second draw. After the second draw Bloch takes the betting lead and Filippi calls through the third draw buts folds to the last bet. Both players were consistently drawing one card each round, but apparently Filippi missed his draw or bricked-up on the final card, throwing his hand in the muck when Bloch throws in a final bet.

The very next hand and Filippi was forced all-in from the big blind and got a call from the player on the button. They each continue to draw one card to the end when Filippi flips over 2 3 4 5 7 for the nuts. Filippi doubles up to $1,600 that hand and gets involved in the very next hand with Joe Cassidy. Filippi comes in for a raise from the small blind, going all-in for $1,600 and Joe Cassidy calls from the big blind. Both players drew one card each round and Filippi ended up turning over 3 4 5 6 9 for the nine-low. Cassidy throws his hand into the muck and Filippi doubles up once again. A few hands later though and he would be eliminated, a valiant effort, but there’s not much more he could have done with his stack hovering in the one or two big blinds range.

The field has been slimmed down to just 51 players on nine tables. There has been numerous eliminations in the last hour and the field is still 27 shy of the money.

Table 60 was the table to fear earlier in the day and it appears it may have gotten even worse. Andy Bloch went on a tear and is now in the top ten in chips after consecutively eliminating David Sklansky and Gavin Griffin. The table is now five handed and now looks like this:

Seat 1 - Joe Cassidy
Seat 2 - Robert Williamson III
Seat 3 - Steve Diano
Seat 4 - Andy Bloch
Seat 5 - Amnon Filippi

Included in the slew of recent eliminations are Robert Mizrachi, Mel Judah, Mickey Appleman, David Sklansky, Gavin Griffin, Marco Traniello, Mark Newhouse, Daniel Negreanu and David Williams.

Notable Chip Counts

Rafi Amit	47,300
Andy Bloch	40,000
Victor Ramdin	37,500
Bill Chen	37,100
Chris "Jesus" Ferguson	34,000
Allen Cunningham	31,700
Steven Diano	29,800
Steve Zolotow	27,000
Greg Raymer	25,100
Joe Cassidy	24,600
Amnon Filippi	24,300
Michael Binger	22,000
Chau Giang	21,700
Hoyt Corkins	16,700
Robert Williamson III	14,600
Thor Hansen	14,300
Berry Johnston	10,100

The first hour of play on day two of event #48 has passed. There are only 93 players left and Mimi Tran, John Turner and John Juanda are no longer among them.  Juanda is technically still in the event, but has left his seat and his chips and is currently being blinded off.

Table 60 has got to be scary for the player in seat two. At his table are David Sklansky (seat 1), Robert Williamson III (seat 2), Steve Deano (seat 4), Andy Bloch (seat 5) and Gavin Griffin (seat 6). At least for now the player in seat two appears to be hanging back and letting the big names at his table go after each other's chips.

Level eight is now over and the limits will be going up to $800-$1,600 in level nine.

Notable Chip Counts

Rafi Amit	48,500
Victor Ramdin	32,400
Michael Binger	30,700
Thor Hansen	28,600
David Williams	26,300
Greg Raymer	25,300
Hoyt Corkins	23,700
Robert Mizrachi	19,800
Allen Cunningham	18,900
Robert Williamson III	18,400
Jeff Madsen	18,400
Steve Zolotow	18,100
Daniel Negreanu	17,300
Chau Giang	16,000
Andy Bloch	13,800
Marco Traniello	11,800
Mickey Appleman	10,800
Amnon Filippi	10,700
Chris "Jesus" Ferguson	10,000
Sabyl Cohen	8,300
Bill Chen	8,000
Berry Johnston	7,400
David Sklansky	5,500
Mel Judah	2,700
John Juanda	1,800