The remaining 666 players are going on dinner break; they will return at 8:30.

Yeah I Won This Tournament Once

Often lost in the shuffle of larger-than-life personalities is the quiet, unassuming Robert Varkonyi.  Many may attack his skills on the felt, but it should not be forgotten that this man caused Phil Hellmuth to have to shave his head.

One player at his table certainly underestimated him.  On a board of Q 9 8 5 Varkoni bet $10,000 into a sizable pot, leaving himself only $34,900 behind, The player in seat 7 then moved all in for about $40,000.  Varkonyi then went into the tank, and the ESPN cameras moved in for the kill.  Varkonyi asked his opponent, “What do you want me to do?” and was met with stone-cold silence.  After several minutes, Varkonyi made the call, Seat 7 slowly turned over A J, and Varkonyi showed his Q10 (virtually identical to the hole cards with which he won the Main Event in 2002, save for the suits being reversed).  The river was the 5, and Varkonyi more than doubled up.

Big Pot For Amsterdam

Rolf Slotboom got a whole lot healthier chipwise in the last level, when he found himself on the nicer side of a cooler.  Slotboom made a reraise to the action from the player in Seat 1 at his table, and was then tapped by Seat 1 in response.  Slotboom made the call for his last $54,300, and went through the roof when Seat 1 flipped J J to his Q Q.  The board ran out 7 5 4 5 10, and Slotboom raked in the huge pot while fellow Hollander, Team Pokerstars member Noah Boeken looked on (somehow he’s found himself a media pass).  Slotboom now has plenty of building blocks for his creative chip-stacking tendencies.

Keep It In The Family For Now

Todd Brunson is still surviving today, but one of his clan that seems to be receiving very little fanfare is his sister Pamela Brunson.  Pamela is currently sitting at about $103,000 in chips.  Some of her good fortune could be contributed to one of her card protectors., her father’s Zippo, with a Ghostbuster’s Logo, Casper.  In the World Series coverage in the past, much has been made about this protector, as Howard Lederer has famously paid a large sum of money, to be guaranteed to receive this good luck charm at the time of Doyle’s passing.  However Doyle shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon, and today his daughter Pam gets the satisfaction of using Casper.

They Never Believe Me

In the last hand before the break, the player in seat 3 at Bill Edler’s table announced before the deal that this was the hand to steal, as he was in the big blind, and had barely more than $20,000 in chips.  The table folded around to Edler on the button, who raised to $6,000, Seat 3 then moved all in, and Edler called.  Seat 3 showed K Q, but Edler had him in bad shape with A Q.  The flop all but sealed it, coming A 6 5, and the 2 and 6 on the river couldn’t save Seat 3.  Gavin Smith, seated just one table over, peered over as his table left, and commented, “Geez, Bill, do you always bust somebody before the dinner break?”  And Edler simply replied, “They never believe that I have it.”  Smith then implored Edler to stack his winnings quickly so they could get to dinner.

So Its Not Just A Clever Name

Todd Brunson has been nursing a short stack most of the day, and he finally made a stand after his opponent re raised his preflop bet, Brunson asked, “I guess you have Aces don’t you?”  As his opponent hesitated, Brunson was convinced he couldn’t, but for extra effect he pushed in his energy drink can, the name of which appropriately matched the state of his chips at the moment.  Brunson showed K K and his opponent held 10 10.  The board came A 93 Q 3, and Brunson doubled to just over $50,000.

Strange Raise Benefits Matador

Carlos Mortensen limped under the gun, Seat 9 limped from the cutoff, the button limped, the small blind limped, and interestingly the big blind raised only $3,000 more.  None of the limper could be chased out for such a small bet, so they all called.  The flop was A 8 Q.  Seat 2 led out for $6,000 from the small blind.  The big blind folded, Mortensen raised to $15,000, chasing all the other players out of the pot except Seat 2 who called.  The turn was the 2, Seat 2 checked, Mortesen bet $15,000, and Seat 2 called.  The river was the 6, Seat 2 checked, and Mortensen thought about betting, but merely tapped the table.  Seat two showed A J, but Mortensen had outflopped him, showing Q 8.

Commanding Respect

John Murphy and Lee Watkinson apparently have players who respect their raises, or they simply like to bluff.  Murphy raised to $6,500 from the big blind after three players limped, and all but the small blind called.  The flop came A 6 4, and all players checked.  Murphy and the player in Seat 8 checked the K on the turn, the player in Seat 3 bet $15,000, and Murphy beat him into the pot with a raise to $45,000.  After some consideration Seat 3 conceded the pot to Murphy.

At another table, Lee Watkinson raised preflop from early position, Fabrice Souiler called from the cutoff, the button reraised to $20,000, Watkinson eventually made the call, and Souiler quickly folded.  The flop came A 9 3, and both players checked.  The turn was the A, Watkinson checked, the button bet $22,500, and Watkinson raised to $50,000.  The button asked for a confirmation of the size of the raise and subsequently folded.

There are currently 81 tables in play, with approximately 725 players still in the field.

Gus Hansen and Bill Edler are the two most recognizable among the chip leaders both have an excess of $300,000.

Still alive for Team PokerStars in the field are Humberto Brenes, Chris Moneymaker, and of course featured table favorite Daniel Negreanu

Notable Chip Counts

No Hustle Gussle up to $280,000

Seat four moved all in and Gus Hansen made the call with a huge sprawling stack in front of him. He flipped over A 8 and his opponent showed down 5 3. The board rolled out 8 6 2 5 2. Hansen grew his stack to $280,000 after the hand.

The $400,000 Benchmark

Jeff “J.P.” Parker now holds $430,000. He is seated at a table with Amnon Filippi and two other stacks that hold over $200,000. Bill Edler had also built a large stack at a table within the vicinity.

Gigabet Busted Opponent

Darrell “Gigabet” Dicken raised and his opponent moved all in on a flop of Q 6 10 K. Dicken made the call and flipped over A J. His opponent showed K Q and river rolled out the 2. Dicken took down the pot with Broadway and his opponent was sent to the rail.

Thor Takes a Hit

Seat five moved all in for $23,600 and Thor Hansen made the call. Hansen turned over A K and seat five showed pocket threes. The board was rolled out 10 3 2 J 2 and seat five doubled up.

Irish Troubles

Padraig Parkinson has been eliminated - his full house, kings over sevens, deemed not good enough. Scott Gray took a $100,000 hit when 'some rockstar' hit running cards on the turn and river to fill a straight and trump Scott;s flopped trip Jacks. Mick McCloskey is gone and Ken 'KPNuts' Powell hit running threes to keep his dream alive for a while at least - he has $17,200 in chips.

Field Update

As the players went to break, 85 tables remained with 765 players in the field. 

Notable Chip Counts

The Grind Continues

A number of familiar faces were still in action as the afternoon ticked off the clock. Team PokerStars member Daniel Negreanu was seated at the featured table, while Darrell Dicken was seated at the on-deck circle. Also in the field were Humberto Brenes, J.C. Tran, Ciaran O’Leary, Eric Hershler, Chad Brown, Bill Gazes, Amnon Filippi, Chuck Kelley, Bill Edler, Isaac Haxton, Gavin Smith, Prahlad Friedman, Ralph Perry, Ted Forrest, Gus Hansen, Mimi Tran, Leif Force, and Peter Jetten. Lost over the past hour were Theo Tran and Allen Cunningham. A few of the professionals have been seated together at the tougher tables. Rene Angelil and Lee Watkinson were seated together, as were Todd Brunson and Padraig Parkinson.

Former World Champions

Chris Ferguson, Robert Varkonyi, Carlos Mortensen, and Chris Moneymaker were all still in the hunt for their second world champion bracelets.

Band of Brothers

Michael Binger and his brother Nicholas are both in the tournament field today. Michael is seated with Mortensen. While Nicholas is seated with Chris Grigorian, Nicholas just took a large pot off the “Armenian Express” when he induced him to fold with a substantial raise on a flop of K Q Q.

Charisma

Daniel Negreanu is the featured player at the featured table and both the bleachers surrounding the stage and the ‘No Limit Lounge’ are full as a result. The charisma that Kid Poker brings to the felt is contagious among the crowd and they cheer each and every pot that he takes down. That applause can be heard from any point in the Amazon room, at some times turning heads of the other players in response to an especially loud outburst. That is until Negreanu losses a pot; when that happens the crowd goes dead silent, and if there were crickets present in the room you could have heard them.

Professional Pots

Chad Brown took down a $90,000 pot when he flopped the nut straight on flop of K-J-9 with Q-10 in the hole. The turn and river cards bricked, but there was now three hearts on the board. On the river his opponent raised $30,000 and Brown went into the tank. The actor, with a flair for the dramatic said, “The only thing I can beat is aces,” due to the flush possibilities on board. He eventually called and his opponent flipped over pocket aces. Brown took down the pot and now had a healthy amount of chips.

Costanza

On a of 9 6 5 6 seat two moved all in and Jason Alexander went into the tank. He then turned to his opponent and said, “I have to ask you one serious question. What do you have?” This elicited an outpour of laughs from his table and he mucked his hand.