Negreanu Dodges Bullets...

Team PokerStars member Daniel Negreanu dodged alot of bullets this level, but not in the same manner that Phil "The Matrix" Hellmuth did.  He called an all-in from a short stac, as did a two other players.  The flop brought the 10 6 4 and Negreanu bet $3,500 to isolate against the all-in.  His plan worked,  and when the other players folded Negreanu revealed his A Q.  The all-in player flipped up K Q.  The J on the turn gave Negreanu's opponent an open ended straight draw in addition to her flush draw, but the K on the river gave Negreanu broadway and he picked up another short stack.

Forrest Buys Respect

A late position player moved all-in and the player in the small blind raised to around $7,000 more to isolate.  Ted Forrest reraised to $22,000 and the player in the small blind reluctantly folded A Q face up.  With only Forrest and the all-in remaining, the hands were flipped up and Ted Forrest had a sly grin on his face as he turned over A 9.  His opponent held J 8, which made a flush on the 6 5 3 7 4 board, but Forrest took down a more from the small blind raising and folding than he lost to the all-in.   Forrest ended the night with roughly $140,000.

Imer1um Empire

Sorel Mizzi raised to $2,200 from the hijack and the player on  the button called. The big blind raised to $9,000, and after a few seconds Mizzi raised all-in. The button folds and the big blind called, flipping up K K.   Mizzi revealed the A Q, and after the board came down 10 9 5 7 it was looking bad for the internet-turned-live phenom.  His face was stoic, but he had to be hurting before the river brought his miracle card, the A.   He doubled up to around $70,000 and became one of the biggger stacks at his table, which he used to acquire even more chips later on.   The player on the button raised to $2,600 and Mizzi reraised to $6,000.  The button called and the flop brought the K 10 3.  Mizzi bet $9,400 and the player on the button raised to $26,000.  Mizzi thought for a moment before announcing that he was all-in.  The raise amounted to $43,000, which would leave the button crippled if he called and lost.  After what appeared to be an agonizing few moments, he mucked his hand and Mizzi grew to around $100,000.  Ending the day with around five times the starting stack was quite an accomplishment for Mizzi, who was at one point down to less than $5,000 in the afternoon.

Respect Your Elders

Knowledge comes from experience, and 94 year old Jack Ury has a wealth of that.  Seated with David Chiu, Ury has made friends with his whole table and gained a following in  the Amazon room.  Due to limited vision the dealer has been pushing the flop closer to Ury while his neighebors on either side help him stack his chips and announce the bet and pot size during hands.  After winning a pot with a $10,000 bet on the river Ury showed a flush and everyone at the table and the 30 or so spectators gathered broke out into spontaneous and heartfelt applause.  Making money may be the main goal of poker, but it seems that Ury has earned two things today that are arguably more valuable: respect and friendship.  

At the end of the night approximately 650 players had advanced to day two.   Among them were many notable pros, including all those previously mentioned in this post, Thor Hansen, Gavin Smith, Gus Hansen, Anthony Retigeau, Chip Jett and Vinnie Vinh's chair.  Make sure to check in on day 2A tomorrow here at Cardplayer.com.

Break and Color Up

The first half of this hour was spent coloring up the green $25 chips and then taking a twenty minute break.  Players then returned to the final level of the day.  Blinds increased to $400-$800 with a $100 ante for level six.

Forrest Breaks $100,000

Ted Forrest took down a monstrous pot holding K 10, which made a broadway straight on a board of A K J Q 6.  With this pot Forrest moved above $100,000, leaving himself in a good position going into the end of day one.

Lindgren Eliminated

Erick Lindgren had been nursing a short stack for more than an hour. He had moved in and picked up blinds a number of times to stay alive, but this past hour he finally got called by an opponent holding 9 9.  Lindgren was in a race situation with his K Q, but the board of A 3 2 3 10 improved neither player and Lindgren was sent to the rail.

Negreanu Gets A Bonus

In early position Team PokerStars member Daniel Negreanu raised to $2,000.  A short stacked player in middle position moved in for only $5,000 more and after a moments consideration Negreanu decided to call.  His opponent revealed 4 4 and Negreanu breathed a sigh of relief as he tabled the A 10.  Negreanu seemed to be pleased that he had just read the situation correctly, saying, "Allright, now I don't care if I win or lose."  As an added bonus the board came down K J 9 10 7 and Negreanu won the pot. 
Notable Chip Counts

Mickey "Mouse" Mills	180,000
Chip Jett	140,000
Ted Forrest	115,000
Carlos Mortensen	85,000
Gus Hansen	65,000
Gavin Smith	58,000
Paul "X-22" Magriel	57,000
Daniel Negreanu	56,000
Layne Flack	49,000
Leif Force	44,000
Prahlad Friedman	32,000
Mimi Tran	26,000
Barbara Enright	23,000
Brett Jungblut	12,000
John "The Razor" Phan	10,000

The Great Dane in a Great Standoff

Gus Hansen bet $1,700 from middle position and seat ten called from middle position, after he had originally checked. The flop rolled out J 4 2 and seat ten checked. Hansen made it $2,200 to go and seat ten then raised to $6,500. Hansen now went into the tank. While he pondered the call, many media members and photographers flocked to the table to see what was taking Hansen so long to make a decision. He eventually called and the turn brought the 7. Both players checked, although they both took their time with the decision. The river was dealt 10 and once again both players checked. Seat ten showed A K, while Hansen flipped over A 10. The pot gave Hansen over $50,000.

Still In the Hunt

David Chiu, Hansen, Mimi Tran, Dutch Boyd, John “The Razor” Phan, team www.pokerstars.com member, Daniel Negreanu, Peter Jetten, Alan Sass, Carlos Mortensen, Theo Tran, James Mackey, Freddy Deeb, Bill Edler, Layne Flack, Antonio “The Magician” Esfandiari, Peter Feldman, Marcello Del Grosso, Padraig Parkinson, Thor Hansen, Chip Jett, Gavin Smith, Ted Forrest, Erick Lindgren, Paul McCaffrey, and 2006 final table alumn Michael Binger were all still in the hunt as the players went to break.

Off the Wagon

A few players would be headed to a much longer break. Tuan Le, Chip Reese, David Benyamine, Young Phan, Sorel Mizzi, Brandi Hawbaker, and Michael Craig had all made their exits.

Theo vs. Mortensen

On a flop of 8 5 3 Carlos Mortensen bet $6,000 and Theo Tran made the call. The turn brought the A and Mortensen made it $10,000 to go. Tran called again and the river brought the 7. This time Mortensen placed a $14,000 bet out in the middle of the felt. Tran went into the tank, exhaled in frustration, then counted his chips. He made the call and Mortensen flipped over pocket fives. Tran mucked his hand and took a brisk walk away from the table.

The Lonely Stack of Vinny Vinh

Another dinner break has come and gone, and once again a player has sadly failed to return to play. The chip stack of Vinny Vinh sat on the table alone, with no in the chair directly behind. It looked like it had plunged below the days starting level of $20,000 by this point in the evening, and he was no where in sight. “He had about $32-33,000 when we got back,” said the player seated on the right of Vinh’s empty chair.

There were 860 players seated at 86 tables when they went to the 20 minute break.

Notable Chip Counts

Chip Jett	111,000
Carlos Mortensen	75,000
Gavin Smith	60,000
Paul "X-22" Magriel	57,000
Daniel Negreanu	54,000
John "The Razor" Phan	52,000
Prahlad Friedman	51,000
Layne Flack	50,000
Ted Forrest	43,000
Karina Jett	40,000
Leif Force	35,000
Antonio Esfandiari	33,000
Mimi Tran	31,000
David Chiu	28,000
Gus Hansen	27,000
Barbara Enright	26,000
Brett Jungblut	15,200
Freddy Deeb	15,000
Dutch Boyd	14,800
Erik Friberg	9,000
Shawn "Sheiky" Sheikhan	8,000
Erick Lindgren	5,200
Tommy Vu	5,000

The Force Was With Him

2006 main event 11th place finisher Leif Force won a huge pot this past hour.  Force got all the money in with A A against K 10, which had made two pair on a board of K 10 6 2.  Force had a number of outs, and caught one of them with the 2 on  the river, which counterfeited his opponents two pair and gave Force the pot. 

Esfandiari Decides To Gamble

Facing an all-in preflop from a short stack, Antonio Esfandiari decided to talk out his options with his opponent. "Should I gamble with you?"  After chatting for a few minutes, Esfandiari was reconsidering his original read.  "I was gonna insta-call, but then you started talking." After a while, however, Esfandiari threw in the call and said, "Lets gamble."  His Q 10 was behind his opponents A 3, but with two live cards Esfandiari was far from crushed.  The board came down K Q 9 2 3 and Esfandiari's queens sent his opponent to the rail and brought Esfandiari back above the starting stack.

Crabs Win It For Negreanu

In early middle position Team www.pokerstars.com member Daniel Negreanu raised to $1,500 and got called by three other players, including the big blind. The flop brought the J 4 3 and the big blind bet $3,000. Negreanu called, and the two players behind folded.  The turn brought the 9 and the big blind bet $10,000.  Negreanu stared his opponent down, and also snuck a peek at his stack of $5,000 orange chips before calling. The turn brought the 6 and the big blind bet $20,000.  Negreanu rolled up his sleeves and told his table, "This is going to take a sec." While again staring into the soul of his opponent he gave his assesment of the situation. "You don't look scared at all."  After measuring his opponents reaction, Negreanu said, "Well, I guess that's because you don't know what I have." He then called the $20,000, and when his opponent revealed J 9 Negreanu confidently turned over the 3 3.  Negreanu's set took down the $43,000 pot and brought him up to around $50,000 in chips.

Tournament Info

At the end of this hour approximately 910 players remained on 91 tables. Players will continue playing with $300-$600 blinds and a $75 ante for another hour before taking a short break and returning for the sixth and final level of the night.

Prize Pool Announced

Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, the moment you have all been waiting for has arrived. The official number of entrants has been announced at 6,358, which has created a first-place prize pool of $8.25 million. The final five players will all walk away with at least a cool million, while every player at the final table will make over half a million for their time. Not a bad paycheck for two weeks, in any line of work. Click on the payout structure link to view the full list of payouts.

New World Champion

Jamie Gold has been eliminated, ensuring that we will have a new world champion.  His elimination was announced over the loud speaker to a round of applause. 

The Razor Makes A Sharp Fold

In a three way limped pot on a flop of K K 10, John Phan bet out $600.  Both players called, and all three players checked the A on the turn.  The river was the 6, and Phan bet out $4,000.  The under the gun limper made it $10,000 total and was quickly called by the other limper.  Phan thought for awhile before standing his cards up behind his chips so that all the media could see his dilemma.  Phan was showing Q-J for the Broadway straight and was facing a raise of only $6,000.  Eventually, he folded it face up and the under the gun player showed pocket Aces for Aces full.  The overcaller showed Q-J as well, for the same hand Phan folded.  This was clearly not your typical limped pot. 

Tuan Takes a Hit on a Laydown

Tuan Le made it $1,200 to go from early position with a flop of K K 9 on the board. One opponent called from middle position, while two others folded. The turn brought the 3 and Tuan fired out $1,500. His opponent reraised all in and Tuan mucked his hand, only after a momentary pause of pondering suspicion.

Amit Eliminated

Rafi Amit found a nemesis at his table this level, though the personable Amit would probably never put it that way.  In the three major pots that Amit got involved in, the player two to his left came out on top each time.  First Amit doubled him up, getting all the money in preflop with 8 8 against his opponents A 10.  The flop brought the 9 4 2, keeping Amit in the lead.  The turn changed all that, bringing the 10 and giving his opponent the lead.  The river brought Amit's opponent another pair with the A.  Amit joked, "What a sick river, this is unbelievable."  Amit lost another sizable pot when he and his foil both made top pair, but his opponents bigger kicker gave him the win.  Finally, a short stacked Amit got it in with K 7, only to have his nemesis raise $7,000 on top to isolate.  All other players folded and he revealed J J.  The board came Q Q Q 8 8, and though both players had a full house, his opponent's queens full of jacks sent Amit to the rail. Apparently happy to be done with the grueling series, Amit smiled and said, "Time to celebrate."

Level four has come to an end, and all remaining players are currently on a twenty minute break.  When they return for level five blinds will increase to $300-$600 with a $75 ante. There are currently 1070 players remaining at 107 tables.

Penalty Situation
On the river, Walt Oliver bet out and his opponent folded.  As Oliver went to muck his cards and pull in his uncalled bet, his opponent reached over and flipped his cards over, exposing his hand.  The table was shocked by the player's actions, and one player at the table commented how he had never seen anything like that before, outside of a very social home game.  The floor was called over for a ruling, and the player was given a 10-hand penalty.  He tried to appeal with other tournament directors, pleading his case, but the ruling stood.  With his low stack of $7,500, a 10-hand penalty is hard to swallow. 

Cyndy Violette Eliminated
Cyndy Violette pushed her last $2,150 into the pot and her opponent made the call with 6 6.  She showed A 9, commenting that it was the first Ace she had seen in quite awhile.  The board came K K 7 3 Q, and Violette was sent to the rail. 

BoDogAri Takes A Hit
On a flop of K 10 5, Alan "Ari" Engel bet out $4,000.  His opponent raised all in for $11,700 and Engel thought awhile before making the call.  His opponent showed K Q and Engel turned over 8 7 for a flush draw.  The turn and river came 2 8, and Engel took a hit, lowering his stack to $33,000. 

Irish Eyes Are Smiling
We, not quite, but they're holding their own largely. Padraig Parkinson, who made the final table of the main event in 1999 when his fellow countryman Noel Furlong won the bracelet, has $26,500 in chips and seems in feisty form. Trading jokes with the table and generally looking like he's enjoying the occasion. Read his Pro Blog at CardPlayer.com.

Don Fagan took a hit of around $14,500 he ran a set of nines into a set of kings. 'That's why i want a big stack so i can take these confrontations,' he told CardPlayer.com

Ken 'KPNuts' Powell is breathing a little easier. 'I was down to $9,500 and had to fight fire with fire. I went all in about 4 times and now i'm up to $19,000.' His table broke and he seemed relieved. A few moment later he won another $2,000 plus pot on the turn with a three-quarter pot-sized bet.

Scott Gray, fourth in the 2002 main event, is sitting on $37,000, drinking coffee and engaging in banter at his table.

Sean Coughlan, seated at Thor Hansen's table, is 'very happy' with his table. 'It's quite passive which suits me fine at the minute. Hansen tried a few moves at the beginning but has quietened down a lot. A new guy just came to the table and got spanked a couple of times so things are going grand. He has over $30,000.

Irish players confirmed bust are Adrian Walshe, Danny McHugh, Jude Jackson, and Joe Rafferty.
Notable Chip Counts

Paul "X-22" Magriel	71,000
Gavin Smith	60,000
Daniel Negreanu	60,000
John Phan	58,000
Prahlad Friedman	56,000
Young Phan	53,000
Barbara Enright	49,000
Chip Jett	48,000
Gus Hansen	47,000
Carlos Mortensen	42,000
Chris "The Armenian Express" Grigorian	39,000
Ted Forrest	38,000
Layne Flack	37,000
Erick Lindgren	37,000
Karina Jett	35,000
Chip Reese	35,000
Mimi Tran	28,000
Freddy Deeb	25,000
David Benyamine	25,000
Leif Force	16,000
Jean Gaspard	16,000
David Chiu	16,000
Surinder Sunar	8,000
Shawn "Sheiky" Sheikhan	8,000
Sorel "Imper1um" Mizzi	7,800
Antonio Esfandiari	7,000
Dutch Boyd	6,000
Tuan Le	5,800

Official Numbers
The tournament details have just been announced.  6,358 players entered this year's main event, creating a $59,784,954 prize pool.  This tournament will pay 621 places, with 621st place taking home $20,320 and 1st place place pocketing $8,250,000.  The full prize pool will be updated shortly.

Jon "PearlJammer" Turner Doubles Up
On a board of A 9 6 2, Jon Turner gets his last $13,875 in the pot against the player in seat No. 5.  Turner shows 6 6 and his opponent shows A 5 and is drawing dead.  The meaningless river is the 7 and Turner doubles up to $40,500. 

Karen Thomas is Back
Karen Thomas, known this series for coming from behind and showing her behind, tripled up during the last level.  All in against pocket Kings and pocket Queens, Thomas hit trip Aces with A-5, more than tripling her up.  The small blind in the hand would've hit nines full, but he folded to all the preflop action.  Thomas neglected to flash anybody after winning the pot, but she did show off her trademarked mini-celebration as she gathered the pot.  Thomas has spent most of the series entertaining the crowd with her all-in celebrations, much to the enjoyment of her tablemates and tournament directors. 

Hellmuth Gone
Phil Hellmuth was eliminated during the last level.  It is still unknown whether he will drive home or not.  Either way, we're sure he could use the recovery time. 

Pizzolatto is Outto
Nath Pizzolatto pushed all in on a flop of K 10 5 with 10 8.  His opponent made the call with A K and Pizzolatto needed some help to stay in the tournament.  The board finished out with Q Q eliminating Pizzolatto early on in the hour.  

Dario Minieri Tilting Chips Away
Despite once being over the $105,000 chip mark, Dario Minieri has been rapidly losing most of his stack.  After getting an opponent all in with Aces vs. Kings, his opponent spiked a King to double through and rattle Minieri.  Minieri proceeded to raise 6 of the next 11 hands and lose most of them, bleeding off most of his still healthy stack.  We would also like to point out Minieri's Harry Potter scarf. 

Lucko, Not Sucko
Kevin "Lucko21" O'Brien (+1) has been slowly amassing a big stack in the far corner of the Amazon room.  He is sitting with online pro Johnathan Westra, but has still managed to crack the $80,000 chip mark. 

Negreanu's Baby Flush
The player in seat 3 raised to $1,200 and Daniel Negreanu defended from the big blind.  The flop came A Q 4, Negreanu checked, Seat 3 bet $1,800, Negreanu raised to $6,800, and Seat 3 folded.  Negreanu flashed his two baby clubs as he mucked, and jokingly asked, "Flush good there?"  Pokerstars player Negreanu enters the dinner break with about $27,000 in chips.

This Space For Rent

The new policy on logos has allowed for many players to deck themselves out like racecar drivers; Phil Hellmuth was the most notable of today, taking that idea literally.  Brett Jungblut has a creative joke in line with these philosophies.  Jungblut has a shirt that reads, This Space For Rent.  It might be funnier if he included his contact information on the back of the shirt for potential ad suitors.

The players are currently on dinner break until 8:30

Notable Chip Counts

Paul Magriel	69,000
Dee Luong	58,000
John Phan	48,000
Nick Binger	45,000
Freddy Deeb	44,000
Layne Flack	43,000
Jon Turner	40,000
Chris Tsiprailidis	39,800
Young Phan	38,000
John Racener	38,000
Michael Binger	37,000
Bill Edler	37,000
Dario Minieri	35,000
Carlos Mortensen	35,000
Maria Ho	34,500
Isaac Haxton	33,000
Chris Grigorian	33,000
Thor Hansen	32,000
Chip Reese	32,000
Dutch Boyd	31,500
Vinnie Vinh	30,000
Daniel Negreanu	29,800
Prahlad Friedman	29,000
David Benyamine	28,000
Jean Gaspard	25,500
Brett Jungblut	24,000
Leif Force	23,000
Eric Mizrachi	22,000
Ed Moncada	22,000
Jamie Gold	21,600
Steve Zolotow	20,000
Gus Hansen	20,000
Doug "Rico" Carli	20,000
Chip Jett	20,000
Sorel "Imper1um" Mizzi	19,000
Gavin Smith	19,000
Ted Forrest	18,000
Mimi Tran	18,000
Surinder Sunar	14,000
Ron "Grumpy" Ware	12,700
David Plastik	9,500
Erik Friberg	9,000
David Chiu	8,300
Bryan Micon	8,200
Shawn "Sheiky" Sheikhan	8,000
Erica Schoenberg	8,000
Erick Lindgren	7,600
Antonio Esfandiari	6,800
Nam Le	5,000
Cyndy Violette	3,200

Nick Binger Doubles Up
On a flop of 8 7 6, Nick Binger gets it all in with K K against his opponent's Q Q.  The turn and river came 6 4, and Binger doubled up to $38,000.  Binger has been doing his best to step out of his brother's shadow in recent months, and with a few final table here and there, he is starting to get the recognition he deserves.  In fact, during the hand, ESPN did not hesitate to come over and film for their coverage. 

Phone Controversy
Yarom Limor just finished with a telephone controversy.  Limor was on the phone, away from the table when the dealer started to shuffle and deal.  Limor made it known that he got back to the table before the last card hit the button.  So when the dealer asked for his cards, he began to protest.  The floor was called over and he explained the situation.  The first tournament director believed his hand was playable because he was away from the table while he was on the phone.  But a second tournament director quickly jumped in to announce his hand was dead, despite making it back in time to his seat.  Limor explained that he was fully aware of all the rules and knew this ruling to be incorrect.  But the next dealer coming in for the push said that the ruling was changed early on in the Series, around event #4.  Before, talking on the phone was allowed during the deal as long as the player was seated before the last card hit the button.  But now, according to tournament officials, if a player is on the phone during any part of the deal, his hand will be declared dead.  Limor continued to argue, pointing out that one director had already sided with him and also pointed out that the floor was still convening on the other side of the room debating the situation.  After all this, Limor exclaimed that it didn't really matter since he wasn't going to play his Q-8 offsuit anyway. 

Theo Tran Makes A Great Laydown
A player limped under the gun and Theo Tran raised it up to $1,500.  Carlos Mortensen reraised behind him to $4,500.  The under the gun player folded, and Tran thought for a few moments before calling.  The flop came 10 9 7, and Tran checked.  Mortensen bet out $7,000 and Tran winced before counting out his remaining $18,000 several times.  Tran looked as though he was agonizing his decision and regretted getting into a pot with the only other pro at the table.  Mortensen looked calm and relaxed as he reached for his sunglasses and smiled.  As Tran rechecked his cards, it became clear that he wasn't posturing anymore and truly had a tough decision with Q Q.  He thought for awhile longer before mucking them face up.  Mortensen, with a friendly gesture, past his cards over to Tran, so that he and he alone, could look down at pocket Aces. 

Negreanu Building Back Up
New Pokerstars ambassador, Daniel Negreanu has slowly built stack out of the danger zone with a few well-timed plays.  Negreanu hit a beautiful flop with A 9 when the flop came A 4 3, but he failed to get much action.  The player in Seat One then announced that if he had played he would have been ahead in the hand.  With the ESPN cameras rolling, Negreanu announced, "Not in a billion years would you have been ahead of me in that pot."  A few hands later Negreanu got some revenge on that same player getting paid off on Negreanu's $3,000 value bet on the river when he hit trip Queens.

Hurricane Karina Stirs Up River
Karina Jett put a bad beat on a short-stacked opponent.  Jett raised $2,350 with A K from the button after the cutoff limped, the player in Seat 5 pushed all in for $4,000 more with K K from the small blind, the cutoff folded, and Jett called.  Seat 5 was safe until the river as the board ran out J 6 4 9 A, and Jett took the pot.

Young & Gus The Spectators
After two limpers, Young Phan raised to $1,600 from middle position.  The player in seat 8 called from the big blind, and both limpers (Seat 1 and Gus Hansen) made the call.  The flop was A J 6, Seat 8 bet $4,000, Seat 1 called, and Hansen and Phan both got out of the way.  The turn was the 5, Seat 8 now bet $6,000, leaving himself about $7,000 behind.  Seat 1 tapped him raising to $15,000.  Seat 8 tanked for a few minutes and made the crying call.  Seat 1 showed the K 10 for the nut flush, and Seat 8 showed J J for the now-trailing flopped set.  The river was the 3 and Seat 1 took the pot, Phan commented after the hand, "He hasn't missed a hand today"

Stay tuned to Cardplayer.com for hourly updates and your favorite Pro Blogs.

Notable Chip Counts

Paul Magriel	69,000
Dario Minieri	64,000
Dee Luong	58,000
Layne Flack	43,000
Jon Turner	40,000
Chris Tsiprailidis	39,800
Carlos Mortensen	39,000
Young Phan	38,000
David Benyamine	38,000
Michael Binger	37,000
Bill Edler	37,000
John Phan	35,000
Maria Ho	34,500
Jean Gaspard	34,000
Freddy Deeb	34,000
Isaac Haxton	33,000
Chris Grigorian	32,500
Chip Reese	32,000
Vinnie Vinh	31,500
Prahlad Friedman	29,000
Dutch Boyd	29,000
John Racener	28,200
Thor Hansen	28,000
Daniel Negreanu	25,000
Leif Force	23,000
Ted Forrest	22,300
Ed Moncada	22,000
Chip Jett	22,000
Brett Jungblut	22,000
Jamie Gold	21,600
Mimi Tran	21,500
Surinder Sunar	20,000
Steve Zolotow	20,000
Rafi Amit	20,000
Gus Hansen	20,000
Doug "Rico" Carli	20,000
Sorel "Imper1um" Mizzi	19,000
Brian Haveson	13,000
Ron "Grumpy" Ware	12,700
Robert Williamson III	12,000
Gavin Smith	10,000
Cyndy Violette	9,600
Erik Friberg	9,000
David Chiu	8,300
Bryan Micon	8,200
Shawn Sheikhan	8,000
Erica Schoenberg	8,000
David Plastik	7,000
Antonio Esfandiari	7,000
Nam Le	5,000
Erick Lindgren	4,000
Phil Hellmuth	1,400

The players are on their second break of the day following the completion of level two. The day started with a little more than 1,700 entrants and at the second break the Amazon room is still packed with players.

X-22

Paul "X-22" Magriel has been on an absolute tear during the last level and now sits atop the leaderboard with over $70,000 in chips. Magriel was already responsible for sending two other players to the rail before the following hand. With the flop showing J 9 7 the player in seat one bet out. Magriel was the only other player in the hand and he raised. Seat one pushed all in and Magriel made the call. Seat one showed 10-8 for the flopped straight and Magriel called with K Q on the flush draw. The turn was the Q and a player at the table joked, "don't do it to him." The J hit on the river and Magriel busted out another player at his table. Magriel collected his chips and emerged as the chip leader in the last level.

Tournament Director to Tournament Player

Last year's Tournament Director, Robert Daly, is in today's field and for the first time is able to see what the World Series of Poker is like from a different perspective. Daly was able to build his stack to around $30,000 in the last level and continued to collect chips right up until the break. On a board of J 5 2 4 J Daly found himself heads up with the player in seat nine. Daly pushed all in for $21,000 into a pot totalling around $10,000. His opponent in the nine seat thought for a very long time while staring at Daly. The player in seat nine eventually folded and Daly turned over J J anyways to show the table that he had rivered quads.

FIght The Power!

Towards the end of level two, tournament official Nollan Dolla made a very special announcement to the tournament field. Dolla announced the presence of Robert Wexler, Congressman from Florida who is leading the fight to overturn the law that has made online transactions for gambling purposes illegal. Wexler took the microphone and made a small statement about his intentions to fight the law and about how ridiculous it is. The crowd gave a loud applause and Wexler's comments started a plethora of political conversations at various tables. As conversations about politics often do, some apparently got ugly. One player finally shouted out, "No politics at the table guys! C'mon!"

Negreanu Picks Up Chips

Daniel Negreanu, member of Team Pokerstars www.pokerstars.com, has experienced a rather slow day. Holding on to less than his starting stack, Negreanu called a preflop raise of $650. Three players saw a flop of A K 2. The player in seat four bet out $1,500 and the player in seat six folded. Negreanu called and the turn was the 5. The player in seat four bet out $3,000 and Negreanu just called. The river was the 6 putting a flush on board and the player in seat four checked to Negreanu. Negreanu put the rest of his stack in the middle and put his opponent to a decision for $6,000 more. The player in seat four folded and Negreanu scooped the pot, building his stack to $16,000. The player in seat four said aloud, "good turn card for ya huh?" Negreanu simply shook his head and said, "no." Check out what Negreanu was holding directly from him in our Pro Blogs.

Freddy Deeb: Poker Guru?

Playing a small ball style throughout the day, Freddy Deeb has picked up enough small pots to build his stack to $33,000. Following a major win in this year's H.O.R.S.E tournament, where Deeb took home $2.3 million, the players at his table have been joking with Deeb about "his secret." The player in seat ten finally asked Deeb flat out, "when you gonna start giving lessons?" Deeb just smiled as he raked in another pot, "When you want me to start? You can be the first."

Notable Chip Counts

Dario Minieri	104,000
Paul Magriel	63,000
Chip Reese	46,000
Chris Tsiprailidis	43,000
Layne Flack	40,000
Gus Hansen	38,000
Bill Edler	37,000
John Racener	36,700
Chris Grigorian	36,100
Vinnie Vinh	34,500
Jean Gaspard	34,000
Isaac Haxton	33,000
Thor Hansen	30,500
Maria Ho	30,500
Freddy Deeb	30,000
Carlos Mortensen	27,000
David Benyamine	24,700
Brandon Schaefer	23,500
Leif Force	23,000
Young Phan	22,000
Prahlad Friedman	22,000
Ed Moncada	22,000
Ted Forrest	21,800
Jamie Gold	21,600
Phil Hellmuth	21,000
Dutch Boyd	20,500
Steve Zolotow	20,000
Shawn Sheikhan	19,300
David Plastik	19,300
Sorel "Imper1um" Mizzi	19,000
Mimi Tran	19,000
Kido Pham	18,000
Bryan Micon	18,000
Doug "Rico" Carli	17,300
Chip Jett	17,000
Robert Williamson III	16,300
Daniel Negreanu	16,000
Brett Jungblut	16,000
Michael Binger	15,000
Gavin Smith	15,000
Antonio Esfandiari	14,300
Jon Turner	13,000
Ron "Grumpy" Ware	12,700
Cyndy Violette	9,600
Erick Lindgren	8,000
Erik Friberg	7,000
Erica Schoenberg	6,500
Fred Goldberg	6,000
Nam Le	5,000
David Chiu	4,000