There are three tables over in the Manor Room along one of the side walls, and we meandered in there to see who was hiding. Miguel Borrero was one of those tucked away in the corner, and we arrived just in time to see his final stand.
The board showed when we walked up to the table, and Borrero had shoved his last ~8,400 into the pot. His opponent tanked and called with , and Borrero's was well ahead.
Well ahead, that is, until the dropped off the deck on the river, flushing Borrero out the door just before the first break.
We caught just a bit of an earlier pot as Koppe was heads up. The board showed (X) , and Koppe reluctantly (but quickly) folded his to an opponent's shove. A few hands later, Koppe got his last ~10,000 into the middle with his poised for a double against an opponent with .
A queen on the flop was no good at all for Koppe, and the board is the last he'll get to see today.
Among those who have arrived a bit late and have taken their seats include Adam Lippert, "Cowboy"John Land, La Sengphet, and Mike Beasley. Dwyte Pilgrim is also roaming the room, though the has yet to take his seat.
On a board, "Miami" John Cernuto's bet of 1,750 was called by two opponents, landing the on the river. All three checked, with one opponent tabling . Neither Cernuto nor the other opponent could beat it.
On a board with four players in the pot, Timothy Finne was third to act and saw a bet of 900 and a call before him. He called as well, but the fourth player to act popped it to 3,600.
The first two players folded, but not Finne. He called to see the hit the turn and checked. His opponent fired 4,175, but again was unable to shake Finne. The river brought the , putting a straight on the board. Finne put the rest of his stack into the pot, roughly 19,000, sending his opponent into the tank. After about 90 seconds, Finne's opponent gave it up and surrendered the pot.
Chad Brown knows how to sling chips around in the early stages of a tournament, so we've been spending a fair amount of time circling his table. A few moments ago, we picked up a four-way pot on a flop. Action checked to Brown, and he put out 250 chips, finding only one caller to go to the turn. Brown bet another 600, and his opponent called again. Both men checked through the turn, and Brown could not beat his opponent's .
A few hands later, Brown called a raise to 225 before the flop, and he and three other players saw the dealer spread out . The raiser continued out with a bet of 525, and Brown was the only caller, heads up once again to fourth street. It was the , and Brown called another 1,150 there before check-checking through the river. Once more, Brown couldn't show anything better than his opponent's .
Those are the only two pots we've seen him play, but he's apparently been doing some work. Even with those two slips, Brown is up to about 24,000 here in the second level.
We picked up the action on a board with four players in the pot.
The first player to act checked to Chris Tryba and he bet 300. A call and a raise to 875 by the next two players to act forced a fold from player #1. Tryba called, as did the other player in the hand to see the hit the turn. Tryba bet 1,675, but was quickly called by both opponents. The landed on the river and Tryba checked. A bet of 3,000 came from one opponent, followed by a fold from the other.
Tryba tossed in the chips saying, "Well thats a pretty bad beat," as he showed a king-high straight. His opponent tabled for a straight to the king as well, chopping up the pot.
We've moved over 300 players to 304 at the current time. Registration is still open until the first break, just after 2:00 P.M. local time. Considering this is the last Main Event of the Circuit season, we wouldn't be surprised to see close to 400 players filling out the field by the time the window closes.