Robert Briggs has been eliminated, his last chips going to Kory Kilpatrick. Briggs joins a couple of more recent bustouts to reduce the field down to 93.
We came upon a three-way hand involving Ronnie Burr, Juan Mora, and James Geddes just now. After Burr had raised to 12,000, Mora had pushed for 80,500 and it had folded back to Geddes who called the shove out of the blinds. Burr considered for some time before letting his hand go.
Mora tabled and Geddes . "Nice hand, sir," said Geddes even before the board rolled out . Afterward Burr explained he'd folded , and others complimented him on the fold despite the fact that he'd have made trips otherwise.
Day 1a chip leader David Nicholson and Stanley Langley were heads up on a board of . Nicholson check-called a 20,000-chip bet from Langley, and the river brought the . Nicholson checked, and after tanking for a bit, Langley checked as well.
Langley showed for a pair of jacks, but they were no good against Nicholson's for a pair of kings.
With about 60,000 in the pot and the board showing , Kenneth Adams led with a bet of 30,000, then after a pause Jerry Barlow pushed all in. Adams only hesitated about 10 seconds before calling.
Adams turned over for the flush draw while Barlow showed for sixes. The turn was the and river the , and Barlow had faded the draw to earn a huge pot of more than 250,000.
Afterwards, Barlow sat back in his chair and held his hands out in front of him, noting with a grin that they were shaking. It's a big leap up the counts for Barlow, moving him into the top five.
Meanwhile Adams hits the rail, following closely after Drennon Rackley who was just knocked out moments before. There are now just 97 players remaining — seven from the money.
Daniel Weinman opened to 10,000 from under the gun, Paul Prevatte called in middle position, and Frank Windsor three-bet to 30,000 in the cutoff seat. Weinman four-bet to 79,000, Prevatte folded, and Windsor called.
The dealer fanned , and Weinman led out for a measly 18,500. Windsor thought for a second or two, then called.
The turn was the , Weinman led again - this time for a more managable 55,500 - and Windsor instantly folded.
Weinman now sits atop the charts with over half of a million chips.
We caught up with Ken "Teach" Aldridge on his way to the rail, his Main Event run having been cut short shy of the cash during Level 18.
"Flopped top two versus a flush draw," he explained when recounting the hand which had caused him to lose the majority of his stack. Having to push shortly thereafter, he failed to improve and has thus been eliminated.
Aldridge was his usual jovial self, though, as he commented on the turnout here at Harrah's Cherokee. "This has been a great event," he said. "Such a good turnout, and I really enjoy the social aspect of it, too."
We likewise have enjoyed the hospitality and friendliness of players and staff alike this week, and like Aldridge are already looking forward to the WSOP Circuit's return here after what has been a successful debut.
James Geddes raised to 12,000 out of the small blind, Ken Taffaro moved all in from the big blind, and Geddes asked for a count.
The dealer cut down the stacks, then announced, "Forty-one."
Geddes looked at his stack, and then said, "Call."
Geddes:
Taffaro:
The dealer fanned , giving Geddes a leading pair of queens, and he held as the turn and river came , respectively.
After the hand, Taffaro's stack was counted down again, and this time the dealer announced, "Ninety-five."
This was the correct count, Taffaro had 95,000 chips not 41,000. Because of this, the all in was for effectively 72,000, and Geddes doubled.
Despite winning the hand, Geddes was upset about receiving misinformation. Taffaro was equally upset, because if Geddes was given the right count, he may not have made the call.
Phong Huynh opened for 10,000 from middle position, then Claudia Crawford reraised to 25,000 from one seat over. It folded back to Huynh who paused for a while, then made it 65,000 to go, and after thinking herself for about a half-minute, Crawford called.
The flop came , and Huynh didn't waste too much time before declaring he was all in. Crawford tanked for some time, counting out chips to see that she had Huynh's all-in shove covered.
Finally Crawford called, showing . It had been a good decision, as Huynh tabled . The turn was the and river the , and Crawford's sevens had held to send Huynh to the rail and push her up toward the 400,000-chip mark.