![[user101598]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted |
At the beginning of the day, we talked about She Lok Wong, a player who is as much a fan of the players he is playing against as anyone in the room. We also mentioned that looks could be deceiving as Wong is an excellent player, and he's proven that much by moving to the top of the chip counts by the time dinner break arrived.
Imagine Wong's surprise when he came back from dinner and found none other than Phil Hellmuth being moved to his table. Wong raced over to the PokerNews Live Reporting team, a glazed look on his face as he told us of this. The excitement and nervousness on his face was obvious.
We walked over to Wong's table. It's not an easy one. In addition to Hellmuth there is Justin Young, Amit Makhija, Christina Lindley, Byron Kaverman, and Kevin Choe. "He's a professional. He's a professional," Wong said to us, nodding at the players at the table. "This is very exciting. My heart is beating so fast."
Wong stood, unable to remain still, as a hand went down where Justin Young five-bet shoved with 
. He'll have to calm down if he's going to contend with these sharks, but he's already been proving that he could do that for over 12 levels. It could be Wong teaching the pros a thing or two before all is said and done.
We're not sure when the money got in the middle, but when we arrived at the table, Johnny "World" Hennigan was all in and at risk with 
. His opponent, Season XII WPT Champions Club member Jared Jaffee, had 
, and the board read 
.
The turn was a 
, changing nothing, and the river didn't complete Hennigan's Broadway draw or give him a superior pair. He was eliminated, while Jaffee chipped up to 375,000.
Over on Table 2, Tony Gregg, also a member of the WPT Champions Club, eliminated Tom Marchese with unknown action.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
456,000 | 203,000 |
|
375,000 | 78,000 |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted |
Level: 13
Blinds: 1,500/3,000
Ante: 500
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
465,000 | 85,000 |
|
375,000 | 60,000 |
|
362,000 | 17,000 |
|
346,000 | 183,300 |
|
|
335,000 | -10,000 |
|
335,000 | -30,000 |
|
302,000 | 72,000 |
|
|
297,000 | 117,000 |
|
295,000 | 120,000 |
|
284,000 | 17,000 |
|
280,000 | -40,000 |
|
275,000 | -55,000 |
The players are streaming toward the exits for the 90-minute dinner break. Check back in at 8:20 local time to continue following PokerNews' live coverage of the WPT World Championship.
Maurice "Mo" Hawkins is one of the more entertaining players in the room today - and that's saying a lot, what with the brash and boisterous Will "The Thrill" Failia and Phil Hellmuth holding court in their inimitable way.
Hawkins is known for his active play and aggressive style, and with the trio of table-talkers all sitting together, the scene resembles a home game more than the WPT World Championship.
"This is a $300 tournament to me," said Hawkins during a recent pass by the table. "This isn't serious... it's fun."
While that bit of boasting may or may not be true (he is playing for more than million dollars after all), Hawkins is showing his serious side on the felt. He doubled through two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner John "World" Hennigan recently, making eights full over sixes full to push his stack up over 250,000. A few blind steals later have propelled Hawkins over 280,000 just before dinner break, giving him one of the largest stacks in play midway through the evening.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
280,000 | 18,000 |
We get to the table with approximately 45,000 in the pot and a 28,500 bet in front of Jesse Sylvia. Matt Waxman is studying the board of 
. He spent minutes going back and forth between looking at Sylvia, looking at his cards, and at the tournament clock.
"Sorry," he said at one point.
He eventually made the call and Sylvia turned over 
for the nut straight. Waxman looked pissed at himself, and tossed his cards into the muck, down to just 34,000 in chips after the hand. Sylvia in the meantime is sitting much more comfortably at 160,000.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
160,000 | 100,000 |
|
34,000 | -40,000 |
Justin Zaki opened to 5,000 from the cutoff, only to see Chris Klodnicki three-bet to 12,500 from the button.
After thinking things through for a long minute, Zaki four-bet shoved for 56,600 more.
Klodnicki thought about his spot for a while before calling and tabling 
, which was way behind Zaki's .
The dealer fanned the 
to make things interesting though, as Klodnicki added a flush draw to his previously depleted arsenal of outs. The turn missed his draws, coming 
, but when the 
fell on the river Zaki stood to make his exit.
The rest of the table enjoyed a bit of banter after the hand, commenting on Klodnicki's play, with Matt Waxman telling his tablemate "you can never say anything about me playing badly, not after that one." The needle was only a joke of course, and Klodnicki just sat and flashed a sinner's smile, knowing he had just stolen a stack with a fortuitous find on fifth street.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
234,000 | 124,000 |
|
Busted |
