Ari Engel's day has come to an end. He raised preflop to 4,500 only to have Aaron Massey make it 13,000 to go. Engel hit the tank before pushing all in and Massey made the call:
Engel: 
Massey: 
The 
flop was disaster for Engel and the turn sealed his fate. A 
was put out on the river for good measure as Engel exited the tournament area. Massey is up to 147,000.
An early position player four-bet shoved all in for about 40,000 with 
only to run into the 
of Steve Goss. The board ran out an uneventful 
and Goff collected the pot, bringing his stack up to 140,000.
Action folded to Dennis Phillips in middle position and he raised to 5,200. The big blind was the only player to call and the pair watched the flop fall 
. From there, the big blind checked, Phillips bet 11,500, and the big blind check-raised all in for 32,400.
"Let me check," Phillips said as he counted out the chips. "I'm pretty sure I'm going to call." Sure enough, that is exactly what he did.
Phillips: 
Big Blind: 
Phillips was in great shape to eliminate his opponent but still needed to dodge an ace or jack on the remaining streets. The 
turn changed nothing, and neither did the 
river. Phillips sent his opponent to the rail while chipping up to 210,000.
As we were writing the previous post, we saw Hugh Jordan Drummond rise from his seat, congratulate his opponent, and exit the tournament area with his father, who promptly handed him a consolation beer. Unfortunately for Drummond, who may very well emerge as the Harrah's St. Louis Casino Champion, his amazing run has come to an end . . . unless of course he enters the last ring event on Monday.
We're two more players down, and those to players happen to be brothers. Both Blair and Grant Hinkle have fallen late on Day 1.
Level: 15
Blinds: 1,000/2,000
Ante: 300
Players are on their last ten-minute break of the day. When they return, they will play two more levels before breaking for the evening.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
231,000
46,000
|
46,000 |
|
|
204,000 | |
|
|
175,000
3,000
|
3,000 |
|
|
130,000
15,000
|
15,000 |
|
|
125,000
10,000
|
10,000 |
|
|
120,000
59,500
|
59,500 |
|
|
105,000 | |
|
95,000
55,000
|
55,000 |
|
||
|
|
85,000
-13,000
|
-13,000 |
|
|
85,000
45,000
|
45,000 |
|
|
60,000
15,000
|
15,000 |
|
|
55,000
-30,000
|
-30,000 |
|
|
53,000 | |
|
|
40,000 | |
|
|
35,000
-65,000
|
-65,000 |
|
25,500
-4,500
|
-4,500 |
|
||
|
|
20,000
5,000
|
5,000 |
An unknown player opened preflop holding 
only to have Mike Souza move all in for his remaining chips with 
. The original raiser made the call and it was a coinflip.
The 
flop was no help to Souza and neither was the turn. In order to survive, Souza needed a king or ace on the river. Unfortunately for him, it came the 
and his run at the WSOP-Circuit Harrah's Tunica Main Event title came to an end.
The always entertaining and aggressive Kenny Nguyen, who had managed to build a decent stack earlier in the day, has followed Ben Smith out the door. On the other hand, we just found young Kyle Cartwright in the field. If you recall, Cartwright won two rings at the WSOP-Circuit Harrah's Tunica stop to become the Casino Champion and win his way into the National Championship.
