After a player in middle position had limped and the button raised to 200, Mike Souza looked down at in the small blind and reraised to 700. Both the aforementioned opponents made the call and the flop came down . Souza immediately fired out 1,000 and this time just the button called.
When the dealer burned and turned the , Souza bet 3,000, the button called, and the was revealed on the river. Souza didn't slow down, betting 5,000, but the button decided it was time to concede the hand. Just like that, Souza picked up about 5,000.
Bobbie Talbot, the WSOP-C IP Casino Champ who has already punched his ticket to the National Championship next month, has been eliminated from the tournament. He swung by our desk and informed us he had lost about 17,000 of his stack after flopping set over set and lost the remaining 3,000 after running into a flush. Needless to say, he wasn't too pleased.
"There's always tomorrow," Talbot said as he went to register for tomorrow's event.
Both Dennis Phillips and Greg Raymer are seated near our desk. The duo, who are seated at Tables 76 and 75 respectively, have been chatting back and forth throughout the early levels of the Main Event.
Yesterday, Phillips served as a co-host, along with John Adams, in Raymer's Fossilman Training Seminar that was held here at Harrah's. PokerNews listened in on that course and see a number of the students playing in today's field. Time will tell if the knowledge of a former world champion will pay dividends.
The second ring event of the stop drew 709 players and generated a prize pool of $202,906. Among the entrants were some surprise names such as Grammy award-winning hip-hop artist and avid poker player, Nelly, and 1972 WSOP Champion and poker legend, Amarillo Slim Preston. The 82-year-old, four-time WSOP bracelet winner said: “I got a call from one of my cowboys to come up and play last week. I wasn’t doing anything so I decided to come on up.”
Unfortunately, neither Nelly nor Preston could get much done and the ring eventually went to 23-year-old Dan Sztenderowicz of Philadelphia, Pa.
Dwyte Pilgrim, who was just in Connecticut yesterday where he busted from another major poker tournament, has made his way to today's Main Event. He just woke up from a nap and has taken his seat.
Likewise, "Cowboy" John Land has recently registered for the tournament.
We caught the action on the turn with a board reading . Dwyte Pilgrim checked and his opponent bet 1,500. Pilgrim then came alive with a check-raise to 3,000, his short-stacked opponent moved all in for 5,300, and Pilgrim called:
Pilgrim:
Opponent:
Pilgrim was behind with his aces and the river was no help. He dropped to 14,500 on the hand.
We've spotted a few more notables in today's field including:
Keith Woernle (WSOP-C St. Louis Ring Event #7 Winner)
Paul Harris (Co-host of "The Final Table" radio show w/ Dennis Phillips)
Aaron Massey
"Captain" Tom Franklin
. Souza immediately fired out 1,000 and this time just the button called.
, Souza bet 3,000, the button called, and the 
was revealed on the river. Souza didn't slow down, betting 5,000, but the button decided it was time to concede the hand. Just like that, Souza picked up about 5,000.
. Dwyte Pilgrim checked and his opponent bet 1,500. Pilgrim then came alive with a check-raise to 3,000, his short-stacked opponent moved all in for 5,300, and Pilgrim called:
river was no help. He dropped to 14,500 on the hand.