We're back from the break. Three more 40-minute levels and it will be time for the dinner break.
With registration now closed, the final tally appears to be 442 entrants total, making for a $653,000 total prize pool. Of that group, 364 have made it through to begin Level 7.
Steven Curtin has done well for himself during the first four hours of play today, building up a stack of more than 60,000.
Just now Curtin -- a.k.a. S.O.S. ("Suck Out Steve") -- limped in from the hijack seat and saw the player on the button raise to 1,200. The blinds got out, Curtin called, and the flop came 
. Curtin checked, his opponent continued with a bet of 2,000, and Curtin folded his 
face up, not looking to try to suck out on that one.
Curtin still sits with 63,000 chips, his stack among the biggest in the room at the moment.
![[user101598]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
A player opened to 1,025 from early position and the action folded to Jeffrey Papola who flatted on the button. Robert Pyne Jr. three-bet to 5,000 from the big blind and the original raiser immediately threw in a re-raise. He did not throw in enough orange T1,000 chips to make a proper raise however, and was force to min-raise to 8,900. Papola folded and Pyne quickly called all-in.
Opponent: 
Pyne: 
The 
flop jolted Pyne into the lead with a set of sixes and he didn't look back as the turn and river came 
, 
respectively. Pyne raked in the pot and is now back above starting stack with 25,000 chips.
Level: 8
Blinds: 250/500
Ante: 50
PokerNews Strategy Pro Jake "psutennis" Toole was heads up with an opponent with the board reading 
. There was about 5,000 in the middle when Toole's opponent bet 12,000, which was more than Toole had in front of him. Toole thought for a second then called and the hands were tabled.
Opponent: 
Toole: 
The turn was paint, but the changed nothing and Toole remained ahead. The on the river was a blank as well and Toole doubled back to starting stack.
"Sorry if that was a slowroll," Toole apologized after. "I should've snap-called."
Here are some more counts from around the room.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
70,000
-5,000
|
-5,000 |
|
50,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
|
||
|
|
50,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
|
|
41,000
21,000
|
21,000 |
|
|
35,000
-4,000
|
-4,000 |
|
29,000
-2,500
|
-2,500 |
|
|
29,000
-3,000
|
-3,000 |
|
25,000
7,000
|
7,000 |
|
|
19,000
9,000
|
9,000 |
|
Busted | |
A short-stacked player sitting under the gun open-raised all in for 5,975, and the table folded around to Beth Shak in the cutoff. Shak removed her headphones, contemplated a few moments, then announced she was calling. It folded back around and the pair tabled their hands.
Shak showed 
and her opponent 
. Early advantage Shak. She remained ahead after the 
flop and 
turn. The dealer then burned one and turned over the river -- the -- pairing Shak's opponent and ensuring his survival.
Shak now has about 28,000.
Unfortunately we didn't catch either hand, but both Robert Pyne Jr. and Josh Brikis have been eliminated from the tournament. We do know that Jeffrey Papola was the one who busted Pyne however, and he is not up to 75,000 chips.
Edward Pham has steadily risen up the counts during the first five-and-half hours of play to be one of the first to push past the 70,000-chip mark.
Just now Pham opened a pot with a minimum-raise to 1,000, getting two callers from the button and small blind. The flop came a highly-coordinated 
. It checked to Pham who continued with a bet of 1,800, and only the button stuck around. The turn was the , and Pham paused before checking over to his opponent. A bet of 3,200 was enough to cause Pham to release his hand with a yawn.
Nothing tired about what Pham has done thus far, however, as he remains among the chip leaders with about 72,000.
A player opened to 1,500 from under the gun, a second player called in middle position and Beth Shak defended her small blind. The flop fell and both Shak and the original raiser checked to the man in the middle who fired 2,200. Shak called, the initial raiser released and the turn was the .
Shak again checked and her opponent bet 5,500. Shak reached for two grey T5,000 chips and silently flipped them in the middle. Her opponent was confused because the bet was not enough to be a raise and argued that it should be a call. The dealer did nothing to rectify the situation and Shak shrugged, pulled back one of the chips and was contempt with just calling.
The river was the and Shak immediately moved all in. Her opponent folded even faster and Shak was pushed the pot.
