For those of you who bet that we'd reach 27 players before 12 levels of play elapsed, you've won. Eliminations 28 (unknown player) and 29 (Francis Mariani) came virtually back-to-back and we're now left with the 27 semi-finalists who will return tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. local time to play down to the money and a nine-player final table.
Stay tuned for official chip counts and a complete list of the players who will be back for tomorrow's Day 2 play. Until then, good night and good luck!
Kenny Bedoya has just won the biggest pot of the tournament thus far, eliminating Dewey Archer and piling up a monstrous 446,000 in chips!
On a board showing , Archer moved all in and Bedoya insta-called, tabling for top pair with a queen kicker. Archer revealed for top pair and a weaker kicker, needing a jack on the river to stay alive, but none came, as the was the last card to fall off the deck, locking up the hand for Bedoya.
31 players have made it to the final level of Day 1. Kenny Bedoya still owns the top spot on the leaderboard with just over 200,000 in chips, followed closely behind by Kyle Orvis and Michael Pickett.
A sure sign that it's getting late, the cocktail server has just made her last round through the tournament area. Though the drinks may stop flowing, the players must keep on playing... at least for another hour and eleven minutes, or until five more players are eliminated from the tournament -- whichever comes first.
A short-stacked Ray Henson got it all in pre-flop with but ran into an opponent's and the board brought no help to Henson, who was eliminated from the competition.
After an early-position raise to 7,000, Bill Edler reraised all in for his last 38,700 from the button. The small blind made the call and the original raiser folded. Edler showed and the small blind showed , seemingly happy to be in a race.
The board filled out , giving two pair to Edler's opponent and spelling an end to the tournament life of "The Stunning One."