Alan Sass opened for 2,800 from early position, Scotty Nguyen bumped it to 9,000 from the button and Sass made the call. The flop came down and Sass check-called a 9,000 bet from Nguyen. The turn fell the and this time Sass led out for 20,000. Nguyen smooth-called and they went to the river, the . Sass bet 48,000 and after a lengthy tank, Nguyen flashed and tossed his hand into the muck, conceding the pot.
"I put you on pocket jacks!" said Scotty as Sass raked in the pot, increasing his stack to 137,000. The "Prince of Poker" was left with 71,000.
We've spent the last few hours talking about who's here and how they're doing. Let's take a moment and look at some of the notable players who are missing from this elite field.
Lyle Berman - He made the final table of the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event last year but the WPT chairman is nowhere to be found in the Amazon Room.
Erik Seidel - He apologized on Twitter to everyone who picked him in their fantasy pool, but the eight-time bracelet winner is attending one of his children's graduations today.
Gus Hansen - We've heard rumblings that the Great Dane planned to skip this event as he has a rather substantial wager on the French Open.
Patrik Antonius - He's in town and has been golfing with the high-stakes crowd over the last few days but is not playing today.
Minh Ly - "Big Game" regular Ly is nowhere to be found.
Todd Brunson - Big Papa is playing over at Table 58, but his bracelet-winning son is notably absent from this event.
Cliff "JohnnyBax" Josephy - Though the online contingent is out in force at this event, Bax didn't join them.
Erick Lindgren
There was about 60,000 in the middle and the board showed when a player in Seat 1 shoved all in and was called by both Erick Lindgren and Sandor Demjan. Lindgren was the short stack in this encounter, while Demjan had both covered.
Lindgren showed , better than the pocket jacks of the initial all in and the of Demjan. The river was the , and Lindgren took the main pot, more than tripling up to about 200,000 in the process. Demjan, meanwhile, has slipped to 140,000.
At last, with registration closed we have the numbers you've all been waiting for. 201 players bought in to the $40,000 No-Limit Hold'em event creating a prize pool of $7,718,400. The top 27 players will be paid with first place receiving $1,891,012.
We just saw a wild one over at Table #90. Phil Laak got things going with a preflop raise to 1,600 from early position. Laak got three callers: the cutoff, Samdor Demjan in the small blind, and Ted Forrest in the big blind.
The flop came . Demjan bet 5,000, then Forrest raised to 12,000. Then Laak announced he was pushing his big stack of about 280,000 all in. The cutoff and Demjan folded, and Forrest went into the tank.
"I know I have you beat," said Forrest, somewhat incredulously. "You know it's just 12,000." Laak had no response. Finally Forrest made the call with his stack of 140,000, turning over for bottom two. Laak showed for a flush draw and gutshot straight draw. The turn was the and the river the , and Forrest claimed the huge pot.
Forrest jumps up to 310,000, while Laak falls back to 106,000.
After a flop of , Chris Moorman is all in against J.C. Tran. Tran shows for an inside straight draw and the nut flush draw, but Moorman already has the flush with . The turn is the and the river is the giving Moorman the double up.
Top online tournament player Steve "gboro780" Gross just met his tournament end courtesy of ten-time bracelet winner Doyle Brunson. Gross' A-9 couldn't improve against Texas Dolly's A-Q and he made an early exit.