JC Tran raised to 2,500 from early position, and Nicholas Brancato shoved on the button for 23,640. JC called, and both players stood pat. Brancato flipped over 
, but it wasn't good enough to stay alive against Tran's 
. With Brancato's elimination, Tran is up to 54,100.
Mike Leah raised to 2,500 under the gun, and Bryan "the Icon" Micon and Chino Rheem both called. Leah and Micon grabbed one a piece, while Rheem requested two. Then Leah bet 5,000. Micon liked his card too, as he moved all in for a total of 7,225. Rheem folded, and Leah called with an . Micon smiled and showed 
. His timely number three snagged the big pot and lifted him from the danger zone to 36,000. Leah dropped to 17,000.
Yan Chen opened to 2,700 from the cutoff only to have Mike Leah three-bet to 12,700 from the button.
Chen then slid two 500-denomination stacks into the pot to effectively put Leah all in for his last 1,250. Leah made the call and drew one as Chen stood pat.
Chen tabled his to leave Leah drawing to just a three to stay alive or four to chop with his [2x}.
Unfortunately for Leah, he could only find the 
and consequently made his way to the rail as Chen climbed to 79,000 in chips.
Tad Jurgens moved all in for just under 8,000 under the gun, and Tommy Hang looked him up. Each player drew one. Jurgens was ahead before the draw with to Hang's . Hang caught a , which was no good as Jurgens drew a beautiful to make the nuts. With a number one, Jurgens doubled up to 19,000. Hang was cut down to 7,100.
Daniel Nicewander opened to 3,500 from under the gun and Keith Lehr made the call before James Bord three-bet to 15,000 from the button.
With the action back on Nicewander he moved all in for 33,050 total as Lehr tossed his cards into the muck.
As Bord deliberated for his remaining 14,000 some friendly banter between the two began.
"Am I not allowed to say anything?" asked Nicewander.
"What do you want me to do? asked Bord.
"I never answer yes 'cause I don't want anyone to suck out on me" replied Nicewander.
"I really want to cash this tournament" added Nicewander.
A few more minutes went by before Lehr called the clock as Bord continued to deliberate.
Eventually Bord stood up and open-mucked his .
"Good lay" stated Nicewander as he rolled over his to rake in the pot to move to 51,000 in chips.
With Team Pro Chad Brown's elimination early in the day and Dario Minieri's recent exit, all of the PokerStars pressure is on Alexander Kravchenko's shoulders. Fortunately, the man looks like he could face Armageddon without breaking a sweat, so we're not too worried about his buckling. He's making the rest of his table squirm at the moment and has built up to 72,000 - not a stack, or a man, to be messed with.
With two members of his attached-at-the-hip crew, JC Tran and Chino Rheem, still in this event, poor Nam Le doesn't know what to do with himself. He's been hanging around for the last few hours, though he's not really sweating the action. Le is currently sitting at an empty table a few rows away from the tournament and watching NBA coverage.
With five eliminations left before the bubble, action has slowed waaaaay down. Keith Lehr has taken advantage and moved into the top spot. Here are some chip counts to keep you entertained.
We walked over as Alex Kravchenko caught a to go with his . Lyle Berman, who was all in, tossed his cards into the muck and said, "Good hand," as he stood up and shook Kravchenko's hand. The stone-faced Russian actually smiled as he said goodbye to Berman and raked in the chips. He's up to 72,000.
Todd Bui found himself all in pre-draw against Lamar Wilkinson.
Bui drew one while Wilkinson stood pat with his .
Bui was drawing to the better hand with his , and managed to squeeze out the dot-less to stay alive and double to 23,000 as Wilkinson slips to 9,200 in chips.
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