That was a efficient bit of traveling over to the main stage. Well done, all.
Players have already unbagged their chips and seated themselves around this eight-handed, not-quite-the-final-but-it-is-the-last table, and the first hand is being dealt.
When we lose one more player, there will be a break while the official final tablists fill out bio sheets. A decent-sized crowd has begun to fill the bleachers here at the main stage, relishing the opportunity to see such an impressive collection of players edging closer to such a coveted bracelet.
George Danzer opened to 32,000 from early position and Eric Kesselman made the call from the big blind.
Kesselman drew two, while Danzer drew one and slid a stack of pink 5,000-denomination chips into the pot after a Kesselman check.
After a few moments of deliberation, Kesselman made the 100,000-chip call, only to muck at the sight of Danzer's as the German climbs over the 600,000-chip mark.
The table folded to George Danzer in middle position who raised to 27,000, and all got out except for David Baker who called from the small blind. John Juanda considered for a while, then folded from the big blind.
Both Baker and Danzer drew one card. Baker cut out a bet of 51,000. Danzer quickly glanced across the table at Baker, then sat in contemplation for several seconds. Finally he reached down and grabbed two large stacks of pink (5,000) chips -- a reraise to 200,000.
Baker took his time considering the situation, then declared he was all in. The chips were counted and it would take 106,000 more from Danzer to make the call. Danzer did and the hands were tabled:
Baker
Danzer
Two huge hands there, with Baker's Number Two taking the monster pot. Danzer tumbles to 230,000, while Baker is still stacking up his 696,000.
Just had a near confrontation between our two Team PokerStars pros, Daniel Negreanu and George Danzer
Negreanu, with about 225,000 to start the hand, opened with a raise to 35,000 from the cutoff. George Danzer, with a similar-sized stack, responded by pushing all in from the button. The blinds folded, and Negreanu quickly released his hand.
We are nearing the next scheduled break, at which time we'll have updated chip counts for all eight of our remaining players.