On a flop and with 14,000 in the middle, Jonathan Little checked only for a player in early position to move all in for 21,000. PokerStars Team Pro Veronica Dabul made the call and Little folded.
Cards on their back and it was the Argentinian who had the lead, in commanding shape against the short stack's . Despite both players spiking a bullet on a flop, Dabul had improved to two pair, which duly held up on a harmless turn and river.
As the end of the day grows nearer, some mighty impressive stacks are beginning to emerge, many of which belong to players who we have yet to encounter. The following is therefore a list of the less familiar faces who are currently adorning the top of the leader board.
Sean Hodge - 133,000
Francois Safieddine - 109,000
Chris Dombrowski - 94,000
Alex Wilson - 90,000
Wade Locklean - 90,000
Tanya Gawarecki - 89,000
Tim Kates - 85,000
Andraz Kovacz - 83,000
With dead on 500 players remaining, the majority of the field has condensed into one quadrant of the Pavillion Room. However, there are still a couple of tables on the other side of the room, one of which contains recent bracelet winner Dutch Boyd. Boyd has slowly, but surely (and quietly!) been building his stack, and now has a highly credible 56,000. With the average still at 27,873, he is in good shape to make it through to day two, and could well be making a genuine assault on that third career bracelet.
Will Fialla has built himself a stack of 162,000 chips, many of which came when he was in the small blind and was facing a raise from a player acting under the gun. Failla had just raised the action from 2,500 to 8,000 when the big blind went all in for about 40,000. The under the gun player folded but Failla made the call.
Failla:
Big blind:
The board was no help to the kings and Failla sent his opponent to the rail while adding a nice tower of yellow chips to his stack.
Former pace-setter Alex Outhred has been suffering of late, his stack heading in the wrong direction during the last level or two. However, he seems to be getting his second wind and is back up to 63,000 after eliminating a short stack.
Inevitably, all the chips went in preflop, Outhred a nose hair in front with versus . As he commentated to his friends on the rail, the dealer rolled out a flop, and after evading a cheeky gutshot on the turn and river, Outhred picked up both the pot and the scalp with a full house.
We're back, and fully braced for the home stretch. One player who must have downed a crate of Red bulls during the break is Stephen Chidwick, as within the opening five minutes of the penultimate level, he found his stack swelling to a gargantuan 85,000.
I joined the action on the turn of a bord, Chidwick (under the gun) faced with a bet of 6,500 from his opponent in the small blind. With his headphones dangling from his ears, Chidwick slid his cards over one another for around a minute before making the call.
On the river, the small blind immediately announced all-in, and Chidwick made the call with equal zest, showing in the process. The short stack held .
"F***" came the unelaborated reply as Chidwick scooped up the pot.
After bursting out of the blocks like a jet-propelled whippet, Maria Ho has taken somewhat of a hit of late and seen her stack go hurtling towards the felt. As players disperse to the break, Ho currently has just under 15,000 after once enjoying the dizzy heights of 60,000.
Exciting times as players are asked to collect those 25 green chips in preparation for a color up. As we approach the final break of the day, and subsequently the last two levels, there are 650 of an initial field of 3,097 remaining with the average stack at 21,441.
Current chip leader is Will Failla with 75,000, whilst early pace setter isn't too far behind with 70,000.
![[user4144]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
flop and with 14,000 in the middle, Jonathan Little checked only for a player in early position to move all in for 21,000. PokerStars Team Pro Veronica Dabul made the call and Little folded.
in commanding shape against the short stack's 
. Despite both players spiking a bullet on a 
turn and 
river.
flop, and after evading a cheeky gutshot on the 
turn and 
river, Outhred picked up both the pot and the scalp with a full house.
river, the small blind immediately announced all-in, and Chidwick made the call with equal zest, showing 
in the process. The short stack held 
.