Now that the cash bubble has burst, the eliminations have picked up once again, with more than 50 having made their way to the cashier already. Only now the dealer calls out "Payout" rather than "Open Seat," no doubt much nicer for the busted player to hear.
Among those was Michael Paulle, former WSOP Media Director Michael Paulle, who barely snuck into the cash with a 318th place finish. Indeed, Paulle was that player to whom we alluded to at the start of the day announcing his desire to cash. He began the day with less than 10,000 chips, but made it through and got his wish.
When we arrived at the table the board read and Jason James fired a 3,900-chip bet into a pot with about 10,000 chips. In the other side of the table, Team PokerStars Pro André Akkari check-raised to 10,500. James called.
The turn card was a and both players checked. The river brought a to the table and Akkari check-called a 10,100-chip bet from James.
James tabled for king high and Akkari showed , pot for the Brazilian player.
Peter Traply opened the pot with a 2,700-chip bet and was called by the player in the cutoff seat. In the big blind, Jason Lower moved all in for about 12,600 chips. Traply moved all in too and the player in the cutoff seat said "I fold your too good to stack off!".
Showdown
Traply:
Lower:
The board gave Lower a full double up, is now up to 30,000 chips. Peter Traply slipped to 104,000 chips.
Faraz Jaka was recently eliminated, and on his way out stopped to talk with Phil Hellmuth who had come over following the conclusion of play at the WSOP Tournament of Champions.
Their conversation was paused momentarily, though, when a player in our tournament got up and asked Hellmuth if he could get a photograph with him. Never too shy around cameras, Hellmuth complied, and the photo was taken before the player's next hand was dealt.
The scene highlighted one of the interesting contrasts one sometimes encounters at the WSOP, with amateurs taking their one big shot in a low buy-in event playing on one side of the Amazon Room, while the game's top players compete just a few yards away in the Tournament of Champions.
And then there's Antonio Esfandiari, competing in both the WSOP TOC and Event #47. Esfandiari ended play with the short stack over in the TOC, 16th of 17 players left. Here he has an above-average stack 43,000, to which he can now devote his full attention.
There were a number of eliminations just before the dinner break. David Sklansky busted in 247th, with Roberto Romanello following shortly thereafter in 246th. Both earned $2,083.
David Levi went out in 228th, followed by Thomas Koral (220nd), J.J. Liu (218th), and Jacobo Bucaram (215th). They each received $2,308.